Her Dragon Lover

Her Dragon Lover - Chapter 8

The first day of work started fine after a few bumps.

After a leisurely breakfast, Emyr escorted Ara to the office. It was nine o'clock sharp.

"Switch on the computer and the printer," he instructed her. His manner was business-like.

Ara obeyed silently. The computer screen and the printer blinked at the same time.

Emyr pulled out his cellphone and long-pressed a button. The vault from the floor slid upwards. It stopped halfway. He opened the upper door and got out the thick manuscript.

"Please, take care of this, Miss Gray." He put down the manuscript underneath the desk lamp.

"Yes, sir." Ara waited for his next instruction.

Emyr lifted the heavy cover carefully. The large book was written in an old language but mostly in English.

"Please, start now. Don't mind me. I'm just an observer."

"Okay." Ara nodded seriously. She read the first page and encoded the words.

"Please, input '1' on the space here. You alert the system that page one is done."

Suddenly, the printer belched a paper out.

"Voila! You printed the first page. Perfect!" Emyr picked up the paper reverently. "This is the title page!"

Ara nodded with her eyes wide and unblinking.

"Rule number one: do not read the words aloud. The dragons might hear you," he whispered to her gravely.

"O-okay, sir...!"

"Good. Hope you could type a whole chapter today. See you at," Emyr glanced at his wristwatch, "four o'clock later!" He long-pressed a button again.

The big door closed behind him automatically.

*     *     *

Ara worked steadily. The book was absorbing. She read silently as she typed the words. The title of the book was: 'The Legend of the Water Dragon.'

When lunchtime came, Old Ponso had arrived with Mrs. Cleeve. She was pushing a trolley.

"Miss Gray, you have a lunch break!" Old Ponso had announced with pride.

"Oh, thank you, Mr. Ponso and Mrs. Cleeve! But I cannot possibly consume all of these! I don't want to waste food, ma'am!" Ara was overwhelmed with the delicious smell when the dome-like cover was lifted. The food was presented like a small feast.

There was a whole spring chicken roast, a platter of fried rice, a plate of sliced embutido, and a large bowl of macaroni soup. A bowl of buco salad was resting on ice cubes.

"Then we will eat with you, Miss Gray." Old Ponso picked up a plate and pushed it into Ara's hands.

"Yes, Sir Emyr told us to accompany you during meal--not to eat with you!" Mrs. Cleeve warned the old man with a low growl under her breath.

"You cooked the food, of course, I'd like to have a taste!" Old Ponso replied with a chuckle. He was munching on a chicken leg.

"That's a nice idea. We will eat together!" Ara was comfortable eating with the two characters. At least, the food was not drugged or poisoned!

"Old Ponso is embarrassing. Please, forgive him!"

"There's nothing to forgive, Mrs. Cleeve. Please, eat with us!" She handed a plate to the housekeeper.

The three of them shared the small feast. Ara had enjoyed eating for the first time.

"I still have room for dessert!" Old Ponso rubbed his rounded stomach lightly.

"What a glutton!" Mrs. Cleeve rolled her eyes.

"Please, make it one tablespoonful for me," Ara begged laughingly. "I can't eat anymore!"

"Let me do the serving!" Old Ponso interfered agilely. He snatched the serving spoon from Mrs. Cleeve's hand.

"Hey!" Before Mrs. Cleeve could protest, the servings for her and Ara were done.

"Mmm, delicious!" Old Ponso moaned his appreciation.

Ara tasted a bit of buco salad. "It's delicious, Mrs. Cleeve!" she exclaimed sincerely. She scraped the small bowl with her spoon. "But I'm really full!"

"Oh, thank you, Miss Gray!" Mrs. Cleeve blushed delightfully. "And thank you, too, Old Ponso," she added with a slight squint of her eyes.

"It's nearly one o'clock. We must leave you now, Miss Gray. You might want to go to the bathroom. It's over there." Old Ponso indicated the door at the far corner. "The office will self-locked until four o'clock."

"Goodbye for now, Miss Gray!" Mrs. Cleeve pushed the trolley out of the room.

Ara decided to go to the bathroom. It was fine dining with the jolly couple. She smiled and laughed a lot while Old Ponso had told them anecdotes about the different jobs he did before he landed here. Even Mrs. Cleeve had grinned and chuckled noisily.

After washing her face and hands, she patted her cheeks dry. She looked at herself critically. Her eyes seemed large and sparkling. Her heart-shaped face was flushed. She looked almost pretty when animated.

"Time to work," she murmured smilingly.

Again, Ara was totally engrossed by the story of the water dragon. She was never sure what will be in the next page. But one thing was sure, she was not going to finish the first chapter.

Emyr would be disappointed but she had pride on her work. She had the reputation of a perfectionist. She did not submit any projects of hers without making sure that they had no typographical errors.

Ara set her watch alarm at four o'clock. She was typing the number '9' when it created a sound: "Ding!"

"Good afternoon, Miss Gray," Emyr greeted her before entering the room. "How is your day?"

"Fine, sir." Ara picked up the papers and neatly placed them in front of the manuscript. She inserted a bookmark on the last page that she had worked on.

"Hmm..." Emyr was silent as he read the papers. "You managed to decipher the blurred words!" he exclaimed after a while.

"I find them easy. The handwriting was neat." Ara frowned slightly. "And there weren't any blurred areas, sir."

"Let me see..." Emyr turned the pages of the manuscript. "I remember page number five is badly written..." He was checking the encoded pages against the old and yellowing pages while he searched.

"Impossible!" he muttered when he reached the title page. He searched the second time. He made sure the page number was correct.

"Sir, I haven't torn anything from that manuscript." Ara was slightly hurt.

"I know, I know. I just want to be sure... Okay, I'm sorry. I thought it but what good would it do!" Emyr closed the manuscript and gazed at her directly. His expression was enigmatic. His eyes were eloquent. Admiration for her was palpable. "Thank you, Ara Gray!"