Her Knight at the Museum

Chapter Ten

Ten

Emily spent the next hour finishing her condition assessment report on Griffin as a statue. Someone would probably want it, even if she’d never worked on anything so pointless in her life.

At noon, she went to Rose’s office and found her at her desk. She was wearing a pink maxi dress and was engrossed in texting someone.

“Hi,” Emily said. “Still want to go to lunch?” Two of the young women she worked with gave Emily curious looks. Maybe they knew she worked in Objects Conservation.

“Yes, definitely,” Rose said. “Hang on, I’m just texting my brother.” In a few moments, she finished typing and picked up her purse.

“Did you get a chance to tell him thank you for me?” Emily asked.

“I did! He was happy to help.”

Emily still intended to take Griffin clothes shopping. Rose’s brother’s sneakers were a bit too large, and the jeans were about an inch too short. Those were things he really needed to try on.

As they walked out of the office, Emily said, “I like your dress.”

“Oh, thanks! On Fridays I wear pink,” Rose quipped.

“That’s a Mean Girls reference, right?” Emily had never actually seen the movie.

“No, it’s a witch thing. Friday is dedicated to the goddesses Venus and Freya, and pink is their color, and it’s a day for self-love and romance. You know, just basic correspondences.” Emily definitely did not know, but Rose gave a wave of her hand as they headed down the stairs. “But tell me about the FBI agents.”

Emily explained how she’d followed Terrence’s example and clammed up. “You’ll be fine,” Rose reassured her. “You guys are right not to talk. I think my brother should’ve tried that.” She darted a look at Emily. “My brother’s one of the smartest guys I know. But when he was an addict, he did dumb things.”

That was so sad. “I’m so sorry. It must’ve been hard on you, too.”

“But he’s three hundred days sober today. He texted me.”

“That’s fantastic!”

As they went down the stairs, Rose said, “So I was listening to this podcast about the theft.”

It took Emily a moment to process this. “ How? It wasn’t in the news until last night!”

“People have police scanners, you know. Anyway, the going theory is that it was the Chicago mob.”

“ Is there still a Chicago mob?”

Rose shrugged. “There sure was when I was growing up in Cicero, but I think a lot of those guys are dead?”

“As long as they’re not talking about me.” Emily froze, stopping again. “You didn’t put up that one post, did you? With me and his statue?”

“No…” Rose cringed, drawing up her hands near her body like a T. rex. “Okay, I forgot to un-schedule it. So it was up this morning, but for five minutes, tops. I deleted it.”

Oh God. Emily’s throat tightened.

“I’m so, so sorry,” Rose said. “We had this big meeting about how to answer questions about the theft, and public statements, and I…but it wasn’t up for long, seriously!”

Emily took a deep breath and let it out. Not many people could’ve seen it, could they? People didn’t obsessively check the AIC social media accounts. It was a museum, not a celebrity.

“Oh, and you weren’t wearing your glasses,” Rose added. “People might not recognize you, anyway.”

That was some consolation. She didn’t want Rose to feel bad, after all she’d done to help. “I’m sure it’s fine. I’m lucky you saw it so soon.”

“Not really. Most of the time I’m awake, I’m online. But I have to be, right?” Her face hadn’t yet rearranged itself from a pained grimace. “There’s one other thing you should know.”

“What?”

“There’s a video of Griffin running around and then kissing you.”

Emily’s hands flew to her suddenly hot cheeks. “How?”

“What do you mean, how? A gorgeous knight in shining armor, running and shouting through the museum? Yeah, people are going to take out their phones.”

“I wish social media didn’t exist.” Emily winced. “Uh…sorry.”

“Eh, I’ve thought it before, too. Do you want me to send you the link?”

“No!”

“You’re a stronger woman than me,” Rose said wryly. “Come on.” She gestured with her head, urging Emily to keep walking down the stairs.

“Are we going to the food trucks again?”

“If that’s okay. I’m addicted to those tacos.”

Emily nodded.

“How’s Griffin doing? What did you do last night?”

How was Griffin doing? “I tried to explain America and Europe to him.”

“Wow. Can you explain them to me next?” Rose joked. “Is he freaked out by women working and stuff?”

“Not at all, actually. He knew two women who ran breweries.”

“Seriously? That’s so badass.” A sly smile played at Rose’s lips. “So where did he sleep?”

“On the sofa,” Emily said firmly and explained her conversation with Griffin.

“I don’t know,” Rose said. “I see what you’re saying, but you’re obviously into him. You get starry eyes every time you look at him.”

Emily clicked her tongue. “I do not.”

“Cartoon-level starry eyes,” Rose insisted. “And it seems like he’s even crazier about you.”

“That’s what I thought about Tom.”

Rose cast her a sidelong glance. “Are you really comparing a literal knight to your dirtbag tech-bro ex?”

“No? I don’t know.” They exited through the glass doors and headed toward the food trucks.

“You could just have a fling,” Rose said in a lower voice as they got in line. “Aren’t you curious about how a guy from his era does it?”

“Rose!” Emily laughed despite herself.

But then her friend frowned. “There’s no chance he has some kind of medieval STD or anything, is there?”

A cold wave of horror washed over Emily. “I never even thought about diseases.” How could she have been so stupid? “He has no vaccines! And I took him on the train !” Who knew what his immune system was like?

Rose grabbed her arm. “ Breathe. He’s probably going to be okay.”

“But how am I going to get him shots?” Emily fretted. “He doesn’t even have an ID.”

“Yeah, about the ID…” Rose pursed her lips. “I know a guy.”

Despite her worry, Emily had to smile. I know a guy was such a Chicago thing to say, particularly when it came to shady things.

“He’s a friend of my brother’s, actually,” Rose added, “but I know him, too.”

“If he can help, that would be amazing.” The back of Emily’s neck prickled. Since when did she casually break the law? But Griffin couldn’t be undocumented forever. He would be a great member of society if people would give him a chance.

“But I need to get shots in him, fast,” Emily thought out loud.

Rose frowned. “I know there’s a few free clinics in town. I’m not sure whether they ask for ID.”

“Right. I’ll look that up.” A more horrible thought popped into her head. “Oh my God, what if he has the plague ?”

“Not everyone from the Middle Ages has the plague, Emily,” Rose chided. They’d reached the front of the line, and she turned and ordered her chicken taco with extra avocado. “What are you getting?”

“Um, same,” Emily said, in the middle of typing timing of plague outbreaks Europe into her phone. “Thanks.” She let Rose pay for both, since she’d paid last time. “Here we go…big outbreak in 1400, when he was a little kid, and the next outbreak wasn’t until 1438. It’s probably okay.”

“He doesn’t look plaguey,” Rose said helpfully, taking the tacos and handing one to Emily. They both went to sit on the nearby short wall.

Rose murmured, “I think that guy over there is staring at us.”

“What guy?”

Rose studied the paper plate in her lap. “Ten o’clock. White guy, white button-down shirt and jeans.”

Emily spotted him. He looked to be maybe forty, trim, and he was sipping a coffee.

“I think he’s staring at you ,” Emily said.

“How can you tell? We’re sitting right next to each other.” Rose snuck another glance. “He’s good-looking.”

Emily agreed. He also looked, well, stable. Like someone with common sense. Not exciting, maybe, but the kind of guy that she’d envisioned when she started to set up a dating profile.

Griffin was the exact opposite of that. He didn’t even know enough about the world for common sense to be an option. And he was very exciting. But trustworthy? No, because he didn’t know enough about the world for that, either.

To Griffin right now, everything was amazing. The TV remote. Her. But before long, it would just be a TV remote, and she would just be her ordinary self.

She asked Rose, “Why don’t you go say hello?”

Her friend recoiled. “Oh no. I’m too shy.”

“You are not! But I get it,” Emily admitted. “I could never go up to a guy on the street and just start talking.”

“No, you just meet them at work and take them home to live with you.” They both laughed.

What would she and Griffin do if she got fired? Or even if she didn’t manage to snag a full-time position, which seemed like a distant dream now? What would he do, in the long term, regardless?

Well, that was something for Future Them to figure out.

···

The sun was going down by the time Emily walked up to her apartment building that evening. Griffin strode toward her down the sidewalk—sending a flutter of excitement along her nerves.

Rose was right. She was crazy about him.

“Griffin!” she called out. “Did you go for a walk?”

As he reached her side, he smiled, warmth shining in his blue eyes, and in an instant, all her dire worries released their choke hold on her. A girl could get used to coming home to a smile like that.

“Aye, my lady, I did. Has there ever been a brighter spring day? My only wish was that you could’ve joined me, for I confess I sorely missed you.” He was standing close enough to kiss her, and his gaze hung on her lips. “To see you again is sweeter than words can say.”

How was she supposed to keep any kind of emotional distance when he said things like that all the time ? “I’m glad to see you, too.” She put in the passcode for the building.

Griffin opened the door, and it took her a split second to realize he was holding it open for her. “Oh! Thank you.” Feeling awkward, she ducked her head and slinked past him—accidentally brushing her shoulder against his chest. Even more awkward.

“Um, where did you go?” she asked him.

“I walked north along the vast lake and past several fair beaches,” he said, following her in. “Then I came to a large university with vine-covered buildings, and a hall of glass right by the shore.”

Emily blinked. “You walked to Northwestern ?”

He shrugged. “There and back again cannot be more than three leagues.”

She couldn’t argue with him, mainly because she’d already forgotten how long a league was, but the distance to Northwestern’s campus had to be…five miles? Andy howled as they neared her front door, and they exchanged a glance and laughed.

“I need to get him outside. Do you want to come with me?”

“I first must visit the priv—the bathroom,” he corrected himself.

Andy was sniffing at the shrubs in front of the building when Griffin came out to join them and said, “You must tell me of your day and all that has passed.”

Emily grimaced. “The FBI was there. Like…constables? Or a sheriff and his men?”

His face fell. “But no one was arrested?”

“No. They were just asking questions, which I didn’t answer.” Maybe, by keeping him from getting worried about the investigation, she’d keep herself from freaking out, too. She made herself smile. “And hey, at least it’s Friday! I don’t work on Saturdays and Sundays. It’s called a weekend.”

He nodded, and she could almost see him filing this new term away in his head. “I like weekends.”

As they returned to the apartment and she closed the door behind them, she said, “I have to talk to you about health.”

A frown creased his brow. “Are you ill, my lady?”

“No! I’m fine.” She bent to unclip Andy’s leash. “But…there are illnesses that a lot of people get in our time, including one that you never had. It’s killed millions of people.”

His face was grave. “A new plague. I did not know.”

“But there are medicines that will make you less likely to get sick, and much less likely to die if you do. They put medicine in a needle and prick you with it, and it goes into your body.” He nodded, seeming to follow this. “Would you object to going with me and getting them tomorrow morning?” After some digging around on her lunch break, she’d found that one of the free clinics on the West Side had stopped asking for IDs around the time of the first big COVID outbreak, so she was hoping for the best.

“I would be grateful to do so.”

“Okay, great,” she said. “Are you thirsty?”

“Aye, but sit, and I will bring it to you.”

Oh. She sat down on the couch and Andy hopped up next to her. That part of the conversation had gone perfectly well, but she still felt anxious about what was to come. In a minute, Griffin brought two glasses of ice water and handed one to her.

“Thank you,” she said, beaming up at him.

He nodded and sat down in the chair opposite her, studying her. “There is something more that you would speak of, sweet bird.”

It wasn’t a question. There were a lot of things he didn’t understand, but when it came to picking up on her feelings, his comprehension was off the charts.

“Yes. You know, there are some diseases you get from sleeping with people. So I have to ask about the women you’ve slept with.”

“In truth, I have only slept with men.” He took a long drink of water.

Wait, what ? “Really?”

He nodded. “On campaigns, for even the son of an earl does not have a tent to himself.”

“Oh…I’m…not sure we’re talking about the same thing.” She gave a little laugh. She needed to be more specific. “I’m talking about when you put your, um…” What words had they used in his time? “Your manly part? Prick?”

“Prick, yes,” he said, nodding. Why was she speaking of this now?

“Right,” she said. “When you put that in a woman’s…” She gestured vaguely toward her crotch. “Or in someone’s, you know…” She cleared her throat, determined not to be a prude. “In someone’s back, uh, side…?”

Understanding dawned on his face. “Ah. I am not likely to do such things with a man, for I have been tempted only rarely, and the Church says it is an even graver sin.”

“Well, it’s not,” she said sharply. “A few people still think it is, but it isn’t.”

He shrugged. “Very well. Neither have I done those things with a lady.”

She set her glass down on the coffee table. “Griffin, are you telling me…you’re a virgin ?”