"Amelia," Blair heard the pain in that voice, and cringed slightly as she looked up - her team gathering around after having heard the announcement in the morning meeting, "are you really leaving?"

"Yes," she sighed in resignation, sitting back and looking at them all, "but also no. I'm not leaving the company, just changing my role."

"But you're leaving meeeeeeeeeee," Eric whined, clutching his chest dramatically - earning an indulgent eye-roll from Brandon.

"I'll still be here in the building though," Blair chuckled helplessly, "If you need me for work, you can still ping me. We can still do lunches together sometimes, and if you really miss me you can come upstairs to visit me."

"Upstairs?" Shirley asked, raising her eyebrow curiously, "What floor?"

"Uh... the, uh... top one," Blair admitted with an awkward smile, "I will be consulting for Mr. King."

"The Mr. King?!" Eric gasped, "As in the CEO? That Mr. King?"

"Yes," Blair admitted with a nod, sticking to her and Ezra's story, "He noticed me in the presentation a few weeks back, and asked me to provide project and strategic consulting. I accepted."

"Look at you catching the fancy CEO's eye with just one presentation," Brandon mused, smirking at Blair in a knowing way that had her squirming in her chair.

What could she say? They were going to be announcing their engagement soon, and she couldn't explain that it wasn't real. Instead, she thought it was best to re-direct entirely, ignoring the way Brandon was looking straight through her.

"What matters is I'm not going far," Blair said, scratching her nose sheepishly, "I'll be able to transition everything and support even after I move to my new role. I won't abandon you all, I promise."

"Well I'm happy for you, dear," Shirley said with a smile, bumping Blair's shoulder gently, "You've earned this, and I'm glad you're being recognized for your efforts."

"Thank you, Shirley," Blair said warmly.

"You know, I've heard he's pretty hard to work with," Eric said conspiratorially, looking around as if to ensure they weren't overheard, "Like, I've heard he's a real stickler for details and cut-throat as hell."

"Oh?" Blair asked, fighting a smirk, "I don't know much about him, honestly, but that seems pretty hard to believe given the culture here."

"Well, that's because of his dad," Brandon said with a shrug like it was common knowledge, "When his grandfather ran things, it was... uh... I heard it was pretty intense. When his dad took over, he was almost too easy going - real nice guy, from what I heard. Big on company culture and people first, and whatever... you know, before those were buzzwords that mean what they mean now."

"Then Mr. King took over," Eric continued, almost like it was a scripted, dramatic play, "and he tightened the belt on what his dad had made. Wanted stricter KPIs and more metric-driven performance reviews - more 'accountability' he said."

"He still kept his dad's ideology on deliverables," Brandon added, continuing their little couples' script, "As long as your work gets done on time and well, he doesn't do key-card monitoring or care about who is working from home... but I heard that if a team doesn't deliver as expected or do quality work, it's a whole mess for the directors. They pass it right down from the top, too."

"But he's still adamant about his dad's inclusivity policies, and things," Shirley cut in with an eye-roll, noting how the two were playing off each other, "He's a good leader and takes company policies very seriously. He's willing to support managers that give their employees flexibility and he's all about trying and failing... he's just strict on meeting deadlines, providing updates, and not slacking off while on the clock. He has a company to run, you know. He can't just let people come to work and not do anything - his company would go under."

"Why you gotta ruin my whole vibe, Shirley?" Eric whined, falling into Brandon's arms like she'd just ruined his masterpiece, "I wasn't even to the best part yet!"

"You weave a story of drama from gossip, you little rascal," Shirley chuckled, "I prefer the truth."

"The truth is that he took over the company early after losing his dad and tries to blend his grandfather's guidance into his father's ideals," Brandon said, hugging Eric to him with a smirk even as the man pouted up at him, "Everyone has opinions on it, but overall it's hard to argue with his results."

"You guys are no fun," Eric sighed, looking toward Blair and smiling brightly, "We should do boba at lunch! Leave the fuddy-duddies behind and talk about how Mr. King supposedly has a whole secret-"

"Alright, alright," Brandon laughed, cutting Eric off, "No more gossip. Come on, we have to get the QA done this week, or Amelia's going to make us work overtime."

"Maybe she's perfect for Mr. King after all," Eric grumbled, slinking off like someone had cut a slash in his sails.

"Don't you listen to him, Amy," Shirley cooed, patting Blair's hand affectionately, "This is a great opportunity, and I'm proud of you for earning it. You're going places, dear, and I'm sure you're going to do great."

"Thanks Shirley," Blair said, swallowing thickly as she wondered how they would all react in the coming months with the truth of who she was was revealed.

She hoped they didn't change... but she had been around long enough to know that wasn't likely to be the case.

Blair had barely gotten into the grove at her desk before a throat clearing nearby had her looking up to find Blaise wearing one of those strained smiles that makes you fear for your life.

"You're about to ruin my whole day, aren't you," Blair sighed, leaning back in her chair and trying to mentally prepare for whatever it was that clearly had Blaise on edge.

"I... might be," Blaise admitted with a defeated look, "I'm going to need you to pack up your desk and come with me. I've brought a few boxes to make life easier for you."

Blaise held out two broken-down banker's boxes, and Blair's heart sank to her stomach.

"Great," Blair muttered sarcastically, accepting the boxes and gathering her things quickly, "It's a good thing we don't have a huge launch coming up or anything. Otherwise this would be incredibly inconvenient."

Blaise grimaced - the timing really was quite inconvenient. Ezra had intended for her to transition things properly because this product launch was important for the company, and this was not exactly setting that up for success.

What could he say though? In the end, he was just an executive assistant. Blaise didn't really have a mind for business or strategy - he was an organized, energetic guy who was capable of putting up with Ezra on his bad days, calling him out on his bullshit without getting killed for it, and knew all of Ezra's dirty secrets so had the capacity for blackmail when he really needed it to weasel a rare day off out of his slave driver of a best friend.

In the end, all the important stuff was over his head, and he had no intention of stepping on a land mine by getting involved in the crazy shenanigans Ezra and Ezra's new fake missuses that he had no business getting involved in.

With Blaise lost in his thoughts, Blair followed behind him obediently - a half-filled box under one arm and her cane in the other. Though, she wasn't actually leaning on the cane at this point. She carried it around in case she needed it, but was trying desperately to wean herself off of its use day by day.

By the time she reached Ezra's office, though, she had started leaning on it lightly.

"Blair," Ezra greeted the two of them as they walked into his office, his face tight and a look of irritation making Blair's stomach flutter slightly with nerves, "I apologize for interrupting your day."

"I'll prepare drinks and snacks," Blaise said as dropped the box in his arms on the small table inside the office, quickly taking the one from Blair as well and setting it down beside it, "I'll be back in a moment."

The moment the door closed, Ezra gestured to the seat in front of his desk.

"So, am I to assume this is an unpleasant conversations we're about to have?" Blair asked, sitting carefully, "Or did you just really miss me that much?"

Ezra chuckled shaking his head sadly, "I'm afraid it is unpleasant. It would appear that the other patrons at the restaurant took some videos and photos of the scene we made Friday."

Blair nodded grimly, not particularly surprised but not saying anything yet.

"The headlines ran this morning," Ezra continued, typing on his computer before turning it to face Blair - though neither of them focused on the article he'd pulled up, "and... while they don't know who you are yet, your face was included quite prominently in the article."

"I... see," Blair said slowly, eyeing the computer screen warily.

Sure enough, there were two photos side by side. One was a photo of Ezra and Blair standing arm in arm in front of the table of the restaurant with Ryan and his mother standing in front of them - clearly in a heated argument. The other was Blair in Ezra's arms, his eyes dark and face clearly livid while Blair looked startled and nervous as she was being carried away.

"They could at least have taken flattering photos," Blair grumbled, not loving the 'damsel in distress' look.

"It's not front page," Ezra admitted, ignoring Blair's comment, "but it's still a major headline and featured article. It is likely your family will see it relatively quickly."

Blair's face tightened, the reality of that hitting her harder than she expected.

She knew it was coming, of course - that was part of the agreement of this contract in the first place. But the memories of what happened the last time her mother knew where she was had her taking several deep breaths to keep her composure.

No going back now, she thought grimly to herself.

"The bright side," Ezra continued, leaning back, "is that you have already moved into the new penthouse. You are traveling via secured transport with me in the morning to work, and your workplace is also secured. This reduces a lot of the potential risk this would invite... for now."

"That assumes no changes to routines," Blair sighed, looking out the window thoughtfully, "The goal is to make waves... I knew what I was signing up for. I just hoped we'd have a little more time before they found out."

"Until after the marriage," Ezra nodded in understanding, "Which is exactly why you are here."

Blair turned back to him, raising an eyebrow in curiosity.

"You must know that there is no backing out of this now," Ezra said seriously, studying Blair intensely, "Your picture reveals too much... they will know you're back in the country, they will know about me and Ryan, and they will know where you are right now."

Blair pressed her lips together in a thin line, not able to argue that point.

Ezra simply nodded.

"So, we speed up the timeline," he said simply, "We terminate your project manager role early and move you into the consultant role today. Then, I will introduce you to my grandfather at dinner in two days. We get his blessing and get married next week in a small ceremony - just real enough for pictures, but small enough to require minimal planning."

Blair blinked. Once. Twice.

Processing the reality of what Ezra just said.

Married. Next week. To Ezra.

"I... do not think I'm ready to move in with you," Blair said slowly, trying to process everything, "Would it be problematic to live separately after we are married?"

"If you were at your old apartment, yes," Ezra admitted with a shrug, "but we're in the same building, and I own the top three floors - who would know except the staff? From the outside, we go to work together and we go home together - no one would put the two together. It should be perfectly fine for you to live separately for the time being."

Blair's shoulders sagged in relief as she nodded, her eyes drifting back to the skyline as she moved from shock to acceptance to determination.

"Okay," she breathed, nodding once, "Then that means we have to prepare for my identity to be acknowledged in some kind of public announcement. Preferably at the time of marriage, not before."

"We're aligned," Ezra nodded, buzzing for Blaise to enter, "So. Let's start wedding planning."

--

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