Chapter 8
Chapter Eight
I t was late when I woke up the next day, being gently battered around the head with Lady Fraser’s plastic cone of shame. The cat was sitting on my stomach, purring and kneading sharp claws into my chest. Groggily I pushed her off and swung my legs out of bed.
In a horrible case of coincidence and bastard karma, I had been called out at 2am by a real-life farmer called Angus MacDonald, and had spent most of the night up to my armpits in a cow, trying to deliver a stuck calf.
And now I was bloody knackered, ached like I’d done ten rounds with Mike Tyson, and had a Saturday morning clinic in twenty minutes.
After feeding Lady Fraser and taking a record-breaking super-quick shower, I bounded downstairs, pulled a white coat on over my clothes and hurtled headlong into Giles in the dispensary.
“Morning, Hannah. Are you ok?”
“Yes.”
“Busy night of call-outs?” Giles queried, taking in my damp hair and the granola bar I was hastily cramming into my mouth.
I nodded and swallowed. “Yes, tricky calving, but all went well in the end.”
“Good.” Giles shifted on his feet, limbering up for something. “So, um, we’ve had another complaint. From Mrs Wainscott this time.”
“Oh.”
Mrs Wainscott was a po-faced old lady with a grumpy dachshund called Bridgit. She had not been happy with me when I had growled ferociously at her little darling last week and called the diminutive canine a “vicious little grotbag”. In my defence, Bridgit had tried to bite me while I performed the joyous task of emptying her impacted anal glands, so she most definitely deserved the reprimand and had behaved perfectly after that. I admit that she had been a bit quivery when Mrs Wainscott had carried her out of the consulting room – or maybe it had been Mrs Wainscott who was quivering? Either way, I didn’t think my actions were wholly unjustified.
“I really do need you to work on how you’re addressing clients, Hannah. I don’t want this to be an insurmountable barrier. Perhaps you could take an interpersonal skills course or something?”
A course on how not to be a sour-faced cow. Right. I’d be sure to look that up on the internet. I rolled my eyes and Giles opened his mouth to say something when the bell above the clinic door rang. We both looked across the reception area to see which of our clients had turned up early for their appointment, and I was met with Teddy’s dazzling smile as he gave us a little wave.
“Morning, I’ve come in to check on my favourite feline and her amazing vet. How is everyone today?”
Jenny, Giles’s wife and our indomitable receptionist, jumped up from her seat and scooted over, gushing and fawning at him, while Betsy was speculatively eyeing up the huge box of chocolates and bunch of flowers in his hands.
Giles gave me a not-so-gentle shove.
“Now’s your chance to prove to me how accommodating you can be with your client.”
I glared at him.
“But not with Teddy Fraser, though?”
Giles nodded.
“But—” I shot Betsy a desperate look. Help me , I pleaded silently at her.
“You’ve got this, tiger,” she said with a grin.
“Yes, why not?” Giles asked.
“We have a history,” I hissed.
“Then you need to show me how professional you can be, and practise being happy-to-help Hannah, rather than here’s-the-door Hannah, ok?”
Giles looked inordinately pleased with his little play on words. It was nothing that a quick rap across the shins couldn’t have fixed, but I resisted the very real urge to kneecap him, instead balling my hands into fists until my nails dug into my palms.
Professional, see?
“Are you serious?”
“Yes, Hannah, I am. You could learn a thing or two from this chap about how to talk to other people, nicely .”
Teddy was schmoozing his way around Jenny who was giggling flirtatiously in his presence, then he glanced in our direction. “Hey, Betsy, lovely to see you again.”
“And you, Ted. How are the renovations coming along?”
“Good, thanks! I’ve still not got hot water, but at least the hole in the roof is mended.” He grinned broadly. “How’s Emily? Have you two managed to decide on that extension yet?”
Betsy and her partner, Emily, were planning substantial work on their house, and I was surprised that Teddy knew about it.
“Oh yes! Can we pop in to see you next week? We’ve ironed out the kitchen layout and could do with a few amendments to the drawings, if you don’t mind?”
“Of course. Let me know what works for you, and I’ll have the kettle on and ready.”
I gawped at Betsy, who just shrugged and mouthed, “What?” .
Giles gave me another nudge and I contorted my face into a grimace-attempting-to-be-a-smile, and positioned myself next to Betsy, trying to channel her zesty presence.
“Lady’s fine this morning, Teddy. Are you here to settle your bill? Because Jenny can absolutely help with that.” I kept the false smile plastered on my face, like a maniac, and Teddy took a hesitant step backwards as I approached.
“Are you ok, Hannah?”
He was looking at me as if I were a serial killer. Maybe I needed to tone down the homicidal grin.
“Yep.”
Giles appeared next to me. “Mr Fraser?”
“Please, call me Ted. We’re neighbours,” he said, with a meaningful look in my direction.
“Ah. I’m Giles, the other vet here. Have you bought The Old Rectory then?” Teddy nodded and Giles carried on: “Glad to hear it’s going to be lived in. Hannah, why don’t you take Ted into consulting room one and have a chat about his cat. Reassure him?” Giles beamed up at Teddy.
I stared blankly at my boss for a moment.
“Now?” Giles said awkwardly out of the corner of his mouth.
I let out a long, resigned sigh and angled my head towards the consulting room. “Come on. This way.”
Teddy dutifully followed and closed the door behind him. He laid the flowers and chocolates down on the examination table with a flourish.
“These are for you.”
“Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why have you brought me flowers and chocolates?”
“It’s stage one of my plan to woo you. How’s it working?”
Crossing my arms, I scowled at him.
I am not – I repeat not – falling for this. At all. Ever.
And I was most definitely not thinking about the almost-kiss in the car last night. Nope.
“What are you playing at?”
Teddy folded his arms as well, frowning slightly as he said, “I’m not playing at anything.”
“Listen, I’m on decidedly dodgy ground here and there’s a real risk I may be about to lose my job. So, I don’t need you popping in on dubious social calls while I’m at work.”
“I’m here about Lady Fraser. I made an appointment to see you because I’ve not managed to find her owner yet, so I thought we should probably discuss what to do with her. And anyway, my social calls are not dubious, Hannah.” He paused. “What have you done to risk losing your job?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“I might be able to help…”
I shuffled my feet awkwardly and looked away. “Probably not.”
“Try me.”
I chanced a look at his face and saw that he seemed genuinely concerned. “Fine. All right. Well, the thing is … some clients have complained to Giles and accused me of being a bit prickly to deal with.”
Teddy started to laugh – a deep, rumbling belly-laugh. Some snorting was also involved. He may even have had to wipe away a couple of tears.
“Hey! It’s not that funny!”
“It kind of is though, isn’t it?” he said, trying to straighten his face and failing miserably.
“No! I’m on my last chance here. If I lose this job in my probationary period I may not get another one in first-opinion practice, and there’s nothing else nearby, anyway. I need this job. I can’t go back to my clinical fellowship at the university, so without it I’m essentially screwed.”
“Oh.” He abruptly stopped laughing.
“Yes, Teddy, oh .”
I plucked at a loose thread on my shirt.
“Why can’t you go back?”
Should I tell him this?
He’d probably cheated on hundreds of women in his time. He’d think I was being emotional and hysterical (just like Jonathan did). No, now was not the time, and he was definitely not the person to unload this baggage onto.
“I just can’t.”
“Is there anything I can do?” He looked sincere, any amusement having vanished without a trace.
With a sigh I rubbed my hands over my face. “Maybe there is one thing you could do.”
“What is it?”
“You could tell Giles that I have been unwaveringly polite and professional, and that you don’t think I’m prickly to deal with. Please?”
Teddy looked thoughtful and smiled. “Yeah, I can do that for you.” He paused, and narrowed his eyes. “On two conditions.”
“Conditions?”
Uh oh. I do not like the sound of this.
“Yep.”
“And they are?” I asked, pinching the bridge of my nose with my fingers, readying myself for something entirely onerous and annoying to come out of his mouth.
“One: you accept these kind and considerate gifts that I brought for you. Graciously. Maybe even with a smile.”
“Fine.”
I tried to smile and he wrinkled his nose.
“Forget the smile.”
I stuck out my tongue.
Excellent professional skills here, Hannah.
This was going superbly well.
“Say ‘Thank you, Ted’.” He gave me a pointed look and a little James Bond eyebrow action.
I glared. “Two?”
“Two: you agree to help me with my house renovations in your spare time.”
“What?!”
“Only a bit of painting or helping me move stuff. I’m really struggling on my own, Hannah, and everyone else is too busy to lend a hand. You’re right here, next door, and you look fairly strong.”
“I have no upper body strength. These long, skinny arms are like two bits of cooked spaghetti.”
I waved them around a bit like Mr Tickle to prove my point.
“I’ve seen the enormous horse you ride and I don’t believe that for one minute.”
“Honestly, Ted, I’m pathetically weak.”
“Not buying it.”
He was not budging on this. Dammit.
“Well, I’m useless at DIY stuff so you definitely do not want my help.”
I was getting desperate now. I could not spend all my spare time with Teddy Fraser. No way. Absolutely not.
“You’ll learn. Anyway, it’s really just fetching and carrying stuff or holding things that I need you for. And to make me cups of tea.”
I stared at him incredulously, but he just continued to contemplate me with a confident and amused expression. There was no way I was going to be any use in his house renovations, but he kind of had me over a barrel here, and as much as it pained me to think it, I really needed him to tell my boss that I wasn’t always an angry hedgehog.
What he’d said last night came into my mind – I was just making small talk. Being nice. Perhaps you should try it? – and a brainwave began to conga through my head gaining traction as it went. What if Giles was right? What if I just needed to study techniques in being nice to people? Perhaps I could learn from Teddy’s charming personality and use it to my advantage, maybe even convince Giles that I didn’t need to go to some lame-ass interpersonal skills course? And it wouldn’t be forever, right? I could stand to be in the same room as Teddy Fraser for a little while. I could resist his ridiculous wooing or whatever it was he was doing. I could keep it platonic. I could stamp on this ridiculous crush. I could do that, couldn’t I? For the security of my own career?
“Fine, but only for a few weeks. You can’t string me out as your labourer forever.”
“Would I do that?”
“Yes. You absolutely would.” I placed my hands on my hips and gave him my best I’m-taking-no-nonsense-from-you look. “In return for utilising my questionable brawn, not only will you tell Giles how great I am at my job and what a professional, friendly service you have received from me, but you’ll also teach me how to be nice to people so that I get to keep my job, and you get to have the delightful pleasure of continuing to be my neighbour. Deal?”
Teddy smirked and cocked his head to the side. “You want me to teach you how to be nice to people? That’s your negotiation?”
“Yes. Consider this a chance to deliver a masterclass in flirting techniques.”
His smile broadened further. “Ok, let’s shake on it, then I’ll go and tell Giles what a great job you’re doing being so nice to me. We can get stuck in to your first DIY skills tutorial tomorrow.”
“Fine.”
I took his outstretched hand, resisting the urge to pull away as his long, warm fingers firmly wrapped around mine. A little ripple built up my arm as the nerve endings fired rapidly under my skin.
With a satisfied nod, and seemingly unaffected by my touch, Teddy dropped the contact. He turned to open the consulting room door, and added, “Oh, and as part of the deal, and to demonstrate how nice you can be, I also get to use your shower until I have proper running water sorted, ok?”
The absolute bloody cheek of him had my mouth hanging open in shock, but he was already sauntering off towards the reception area and was regaling my colleagues with tales of my wonderful bedside manner, and not-at-all hedgehog-like tendencies.