Let's Give it a Year

Chapter 40

It had been about an hour since Astrid had left his office, and Hiccup was starting to feel the crushing sensation he had begun to feel when Thorald was in his office. The feeling of defeat and being at a dead end were weighing down on him and he wasn't sure what to do next. He was confused and scared.

He was stuck.

Suddenly, the phone rang. Its hollow, irritating ringing alerted Hiccup to its presence and he felt the urge to pick it up on reflex. As he picked it up, the ringing stopped and he held it up to his ear in silence before realising he needed to speak.

"Hello?" He asked down the line, alerting the person on the other end that he had indeed answered the call.

"Hello? Is this Mr Haddok? Hiccup Haddock?" They asked cooly, however Hiccup swore he heard a hint of nervousness as they spoke. He recognised the voice, but couldn't quite place it.

"Yes, this is he. May I ask who is calling?"

"Oh yes! This is Viggo, from the archives. And I think you'll want to come and see what I've found." He told Hiccup, his words insinuating that he had found a major break through.

But Hiccup was unsure what to do. Did he say to forget about it and put everything back? But the man must've worked very hard over the last couple of weeks to find this information? It couldn't hurt to take a look though?

"Okay, Viggo. I'll come down in a few minutes."

"Perfect! I'll be waiting." Then the line went dead as Viggo hung up the phone rather abruptly.

Hiccup sighed heavily and placed the phone back onto its holder on the desk and leaned back in his chair, graoning at the tiredness of his muscles. Perhaps looking into something he had been working on for the past few weeks wouldn't cause too much trouble, especially if he was careful. But the thought of Astrid being hurt by her father because of him, scared him the most. Hiccup loved Astrid enough to not want her to be hurt, but how much that meant he wasn't sure yet.

"Hiccup?" A knock came at the door and it slowly swung open to reveal Heather's face standing there with a cup of coffee in her hands. She had that usual smile on her face and a welcoming look in her eye that made Hiccup frown in disgust.

"What is it Heather?" He asked frustratedly, annoyed by her presence and irritated by her arrival. He needed to leave and he couldn't tell her where he was going, so he had to be careful.

"Well, I brought you a coffee," She set the coffee down on his desk with a flirtatious smile. "and I thought I'd let you know that you have nothing planned for the rest of the day." Hiccup nodded in understanding, his mind elsewhere and not focused on Heather's presence in his office.

He knew she was saying something else as he was lost in thought, but he assumed she was probably trying to ask him out again going by how she started the conversation.

"So, if you wanted to head out early, could I invite you out for dinner? To celebrate your return as a married man?" Heather asked innocently, her proposal mysterious and unprompted. Hiccup couldn't help but furrow his eyes at the odd request.

But Hiccup had no interest in her, it would feel like he was betraying Astrid and he didn't want to do that. So he blocked out her voice and thought about Viggo waiting for him in the archives.

"Yes, I am a married man. And as a married man, I have to tell you that we are loyal to our wives, even if an attractive young woman invites us to dinner." Hiccup replied stiffly, turning down Heather as strictly as he could. But when Heather smirked at his words and strode closer to him, he was sure she misunderstood his words despite their clarity.