Myrddin's Magic - Book One of the Magic Trilogy

Chapter Four

Amalie threw her purse on the kitchen table and put on the kettle. She walked through to the living room and collapsed on the couch, shut her eyes and reviewed her day. She was exhausted. Killian was a machine. He just kept going. Amalie had been running all day, forgoing lunch and dinner to keep up with him.

Amalie mentally reviewed the items in her refrigerator. She needed to go shopping but didn't have the energy to go out again. Besides, she would have to go to the twenty-four hour grocery store, and it was a ten-minute walk away. She hadn't gotten off work until nine o'clock, and by the time the bus took her home and she made it into her apartment it was past ten. She hadn't even had time to do her exercises yet.

She needed something fast to make, something she could eat quickly before falling into bed. She decided on a cup of instant soup and closed her eyes as she waited for the kettle to finish boiling so that she could make her dinner. She fell asleep while she was waiting.

At six thirty the next morning, Amalie woke up to the beeping of an incoming text message. She lifted her work phone. Killian had sent her a message. "Got the data. Please clear your schedule so that you can analyze it this morning." She clicked into the message from Bob. There were six large files attached to the message.

Amalie threw down the phone and raced into the bathroom to get ready for the day. After showering, drying her hair and putting on makeup, she ran into her bedroom to search through her wardrobe for some suitable business casual wear, and settled on a pair of black dress pants and a cream sweater set. She shoved her feet into comfortable flats, grabbed her purse, and scurried out the apartment to catch the next bus. She had walked the day before, but with wanting to get started on analyzing the files, she didn't have time to walk again.

Amalie arrived at the office before Killian. She had reviewed and memorized Killian's schedule while she was on the bus so that she could designate her morning to analyze data. By the time Killian arrived for the day, Amalie was well into overviewing the first document in depth. She smiled as Killian walked through to his office.

"Did you get the text this morning about the data analysis?" he asked.

She finished writing down a couple of observations about the data and put down her pen. "I did. And I put a fresh cup of Mocha Magic on your desk. I thought you might need the caffeine to help get everything done. Those files are large."

"They are. Thanks for the coffee. I was just about to ask you to go down and get some for us."

Three hours later, Amalie was finished reviewing the data. She went down to the coffee shop to get Killian another coffee and carried them back to their office. "Are you finished reviewing the data?" asked Killian as she replaced the cup of cold coffee on his desk with a hot one.

"I am."

"Do you have a few minutes to review it with me?"

"Of course." Amalie walked out to the reception area to retrieve her notes and a pen.

"What did you discover?" asked Killian as Amalie sat down in front of him, and Amalie went over her findings and analysis. Killian listened as Amalie struggled to concentrate on the numbers. She was shaking and, as she put the notepad on his desk, her uncoordinated hands knocked his coffee over.

"I'm so sorry", she said as she popped up and started towards the adjoining bathroom to get a wet paper towel to clean up the mess. She got up too fast, however, and the room started to spin. She took two steps before her vision went gray and black spots danced in front of her eyes. "Help", she whispered as she blacked out.