(Emily's Point of View)

Another day, another miserable day though I guess the birds understood me more than anyone right now. I heard the wind howling outside, raining sprinkling down.  Though rain it was suppose to stop sometime soon.

Little Auburn was stuck to my side, her little paws raised into the air. Her nose twitched slightly, her tongue hanging out of her mouth. Soft snores echoed into the silent room, she was completely peaceful.

I looked over at my clock, eight am, everyone should be up by now. It had been five days since I met Nathaniel and his memory nagged from the back of my mind. I had hoped to call Sierra about it to ask for guidance in this sort of thing.

The day after I met him she was nowhere to be found, her phone dead and she was most likely underneath a man she had picked up. I had only ever been with a man once and that was a large mistake I had made in college. A drunken mistake that I wish I could've been sober for.

When I had woken up that morning to find him next to me I was mortified. I had liked him for quite awhile at that point and never had the nerve to ask him out. Sierra had assured me many times that he liked me, his goofy jokes and smile were sure signs of that. I believed that he was simply a nice guy, so I slipped out of the room quicker than I had ever gone before.

Presently I was in a bit of a pinch as I attempted to get out of bed, only for Auburn to growl softly, her sleep was not to be disturbed. She blocked the only exit, with hope that I would make it I leapt over her. Only to pull the sheets with me sending us both to the floor.

She laid on top of me, her little paws spread out on my chest. Her eyes bore into mine with feelings of hatred, I had awoken her slumber. I picked her up placing her on the bed gently, she tried to snip at my hands a couple of times, before she curled up on my pillow drifting back to sleep.

I grabbed my phone calling Sierra, she picked up almost immediately. I guess she wasn't underneath someone now.

"Emmie! I didn't catch you Friday Night, did you bail on me?" I didn't quite get a hello, just her calling out my name. It's been five days, something horrible could've happened!

"No, I was there." I let out an exasperated breathe, "and some Perv almost had his way with me in an alley." I heard a small gasp come from her side of the line.

"You were sober though right, he didn't..." I could hear the worry in her tone, while she didn't always make the best decisions she cared deeply about me.

"I wasn't sober-" I led off with, knowing well that it would shock her to know that I was drinking.

"You drank!" I could almost hear the proudness in her voice, my teeth gritted with anger. The moral of this story wasn't that I drank.

"And," I put emphasis on the and part, "he almost laid his hands on me." I heard a gasp come from her side.

"So what happened then Emmie?" More worry in her voice, guilt slowly seeping in. She had nothing to be guilty for though, she couldn't have known it was going to happen.

"Someone saved me." I replied casually as I looked around my closet for some pants. My house was still deathly silent, I looked back at the clock: eight thirty. Still all you could hear was Sierra's voice screeching through the phone.

"Who!" Now she was making it seem like some sappy romance drama. It wasn't, it was just a guy helping a girl. Now then, I found my favorite pair of jeans, what shirt should I wear today?

"Oh you want to know who?" I taunted her, I might as well have some fun with this while I could. Besides, I couldn't stop thinking about him and I didn't want her to know that just yet.

"Yes!" I found a nice long sleeve orange shirt, perfect to match the autumn leaves turning. Just warm enough to not need a a heavy coat, hopefully the rain would let up soon.

"His name is Nathaniel." I replied and I could hear her pterodactyl screams coming from the phone. Again, this wasn't a sappy romance drama.

"I knew it! You met a boy!" Her screeches continued long enough for me to get a headache. Deciding that it wasn't worth it I yelled, "I'm hanging up."

"No wait I'll stop! Tell me more!" Her voice turned frantic, however her screeches hushed. I could feel her excitement bubbling up, I didn't have much time before she exploded.

"He wasn't like any man I had ever met before, he's infuriating and he calls me Fenice. But he was just almost-"

"Almost! Almost the man of your dreams!" Not much time left better choose a good word. Her bubble was about to burst out all of her squeals.

"Dashing." I lunged for my phone her screeching began quickly bringing back my headache. I grasped the phone in my hand hitting the end button, a crazy girl she was.

Though it was odd that her screams hadn't summoned my parents to my room. I crept into the hallway, I knew they hadn't found out about my escapades.

I found myself walking into the kitchen, finding a post-it note on the fridge. I could tell right off that it was my mother's writing. The slight disfigure in the 'a' was the easiest way to distinguish her writing from the rest of the household.

Ameilia,
We are visiting my mother for today, and you have the house all to yourself. Your free to do anything you wish today, because once your wedded to the man I have picked your life will be much more strict.
Love,
Mother

My world froze for a moment, both in shock and horror. She was telling me that I would never have freedom once I was wedded, that's the hidden meaning of this note. This is my last chance to find a way out of this. She never has given me much freedom before now, my leash was tight around my neck.

It had to be a lot worse with this man if she's giving me an entire day to choose the course of my life. I was going to change it for the better, or at least I hoped so, and I wasn't going to let my parents control me anymore.

Their credit card laid beside of it, I didn't particularly want their money but she never permitted me to get a job. I slid it into my purse before heading to the garage. I wouldn't be able to change my future just siting in the house all day, it was still early morning at nine am. However, what better way to start my day then doing what I've wanted to do since I was twelve.

I got into my black Ferrari, a sleek modern design which looked sharp and classy. I sped off, heading towards the nearest place to pierce my ears. My mother believed having holes in your body was hideous, forbidding me to ever pierce my ears.

I think I shocked the entire store, they pushed me into the front of the line. I think it made a little girl cry, they kept saying that it was a sin to not have your ears pierced at my age.

I looked at them in my car mirror, small diamond studs anointed my ears. I loved them, if only twelve year old me could see me now. I'm sure she could never believe that our mother would let us do this.

The next course of action? A job. A place that I could be myself without mother looking over my shoulder. As I cruises through the city I glanced looking for some sort of job, I parked in front of Kolebrook and Liefton Inc. flipping onto my phone looking for a job that would work for a business degree.

My eyes stopped at my phone and looked over at where I had parked, the back to the phone. K & L Inc. was hiring and I had parked directly in front of their doors. Taking a leap of faith I locked my car and entered. K & L was known for many of their bars and restaurants to the outside world. But they dabbled in many things including hotels as well as a clothing line.

The lobby was magnificent as it should be, they had recently been pasted down to Kolebrook's Nephew. Liefton's daughter was an advisor for the nephew on the hotels spas and the clothing line mainly.

I heard she practically runs the clothing line, her name just isn't used to sign the papers. Otherwise it would become two companies, Leifton and Kolebrook, separate.

The design was modern, Grey and Red coloring the walls. Some plants sat next to the front desk, the place I immediately walked to. I had to stay professional I couldn't gawk at the lobby.

"How May I help you?" Her voice came, she smiled sweetly at me however I could almost feel her exhaustion from her. "The job I'm presuming?" She asked, she must have had a lot of people coming to look at the job.

I nodded and watched her scurry her hands around the desk. Eventually she told me to take a seat and handed me some forms. I looked at the questions almost wondering what I had signed up for.

There were your basic gender: female, age: 22, but then their were things like sexuality: straight, Ability to handle stress: 10.

I finished up the weird forms and handed it back to the woman when she called my name. She nodded her head signaling me to follow her. She walked briskly, long strides making it hard for me to keep her pace.

Eventually we came to an elevator at the far end of the lobby, we entered and she hit the top floor. I suppose now was a bad idea to mention my fear of heights? We went up twenty stores, and I was glad that the window was behind me.

I kept my eyes to the front as the doors clicked open, she didn't exit leaving me to awkwardly enter alone.

I heard a ding, I looked back to see she had sent a picture of my forms to someone. I'm guessing the nephew, I walked forward it was dark. Must be a way to intimidate the applicants, a dark shadow stood facing their back towards me.

I saw he turned as I drew closer, and I was met with a man that could only be described with one word: Sexy. Sound familiar? The man I couldn't get off my mind stood in all of his glory, his cobalt eyes watching mine with amusement.

"I didn't know I would see you so soon Fenice." I felt annoyance begin to bubble up. There's that word again, Fenice, I needed to look that up.

"Neither did I Mr. Kolebrook." I responded and he let out a laugh. I looked towards him slightly  confused, was that not his name?

"It's actually Richmond, and I'm sure you remember my first name." He smirked slightly at me, infuriating. Why did I let him get under my skin so much?

"Well Mr. Richmond-" he interrupted me yet again, I huffed in annoyance wishing to leave immediately.

"Nathaniel." He replied shortly and I looked at him blankly, he couldn't be serious. I was applying for a job at his company, I wasn't going to call him by his first name.

"That wouldn't be very professional." I replied with just a bit of exasperation, I couldn't let him make this personal. It was business transaction, it was-

"Do you even know what job you've applied for?" My brain traveled through my memories coming up blank. I had no clue, I cursed under my breath at my stupidity. Especially because now I had to see him smirking lightly at me.

"Do tell Mr. Richmond." I replied keeping my cool even though my mask was cracking by the second.

"It's to be yours truly's personal assistant." He replied and I blink once, twice, thrice before realizing what he meant. He was challenging me, could I stay with him and help even though he infuriates me.

He didn't give me time to respond, "Do you think you can handle that, Fenice?" He tilted his head, his eyes dancing with amusement. He enjoyed getting a rise out of me, making me squirm in my seat.

"Of course I can." I spit out not really comprehending what I had just agreed to, I stood up my energy rising. We began staring at each other, a dance of dominance.

He chuckled at me, "I think I prefer you sober," he put his finger to his chin almost as if he was pondering something. "your much more feisty." He smirked at me, he was just trying to get a rise out of me. His eyes dancing and a smirk playing on his lips, his hair swept back and yet the only word I could use to explain him was, sexy.

"I see your pride is always turned on, does it have an off button?"I took a step towards him, my eyes still locked with his.

I hummed slightly, "Is there an off button Mr. Richmond?" I asked again and took another step. We were just a few feet apart now, standing in the middle of his office.

"Maybe if you'd call me Nathaniel you'd find out?" He replied, and took a step towards me. I had to look up towards him, he was several inches taller than my 5"6' frame. He was somewhere between 5"11' and 6"1.

I wouldn't play his game though, "Maybe if you had an ounce of professionalism I would play your game." I shot back quickly, I stepped forward once more. Our bodies were just a few mere inches apart and only then did I begin to realize how close we were. His scent surrounded me, it smelt familiar and for a second I almost left my guard down. I wish I knew what this man reminded me of, but I kept coming up blank.

"Your hired." He smiled at me before turning around and heading to his desk. I stood stunned, what just happened? Why was my heart about to beat out of my chest, how could I have been so careless?

"Excuse me?" I replied, he sat down in his chair, a smile adorning his face. He seemed content, and I could feel a different sort of pride radiating off of him.

"You told me you could handle this job, I think you've proven just that standing up to me." He replied watching my reaction and then to seal the deal he asked me one more time, "So can you handle it, Emily?"

I wanted an escape and while a job wouldn't get me out of a marriage... at least I would be a little bit more free. I looked at him in the eye, not knowing how much my answer would change the course of my life, and replied with a smile...

"Yes."

- - -

"There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness, but of power. They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues. They are the messengers of overwhelming grief, of deep contrition, and of unspeakable love."
                                                          - Washington Irving

Looks like Emily has a new job and a dreamy boss. Wonder if she can handle Mr. Richmond? Or will she fall for all his charms and rugged good looks? Guess you'll have to read on to find out!

Love all of you my readers.