The Curse of Awkward

Chapter 2

"Holy crap!"

"Augggghhhh, shut up," Emmy moaned as she reached for her alarm, except all she felt was an open expanse of air where her alarm should have been.

"Wha-." She cracked an eye open to look at her bedside table, only to be faced with the backside of a horse. She quickly lifted her head looking around her noticing that she was in the barn.

"Well, I can't say that it's unexpected that they would have you sleep out here, I mean you match, both with nice hair but horse faces," came a smug voice off to her left.

She looked over and moaned again. Of course, of all the people that could have found her after a sleep walking incident sleeping in the barn, it had to be Roman, she was never going to live this down.

As if reading her mind, Roman laughed while snapping pictures of her still laying across the back of a horse, with hay and dirt in her hair and stuck to her face.

"Roman please stop," she voiced weakly. He looked to her eyes quizzically, as if asking where the fiery temper was that she exhibited yesterday went. "Please don't, I really don't feel well," she plead lightly.

"Well that's what sleeping on a horse will do to you," Roman laughed, then realizing Emmy wasn't laughing too, turned it into a cough.

"Yeah, thanks," Emmy said giving him a blank look. "Do you know if any cabs run by here at this time? I have to get home and shower," Emmy said through a defeated sigh.

"Um, you could use mine if you want.. I mean I don't think you'll be able to go all the way home and get back in time for your shift," Roman muttered scratching the back of his head with a look resembling concern on his handsome face.

"No, no, that's okay, I'm sure if I call a cab and tip them well, then take a really quick shower I'll be able to get back in time in fact I--."

"Emmy!" Roman interrupted her, causing her to shiver involuntarily, liking the way her name sounded on his lips. No, she can't like that, Roman's a jerk and off limits. She needed this job she couldn't throw it away with a relationship with Roman, what if it went south? Then she'd have no chance of earning an income even near what the King was paying her. Relationship? Why was she thinking about a relationship, they'd only just met, and there was no way that Roman could like her, right?

"Emmy!" He called again gripping her shoulders drawing her attention to him. Her skin tingled where his hands rested. He couldn't like her right?

"Emmy, Emmy, Emmy are you even listening?" Roman asked looking into her blue eyes.

"Don't call me that! I'm Emilia to you, I never gave you the right to call me Emmy!" She voiced to try to break the weird tension that had eloped them as they stared into each others face.

"And she's back," Roman said stepping back and dropping his hands from her shoulders. The heat that had pooled there dissipated, causing her to want him to put his hands back. No, no, she couldn't have those thoughts. Roman's a jerk, Roman's a jerk she chanted in her head. A hot jerk, but a jerk none the less.

"Fine, Em. I was just saying you could shower inside the house if you want to, and I could give you one of the gardeners uniforms while your clothes wash," he continued. Emmy glared at him trying to find a fault in his plan. It seemed like the best option she had at the moment, but she wasn't going to admit defeat so easily, especially to him. What she couldn't help was the butterflies that erupted in her stomach when he called her Em. No one had ever called her that before, it should have been weird, but she kind of liked the new nickname. No Emmy, bad Emmy, you hate the nickname. This is Roman, Roman's a jerk, don't let him win.

While fighting with her subconscious, she settled for a nod toward Roman, who was currently looking at her anticipating her answer. Turning, he led her right into the main house, causing her to wonder who he was, that he could just invite people to use the King's shower, and steal gardener's uniforms. Now that she thought about it, when she met him in the garden yesterday, she never bothered to figure out who he was, just figuring he was one of the workers enjoying the garden as she was. Maybe he was a gardener that was close to the King, that could be it, it would explain why he has access to everything.

She was so lost in thought that she didn't even notice that they had come up to the door of a room in a long marble hallway until Roman swung the door open. The interior of the room was masculine, the walls painted navy blue and white, with dark wood furniture adorning the corners.

Going over to a door to the right, he swung it open to reveal a large elegant bathroom, definitely fit to be in a castle. The walls were white, and marble floors and counter tops caused light from the window to bounce around the small space.

"Here's a towel for when you're done, I'll go grab the uniform." He turned and walked through the door leaving Emmy to wander over to the shower and try to figure out how to turn it on herself. She wasn't the most technologically advanced, she'd admit to herself, so it took her a good eight minutes to turn the bugger on. After making sure the door was locked she stripped and climbed into the shower, letting the stream of hot water relax her muscles.

Finally climbing out, she realized Roman still wasn't back yet, listening through the bedroom door for sound. Deciding that it was safe, she walked back into the bedroom, looking around. There were pictures on the desk of Roman and Walter, as well as a very beautiful woman that must have been Roman's mum. Turning around and glancing at the bed she wondered if it was comfy. As if being drawn by a magnetic force, she found herself sitting down on the side, feeling the cool sheeting below her. Laying her head down she promised herself that she'd only close her eyes for a second, before gently lulling off to sleep.

That's the position Roman found her in when reentering the room with her new clothes. He looked at her and felt a pull at his heart, sleeping peacefully she was beautiful. He set the new clothes on his desk and moved to pull the comforter up over her, to cover her and expel the goose bumps all over her body, but as he was pulling it up around her torso she reached out and grabbed him, pulling him onto the bed with a strength he didn't know she possessed. Looking at her face he judged that she was still asleep as she cuddled into his side, sighing in content.

He tried to escape her grasp, but she would just grip his arms tighter, causing him to finally give up and drift off to sleep next to her.