"Mr Hayden!" A faint voice reached him. Christopher looked around trying to find the source, only realising how far from the coast he has gotten. "Mr Hayden!"
Emilia stood on the beach, wearing a flowy summer dress with a thin white cardigan over it. Her hair loosely fell into waves which the wind carried playfully.
A relief like never before embraced him. A warmth spread through his body although his shirt was stuck to his skin. "I wouldn't recommend swimming here, sir." Emilia said quietly a she neared her, her face was filled with concern. "There are riptides hidden across the beach."
The euphoria of seeing for the first time in days was incomparable to anything he ever felt before. And she was well.
Christopher nodded as he came out of the water, his gaze glued to the woman that he adored. Her smile usually weakened his knees, but her concern now made his heart ache.
Emilia picked up the blanket without another word and spread it across Christopher's shoulders. She didn't have to say anything to show her care. It was enough to have her pull the blanket over Christopher, pulling the ends together at the front.
"What were you doing?" Christopher asked as he took the ends of the blanket off Emilia and held it himself.
"I was searching for pretty rocks, sir." Emilia smiled as she took a few rocks out of her cardigan pocket, showing them to Christopher. "That side of the beach has so many!" She pointed at the far end that was almost completely out of their sight.
"Rocks? What's so fascinating about rocks?" Christopher asked. His anger vanished the moment he thought something might've happened to Emilia, but something still lingered deep inside, currently overshadowed by unspoken care from Emilia, by her gentleness as she covered his shoulders. She didn't ask questions. She looked perplexed by him being in the water fully clothed but she didn't dare to probe Christopher.
"Everything!" Emilia answered enthusiastically.
"You have a higher education in sciences. I am certain that you're aware that rocks are simply minerals." Christopher's rotten mood seemed to be much harder to hide than on most of the days.
"Well, yes." Emilia nodded. "But I wouldn't use the word 'simply'. People in sciences love to break down the complex things to understand the universe and simplify it enough for our little brains to be able to comprehend it. And yes, we have a lot of answers. But it doesn't make the world any less fascinating. If we look at the rock, you might just see a mineral, I see millions of years of history. This rock might have first formed when there were still dinosaurs on our planet. For me, it is an astonishing reminder of how many things had to align perfectly for us to exist in this moment of time, as well as a reminder that we're specks of dust, and this very rock will last longer than any of us in this world." As Emilia explained, Christopher looked at her with stupefaction, her closeness electrifying him. "Sometimes it might be just a rock. For an investor, it's just a rock. But even a rock can be something special to the right person." Emilia looked down at the ground. "Oh, look! It's a shark tooth!" She picked it up and showed it to him with excitement that he hasn't seen in a long time. She was less than an arm reach away. "I think it belongs to the hammerhead shark. Did you know that there are nine species of hammerheads?"
"No, I did not." Christopher shook his head. He didn't object to Emilia spouting increasing number of words with more and more facts about sharks and fossils. Emilia started walking across the beach, pointing at different types of rocks and Christopher followed her looking at the ground himself. "Oh, that looks nice." He picked a small round stone like object and showed it off to Emilia. Her smile meant everything to him.
"That's sea glass. The unintentional collaboration between humans and nature. When glass falls into the sea, over time it wears down and the edges round off. It is, essentially, pulverized by the waves, salt, and sand. It is becoming rarer to find."
"Why?"
"Because humans have a very well known plastic problem." Emilia's face changed to express her disdain for the effects of humans on the planet that she loved so much. "We started to use less glass in favour of plastic."
"That's a shame. Any ideas how we can repair what was done?"
"Any change is a good change. Even slowing down our current contributions to the decline in environment is a good step. The issue is that many do not see sustainability and profit in the same space."
"But you already showed otherwise when working with Earthly."
"They are not mutually exclusive." Emilia looked up at him. Christopher found that again she was much closer than what he first realised. He could see a golden specks in her brown eyes that shone like an amber.
He never saw anyone that would have made him stop, that would make his heart race, or take his breath away. Not until now. Her plum lips seemed inviting. He wanted to touch her.
"Your dissertation is on sustainable business, isn't it?" He asked, dismissing his thoughts that went in a direction that he tried to conceal.
"You've remembered!" Emilia was genuinely surprised.
"Yes." Christopher didn't even realise that he blushed. "I really wish that you could work with us at Crimson Tech. I did offer you using Crimson Tech as your testing ground while you study, but afterwards…"
"Is that a suggestion or a job offer?" Emilia joked.
"A job offer with a lot of room for negotiation. Or a plea?"
"A plea? Mr Hayden, that is beyond generous. Although, it does make me wonder if there's anything ulterior beyond this offer. I am barely a novice in this field."
"Your passion for change is something I can truly cultivate. I can relate to your work. I think you would be a great asset in the company."
Christopher's phone started ringing which reminded Emilia of how busy he was and that she was occupying his precious time. She looked down feeling ashamed that she spoke to him of sharks and rocks whilst he had so much more important stuff to do. But she struggled to stop talking as she was quite excited to have seen him. Her mind was equally occupied with him as his was with hers.
Christopher looked at her apologetically at which she waved for him to answer it.
He turned away as he spoke quietly into the phone. Emilia tried to distract herself with more rocks.
"I'm sorry. Cosby started to worry that I might have been lost." Christopher smiled as he finished the call.
"I'm sorry, Mr Hayden. I have been babbling about nonsense to you whilst you have so much more pressing things to do." Emilia blushed in embarrassment. "I did not intend to waste your time."
"Don't ever apologise for telling others about your passions. This was no time wasted by any means, Emilia. I would have never thought about hammerheads otherwise." Christopher said reassuringly, but his suspicions about Emilia and Patrick have returned. "Would you like to accompany me back into the hotel?"
"If you wish, sir." Emilia agreed. She picked up a small purse off the ground and a pair of sunglasses that she placed on top of her head.
Christopher picked up his shoes unwilling to put them on over the wet socks.
They've walked together, with Emilia talking more of the rocks after Christopher's further encouragement.