The Personal Assistant.

Chapter 30

"So how come I haven't heard about Frank?" Elizabeth asked as they took out the horses. "Well, I can't say for sure." He reached out to hold Porridge for Elizabeth but she shook her head. "No need I can get on by myself. But do continue." 

"Are you sure about that?" He asked crossing his arms. 

"Yes, I am." She said trying to place her foot in the stirrup. For a moment she struggled before she finally did it. "There step one done."

"Yeah now, all you've got to do is just mount the horse." 

"I got this." She replied trying to pull herself up. As she did that however the horse moved ever so slightly causing her to nearly lose her balance. 

"Alright, that's enough." He said taking the reins. "Now before you hurt yourself let me give  you a boost." He held the reins as he folded his hands together for her to put her foot in. Using that bit of help she managed to finally mount the horse. 

"Now hold on to the reins, and don't do anything alright?" He said as he walked over to Fred. 

"So as I was saying,  when I was younger their contact had already become less. I mean I knew they were friends, but they lived in different worlds." He spoke as he mounted the horse.

"Alright, now just loosely hold the reins like this." He said gesturing to his hands. "Give the horse a soft kick and just follow my lead." He said as they started their ride. 

 "Now, they both grew up here, my father and Frank. My father, however, didn't like the country life all that much. For years he had watched as people never left their safe little town." 

Elizabeth listened carefully as the two started riding down the path towards the forest. 

"When he grew older he just wanted to leave, to go out into the world. Frank however just wanted to work on the ranch. The two had a fight and in the end, he left. Later on, they reconciled and he gifted Frank the ranch.

Later in life they started having less and less contact, they talked every now and then but that's all I know. Then after my mother passed away he'd sent me to this ranch in the summer."

James turned his head to look at Elizabeth and their eyes connected. He watched her for a moment, looking deeply into her eyes. 

It was then that he truly looked at her, then that he noticed how different she looked now. Her eyes and face were the same, but everything else looked different. Her long hair looked wild and unkempt, very unlike the tidy perfect hair that she usually had. Furthermore, the more 'western' outfit that she was wearing was very unlike the modern dresses and skirts she usually wore. 

She smiled at him before turning her head away from his gaze. "So how did you meet that horse a long time ago?" He asked changing the subject. 

"What?" She asked surprised. 

"Well, you said that you met one a long time ago. So tell me the story." 

"Oh, that story." She replied. "It's not that interesting."

"Tell me anyway"

"Alright." She sighed. "But honestly, this story could just have been, I went to a barn once. The end." 

"But it isn't" He replied smirking. 

"As if you knew that." 

She was about to continue when Porridge made a minor misstep scarring her more then she would have liked to admit. A small yelp left her mouth as it did so. 

"Are you alright?" James asked her.

"I'm fine, I just didn't see that coming." She breathed out. 

"So as for how you met the horse..."

"You are way to interested in that story." She chuckled. "But alright. But first, let me tell you that my dad is a veterinarian. One day his patient was a horse and I went along. I mean growing up in Chicago I'd never really been to a farm. And that is where I met the horse. See, it is not an interesting story." 

"So you're from Chicago?" He replied. 

"That's what you got from that?" She laughed. "Yeah, I am." 

The two of them continued talking about their childhoods and riding the horses at a slow pace. At first, Elizabeth had felt a bit uneasy riding a horse, but luckily that feeling had disappeared quickly. 

After a while, they reached a clearing and got off of the horses. "Nice spot," Elizabeth commented.

 "I used to come here when I was younger." 

James laid out a blanket for the two of them and they sat down. "Such a gentleman," She said chuckling. "What you don't like it?" He said looking up with a smirk on his face. "Not really my cup of tea, but I do like picnic's." She smiled. 

They sat, ate lunch and talked for a while. Laughs where shared and in the end, all that Elizabeth could think was, this is not so bad after all...