The Knocking on the door awoke me from my slumber just as it had been the past weeks, November had come and gone from my life with time flying as I worked for Nathaniel. There was still the aching in my brain that I recognized him from somewhere, but by the end of the day I was too exhausted to think about it.

It was now mid-December with Christmas closing in rapidly, though I had very little time to think about what to give any of the people closest to me. My plans for that day probably just included more work, with all of the stigma that surrounded my parents and I.

My Mother had given me the man's phone number, the one I was to wed, and told me that she expected me to talk to him soon. I hadn't found a time that felt right to, I worked until late at night and got up early in the day. Though the truth of the matter was I just wanted to have a reason not to talk to him.

Since Betsy's Diner, I hadn't mentioned my betrothed to Nathaniel. I didn't want to drag him into my family matters, and while I knew eventually, we would have to discuss it I wanted to push it off as much as possible. He was my boss and if I did marry this man then I would have to quit my job, as much as I hated the thought of being a homemaker.

My phone sprung to life as I got ready for work, I glanced at my phone praying that it wasn't my mother. I smiled slightly seeing Nick's name, I quickly hit the green button turning it on speaker.

"Emma Bear, Good Morning!" I heard a voice I hadn't quite expected to hear so early in the morning. After the conversation Nick and I had about trusting the group I decided to tell all of them what was going on.

"Caleb, Your up early?" It came out more as a question than a comment, though I guess in a way it was a question anyways. I met Caleb in second grade making him the fourth member of our group. Dai had been the third, our little artist and Nick being our Chef. While they both were chasing their dreams, Caleb found a passion for architect.

"Well Nick promised me that hed give me free pancakes next time I was in town." Of course, the only way things that could wake him up early was his job or the promise of free food.

"Of course." I replied wondering where Nick even was, he had been the one to call me not Caleb. There had to be a reason he bribed Caleb to wake up early.

"Anything new happen?" I finally heard Nick's voice through the phone and I smiled slightly, he was worried about Nathaniel still. Every week or so he would tease me asking if anything had happened between us. It had been a month now since I started working for him.

"Nope, just another day Nickie." I replied as I searched for my black pants and grey blazer. The answer was always the same no matter how many times he asked me, and it was the truth.

"And your happy?" Caleb inquired though I knew that it had a double meaning, he wasn't asking me if I enjoyed my job. He was asking if I enjoyed the relationship that I had with Nathaniel, if I wanted something more.

"I am very happy Caleb." I replied with a shake of my head, nothing was going to happen between Nathaniel and I. There was attraction between us at the very beginning, but it had been solely physical.

"What does he have you doing?" Caleb seemed to accept my answer, though I knew next week Nick would probably have someone else on the phone with me asking the same question.

"K & L dabbles in so many different things, today is mostly just organizing his ever-expanding schedule." I replied slightly dreading how much I would have to organize by days end. Because he had his hands in so many different hats, and the hats were expanding to

"They're opening another hotel with bar in France, we have to go supervise soon." I continued as I looked for all my things, grabbing my phone from the top of my dresser and grabbing my locket. Placing it around my neck like I had every day since Grammy died, I smiled slightly down at it.

"France! Hell no your not going anywhere without me youn-" I clicked the phone off with a smirk, I knew fully well that Nick wouldn't like the idea of me leaving. My life was full of men who were overprotective, I knew by now just to ignore their antics.

I opened my door to see Lizzie raising her hand about to wake me, I smiled at her slightly. "Madam Montgomery-"

"Emily." I interrupted watching her blink a couple of times before conceding.

"Emily, it is the time for work." Her English hadn't gotten much better since I first met her, and no matter how many times I corrected her on my name she always called me Madam Montgomery without my corrections.

"Thank you Lizzie, have a good day ok?" I patted her head slightly, I had found out many things about the young girl. She was from France, her family had moved over here on her 18th birthday which had been a little over a year ago. Her Mother had been friends with Nathaniel's mother, so he felt obligated to help them.

Lizzie's name was Elise, and she was studying online courses at NYC. Nathaniel had been paying for her education in exchange she worked for him as a maid. He never let them starve, sending home any of the leftovers of our meals. Her job wasn't too bad, and it provided her experience to learn many different new things.

She would clean and cook most of the time, but now with Auburn living here she took care of her while we were gone. Taking her on walks and cooking her extravagant treats and meals. Sometimes I would speak with her in French, though I'm a bit rusty from college.

"Shall I not be saying that to you Ma- Emily." She asked me as I hurried down the hallway towards the kitchen where Nathaniel and I met every day.

"I'm getting a sense of Déjà vu Fenice." I felt a twinge of annoyance at the darn nickname, even after working with him for a month now.

"As am I Nate." I responded, watching him smirk a bit at the nickname. After my slip up on my first night he had insisted that I called him Nate, without much of a reason to not I conceded.

"Lizzie, I can take it from here." Lizzie nodded slightly before scampering off to take care of Auburn, goodness knows that she was a full-time job alone.

"Can't wait to get me alone Nathaniel?" I drew out his name, licking my lips slightly while he stood up. We had begun to play small games every morning before work, perhaps it wasn't wise but neither of us made any moves to stop it.

"You know I can't, not when seeing you look so..." He trailed off eyes roaming my body, I shivered slightly before heading towards the elevator.

"Can't handle it Fenice?" He called after me as I stepped into the elevator, the doors began to close, and I knew he wouldn't make it.

"You're the one who can't handle it Nate." I turned around while the doors closed, my hair flying to my back. I shot him a smirk of my own before the doors closed completely.

"Fenice!" I heard the muffled yell before the elevator began to descend, my smirk staying prominent on my lips. The doors soon opened to the lobby, I made my way to the desk seeing the elderly man in charge of the building.

"Roderick, How are you today?" I greeted him with a smile and a small wave, he perked up a bit at hearing my voice. We both had enjoyed each others company in the mornings when I had beat Nate to the elevator.

"As good as I can be." He smiled, his wife had pasted only a couple months ago and he had been struggling now without her.

"Just hang in there Roderick." I replied turning when I heard the elevators ding, right on time as usual. I could almost feel his intense stare from the elevator doors, while I waited for him to make his way to me.

"Fenice, must you always torture me so?" We walked our way to his car, even with all the money he had he refused to hire a driver. I sat into the comfy seats partly jealous that my cars seats weren't quite as nice.

"And yes I must." He looked confused for a moment before remembering what he said earlier.

Our way to the company was mostly silent, both of us turning towards our professionalism and taking our time to get ready for our day. Walking into the company building was always the same, we would make our way to the elevator only stopping to say hi to Regina the receptionist.

Every woman but Regina would glare at me as I walked by, all not liking my existence merely because they had caught wind of me living with Nathaniel. They were jealous of my closeness to him, apparently just about every woman in the building fell at Nathaniel's feet.

The men weren't much better, they watched me with hungry gazes making me straighten my back even more. Men were disgusting, and that's the only reason why I understood the woman in the company. Nathaniel was the only one that wasn't up to no good.

"Good Morning Regina." I chirped smiling at her slightly, she waved back at us and finally we stepped into the elevator. All the glares and hungry stages went away and I noticed Nathaniel breathing out a sigh.

"Sir?" I questioned but the question was left unanswered as the elevator dinged once more, the doors opened onto our floor.

We worked for several hours, Nathaniel had several meetings about the France branch. Arguing could be heard behind the doors, one man had left in a rush with his ears red and his breathes labored. His rage almost caused a dent in the wall just like the dent in his pride.

It was five-thirty and the rest of the day went off without much of a hitch, that was until Nathaniel came racing out of his office asking me to follow him. As we went down the elevator he began to explain to me what was so urgent.

"Apparently someone left the door open downstairs and a dog got in." I looked at him like he was insane, this was all about a dog. Were his people that uncappable, not being able to catch a dog.

"What are you going to do?" I asked him wondering what his idea was for this dog.

"I don't know, I'll figure out what to do with it after we catch him." I nodded my head slightly, knowing fully well that he had never had a dog in his life. It had been one of the multiple conversations we had over a cup of coffee early in the morning.

The doors opened to a chaotic sight, half of the workers running rapidly away from the dog while the other half seemed unconcerned with it all. They continued to head towards their workplaces without another thought.

Before he could say anything else, I marched my way towards the dog, it had been a boxer running amuck. It chased around those that ran with its tongue hanging outside its mouth.

I let out a sharp whistle getting on the ground, everyone stopped running and began to watch me. The eyes watched me closely as I placed my hand down beckoning it to come closer.

Slowly it approached me, its nose wiggling as it smelled the air around us. Everyone held their breath as the dog crept towards me. It almost reached my hand just as a man let out a yell, the dog startled began to back pedal.

Nathaniel ran towards the voice while I let out another whistle, trying to keep the dogs attention on me. Slowly it walked back up towards me and sniffed my hand. I bowed my neck low letting it know I wasn't a threat.

I bundled up the dog in my arms holding it by the scruff of my neck. Nathaniel and who I assumed let out the yell approached me. The man looked very similar to Nathaniel, and I realized it had to be Mr. Kolebrook.

"We need to take this thing straight to the pound, it could have attacked anyone!" He wailed slightly as I took him in, noticing the mark above his lip. I nodded to myself looking at how he was wary of the dog. He had been attacked most likely as a child, leaving a distasteful mouth for dogs.

"I will take care of the dog, you are not taking him to the pound." I responded standing up slightly to stand on fair ground with the man.

"I forbid it, Nate take it to the pound. Now." I hadn't realized how much a scar of the past could affect one's mood and judgment.

"I caught him, I will manage him sir." I looked at Nathaniel before I began to walk away, hearing the man mumble about how I must be an awful work and how disobedient I am.

"DO NOT talk about my workers like that Uncle." I smiled to myself as I made my way out the doors, he was definitely the best man in that building. Smiling to the dog that walked next to me, I realized that Nathaniel might be a bit mad at me later.

I just couldn't bring myself to accept any other conclusions, "Come on Ray, let's get you to your new home."

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"Love all, trust few, do wrong to none."

- William Shakespeare

Hello everyone! How are you today? Good? Bad? Hopefully Good! I hope you enjoyed the chapter and don't be afraid to vote or comment. I always want constructive critisism so I can become a better writer.

Xoxo,

Sparky