Days with her mum

Life in the manor was uneventful for most of the part.

Emilia was becoming agitated. She still had nothing much to do besides researching as much as she could about the company and the CEO.

She fell quickly into a routine of having breakfast and going for a run, then returning to her laptop and taking notes. The lack of stimulation made her wonder if she ever was going to attend the public events at a frequency to justify her salary and lodging in the manor, not to mention, enough to keep her interested. If it was not going to pick up a pace, she wondered if she could pick another job to do. Maybe some freelance work? She could spend the days between events learning a new craft that she could profit from. Not that She needed any extra income. Not if she didn't have many expenses herself. Most of the money was going to Maria and her mum's health care.

Every once in a while, she saw Patrick around the manor and she always stopped to chat.

"Good morning, Mr Cosby." Emilia smiled as kindly as always on Friday. She was playing with the idea of working a second job since Tuesday and was now convinced that this was a reasonable question.

"Good morning, Dr Vincent. How have you been?"

"Very well, thank you. I have a question."

"Yes?" Patrick raised his brows.

"I was wondering if you knew if there was anything in my contract that would stop me from working."

"What do you mean?"

"I am not sure what the frequency of the events will be, but even if they are in the evening, I could be doing something else throughout the day. Perhaps, some freelance or consultation work."

"I don't see why not," Patrick answered as he squinted his eyes and knitted his brows. He didn't know what was to come of it. He tried to remember anything related to work in the marriage contract. But then, why would there be anything on employment in a marriage contract?

"That's good." Emilia was eager to start thinking about her potential future career that she could already start building aside from the job. "Thank you, Mr Cosby."

"I'll send you the event information at the beginning of next week. Is that okay?"

"Of course!"

Emilia soon hid away so as to not come across Christopher Hayden. She actively avoided any possibility of being seen by him. According to her knowledge, they didn't come into any contact since the day of her interview, so for a week now. She was pleased by that. She learnt very quickly that Christopher Hayden had breakfast not long after them so she made sure to go for a run during that time. And she managed to tone it perfectly enough to always return as he was readying for work in his private suite, whether in his study or bedroom.

Christopher wasn't too bothered about her for the following days. He was getting better at shutting the thought about Emilia away.

On Saturday, Emilia left the manor in the early morning and went to take care of her mum to give a day of respite to Maria. She was skilled at administering the drugs by now. She knew the names of all of them and the dosages by heart. It wasn't an issue.

She made sure her mum had everything administered by late morning, and then she decided that it would be good for her mum to get some fresh air. She picked out the wheelchair from the corner of the hallway and helped her mum move. Her mum seemed almost conscious today. She was more responsive than recently.

She gently sat her mum up in the wheelchair and covered her up in a blanket that she knitted for her a while ago. She hung the fluids on a little pole attached to the wheelchair and straightened a headband on her mum's head.

With a slight struggle, she left the apartment and then the building which annoyingly had one step on the way out. Sometimes it felt like the entire world was designed against people with disabilities and mobility issues as if they didn't have enough obstacles in life already.

Once outside, Jane seemed to soak in the sun and she directed her face towards it. This made Emilia smile as she pushed the wheelchair forward.

"You haven't been outside in a while. Let me show you what changed!" Emilia continued talking without a single response. But today it didn't matter. She had a day to spend with her mum without any interruptions.

She walked through the city centre, taking her mum to the gallery (which thankfully had a lift and ramps), then she went to the botanical gardens where she spread her own blanket on a shaded bit of grass and read a book out loud to her mum. This time she purposely chose a book full of exciting adventures and captivating relationships.

She then returned with her mum back home and prepared her for the night, gently washing the person that used to wash her.

Maria returned past dinner time, happier than for a while after spending an entire day with her family, and even more keen to help out.

It was already dark outside when Emilia left her childhood home, returning to the villa less than 30 minutes before the curfew.

She didn't notice a gleaming light in the living room nor the person in a shadow, as she hurried past and up the stairs.

And the person in the shadow was no other than Christopher. He was battling his inner voice for most of the day. Since lunchtime, to be exact.

He had a business lunch with a few key shareholders of the company. They went to the rather exclusive club in the city centre.

Christopher detested these kinds of engagements as he always felt that the importance of where you invest money should be independent of whether you like the person or not. But he played along with the theatrics and he played the game well.

What he hated, even more, was when they stood outside, talking of nothing, as the men smoked their cigarettes. The smoking always bothered him as he never would have poisoned himself like that.

What made it more bearable and interesting was the fact that he spotted the familiar face again. He turned around, hoping to hide a grimace at the smoke that just got into his lungs when he noticed the very smile that he thought of more frequently than he would ever admit.

His observant eyes very quickly recognised Emilia and then noticed that she pushed someone in the wheelchair, smiling at them and speaking excitedly, or her animated gestures seemed to suggest it.

He saw her walk across the entire square, not even once her smile weakened, and not even once she stopped speaking. It seemed that words just flew out of her mouth.

But Christopher's focus was on the person in the wheelchair. He tried to comprehend why Emilia would ever bother with something like this. It never crossed his mind that the person might have been a relative, but instead, he found a viable excuse that worked in his mind - Emilia was volunteering her time for some noble cause.

It wouldn't be out of Emilia's character to do so. Her CV had a history of volunteering, especially at the university.

Now, the reason why Christopher sat in the living room was that he was troubled by the fact that he knew so little of Emilia's life to not know what she might be doing throughout the days when he was occupied at work. He expected her to go to a spa, to meet with her friends, to spend money on lavish shopping. But she didn't. She took a bus and volunteered.

They were married for a week and the only time he truly interacted with her was the day he chose her. He was lucky to have seen her twice since but she didn't notice him either of those times.

The next day, he shut his thoughts down completely, reminding himself that he should never care for Emilia, whilst Emilia went to see her mum again but they've stayed inside. It was enough for her mum to have one day of excitement at a time.