Ben's office
Ben sat at his desk the next morning organizing papers and getting himself ready for a day's work. He heard a knock on the door and hoped it was Mal coming to bid him a good morning.
"Come in," He said.
"Good morning king Benjamin," Liz replied. "I noticed that you got a lot of work done yesterday. I handed it to your father earlier this morning, and he was extremely pleased."
Ben smiled. "Mal helped me get myself organized last night so I could finish a lot of work," Ben remarked.
"Well I should let you start today's work, but I just wanted to let you know that your father is very proud of you,". She left the office and headed to her own office next door. Ben began to settle down and get into his work. He loved being king, but he could do without all the paperwork. Sometimes it was just way to stressful. He looked at the stack of papers delivered to his desk early in the morning, and groaned. It was going to be a long day.
Dorm kitchen
Mal stood in the kitchen making blueberry muffins. Ever since she had made that love spell for Ben, she had realized that she actually liked baking and cooking. She tried to refrain from magic spell treats and things like that, and she usually made normal things like brownies or cakes. She had woken up early in the morning so she could make a batch of muffins for Ben and surprise him with breakfast. She knew he was stressed by the look in his eyes last night when she visited him in his office. That's why she had helped him. She just hoped he could find peace with juggling the responsibilities of being king, a student at Auradon prep, and most importantly her boyfriend. She put the muffins on the oven, set the timer, and ran upstairs to her dorm to get dressed while they were cooking. (She enjoyed baking in her pajamas).
Ben's office
"Good morning Liz," Mal said cheerfully as she entered the room carrying a fresh batch of muffins.
"Good morning Mal... What is that delicious smell?" She asked.
"I just made a batch of blueberry muffins," Mal replied as she placed one on a napkin and handed it to Liz.
"Thank you Mal, I didn't get breakfast this morning," Liz exclaimed gratefully.
"Is Ben around?" Mal asked anxiously.
"I'm sorry Mal, King Benjamin has asked not to be disturbed today. I think he's ppretty stressed and overwhelmed by the amount of work that was sent in this morning. Seems there was a problem with one of the force fields in the museum, and so he has to go through a lot of extra work to ensure that it will get fixed and won't happen again," Liz answered.
Mal frowned. "That's alright, I guess I'll see him later."
"Goodbye Mal, I'll tell him you stopped by if I get a chance. Thanks again for the muffin," Liz stated.
Mal forced a smile but as soon as she walked out of the room she frowned again. Ben must be really stressed if he asked not to be disturbed all day. She only hoped that he would stop by sometime later, and at least say hello.
Mal and Evie's dorm
Mal walked back to her room, and saw Evie walk out of the room.
"I'm going out with Doug for breakfast, see you later," Evie explained.
Mal went into her room and got out her sketch pad and began to draw. For some reason it always seemed to calm her down. It didn't seem like she had anything better to do at the moment because Ben was busy, Evie was with Doug, Jay was probably at early morning Tourney practice, and Carlos was probably out giving Dude his morning walk. After she had drawn for a while, she went out and walked around the gardens and drew the flowers that she saw. Soon it was lunch time, so Mal went back to the dorm kitchen to do some more baking. Morning turned to afternoon and she was getting restless. All of her friends were out having fun, Ben was still working, and she was all alone. She decided that if Ben didn't come out of his office and come talk to her after dinner, she was going to go talk to him. Dinner came and he still hadn't come, so she made her way to his office not knowing what to expect.
Ben's office
Mal walked into the office, and saw that Liz's desk was empty. She must have gone home already. Mal thought to herself. She walked to Ben's office door and knocked.
"I said do not disturb me!" She heard Ben yell.
Mal was surprised at the fierceness in his voice. She had never seen Ben this way before, but she walked into the office anyway. Ben was pacing back and forth. There were papers everywhere, and the office was a mess. So much for organization, Mal thought.
"Mal why are you here," he practically yelled at her.
She stayed calm. "I thought you could use some company," she said simply.
"Well I don't need your help," he barked at her.
Mal was surprised. Ben had never treated her like this before. "Are you sure," she asked him.
"Yes I'm sure now get out of here," he yelled.
Mal did not move. She knew she had to calm Ben down, but she wasn't sure how.
"I don't need help from some useless villain child!" Ben screamed at her. As soon as those words came out of his mouth he regretted them. Especially when he saw the look of pure pain and terror on Mal's face before she ran out of his office. He followed her back to her dorm, but she slammed the door in his face. It was no use. He went back to his office placed his head in his hands and wept.
Mal and Evie's room
Mal was devastated. She had never cried before except one tear when she made the anti love potion. She threw herself on her bed and balled. She had never cried this much in her life. The tears just kept on flowing. Soon she had cried so much that she did't have any tears left. She kept crying even though there were no more tears, and soon she had cried herself to sleep.
To be continued...
