Valarie sat, her feet outstretched on the couch. She took a sip of wine and ran her hands through her hair as she pondered on the day's events. It was like if it had occurred just one minute ago. She was still in shock. Never had the thought crossed her mind that Dimitri would agree to her proposal. She'd spend so much time wondering how he would take the news that she hadn't spent any time at all to plan how she was going to approach the situation. How on earth was she even going to attempt to find him a woman?

She pulled her note pad out and scribbled a few qualities she thought that he would like. Beautiful, confident, probably a model...She opted to tackle home ground first in the light of making her job far more easy. There must be someone right at work to fill in the blank spaces right?

The day came faster than the speed of light. Valarie walked confidently into the office for hope had engulfed all of her insides. She'd been match making for as long as she could remember and not once had she failed. Determination did not plan on making this time the first. Besides she didn't have a choice but to succeed. It was do or die. Although she wanted to, she couldn't forget that the bank was on her trail. She was in great need of the money and wanted nothing else but to get the job done and get paid.

Cool eyes fixed on her as if they had been there minutes before she entered.

"Good morning" Valarie greeted.

"So have you found anyone yet?" Dimitri responded with a question.

The arch of her eyebrow shifted a bit higher.

"I see that you still haven't found your manners yet. I said good morning."

"Okay and I asked you a question so answer it" Dimitri responded boldly.

Valarie rolled her eyes.

"I see that I'm going to have a task here finding someone to put up with your shit" she mumbled to herself.

He narrowed his eyes on her and awaited her answer.

"Patience jeez! It's been less than a day since. I'm going to start on it today. I'll do a little looking then you'll take over when I find one."

"Well you better get to work then. My father is paying you a lot for this shit."

Valarie laid her bag down on the table and retrieved her notepad. She tucked the lose strands of hair behind her ears and sighed.

"I'll be looking" she said as she walked off.

A lop-sided smile played across his face.

"Good luck" he teased and she glared at him for a few seconds before exiting.

Her eyes gaped around as she explored the environs. She needed someone to fill the qualities he would like yet be responsible enough to commit herself. Maybe model should be out of the question for the while since those are the toys he usually plays with. A woman is what he needed not some girl that still haven't grown up yet.

She paused for a moment to ponder. Maybe someone from accounts would do the trick. After all, their job requires them to be organized and responsible. Perhaps they'll have their life in order too and opt for more serious relationships.

The first girl at the desk wore a light yellow shirt buttoned to the last at her neck. Her hair was pulled loosely into a pony tail and her glasses was far too large for her face. The lens were so thick that it gave the appearance of a magnifying glass and made her eyes bulge beneath them.

"Ehh too nerdy" Valarie voiced in her head.

She continued walking down the isle to observe.

"Too old, too slutty, too fake, not even a woman. Ugh there must be someone in here."

As she turned to walk down the second isle, her eyes fell upon a woman with blond hair cropped neatly into a bun. Her green eyes complimented her features and added a slight glow to her skin. She sat lady-like, her legs crossed and her spine straight. Assiduously, her fingers tapped at the keys as she entered the data into the system.

Valarie looked at her potential candidate and smiled. She walked back to the office to give Dimitri the news.

"I found one" she said as she approached him."

"Is that so?" he questioned, narrowing his eyes on her.

"Yes, go to accounts, desk thirty one. Blonde with green eyes."

"So what? I'm just supposed to walk in there and ask her out?"

Valarie folded her arms and raised an eyebrow.

"Am I supposed to teach you how to initiate a conversation with a woman and ask her out?"

Dimitri rolled his eyes and rose from his desk in silence then headed towards the door.

"I thought so" Valarie sounded behind his back.

He walked tall, chest pointed towards the heavens. How dare his father imply that he was a failure? It was his choice to play around, his choice to choose not to tie himself to a rock. But he was determined to prove him wrong. His chest stood wide open, awaiting any soul who had the audacity to make its way in and close the doors behind it. All eyes gaped at him as he walked by but he paid no mind to any. Well, all but one.

He placed his left hand in his pocket and let his right hand rest firmly at his side as he approached desk thirty one. Green eyes glistened behind glass as they rose to meet his. He shifted his lips into a toothless smile and stared raptly at her.

"Good day miss. I don't believe I've formally introduced myself. My name is Dimitri Osbourne, son of Nikolai Osbourne. I am now your head executive of Fashion. I find pleasure acquainting myself with whom I work with. Your name?"

Her moist red lips quirked up into a pleasant smile as she outstretched her hands to clasp his in a firm shake.

"My name is Rebecca Stone. It's nice to meet you. Your father is a remarkable man. I have no doubt that the apple hasn't fallen far from the tree."

His lips shifted further up to finally reveal the purl white underneath.

"Someone told me that you've got your head secured nicely on your shoulders. There's nothing that sparks me more than diligence in the work place."

"I exercise diligence in everything I do sir. I take my work quite seriously" she responded.

"Well then Rebecca, it would bring me great pleasure if you would join me at lunch today. I would like to learn more about you, if you don't mind."

The way the words rolled off his tongue and the air breathed between his lips filled her with a shortness of breath but she held composure.

"It would be my pleasure as well to accompany you" she smiled.

"Great. We'll meet in the lobby at twelve then?"

"Yes" she responded crisply.

Dimitri gave her one last smile before skillfully turning on the balls of his feet and exiting. He walked back to the office where Valarie waited eagerly. She followed his trail as he walked from the door to his desk. He sunk into his chair and propped his foot up on the table. She watched his lips carefully in hope that words escape them soon but they only moved slightly into a smile. Dimitri ran his fingers over his lips to suppress them from widening. His mind clicked back to the latest event. He couldn't remember the last time he had spoken in such a decent manner and it brought him some sort of humor.

"Um hello-o" Valarie waved her hands to snap him out of his thoughts.

His eyes finally focused on her and the smile melted.

"What?" he questioned.

"How did it go? What did you think of her?" she asked.

"Fine. We're having lunch today so I'll see how it goes there. She is beautiful though and confident. I like that."

She smiled to herself more than anything else then scribbled some points down in her note pad.

"Keep me updated with how things go. Oh and for my sake and yours, give it a fair chance."

He nodded in agreement then sunk back into work. His hands shuffled for a file on his desk and he spoke without looking.

"I need you to take these to my father. He'll know what it's for. Also tell him I'll be making a few changes around here."

Valarie rose from her seat and walked towards him.

"Would you like to inform me of those changes so that I can inform him?" she asked.

"No" he replied abruptly then retreated into a cloud of silence.

She stood for almost a minute before rolling her eyes and stomping off to Nikolai's office. She was already beginning to miss it so it was a pleasure being given a reason to visit there once more. Eyes filled with delight, greeted her as she entered.

"Ahh Valarie it's good to see you. What brought you here at this time?"

"Your son sent me" she informed with little enthusiasm.

"He wanted me to give you these."

She handed over the file and continued.

"Oh and he said that he was going to make some changes over there."

Nikolai furrowed his brows.

"What changes?"

She shrugged her shoulders and slightly enlarged her eyes.

"I have no idea. He wouldn't say."

Nikolai shook his head and chuckled.

"That boy" he mused.

"So how have things been going with, you know. Any luck?"

"Good hopefully. He have a date at lunch today" she replied.

"Oh that's great" he smiled.

"Yeah so I'm just waiting to see how things are going from there."

"Well I have all faith in you so I'm not worried" he encouraged and a smile played across her face.

"How have things been with the bank and your aunt? Any updates?" he questioned.

She sighed and sat herself into one of the black, soft leather chairs.

"Not really. She still hasn't returned my calls or answered them. It's like she doesn't even exist anymore. I don't know, I guess I'm stuck. I don't even want to talk about it right now. I could do without the extra stress."

His eyes read into hers and he too sighed. This was the most worried he'd ever seen her and that intern worried him. He wanted to venture further into the topic but he respected her wishes and opted to leave it at rest.

"Do you mind helping me with something Valarie?"

"Of course not. What is it?"

He pointed to a pile of papers on the floor next to his desk. Her eyes widened at the magnitude of the mess. He read her expression and laughed.

"Yes I know, I know. You know how I hate that shredding machine thing."

She rose from her seat before he said anything else.

"Don't worry, I got it" she said as she began to shuffle the papers into a stack so that she could dispose of them.

It took her quite a while to finally get through all the papers and the other little tasks he had cut out for her. She headed back to Dimitri when she was finished.

He was still pretty much engrossed in what she'd left him doing. Valarie took the time to look at her watch and the hour of twelve had already arrived.

"Ahh, you should probably get going. It's already twelve" she advised.

He briefly looked at his watch then returned to what he was doing.

"She's not going to be there on time. Women are always late for some reason or the other" he replied.

"Um I don't think that's the case with this one. She's a professional accountant. They tend to be really organized and have their shit together really well. You said twelve, she'll be there for twelve, trust me."

Dimitri paused, rolled his eyes and sighed. He rose sluggishly from his seat and proceeded towards the door. Midway across the room he stopped and turned on the balls of his feet.

"If I'm not late and she is, you're dead."

Valarie folded her arms and glared at him.

"I'm not scared."

She watched as he exited the room.

His gait was casual as he strolled towards the lobby area. A slim blonde woman leaned against the main desk tapping one of her feet on the floor. Dimitri furrowed his brows and approached her.

"Rebecca?" he called.

She spun around and glanced at her watch then averted her eyes to him.

"You said twelve o'clock, it's five past twelve" she said matter of fact.

Initially, he couldn't find the words to respond.

"Usually ladies are a bit late so I thought that I would spare you a few minutes."

raised an eyebrow "Well maybe if you stop assuming that all women are the same, you won't have to waste your thoughts."

He clocked his neck backwards and narrowed his eyes on her.

"I'll be sure to remember that next time."

"Good" she responded before smiling finally.

He pointed his chin slightly forward and led the way to the door. Rebecca stood tall and followed behind. Dimitri exchanged a silent message with the valet who tossed him his keys. The black Nissan Skyline Gt R glistened under the harsh light of the sun. Rebecca's lips parted open slightly as the two double doors slid upwards until they opened.

He lent her his hand and helped her in before himself. It was only a short drive to the restaurant and they both spent it in silence. The car came to a stop in front of an Old Italian restaurant. There it felt like Italy itself. He held the door open and gestured his hand for her to enter before him.

"You can choose a table" he offered looking into her olive green eyes.

She smiled seeming not the slightest bit intimidated. Rebecca elegantly spun on the balls of her feet and walked towards a two sitter table further to the back.

They found their seats and started browsing through the menu that was already set on the table. A waitress approached and smiled politely at them both.

"Hello, good day. Are you ready to order?"

"Yes um, I'll have a salad. No dressing please."

Dimitri admired the way her lips moved as she spoke.

"Spaghetti and meatballs, extra dressing" he ordered without moving his eyes from her.

She frowned.

"And to drink?" the waitress asked.

"Water" Rebecca responded.

"Wine. One of your choice" Dimitri ordered.

Rebecca's lips were still shifted into a frown.

"Is something wrong?" Dimitri questioned.

"That's an awful lot of calories for one sitting" she pointed out.

A small smile played across his face.

"Don't worry, they won't last. I have my ways of burning them out pretty quickly."

"What ways?" she asked.

His smile widened into a lop-sided one.

"Just ways" he responded.

She suppressed the smile that was threatening to smudge her lipstick.

"I see."

"So how long have you been working for my father?" he questioned.

"Just about three years now."

"Why accounting?"

"I've loved numbers from ever since I could remember. I love keeping track, keeping score, being organized."

"Hmm interesting. Do you need to wear glasses every time?" he inquired.

She looked at him quizzically.

"No, only when I'm reading. Why?"

"Take them off. I prefer to see your eyes directly. It gives me a better clue to what you might be thinking."

Her hand reached up slowly to remove the glasses from her face. Her eyes were even more alluring under the soft lighting above.

"Better" he commented.

The waitress silently slipped their food unto the table while they continued in conversation.

"How come you are just starting to work here with your father?" she asked.

"I wanted to do a few things and I couldn't do them all at the same time so I went back to finish the rest."

"What did you study?"

"Business mostly but I always liked working with my hands so I did engineering as well."

"Ahh that's great."

He was already half his plate when he realized that she barely touched her food.

"Why aren't you eating?" he questioned.

She immediately paused the motion of running the fork over her greens.

"Oh, I'm not really hungry. Besides, I don't usually eat at lunch."

Dimitri furrowed his brows.

"So why did you agree to come to lunch with me?"

"Well people don't only eat over lunch now do they?"

A smile crept across his features and he gently placed his fork down.

"So what do you do at lunch exactly?" he leaned slightly across the table and peered at her.

"Hmm just work mostly" she sounded overly casual.

She glanced at her watch for about the fifth time and awaited the next question. His eyes trailed her movements. He was starting to notice them all.

"Where do you live?"

"In an apartment down town."

"Alone?"

"Yes pretty much."

"Where are your parents?"

She snorted. "Maybe on another planet. I haven't spoken to them in years."

A share bit of concern flickered across his features.

"Why is that?"

"Back when I was in high school. We didn't exactly get along. I found this guy, we had a thing. Well it seemed more than just a thing back then you know. Young love. I ran off with him when I started college and we both lived together in his apartment for a few years."

Her fingers twisted the watch around her wrist and she glanced at the time once more.

"What happened next?" he fished for more information.

She smoothed her hand over her golden hair.

"Let's just say he dropped me like a hot potato after he made his mess. I've been on my own ever since."

"So what are you saying there is absolutely no one in your life now?"

"Well I just have a few girlfriends but other than that, I'm a loner."

"Hmm, do you have plans on remaining alone?"

"No. I'm starting to get tired of it actually."

"Well what if I told you I feel the same."

She raised a brow.

"And what if I told you I don't believe you? You, lonely? No way. I'm sure women throw themselves at you everyday."

"It's not a matter of how much options I have or not. I have been swimming among many fish yet I am still hungry. Maybe it's just enough to last a few minutes, a few hours but when I go home at night there is no one there and I am empty. Perhaps I'm tired of my five minute drug. I need something stronger. I'm tired of playing. Maybe it's time I hold onto something much longer."

A smile played across her face and her eyes traced over his being to admire his features. Perfect hair, perfect eyes, carefully chiseled body. It was clear that God had took great time making him. What woman could refuse such an offer to be with such a man?

"Well I guess we both want the same thing here" she said finally.

"Yes. I would like to know you better if you don't mind."

"I would like that too" she smiled.

Her eyes averted to her watch once more and he just couldn't leave the question that was biting his lips alone this time.

"Is something wrong? Are you late for something or?"

She paused "Oh nothing's wrong. Well not yet. We get an hour lunch and it took us about ten minutes to get here. That means we'll have to leave here by at least 12:45 in case there is traffic to make sure we get back on time. It's 12:43 so we have about two minutes left to play with."

His lips pried open and he looked at her in amusement.

"Wow" he breathed before chuckling and leaning back into his chair.

"Well I guess we better get that bill then and get going before I fire myself for being late and I fire you because I'm the one that caused you to be late."

She laughed and slipped her glasses back on. Dimitri went to clear the bill at the counter while she went to the washroom to freshen up. They drove in similar silence back. It seemed they both weren't great fans of chatter on the wheels.

Dimitri led the way up to the office where they came to a halt.

"It was a pleasure having lunch with you, though you barely ate."

She chuckled.

"The pleasure was mine too, though you probably ate too much."

He laughed and shook her hand gently before retreating to his office.