He’d spent most of his life in the spotlight. It was part and parcel of being a prince and, although sometimes intrusive, he’d got used to it.
His stomach growled and he quickly ate the toast, dressing as he drank the tea. It was still before seven as he reached the clinic.
His hand hesitated at the handle of the door. What if Arissa was still in a bad mood? What if she was still unhappy with him? He would have to try and make some amends.
As soon as he pushed open the door his nose wrinkled at the smell—the very enticing smell.
Steam was coming from two coffee cups sitting on the table in the staff room, along with a plate of chocolate croissants. It seemed there was a French bakery somewhere in Temur Sapora.
‘Oh, you’re here.’ Arissa halted as she walked over with another plate in her hands. Her hair was loose around her shoulders and she was wearing a green knee-length shirt dress with a simple tie at the waist. As he moved closer the scent of freesias drifted towards him. He’d noticed it before around her, either her shampoo or her perfume.
‘Yes, I’m here,’ he said carefully. ‘Weren’t you expecting me?’
She licked her lips and pushed one of the plates towards him. She seemed nervous. ‘Yes, well, I’d hoped you’d still come. Here. I brought a peace offering.’
He tried to hide the smile that wanted to appear as relief flooded through him. ‘Why would you need a peace offering?’
She gave a forced kind of smile. ‘I think I might have been a bit uptight last night. I thought a visit to our French bakery might stop you deciding to withdraw your services.’
He pulled out a chair and sat down, sliding one of the coffees towards him. ‘You thought I would withdraw my services?’ Now he truly was surprised.
She gave a half-shrug. ‘I might have stayed up half the night worrying about it.’
He shook his head and reached over and squeezed her hand. ‘Don’t be silly. I’m not going to walk away and leave you on your own.’ He raised his eyebrows. ‘No matter how cranky you are.’
She mimicked his expression, raising her own eyebrows. ‘Cranky?’ she queried, grabbing one of the chocolate croissants and ripping it in half, revealing the half-melted chocolate.
He nodded as he took a sip of the coffee. ‘Oh, yeah, you’re definitely cranky. But, hey, you’re stuck with me for the next couple of weeks. I told you. I’m bored.’
He was keeping things simple. If he didn’t ask Arissa too many questions, hopefully she would return the favour. It was nice being under the radar for a while and there were benefits to keeping it that way.
The last few months working in one of the hospitals in Corinez had been a different experience from working across the globe. He’d started to take for granted the anonymity of working in other countries. Back home in Corinez everyone knew who he was. Some even addressed him as ‘Your Highness’. As much as he wished it wouldn’t, it impacted on his work. He’d found things much more difficult back home. But here in Temur Sapora he was regaining the chance of just being Philippe, the regular doctor. Not Philippe, the Prince. And he’d forgotten how much he missed that.
But it seemed that Arissa didn’t want to go into too many details herself. She gave a grateful nod and reached for a laptop. ‘I have a way to stop you being bored.’
‘You do?’ He leaned a little closer.
She pulled up some lists of patients. ‘There’s a number of patients I’d like to review today—and, if you don’t mind, there’s a few I’d like you to review too.’
Philippe gave a nod and turned the laptop towards him as he glanced over the list of patients. There was a wide variety. A few of them were on the research study, some had already attended the clinic with chest complaints and been asked to return for review. Another few had minor complaints and required stitches removed.
Philippe gave a smile. Nothing here was arduous. ‘No problem. Happy to review all these patients, plus any others that appear at the clinic today.’ He glanced at the list that Arissa had prepared for herself. It was full of more children with blood disorders. A completely specialised area that he knew she was best to work on herself.