That night, Ryan sat on my couch, dumbfounded when I told him everything Mrs. Walton said. Then he looked pissed. "I'm going to kill him!"

I scooted closer and lightly rested my hand on his arm. "I don't think this is his doing. Eric wouldn't. Not after our talk last night."

"You know I never liked his mom growing up." He shifted in his spot to face me, draping his arm against the back of the couch. "She always found a way to indirectly insult or judge my mom. One time, when my parents hosted a charity event, I overheard her telling my mom how it would have been better if it was a plated dinner instead of a buffet."

My jaw practically dropped. "Wow, how rude! What did your mother say?"

Ryan smiled as he recalled the memory. "She reminded Donna that she used a buffet herself during the Walton's last event."

I laughed. "I think I'd like your mom."

He reached his hand up to play with a strand of my hair and smiled. "I thought I remember you talking to her at the Christmas party."

"Yeah, but not for long. Eric and her talked more, which makes sense, since they knew each other."

Suddenly the apartment phone buzzed. I looked at my watch and saw that it was almost seven p.m. I prayed it wasn't Eric. I really wasn't in the mood to see or talk to him then. It buzzed again just as I reached it. "Hello?"

John greeted me softly, "Good evening, Ms. Ashcroft. Your friend Sasha Thompson is here to see you."

It was only then that I remembered that Sasha and I had plans to hang out. "Oh, yes. Thank you, John."

I hung up and leaned against the wall that divided the kitchen from the rest of the apartment, glancing over at Ryan while waiting for Sasha to arrive.

He sat forward and looked at me, quizzically. "Expecting someone?"

I nodded and calmly stated, "Sasha's here. We were going to work on finishing up the seating chart while catching up on 'The Bachelor.'"

"Oh." He shifted back into a natural sitting position, then glanced at me with a stern face. "You aren't really going to do the wedding stuff anymore, right?"

"I think I have to. There's no way I can let Mrs. Walton destroy all that my parents have worked their entire lives building."

He looked at me with a mixture of disbelief and something that resembled disappointment. "You're seriously going to marry Eric? After everything?"

"Ryan! I don't have a choice!"

He stood up and pointed to himself. "Let me help you!"

"How?" I asked, crossing my arms.

Just then the front door knocked. I looked at Ryan for a moment longer before turning to answer it. Sasha greeted me with a loud and dramatic, "Hello, Darling!" and gave me a hug. "Are you ready to finish all this wedding shit?" She made her way in and came to a halt when she saw Ryan standing in front of my couch. "What are you doing here?"

"I was just leaving." He moved around the coffee table and walked towards us. He stopped in front of me and looked me in the eyes. "I'll think of something." He kissed me lightly. "I'll call you tomorrow. It was nice to see you again, Sasha."

Sasha stood there frozen as she watched me close the door behind Ryan. "Lucy! You've got some splaining to do!" She said in her best Ricky accent.

I spent the next half-hour catching Sasha up on everything she had missed that week. From my presentation to Eric showing up at the hotel at the end of the night and fighting with Ryan in front of the Japanese clients, which led to me getting fired. Then about Adam visiting and offering me my job back. Then about Ryan's voicemail, which I let her listen to, and how it led to Eric and me ending things on a cordial level once and for all. Then lastly, I told her about my visit with Eric's mother and everything she said.

"This shit is honestly better than any soap opera we've ever seen!" Leave it to Sasha to see the humor of it all.

"Yeah, well, when can my soap opera turn into just a plain old episode of 'The Brady Bunch' or 'I Love Lucy'?" I asked in a defeated tone and rested my head on her shoulder.

"I did warn you about getting involved with anyone in a political family when you and Eric first met." Sasha reminded me.

I huffed. "You should have tried harder to make me hear you."

She put her arm around my shoulder. "If only I had a time machine."

"If only."

******

On Monday morning, I was so nervous about walking back into work; I felt like it was my first day all over again. I stood outside looking up the glass panel exterior as far up as I could, feeling slightly dizzy by seeing the morning clouds rushing past the top, making it feel like the building was moving.

Looking back down towards the entrance, I noticed Adam approaching, with an immense grin on his face. He held a bouquet of assorted flowers in one hand and his briefcase in the other.

"Good morning." I smiled, relieved he was there to walk back in with me.

"Good morning!" He handed me the bouquet.

I blushed. "Are these for me?"

"No, there for my new assistant." He paused and then laughed as my expression showed embarrassment. "Yes, of course, they're for you. I didn't know how else to express how grateful I am to have you back. You really are an asset to us, Vicky."

I smelt the floral aroma deeply and smiled. "Well, thank you very much."

We made our way up to the executive level. Walking back to Adam's area again felt surreal. I thought I'd never see it again. It felt different from just coming back from vacation. Now I would have to replace all my desk decorations and pictures I had taken home the week before. I didn't want to bring them back with me right away, because it still didn't feel real.

I sat down at my desk and just absorbed my world in front of me again. Adam went into his office but came back out shortly after. "My father and Mrs. Turner want to meet with us in his office before we get to work."

Memories of the last time I went in there made my gut sink. It was the worst memory I had, almost worse than my lunch with Donna Walton.

"Okay," I said, trying to remain calm.

We made our way to his office, and Adam knocked on the door. I heard a rustling sound, and then moments later, the door opened. Mr. Herman smiled as he greeted us and gestured for us to enter. I noticed Mrs. Turner was sitting in the same spot on the couch as last time. She was smoothing out the hem of her skirt and quickly patted at her hair, tucking a loose strand behind her ear. I wondered if we just interrupted them while they were fooling around.

"Vicky!" Mrs. Turner croaked, cleared her throat, and continued. "It's good to have you back."

She stood straight, correcting her posture, walked over to me, and gave me a light emotionless hug. I barely hugged her in return. "It's good to be back."

We all took a seat, Mr. Herman and Mrs. Turner in their spots on the couch, though further apart this time than last, and Adam and I beside each other on one of the loveseats. He glanced over at me with a supportive smile, then returned his attention to his father.

"Ms. Ashcroft," Mr. Herman began. "First, I would like to offer a sincere apology for firing you last Wednesday. I hope you know it really wasn't personal. But I am over the moon you have agreed to come back to work for us."

I smiled politely. "Thank you, Mr. Herman. That's nice to hear."

"Second, I know Adam informed you that Ryan is no longer with the company. But what he didn't mention, per my request, was that we would like to make you an offer." He paused.

It reminded me of Adam's dramatic pauses. Now I understood where he got it from. "An offer?" I asked, having an idea of what it was, from what Ryan told me, but wanted to hear it from the horse's mouth.

"Yes." Mr. Herman smiled brightly. "I've spoken with Adam and Peter, and we all have come to an agreement that we would like to give you the Director of Construction position. It's essentially the same thing as what Ryan was doing, but with an alternative name, and you won't be a senior partner."

I couldn't believe the offer that was being given to me. "Wow! I don't know what to say?"

"Say you accept!" Adam urged.

"So, I won't be your apprentice anymore?" I looked at Adam.

He shook his head. "No, but we'll still be doing a lot of work together. You'll just be more on the construction side of things. And you won't have to worry about trying to get the client because, by the time they get to you, we'll already have them."

"And you think I'm ready for this kind of responsibility?" I looked around at all of them.

Mrs. Turner only nodded, while the other two enthusiastically agreed that I was.

"Plus, we'll be here to help you along every step of the way. That is, if you ever need it," Mr. Herman assured.

Without a second thought, I stood up and extended my hand out. "I accept your offer."

Mr. Herman stood, towering slightly over me, and shook my hand. "Fantastic! I'll have Mrs. Turner work with HR to get all the T's crossed and all the I's dotted, and we'll get you started right away. I know Mr. Gima and his team are eager to get their project off the ground."

"Thank you again!" I said, still shaking Mr. Herman's hand.

**************

I spent the morning on cloud nine. I texted everyone I knew about my exciting news. Everyone, especially my parents, was ecstatic and insisted I call them on my way home to tell them all about it.

Ashlee and Bruce were so excited to see me back. They insisted we all go out for lunch to celebrate my return and promotion. We all agreed to check out a new nearby sushi restaurant. It was a quaint little restaurant that probably sat no more than twenty people. We sat in a booth and placed our order.

While we were waiting for our food, they filled me in on all the office gossip I had missed. Bruce was now Adam's assistant since Ryan quit and I was being promoted, and Ashlee had put in her two weeks' notice.

"But what about you and Peter?" I asked, playing with my chopsticks, which gave me a brief flashback of Ryan feeding me the sweet and sour chicken. It made me smile.

"It's over. After he ditched Bruce and me to drag Ryan home, I realized I was in a one-way relationship." She sighed. "Plus, I could tell he was getting bored with me. So I figured it'd be better to put in my notice instead of waiting to be fired. That way, Mrs. Turner or maybe even Peter would write me a letter of recommendation for my next employer."

I reached across the table and rested my hand on hers. "Honey, no one could ever get bored with you."

She smiled and thanked me for the compliment, just as our food arrived.

"So, what did happen between Ryan and your fiance?" Ashlee asked as she dipped a roll in her soy sauce.

The million-dollar question! Luckily I had my mouth full, so it gave me a moment to think out how to respond. "Nothing really. Eric just overreacted to seeing me with him at the hotel and thought we were fooling around. He apologized the next day, we made up, and now we're just shy of a month from getting married."

Ashlee and Bruce exchanged looks, then looked back at me. "So, you weren't hooking up with Ryan?" Bruce asked.

I didn't know how much they actually knew about Ryan and me, so I figured I'd just be upfront about it. "We were, for about a month. But we had ended things awhile back. Though, Eric still didn't trust us working together. Hence the fight."

We all tried a piece of each other's rolls and talked about the food for a few minutes. I was glad the topic was ending. I really didn't want to relive everything again. But right when I thought we were moving on, I could see Ashlee thinking about something unrelated to our current conversation.

"Back up a minute," she said, cutting Bruce off in the middle of his story about some college party he went to the other night. "You and Ryan hooked up, then ended things, and you still worked for the company?" 

Though slightly annoyed from being cut off, Ashlee's thoughts also confused Bruce. "Why is that weird?"

I realized he probably wasn't given the same warning that they gave Ashlee and me when we started working for the firm.

Ashlee explained. "Well, usually when one of the Herman men end their intimate relationships with their assistant, Mrs. Turner is tasked to fire them."

I waved my hand that was holding the chopsticks at Ashlee. "Uh, hello? They fired me, remember? They only brought me back because of Mr. Gima's condition."

"Yeah, but you were only fired in the first place because Peter ran his mouth to his dad. Ryan never had you fired. Plus, I'm pretty sure from what Bruce told me, Ryan was the one who convinced Mr. Gima to only take the contract if you were on the project." Ashlee pointed out.

I shrugged, playing clueless. "I don't know why Ryan would do that."

"Probably because he's in love with you!" Ashlee said absentmindedly and only then realized what she was saying. "Oh, my God! He's in love with you! That's why he didn't have you fired in the first place and then helped you get your job back!"

I blushed and drank my water to cool my mind down. "Well, whatever the reason is, it won't change the fact that I'm still getting married to Eric."

"Poor Ryan," Ashlee said more to Bruce than to me, even though it was loud enough for us to hear.

I huffed and rolled my eyes as I finished my last roll. "Yeah, poor Ryan. If it wasn't for him picking a fight with Eric, I wouldn't have been fired at all." I tried to stay in character that I was still mad at him. Part of me was still annoyed that it was because of him I was fired, so it wasn't hard to show real annoyance. "Besides, he probably helped me get my job back to clear his conscious more than anything."

Ashlee and Bruce didn't really seem to know how to respond to that.

Thankfully, Bruce used the awkward silence as an open for him to get back into his story. Which I was grateful for. I really didn't want to feel annoyed with Ryan.

I looked down at my chopsticks again, and my mind soon wandered back to Ryan's smile and us laughing at the spilled rice. I loved that even the thought of Ryan could stir every emotion in me.