Harper had thought about what she wanted but she was no closer to answering the question then she had been at the beginning of the week, at least not honestly. She was trapped in a rut and couldn't find the will or the strength to break free. She wished she had Luke's innate sense of self-confidence, but having been the butt of too many crass and thoughtless comments had taken their toll over the years.

Perhaps the first step was realizing that she wasn't happy, she didn't have to have answers to all of her questions right away, she had a job with security, a roof over her head, and the love of family and friends. Her life could be a lot worse. It could also be a lot better, a little voice niggled at her.

It was as if she was on the verge of making that next life changing move, but she wasn't sure what it was. It was just out of sight of her consciousness.

Harper had just been to lunch with Mindy and her boyfriend Richard Davies. Richard was a lawyer and had been involved with a wrongful termination suit that had been filed against Hightower by a man named Brooks George a few years back. The case had been totally unjustified since the man had been caught drunk on the job, but he had claimed that he hadn't been drunk and that he had a cognitive disorder that had made him appear to be drunk. Eventually, it had come out that he had been lying and the suit had been dropped, but it had still left a mark on both Troy and Charles, who operated with the belief in an honest day's labor for an honest day's pay. Richard, had eventually been the one to convince the man to drop the suit, despite being his lawyer, but it still didn't hold any weight with Troy or Charles.

Mindy was madly in love with Richard, and she believed that Troy would go through the roof when he found out about their relationship. Richard and Harper had a little more faith in him than that. There was also the case of their age differences. Mindy was twenty-six and Richard was thirty-six.

The had talked in circles all through lunch as they tried to convince Mindy that she should stand up for her and Richard, and let both Troy and Maureen know that they were in love.

Granted, Harper wasn't the person to be delivering such a lecture when her own life was so screwed up, but it was always easier to see the problems in other people's lives then in one's own.

She was so wrapped up in her thoughts about the Mindy and Richard that she wasn't paying attention to her surroundings, so when he jumped out from behind a car parked almost in front of the door to the office she was caught off guard.

It was Brooks George, the man that had been fired for drinking on the job, the man that Richard had defended until the case fell apart.

"George!" Harper said, unable to hide the surprise in her voice at his sudden appearance.

"I saw you at lunch with my lawyer, now I have proof!" he stepped towards her.

"Proof of what George?" Harper took a step back which put her further away from the door to safety.

"Proof that you were in it with him, and the reason that he dropped the case was because the two of you were having an affair!" He was all but screaming. "It's your fault, all of it!"

"No George, it's your fault, you were the one drinking on the job."

"I wasn't. I have a disease," he spit at her as he took another step towards her.

"Yes, you do, it's called alcoholism, and you need to be treated for it. I can smell the alcohol on you right now. How much have you already had to drink today?" If Harper was smart or less honest she would be trying to sooth him not bait him, but she couldn't help herself, she had no interest in being nice to him he had caused the company too much money, not to mention the emotional turmoil that he had but her parents through.

He didn't like her answer and he stepped towards her, grabbing her arm and wrenching her towards him. The smell on him was enough to give Harper a buzz just by being in such close proximity.

"Let me go!" she demanded as she tried to pull her arm away, but he only tightened his hold to the point of excruciating pain. "I'll scream if you don't let me go!"

"Go ahead, there's no one to hear you." He started to pull her towards the parking lot and Harper dug in her heels, grabbing on to the trailer hitch of a truck in an attempt to hold out against him.

"I'm not going anywhere with you!" she screamed at him. He only pulled harder on her and she felt like her arms were being ripped out of their sockets. Suddenly, he let go of her arm and she slammed into the back of the truck. When he reached down and grabbed her hair twisting and pulling it, she grabbed onto the hitch with both hands and started to scream for all she was worth.

She wasn't angry anymore she was scared.

Then she was mercifully free and she sunk to the ground, but she refused to let go of the hitch as she turned around to see George unconscious on the ground and Luke standing over him. Luke looked from him to her and stepped towards her. "Harper?" his voice was hoarse as he reached for her.

Harper buried her head in her arms, still unwilling to let go of the hitch, the only thing that had saved her.

"Harper?" he asked again as he placed his hands on her shoulders, she looked up at him with tears streaming down her face and he fell to his knees beside her. "It's O.K., it's all over now," he soothed.

She let go of the hitch and her arms quickly wrapped around his waist as she held onto him just as tightly as she had the hitch.

He put one arm around her shoulders while she cried and he dialed 911 with the other. He sat with her sobbing on his lap, keeping an eye on George until the police arrived. As soon as all the sirens were heard the staff in the office started to trickle out to see what was going on, everyone was horrified about what had happened and that they hadn't heard Harper calling for help.

Harper refused to let go of Luke even when her father came and tried to take her.

It was obvious that since she and Luke weren't in the office to be spied on no one had been watching the high-tech camera system. She wanted to point it out, feeling a bit bitter, but the devastated look on her father's face made her bite her tongue.

It was an hour before the police cleared the scene and she was allowed to go home. By this time her mother and sister had arrived and they loaded her up in the car and drove her to her apartment. They wanted to take her to her parent's house, but she wanted her own bed and peace and quiet.

She wouldn't let anyone stay and she pushed them both from her apartment, wanting to be alone. Every muscle in her body ached and she wanted a hot bath and then her bed. Her arms were covered in bruises and it hurt to even try and lift them.

It was over an hour later, she was dressed in her warmest pajamas, curled up on her couch with wet hair, and the television muted in the background when there was a knock on the door.

She ignored it, knowing it was probably her father or mother, after another knock her phone buzzed and she looked down to see that Luke had sent her a text, he was the one outside her door. With a whimper she stood knowing that she owed him a thank you, and she hobbled to the door.

Looking through the peephole and seeing that it really was Luke, she opened the door and turned back towards the couch, falling back into it with another whimper.

It had grown dark and the only light in the room was from the television, so Luke reached over and turned on the light next to the couch before he sat a box of pizza down in front of her.

"I figured you wouldn't be up to making something for yourself," he said as he moved into her kitchen and rooted through her stuff until he found what he wanted. Then he served her a slice and a soda, and watched as she winced when she sat up to eat.

"Did you take something for the pain?" he asked just before he bit into his own slice. He sat in the chair next to her where he could keep her in his sights.

"Yes," she said with a voice that was hoarse from all of the screaming she had done.

She was thankful that Luke didn't want to talk as they sat in silence while they ate and mindlessly watched the television.

When halfway through her second slice of pizza she started to cry again, Luke put his plate down and joined her on the couch, holding her close. She didn't know how long she cried for or how long Luke held her, but eventually he picked her up and carried her to her bed, gently laying her down and covering her. As he turned to leave she reached out for him, fear overruling her protesting muscles.

"Please Luke, stay, I don't want to be alone," she begged.

"I don't know, maybe I should call your mom or sister," he suggested, looking a little lost as to what he should do with a crying woman.

"No, they'll want to talk, and I don't want to talk yet, please stay."

Luke looked down at her tear stained face and gave a sigh. "I'll stay," he agreed. He turned to leave the room and Harper reached out once more.

"No, stay here, where I can see you," she insisted. Part of her hated herself for being so weak.

He didn't say a word as he sat down on the side of her bed and kicked off his shoes then he leaned back against the headboard before pulling her close again.

'Sleep Harper, it will all seem better tomorrow. I promise."