Feelings Sold Separately - Aemond Targaryen

Chapter Eleven - The Struggle

Maysie Farrin

It had been a week and Maysie still wasn't able to ask for help. Her coat had ripped on monday, truly beyond repair and now it sat in her closet as she walked in the cold. She couldn't bring herself to tell Aemond, the one person she knew would drop everything to help her.

The guilt of not telling him settled on her chest every morning, the dull pain of anxiety festering kept her up at night and on edge during the day. "Are you still getting heartburn?" Eyla asked sympathetically, the lie Maysie had told, biting her in the butt. She couldn't help but rub her sternum in the hopes that it would settle the ache. The action caused Eyla to worry and Maysie tried her best to come up with a valid excuse.

"I guess so." Maysie lied, trying her best at a smile, glad that her shift would be over in a few minutes. She longed to lay in bed and pout, ignoring Aemond and his wishes to help her. "Hi, what can I get you?" Maysie asked the next customer, her eyes stuck on the register.

"You can give me a moment of your time, Little Dragon." Aemond's deep voice forced Maysie's eyes to jolt to him. An unreadable look on his face as his eye scanned her. "When does your shift end?" He asked.

"In four minutes." She whispered, suddenly taken aback by his overpowering energy.

"Then I'll see you in four minutes." He gave her a polite smile, the fake one she hated. "I'll be at our table."

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Maysie tried her best to work as long as possible. Insisting to the next shift that she should be the one to fill the napkins. But ten minutes later she was sat opposite Aemond. "What's going on, Little Dragon?" He asked, his eye scanning Maysie again as if he'd find some wound visible.

"Nothing's wrong." Maysie fidgeted in her seat, adjusting the way she sat.

"Something's wrong." Aemond leaned over the table, his arms crossed against his chest. "You've been distant, I need to know what's wrong so I can fix it." His tone was serious, the look in his eye not one of humour.

"I just, I'm, I don't know." Maysie sighed, looking away from the man, her eyes flitting around the coffee shop. "My coat, My coat broke. The arm got caught on a fence and it just, it ripped a big hole and I can't fix it." Maysie's fingers began picking at each other, her nails digging into her skin. "I wanted to tell you I just, I didn't know how to." She finally looked to Aemond, tears threatening to spill, something she hated because she knew a broken coat wasn't something to cry over, yet her eyes were ready to do just that.

"That's my fault, Maysie." Aemond's hands covered hers, stopping the anxious fiddling. "I should have bought you a coat while we were at the mall, it must have slipped my mind."

"But, I, I did something wrong, Aemond. I didn't tell you when I needed help!" Her voice raised slightly, guilt pouring out of her words. "You should fire me." She stressed.

"I haven't given you any rules to follow, Little Dragon. You didn't do anything wrong." Aemond stressed back, his hands offering a comforting squeeze.

"Can you give me, can you give me rules?" Maysie stuttered. A look Maysie couldn't read passed over Aemond's features. "I think if telling you when I need help was a rule and not a suggestion I might be able to follow it better." Her voice was quieter, suddenly embarrassed about her confession. What woman needed rules? Yet here she was craving them.

"I can do that." Aemond almost sounded excited. Almost. "Why don't we go to my office and make up a contract with the rules on it?"

"Yeah, I'd like that."

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Aemond's office was cold, the air was crisp and the room was drenched in shades of grey. The leather chairs were stiff, and his desk looked imposing. "So this is your office." Maysie whispered, overwhelmed by how big it was. The room far bigger than her entire apartment, maybe two.