I had been working as Mr Stinson's personal assistant for about two weeks and I had to admit, though it wasn't what I had initially envisioned, it was definitely a learning experience. I typed memos, letters and sent out emails, I sat with him through his meetings and took notes, I delivered information to the guys working in other departments and got to see how the other side worked, and of course I got him coffee and attended to other personal needs. It wasn't a bad deal at all, aside from the constant side eye from Elena. Maya had gotten in the other week and she was so excited for me when we met up for lunch. Stinson & Co was the top of the league for her.

I was in a good frame of mind that Tuesday morning, and in no way did I ever expect to see him.

Noah.

He just walked into the office casually, and I swear my heart stopped beating in my chest. He was even more gorgeous than I remembered dressed casually in a green t-shirt and jeans as I looked at him with sober eyes. He glanced at me briefly as he strolled towards Mr Stinson's office and something in me sprang to life from my dazed state.

"Excuse me", I croaked, standing up to catch his attention. Those hazel eyes paused and regarded me. I cleared my throat. "You can't just go in there"

"Why not?" he asked coolly

I blinked. Was he for real? I was about coming up with a suitable reply when Elena breezed in from her five minute break that had spanned about thirty minutes.

"Noah!" Elena cooed. She walked up to him and gave him a hug, pressing up against him too aggressively in my opinion "It's been ages. Here to see your dad?"

His dad. I blinked again, the realization hitting me like a tidal wave.

 "Yeah, but she said I couldn't go in", he said looking at me "Is he in a meeting or something?" Elena regarded me like the pesky mosquito that wouldn't quit hovering around her life. "No he's not. Never mind Ellie, she's new"

He wouldn't stop looking at me. I averted my gaze. Did he even remember me? He certainly didn't behave like he did.

"That's alright", Noah finally said and then walked into Mr Stinson's office

"Ughhhh", I groaned and slumped back into my chair. What the hell was that all about?

"He's hot isn't he?" Elena asked, watching me as she settled into her desk

"What?"

"I see you. You want a slice of that Noah pie", she bit her lip as if she was remembering something "Well, better get in line sister"

I scoffed. "No, Elena that's not even..."

I was interrupted by the shrill ring of my desk phone. It was Mr Stinson calling.

"Yes, Ellie. Please come into my office for a moment" he said immediately I picked up. I set the receiver back into its cradle, got my spiral notebook and pen and went into his office.

Mr Stinson and Noah were talking and laughing as well, a father and son would. I suddenly felt stupid for not realizing the connection earlier. I mean, they were tall, blonde and terribly imposing.

"Ellie come in", Mr Stinson signalled me to come closer. Noah hardly glanced at me as I regarded his father. "Anything you need, sir?" I asked

"Yes. I'd like a coffee please, you know how I like mine", I did. Black and plain. "And my son would like one as well", he gestured at Noah. I tried not to look at him "But he likes all those New York type coffees"

I looked at Noah now.

"Yeah I think there's a Starbucks a few blocks away", Noah spoke up finally regarding my presence

"There is", I said, however Starbucks was not a few blocks away. I forced a smile. "What would you like?"

"A caramel mocha, please", Noah leaned back into his chair, that intense hazel gaze really doing strange things to my insides.

Mr Stinson handed me one of his credit cards. "Let Verne take you. You can get coffees for Elena and yourself". Verne was one of his drivers. I nodded, took his card and promptly left his office. I found Verne on the ground floor, near the parking lot and informed him we were going to Starbucks.

A long while later, Verne and I were stuck in this awful traffic that was unusual for the area.

"I think they are doing some construction up ahead, miss", Verne told me empathetically. I hated traffic and I also didn't want Mr Stinson to think I was slacking off somewhere with his driver.

"Its okay, Verne", I said brushing my clammy palms against my jeans "You know what, I think Starbucks is just a while away. I'll just walk there and get the coffees while you make a turn and wait for me to get back"

"Okay miss", Verne nodded in agreement. I got out of the car and the heat outside hit me all at once. I suddenly wished I had worn something lighter than the two layers of a camisole and its accompanying cardigan I currently had on. I walked to Starbucks, got the orders and came back to Verne in as little time as I could manage. The heat combined with the walk to Starbucks had gotten me all sweaty and flustered.

We drove back to Stinson & Co., I made my way up, after picking up Mr Stinson's normal coffee from the canteen. I gave Elena hers, placed mine on my desk and walked into Mr Stinson's office. Noah was there, looking over his dad's shoulder into his computer. They both looked up as I walked in.

"Here's yours, sir", I offered Mr Stinson his and then offered Noah his with a curt smile.

"Anything else, sir?" I asked

"Oh no, thank you Ellie", Mr Stinson said. I was about to leave but I caught Noah as he took a sip of his coffee, grimaced and set it down. I couldn't help myself.

"I'm sorry did I get your order wrong or something?"I asked, looking Noah straight in the eye. How did he not remember me? I had spent most of my week nights after that weekend thinking about him and our encounter. Was it the hair? Was our encounter not that memorable to him?

"No it's just... cold", he looked right back at me. I may have been mesmerized if I wasn't already getting so pissed off. "A little faster next time, Ellie"

I was bristling as I walked out of Mr Stinson's office. I had walked all the way down to Starbucks and gotten all sweaty just to fetch him a cup of coffee and he didn't feel like a simple 'thanks' would suffice? Well screw him. What a proper jerk. Well at least he had been right that night in his car, he really wasn't nice.

It was Thursday evening and I was at Maya's new apartment helping her set up. I couldn't believe how Maya had gotten her dad to give up rent money for an apartment that was basically about 30 minutes from her family house. Something about being an adult and being independent, she said.

"Your dad spoils you rotten", I said looking around Maya's kitchen. It was a modern state of the art design and I was truly and honestly jealous.

"You're just jealous, boo", Maya hit the proverbial nail on the head as she inspected two different china plates before setting them on a rack "But don't worry when you get some man action in your life you will be begging me to let you use it". She gave me a salacious wink and I made some gagging noises.

"Oh please... My last attempt was such a fail, I'm too embarrassed to even try again"

"Don't worry about that no-good Matt Ryder. I set his ass straight when I met him at the airport"

I giggled, placing some potato peelers in a drawer next to the sink. "I can't believe you slapped Matt right across the face in front of the airport"

"Well I couldn't slap him across the face inside. Airport security would have gotten to me"

"Your mug shot would have been hot though"

She did this far away look. "It really would have, wouldn't it?"

We both cracked up then. Maya emptied a bag of chips she had bought on her trip to the grocery store into a huge bowl and I got the bowl of dip and we went into her cosy sitting room and spread out on the new couch she had ordered.

It was movie night and we had this thing where we would binge on chips and dip and watch a rom-com or a thriller or basically any movie starring some hot guy and also discuss what was currently going on in our lives.

Maya slotted in the movie, it was Focus (Will Smith= hot guy) and she pressed play and we began to watch.

"Your apartment is so cool, though. I know you'll get lonely and need me to come and stay with you all the time" I gave her the puppy dog look

"Ah making excuses to hide away from the family I see"

"No, nothing like that", I waved her assumption off "I talked with my mom. We're kind of good on that whole issue now"

"That's great", Maya smiled "Anyway, you're welcome to sleep over whenever, babe"

"This is such a nice couch by the way", I told Maya

She rolled her eyes at me. "Nice of you to come when I was almost done setting up the whole place"

"Maya" I groaned "I thought we went over this. I'm sorry I couldn't come earlier. I was busy with work and all"

"Yeah yeah, I hear you", she scooped up some dip with her chip and deposited into her mouth. Her eyes sparked up suddenly. "Talking about work... Has that hottie Noah come in again?"

"No" I scoffed like I was appalled at the thought of him "And I don't even want him to come in. He's a jerk"

"But he's totally the yummiest jerk I've ever seen. If I wasn't with Ben and I was in your shoes, ooh child I would so pounce on that"

I threw my hands up in mock surrender. "How did I even become friends with this girl? Wait... How did you see him?"

"I Facebook stalked him", Maya informed me like it was perfectly normal to stalk people she had never met on the internet. Well, it kind of was. "And you're in luck, no relationship status. You'd better jump on that train"

I shook my head. "I can't. I mean he didn't even remember me, coupled with the fact that he's downright rude. All I am to him is his dad's PA"

"Look. Do what you got to do" Maya said and I could tell her tone was a bit serious "But I could tell from the way you talked to me about this guy when he picked your drunk ass and took it back to your dorm, there's something there"

"How are you so sure?" I raised my brow at her

She shrugged. "I have this thing called best friend intuition..."

"That is so cheesy, Maya. I can't even". We joked the conversation away and got on with the rest of the movie, but I couldn't help but wonder if she could actually be right.

Friday morning rolled around. I was feeling good as I walked into Stinson & Co. at 7:40 am. I had a good girls' night with Maya, my mom had bought me this awesome floral chiffon dress with a deep V and a shorter hemline than I would usually wear. I spruced it up with some red lipstick and I even loved my short hair today. I said hi to the guys at security, said hi to Rosie at reception, she said I looked great and there was a spring in my step as I walked into the elevator. I was about pushing the button for the top floor and then I heard, "Hold the elevator"

That voice. My good mood evaporated into thin air. I held the elevator and sure enough, Noah walked in.

Damn, but why did he always have to look... and smell so good. I shook my head at myself.

"Thank you", he told me curtly as the elevator doors closed, then added, "For holding the elevator"

I cleared my throat. "Sure, you're welcome"

Awkward elevator music interlude. I looked everywhere but at Noah. Where were people to join the elevator when you needed? And it was a long ride to the top. Something suddenly dawned on me.

"Mr Stinson isn't in yet", I told Noah

"What?" he asked but didn't sound confused

"Uh, I assumed you were coming in to see your dad", I supplied "And he hasn't come in yet"

"Oh no", he said then paused "I kind of work here now"

I looked at him even though I tried not to; his blonde hair glistened against the silver shine of the elevator. "Oh you do?" I couldn't tell if my heart sank, or rose.

"Yeah. Kind of part-time really", he explained

"That's nice" I went back to staring at anywhere else that wasn't Noah.

There was another pause, this time not as awkward as filled with something else. Noah finally spoke, breaking the silence.

"So, Ellie. Is that short for Ellen? Eleanor? Ellenore?" he paused, observing me and weighing his words "Maya?"

I whirled on him suddenly, my eyes flashing with an emotion I couldn't describe, a mixture of anger and relief probably. "You did remember me" I shook my head in disbelief.

"Of course I remembered you. I'd remember you anywhere", Noah said, the quiet way he said the last statement gave it some gravity. "I mean your haircut is great and everything but it's not much of a disguise"

"I wasn't disguising anything", I protested, then remembered why I was angry at him "You pretended like you didn't know me"

"Well I don't really know you. I thought I knew your name and well, you know how that turned out" he crossed his arms and dared to smirk at me

"Hey, don't pin this on me. You saw me and then you pretended you had never met me before"

"You pretended like you'd never met me before either", Noah uncrossed his arms, the conversation getting him riled up as well "I thought that's what you wanted, with you being all weird and secretive"

"Excuse me? How am I weird and secretive?"

"You gave me a fake name for starters. Why would you even do that?"

"I don't know. I wasn't thinking straight that night"

"You know I went back to your dorm the next day to check on you. No one was in your room and so I asked around for a Maya. None of the people I asked knew a Maya in that dorm. It was quite humiliating" he ran a hand through his hair and shook his head

I took just a second to actually be touched that Noah had gone back to check on me. Then the second was over and I was angry again.

"Is that why you embarrassed me in your dad's office the other day?"

His handsome features managed to look a tad remorseful. "Okay, my bad about that, I ..."

The elevator doors finally whooshed open and I let out a breath, glad that the elevator ride from hell was over.

"You know what? Just save it. You're my boss's son and you can do whatever the hell you want", with that, I stomped out of the elevator without looking back and hoping Noah could not see how much his presence had affected me.

I heard the elevator doors shut closed, and when I looked back, Noah was gone.

It was lunch time. I was on the 2nd floor getting lunch in the canteen, hoping I would return to my job clear headed after this break. After the encounter in the elevator, I was a little in my head and Elena had called me out on it, I hated having her call me out for anything.

I ordered a turkey sandwich, a pudding cup and a bottle of water and carried my tray of food to one of the tables by the glass wall. I liked sitting here, the glass wall overlooked the courtyard and it was a really stunning view. The vibrant colours were a nice contrast to the clean preciseness of the office. I was eating my sandwich so lost in thought, I didn't notice when Noah came in.

"Hey", Noah said. I jerked my eyes away from the view to see him setting his tray down and sitting across from me. I quickly swallowed my bite of sandwich and sat up, hoping there were no bread crumbs on my face.

"What do you want, Noah? Need another Starbucks to go with your lunch?"

Noah just smiled that smile of his, dipped his fry in some ketchup and popped it into his mouth. "You're not a catty person so stop trying to be one"

I rolled my eyes at him. "You don't know me"

"I know you're smart, and fetching a coffee for your boss's son is a waste of your brain resources" he joked in spite of himself "I'm sorry about that"

"You don't have to be sorry. It's my job", I replied, I turned back to look out the glass

"I get the feeling with the way you just said that; you don't like it very much"

"Wow, quite the psychic aren't you", I gave him a pointed look, my eyes catching hazel ones as he studied me "I like it enough. I just wish I could be doing more". I didn't like how I was the topic of conversation, I changed the subject.

"Why are you sitting here, Noah?"

He looked like he didn't expect the question. He took a bite of his burger and leaned back in his chair. "Hey, we new kids need to stick together"

I cracked a smile at that. "What are you even working as?"

"Oh you didn't hear? I'm the new HR manager"

"Don't you have to work for years for that kind of thing?" I shook my head and took a spoon of my pudding

"Yes that's nepotism you smell. I'm the boss's son, I can do whatever the hell I want, remember?" he raised his brow at me.

Okay that made me laugh, even as I tried not to. Noah looked pleased with himself, like getting a laugh out of me was an achievement.

"Well is that your major? Or was that your major?" I asked him, realizing I was actually curious about Noah Stinson.

"Oh I just graduated actually. Majored in computer science". He explained as he took another fry from his plate

"Seriously?" I gave him an incredulous look. The guy looked like he went to modelling school for hunky hot guys.

"What does that look mean? You don't believe me?"

"I'm not convinced"

"Well better believe me. I'm really good"

"Okay. Well I'm sure that'd be a lot of help in Human resources"

He threw his head back and laughed, he had a great laugh and an even greater smile as he looked at me. Something fluttered in my stomach.

Damn it all. I was attracted to him.

"I'm glad we're past all that previous unpleasantness. I guess we can be... friends" he held out his hand to me across the table. I looked at his hand for a minute, and then accepted his friendly gesture. The second my hand came in contact with his, delicious electricity sizzled right through me. I pulled my hand away abruptly. What was I thinking? Falling for the boss's son would be the surest way to jeopardise my job here.

"Uh", I stood up quickly and awkwardly "I actually need to go..." I looked around and saw Rosie passing by "... talk with Rosie. Later, Noah"

I didn't bother to notice the expression on his face as I called out, "Rosie!" and walked away. Rosie stopped with her lunch tray confusedly and looked at me coming towards her, and looked behind me at Noah.

"What's this all about?" she asked me as I approached her

I sighed. "You don't want to know, sister. Keep walking"