T E N

THERE SHE WAS, STANDING CLOSE ENOUGH FOR ME TO DO SOMETHING RASH, BUT I KEPT MYSELF UNDER CONTROL.

That she in person happened to be none other than Meredith Marks who was bold enough to walk past my desk and straight into Ashton's office without even acknowledging me. It hurt since she was the one who put my job in even more jeopardy than it already was in, but at the same time, I just wanted nothing to do with her. She was, simply put, not one to be messed with.

In the black screen of my computer, I could see her reflection standing there in the doorway as she talked over Ashton about something business-related, and I could feel my hands shaking with the urge to strangle her.

Thankfully, I didn't have to because for some reason, Elijah was up on this floor and standing behind her with a frown on his face. I looked at him, hoping he could try to communicate to me what exactly was he doing, but he kept his eyes trained ahead without turning away.

Finally, she shut the door turned around, jumping slightly when she saw him but she quickly recovered. "What do you want, asshole?"

"Well look here," he said, "if it isn't The Devil Wears Ann Taylor. I suppose you're not trying to start anymore drama aren't you?"

She rolled her eyes at him. "Isn't that what you're doing? Besides, this is from Coldwater Creek," she said before storming off towards the hallway.

When she was finally gone did Elijah finally acknowledge my presence there, his usual smile on his face that could only mean three things: mischief, mayhem, or a mix of the both of them. "Hey, Fiona, how was your bus ride home last night? It better have been good or you'd make me feel guilty for allowing you to endanger yourself like that."

I couldn't help but chuckle at him. This was the most worried I ever heard him sound since I got this job. While I wanted to savor the moment, I went with telling him all about my ride home with Ashton if he told me about his night with Eric.

"You didn't do anything with him," Elijah asked in shock. "You missed the opportunity of all opportunities, Fiona. If we had both gotten laid on the same night, we could've been in sync or whatever."

The moment those words slipped from his mouth, I couldn't stop myself breaking out into laughter. He seemed to be thoroughly confused about what was just happening, raising an eyebrow up at me as if his expression didn't give that fact away already. "Elijah," I said when I finally recovered, "that only works for periods."

He rolled his eyes. "Anyway, I'm here to help Ashton with organizing the venue and the guest list. Did you know that the event is in two weeks, Fiona?"

No, I did not know because I wasn't exactly invited - at least not formally. I knew about it since I was caught in the middle of all of the controversy, but it had totally slipped my mind that it was a steadily approaching deadline. This event was supposed to be the release party for a new product from Baldwin Industries, one that would throw the company headfirst into its most competitive season yet. It made perfect sense why I wasn't invited to it because I had the least seniority and I was the one who had backed Ashton into the corner that was sleeping with Emilie just to make all of this happen the way he had been planning it for months. But it still stung, just a bit, enough to feel it in the long run.

"Yeah," I lied, running a hand through my hair. "I knew."

Maybe, he didn't like me as much as I - and plenty of others - let myself believe he did

-

"MAY I HAVE EVERYONE'S ATTENTION?"

It was Ashton Baldwin who had spoken after standing up on a chair situated near the center of the forty-fifth floor landing, clapping his hands together to make sure everybody was paying him attention. At Happenstance, when Katie or any other superior had to stand on an elevated platform, that only meant trouble was yet to come. This seemed to be the opposite type of case - thank heavens - because he looked genuinely happy and young at this moment. His tie was undone and the top two buttons of his shirt were as well, not only exposing a gratuitous amount of hair and chest, but giving off a laid-back appearance for him that definitely complemented the smile he wore on his face.

"Alright, now that I have the floor, I would like to say something," he said. "Now you all know that in two weeks is our big press event, the one that we've been preparing and crunching numbers for almost a month now. None of it would've been possible if it weren't for you all, so I want to give you guys a little something special. From me to you."

As he wrapped up his short speech, in came six servers who were wheeling carts of fruits, cheeses, and wines through the door. Much to my surprise, they were a staff from Happenstance, wearing the same grey uniforms that I used to wear when I catered for events like these. Sadly, there was no Katie there, but I shouldn't have expected her to be there when they got about fifty calls for service weekly in just the Pennsylvania area alone. She could've been anywhere right now.

I sighed, stepping out from my desk so that I was on the office floor, in the midst of people conversing about things in the news and personal parts of their lives while eating and bobbing their head to music - apparently someone had plugged in a speaker dock and was playing music from their cellphone.

"How fun is this," Elijah said, coming up beside me with Eric in tow. Before I could answer he interrupted, "he usually throws us a party every few months or so to boost morale, so get used to it."

I smiled. "That sounds fun," I said. "I thought because of how attractive and smart he was that he would be pretty boring. Just to complicate things."

"Oh," Eric said, "I'm sure he's flaws in many other ways. Why don't you go ask him and find out for yourself."

"Wow," I gasped, "you're just as bad as Elijah here."

I was expecting for Elijah to retaliate against my claim, but when my eyes turned to him, they found him looking at some girl far away who was piling assorted fruits onto her plate with an angry look on his face. Of course, the girl in question happened to be none other than Meredith Marks.

"Really, gang," he said with a sigh, "we can't let her get away with what she did to you."

Eric and I both exchanged confused glances before I asked him, "what do you mean?"

"I mean, I've been really doing some thinking last night and you and Ashton are my ship," he said with a weak smile, "my one true pairing. Emilie is one problem that he has to deal with for himself, but we can all collectively get back at Meredith."

"She'll literally murder us," Eric reasoned. "Let's just let this go so things can even themselves out in time."

"If his parents are sniffing around the office, while they might think it was Emilie now, it's only a matter of time before they figure out that it was Fiona," at my pointed look he added, "well, that it was pinned on Fiona."

I sighed. "Look, as much as I appreciate it, not only is Eric probably right, but Meredith is basically untouchable. You warned me about that on the bus, so this is all my fault."

"But you're not the one who willingly used the corporate account - which I don't know how she got ahold of - to pay for a spa appointment just for the sake of getting someone in trouble - in other words, you who is bound to get fired soon. You should at least tell Ashton."

I sighed because sure enough, Elijah had a point. In fact, he was the wisest person I ever came across as far as this office was concerned.

Eric still had a look of uncertainty on his face, however. "Really, I think the best way Fiona can protect herself is by keeping her head down and letting things run her course. Maybe, she and Ashton will never be together, and maybe that isn't such a horrible thing. I mean, just look at where she got herself already."

"Hey," I growled, "I got myself where I am when trying to keep my head down and let things run their course." It was only partly true, but I didn't exactly like the condescending tone of Eric's voice and felt that I had to defend myself. "I'll just talk to Ashton about it, I'm sure it won't be that bad."

"And I'll help you out with Meredith anyway," Elijah said, "in case it all blows over horribly wrong."

Eric sighed, not even the least bit enthused. "Alright, then," he said. "Get ready to help her out."

It was troubling how pessimistic Eric was being about this whole ordeal, especially since taking on Meredith was a life or death kind of circumstance. If I failed then I died. Maybe not in the most literal sense, but it would feel that way in the end.

Eric and Elijah started to talk it out amongst themselves - the former with disinterest and the latter with unrivaled fervor - and I couldn't help but notice how much they contrasted each other. Elijah was all about bold ideas and statements and the drama and excitement easily drew him in. Eric on the other hand, seemed a lot more relaxed when factoring in the span of time that I've known him, and he definitely wasn't interested in schemes or deceit. They were the last two people you'd imagine were hooking up, but they were and that was that.

It made me wonder if Ashton and I were a possibility. Not in our current situation, but in a hypothetical one where I didn't exactly work under him. Where that time we met at the party and we danced together was our official first meeting. Emilie would've still been married and he would've had his venue secured for only the price he agreed on paying her in the paperwork, that's for sure.

That night was so magical, and yet it wasn't at the same time. I had made a complete idiot out of myself in front of him and while he was gracious about it, it was hardly a first impression worth remembering.

Across the room, Ashton was dancing with an older woman who worked on my floor and laughing as they moved to the uptempo rhythm of the song. My friends were too busy bickering to notice, so I slipped around them and made my way over to him.

When he saw me coming up behind the woman, his eyes widened imperceptibly before stopping their dance and letting go of her. She seemed quite puzzled, her cheeks bright red as she stared at him, but he whispered something quickly to her before stepping over to meet me halfway.

"Fiona," he offered me a curt nod of approval.

"Mr. Baldwin," I said, mirroring his gesture, although with a bit more reverence because he was my boss.

"Please," he smirked, "just call me Ashton."

He was, in fact, one hell of a heartthrob. I knew it since we first met. It was no wonder that he gotten into so much trouble, especially with women. If I really liked him and I was really going to follow my heart into war like this, then I at least had to be extremely careful around him. One misstep in the wrong direction and I would be sent sprawling over the edge into the water with no one to pull me up onto dry land.

"Well, Ashton," I said with a grin on my face, stepping closer to lessen the distance between us. "May I have this dance wth you?"

For a second, he appeared to be shocked, but the moment passed almost as soon as it began. Instead, he held out his hand to me, matching my grin. "For old times sake."

There were eyes on us, but I took his hand and we started dancing anyway. Slow, sweet, perfect - like no one's watching.