There were days when Declan was so busy brewing new fragrances, buying materials and ingredients, arranging displays and making calls that the hours went by in a flurry before he knew it. Today wasn't one of those days. Everything felt slow and his staff seemed to be in constant need of help with just about anything. He wouldn't have minded normally, but he was sure he had explained all of it before, several times.
Any attempt of his to concentrate and focus was swiftly interrupted by his thoughts travelling back to the weekend prior. Farren had finally met his mother and as far as he could tell things had gone well. However, the true test of things was yet to come. His mother had invited Farren round to visit later in the week. Declan felt nervous about it. What if it went poorly? Would that put Farren off? On the one hand he didn't care too much about what his folks had to say, but it would be easier for everyone involved if they didn't end up disliking Farren. He had great ambitions and clearing this first hurdle towards success would be nice.
There was a second, darker subject intruding upon his thoughts as well. His father hadn't looked well at all when he'd seen him yesterday. Fintan O'Dwyer wasn't usually the squeamish or sickly sort, which meant that something was up. Declan didn't really want to speculate, but he had a fair idea what might be going on there and he didn't like it. His old man was clever enough to stay out of trouble, but still, this didn't bode well.
At last, he managed to loose himself in a recent Russian study on the nature of primulaceae. Just as he was getting to the interesting part, one of his sales assistants stepped into his office and informed him that a young lady had arrived asking for him.
"Yes, please, I'm expecting her," he confirmed briefly, feeling no need to tell his staff any more detail. The less they knew about, the better.
He ran his hand through his hair, trying to smooth it out a little and looked up. Ideally, he should have gotten changed, but the turtleneck and suit combination he was wearing was passable.
And there she was looking absolutely stunning. He'd have never said he particularly liked blue, but Farren was a vision. A smile crept into his eyes, but he patiently waited for them to be alone before saying anything.
"Hello, love. You look gorgeous tonight." They exchanged a quick kiss. It still felt a little surreal. What would happen when they made things public? The thought raced back to the forefront of his mind unbidden.
"I see you're well. And I'm glad you came back after meeting my mother. I was worried there for a minute." He tried for humour, but there was a kernel of truth to his statement. He decided that perhaps he was more worried about his parents passing Farren's muster than he was about the reverse. Farren had a sharp tongue and an opinion on everyone who was anyone and there was no denying that what she thought mattered to him. Greatly.