Fiddling with the sugar packets on the table, Sharon tried her hardest to distract herself. Looking around the diner, her eyes followed the food but, unfortunately, not with the usual intensity and obsession. She used to get so absorbed and interested in all the different food. But not today.

The word "agent" kept popping every few minutes. Looking at a milkshake, "agent". A burger passed by, "agent". A couple passing by, "agent. That word was not leaving her alone. Roughly gathering her hair by the side of her head, she felt like tearing her hair out. That word kept echoing in her head.

Groaning miserably, she crossed her arm on the table and rested her forehead where they intersected. Banging her arms with her head repeatedly, a question kept going around her head. Why? Why? Why?

Why her? She wasn't interested in sports, which was practically impossible for someone who wanted to be in this field. She didn't have the skills necessary, which should be a serious mark against her by any hiring manager, much less the owner of the company. And, most importantly, she liked her old job. She didn't hate it. Not as much as Cameron made it out to be.

So why? Why was she told to be an agent?

Yeah, told. She wasn't even told to consider it. Matt might have said to think about it but she knew what he wanted her to say. His eyes had transmitted his true meaning to her. The serious, serious eyes.

Moaning when the words "agent" and "why" began doing the cha-cha in her head, she jerked upright when the table shook violently. Her eyes widening when she caught sight of Cameron settling into the booth across her, she didn't have time to say anything. A flash of red from her peripheral had her moving.

Her hands shooting out, she tried to catch the red mug of coffee that was knocked off balance. Fumbling with the spoon and mug, she thought, inevitably, the mug would overturn and coffee was going to be everywhere. But, by some special alignment of the stars, she managed to keep the coffee within the confines of the mug.

Heaving a sigh of relief, she narrowed her eyes on the laughing man across her. Putting down the mug, she blew out an irritated breath and waited for him to stop.

"Y-you were like an acrobat. A bad one. More like a three-year-old holding her first real cup of water. I-I mean how bad must your grip be to let the mug slip through. Not just-just once or t-twice but THREE times. I've seen old people better than you."

Rolling her eyes, she left him to his own amusement and called for the waitress. Her stomach had let its presence be known and it was protesting its emptiness. She didn't have breakfast and lunch had slipped her mind even though she was in the restaurant. Looking at the time, it wasn't a wonder why her stomach was growling so obnoxiously. When the waitress arrived, she gave her order and ignored Cameron when he slipped in his own order.

Sitting back when the waitress left, she waited nervously for Cameron to speak. An entirely different aura now surrounded him once they were alone. Her hands couldn't help but reach out to the sugar packets again.

"So, you're going to be an agent, huh? Big news,"he finally said. A rush of anxiety and anger crashed into her. No matter how she wanted to run away from this, there was no escaping it. It wasn't that she had forgotten why Cameron was there, why she was there, but was there any reason to talk about it?

"To my dismay, yes, I am." Her jaw was clenched so tightly that she had a hard time getting any words out.

"That's great. Right? I mean, you get to meet athletes. Not many people get to say that,"he said, highlighting one of the benefits of the job. Some of the anger left her, being replaced by mirth. This reminded her of when he tried to sell her to job the first time around.

"I hear that all these athletes are some of the most arrogant people on Earth. I don't want to deal with that."

"Ah, alright. Then there's the fact that you can meet more people in the industry. Like endorsement brands and advertising companies."

"Meet more people? I think not." She had to suppress a smile. He looked so disgruntled, his efforts being shot down one by one, that it was kind of cute. And when the food arrived, she had more reason to smile. Her saliva practically dripping out of her mouth, she had her fork and knife in her hands before all the food was on the table.

Looking over, she had to admit that there was too much food again. There was a whole set of pork chop, garlic pasta and cheeseburger, with sides and all. There was some doubt as to whether she could eat them all. But, waving the cutleries cheerily over the food, there was no harm trying.

"You are a monster when you're hungry,"Cameron remarked before taking a bite of his own burger. Turning deaf ears to his words, she dug into her meal. Or meals, in this case. "You know, this could be something like a reward for you. For all your help."

"What do you mean?" She looked up at him while chewing around a rib.

"I was thinking about it and maybe Logan thinks this is the best way to thank you for helping him."

"A fruit basket would have sufficed,"she said grumpily. Then her conscience pricked her ungrateful self. "I mean, it's a nice gesture but was getting me a new job really the best idea? A cake is a better idea. For one thing, I can eat it. And it doesn't give me much pressure from, like, everyone."

Reward, she scoffed internally. She had helped from the bottom of her heart. This was how he rewarded her? How was this a reward? It was just more work for her. And not the kind of work she wanted. While Cameron's points bore merit, she just didn't think she was right for the role.

As in, her? Meeting people? Talk to people? People she didn't know? She had a hard time, as it was, talking to people in the office. Much less athletes. So what was she going to say to them? Even the weather was a struggle for her. And how was she supposed to behave? No, no. Behind the scene was the best for her. She knew what to do and there were less chances of making a fool of herself.

"Then maybe this is more of confidence than really not wanting the job at all,"Cameron suddenly said, startling her. Having been absorbed in her ruminations and mindlessly eating, she just looked at him, mouth open. When she snapped out of it, her mouth snapped shut and she hurriedly swallowed.

"What are you talking about?"she asked, hoping to distract him from how unsightly she had been. There had been half-chewed food in her mouth. And she had just displayed it for all to see. How undignified could she get? This was just adding insult to injury.

"You were just talking about it."

"When did I say that?"

"Just now. You were mumbling into your food but I caught some words. And to address that, you do know Matt is going to put you under an experienced mentor who, right? Someone who is very experienced in the industry and who is trustworthy, right? I mean, with this fiasco, he's going to be covering his bases well."

"I-I know that. But that doesn't get past the fact that I don't have the passion or background knowledge in this area. It's just going to make me fall behind so far from those who are already interested and pursuing a job in this industry."

"If you're so worried about that, why don't I help you with that?"

"What?"

------@@@@------

Nursing a bottle of beer in the kitchen, Cameron wondered what more he could have done. They were back at the apartment but Sharon had holed up in her room the moment they had returned. She had been quiet ever since the diner.

That had been in the afternoon and now, it was late into the night. Still, no peep from her. She didn't even come out for dinner. When she had cooked her favourite meal. That had been surprise.

Sitting back, he wondered how he could convince her to come out. Just that. He didn't even think about the jon. The hurdle was too high. He had tried all avenues he could think of and none of them hooked her in. Listing down the benefits hadn't worked. Bringing up Logan had cracked her a bit but she'd sealed up the cracks soon after. He had even offered his help but that served to shut her up. He was out of ideas and down on his luck.

On top of that, there was a strange ache that had taken refuge in his chest. His hand unconsciously coming up to cover his chest, he couldn't help but remember that this had happened the moment Sharon had silently rejected his offer.

But, straightening in his chair, this pain was not from rejection. This was pain from humiliation. He, the quarterback of the Giants, was a busy man, even during the off season. He had some projects coming up and would be travelling soon. So it was a privilege for him to offer his services to her.

And she had the nerve to turn him away. People were prostrating at his feet to get a smidgen of his attention. Well, he was not going to stand for this. Shooting to his feet, he had to speak to her. Right now. To tell her of the great offer she had had. And, of course, to find out why exactly she had turned him down and explain how painful that was.

Painful from rejection, he emphasised to himself, downing the rest of the beer.

A click from a door latch startled him back into his chair. Stiffly seated, his ears pricked at every small sound. He heard her leaving her room, walking steadily to the kitchen. Her gait was normal, not slow and heavy like she was thinking about a lot of things or sad, like she had been over the phone. Did that mean she had made a decision?

His heart beating so fast that all other sound was drowned out, he was unprepared when she appeared right in front of him. Yelping, he shot to his feet, his chair crashing behind him, and retreated a few steps before realising what he was doing. Then, feeling his ears burning, he returned his chair to its feet.

"Cameron, what was that scream?"Sharon asked incredulously as she took a seat across him. "If I hadn't seen the sound coming out of your mouth, I thought it came from a girl." From the way her eyes were dancing, he knew she was teasing him. But he couldn't help feeling offended.

"Hey, I didn't expect to see you tonight. Weren't you going to stay in your room the entire night? Like last time,"he said defensively.

"Aww, don't pout,"she said in a sweet tone. As if speaking to a baby.

"I'm a man. Man don't pout." Gnashing his teeth, he felt like snapping under her scrutiny. Suddenly aware of his lower lip jutting out, he hurriedly composed himself. "See? Not pouting."

"Right, right,"she said as her eyes transmitting the fact that she didn't believe him. Unable to come up with a suitable comeback, the conversation lapsed and silence reigned.

"So, ah, do you want a beer?"he asked for lack of anything better to say. The quiet was wearing on his nerves.

"Sure, one would be great to end this day I've had."

Glad to have something to do, he rushed to the fridge and took out two bottles, one for him and the other for her. Helping her with the bottle cap, silence returned as they both took a swig. This time, however, the silence was comfortable. There was no burning urge to fill it.

"So, um, returning to what you said earlier,"she suddenly said. Unprepared, he almost spat out the beer. His heartbeat began picking up again. She looked so uncomfortable that he had a bad feeling about it. "It's not that I didn't appreciate your offer. I mean, I really, really wanted to get your help-"

"But?"he prompted, unable to bear the suspense much longer.

"I-I just want to keep work and home separate."

"What do you mean?" His heart throbbed harder.

"It's like, we live together. Go back together. Eat together. I don't want work to get between that. I'm not sure if that makes a lot of sense but it's just a strong feeling that I have. I mean, I'm helping Matt with your physical therapist thing but only that. With this agent thing, I want to see how well I can do on my own."

"So you're taking the job?"

"Yeah. I was thinking about it, about what you said. I can somewhat accept the benefits that you mentioned. I mean, this is the best way for me to get out there. Meet more people. Especially since I don't know many people in the city."

"Right, right. Did you tell Matt or Logan?"

"Not yet. I wanted to run this by you first. What do you think?"

"You know what I think. I've told you all about it already. It's a great idea. So is this where I say congrats on the new job?"

All the saliva had dried from his mouth. His head felt like cotton. He was glad but not as much as he had expected. This was what he wanted for her but why did it feel like she was getting further away?

AN: Hey guys. Hope you like the new chapter. I have to admit that it's a bit more serious but I like it. It's more realistic, I feel like. But let me know what you think!

Also FYI, something big happens in the next chapter. If you followed my Twitter, I was like ranting about it. I'm still in shock.

And if you haven't, don't forget to participate in the AB book giveaway. More details in AB itself. It ends tonight, 17 Mar 2019. Or most probably by the first half of tomorrow. I'll give time for all the countries to become 18 Mar 2019.

So anyways, please VOTE and COMMENT if you liked this chapter. Follow me on Wattpad or Twitter for updates. And check out my ko-fi or blog for some short side stories.

THANKS!!!