As Paul began to open the door with his key, he felt the sudden urge to sneeze. It burned his nose and he rubbed his eyes. He began to feel very warm, and it was winter. He tried to push the thought of him being sick to the back of his head, and turned open the door. He threw his bags into the counter, carefully removing his shoes and placing down his keys. As Paul turned the corner to the lounge room, he gasped audibly.
"Hi!" Emma said cheerfully. A small creature was in her arms and she held it up. "We have a cat!"
Paul stumbled back a bit, and regained his balance. "A-A cat?" He asked, feeling the need to sneeze again.
"Isn't he cute?" Emma smiled at the small animal in her hands, oblivious to the fact Paul was becoming unwell.
Paul's head was spinning. "It's not ours, r-right?" He grabbed a glass of water, before sneezing into a tissue. He felt his face heat up and also start to sweat.
"Oh, no, it's Zoey's. She asked me to cat-sit and-" As she placed the cat down, Emma caught site of Paul's horrific state. "Holy shit, are you okay?"
"Y-yeah." His words was falling out of his mouth now, and he tried to push Emma's comforting hand away before sneezing again, which was only followed by a raspy cough.
"No, no you're not!" Emma said worriedly, unsure of what to do.
"Em-Emma," he said breathlessly. He felt his eyes start to droop and he had to force himself to stay upright. "I'm allergic to cats."
Emma's eyes widened. "B-but, I thought that was a joke!" She looked so upset, and Paul mentally kicked himself.
"No, no, I'm serious." Paul replied, leaning up against the wall.
Emma quickly grabbed some random medicine from the cabinet and thrust it into his hand. "Here, take this." She looked at his tired face and brought her hand up to his forehead. It was very warm, and she could tell Paul was really not feeling alright. "Shit, I'm sorry Paul. Come, sit down on the couch." She said, guiding him over.
"Can't." Paul's voice sounded wheezy now. "The cat is there."
"Oh, right. Um, I'll ring Nora, maybe she can take it." Emma grabbed her phone and quickly spoke to her other coworker about the situation.
"Alright, thanks Nora. I'll do an extra shift for you, ok. See you shortly." Emma rushed over to the cat, scooping it up into the cage. Nora arrived quickly, taking the cat away from Paul. Emma grabbed the blanket they had been using and got it far away from Paul before leading him over to the couch.
His allergies had dimmed down a bit by then, but he still really needed to rest. Emma sat next to him, cuddling up on his arm and sighed. "I'm really sorry. I literally thought you were joking when you said you were allergic to them."
Paul laughed lightly. "Nope, cats are demons. But it's okay, really."
If possible, Emma bugged him harder and rested her head on his shoulder. Paul admired the sudden affection, because Emma was certainly not the romantic type to do this, but it made his heart flutter a little more than usual.
A moment passed of the two on the couch together before Emma spoke up again. "You good with dogs?"
"Yep." Paul replied.
"When we are old and grey, we will get a dog then." Emma said happily.
Paul smiled and felt a soft blush creep up on his cheeks. "You think we will last that long?" He questioned.
"Well, duh." Emma lifted her head to look up at him. "I'm not just going to leave you anytime soon."
"Gosh, Emma, don't pull that card on me now!" He smiled.
"What? What card?"
"The 'Hi, I'm Emma. I'm ridiculously adorable and I like to make my boyfriend feel like the luckiest guy in the world!' card."
"Ah, yes." She giggled quietly. "My favourite card, if I do say so myself!"
"Agreed." Paul replied, leaning down to plant a soft kiss on her head. "Now, I feel like death. I'm gonna try to sleep."
"Ok." She said, gazing up at him as he slowly closed his eyes and drifted into a deep sleep. "I love you." She whispered quietly, before closing her own eyes.
Paul wasn't actually asleep, of course. And he silently mouthed back 'I love you too.'
