05.

....

Emma immediately moved from the spot and hid amongst the workers in the hall, who were now on their feet and throwing greetings at Jace, who didn't utter a word of reply.

When he eventually vanished down the hall and into his private elevator, Emma clung to her chest and heaved a sigh; breaking off the panic that coaxed the back of her throat.

Although Jace only wore an expression, Emma could detect that something was wrong with him. Working nine years for him made it possible to slightly read into his unreadable facial expressions and demeanor. And she could tell that he definitely was not in a good mood.

She wondered if she was the reason.

She sauntered towards the exit again but paused at the door, realizing she hadn't tendered her resignation letter and had left it in the folder back at her apartment.

With a sigh, Emma retreated to the hall. She might as well stay and hear him fire her with his own mouth. He was very good at uttering such words to an incompetent worker and as much as she didn't want to hear it from him, she knew she had no choice.

She couldn't just walk out of the company without dropping her resignation letter. The terms were against that.

Gaining strength after a long sigh, Emma walked to the elevator and rode in it to the last floor where Jace's office was located.

As soon as she stepped onto the floor, Sia ran up to her:

"Mr. Sanders wants his coffee," she said, "and he wants you to make it." She added, just before Emma could tell her to take over the task.

Emma gulped as she stood in front of Jace Sanders's office door. She could have looked through the glassy walls to see what he was up to if he hadn't switched the glass units to opaque.

With shaky fingers, Emma grabbed the doorknob and twisted it before walking into the office. Jace had his head bent over a stack of papers that she was sure he wasn't going through.

"Um good morning, Mr. Sanders," she greeted, "I'll get your coffee ready now."

Her voice was laced with uncertainty. Emma felt her throat run dry when he raised his head and looked at her, but it was only to give her an approval nod and then he went back to staring at the papers.

Emma dragged her feet towards the coffee machine and began preparing Jace's coffee the way he enjoyed it. When she was done, she placed the cup on a saucer and dropped it carefully on his desk.

"Mr. Sanders, your coffee," Emma called his distracted attention to it.

She stood there, watching him and waiting for him to release the brutal words from the darkest part of his heart. Her eyes were already pooling up as she waited, unable to move her legs.

When he reached for the coffee, she noticed the bruise on his knuckles.

"Wait," she grabbed the hand on reflex, examining the bruise, "you are injured." She showed him, concern taking over her expression.

When she realized herself and the fact that she was about to get fired slammed back to her head, she slowly released his hand.

"I didn't notice," Jace stared at the bruise.

He dropped his hand on the table, and it took only a split moment for Emma to realize what it meant.

She rushed to the first aid box mounted on the wall behind him and began picking out the items she needed.

Walking back to him, she bent, took his large hand in hers, and got the swab coated in saline solution. As she wiped the blood off his knuckles, her gaze caught it.

The necklace.

She quickly cast her gaze down when Jace glanced at her.

When she was done treating his injured knuckles, she returned the items back into the first aid box.

Getting to Sanders's desk again, she found him already working on his laptop.

She wondered why he was not saying anything about what happened. Was he purposely letting her thoughts taunt her?

Well, screw his ego. She was going to resign before he got the chance to utter those words.

"Mr. Sanders--

"Do you hate your job, Miss. Smith?" His words beat her to it.

Emma exhaled sharply. Here it comes.

"No sir, I love my job."

"Then why do you look like you haven't slept in two days? Do I overwork you?"

The question threw her back.

"Not at all. I'm sorry, sir, I just--" she paused. What was she doing? She should be resigning.

And why was he not firing her?!

If his purpose was to make her go crazy first by her conscience and thoughts then he was getting it.

She was losing her mind at this point.

"About yesterday--

"Yes, that. I guess it was a mistake that never should have happened."

Before she could speak, he continued.

"Be more careful next time. I won't be lenient if there's a repetition."

That was it?

Emma's jaw dropped. He wasn't firing her! Was this real?

From his demeanor, Emma could tell that he had no idea she was the lady from last night.

"Yes, sir. I promise you with everything I hold dear. It will never happen again." She beamed with joy, "And I'll fix my dressing right away. Thank you so much, Mr. Sanders..."

Jace glared at her as she kept disturbing his concentration with her endless appreciation, "I'm working."

"Oops. Sorry, sir. I'll go back to work now." She apologized and turned to the door.

Going for the doorknob, she retreated when the door was pushed open from the outside and Scarlett sauntered in.

Shutting the door and now in her own demarcated space, Emma heaved out the sigh of worry that she had been holding in for almost twenty-four hours.

How she felt was unexplainable as she victory danced all the way to her seat. She has never been happier to sit in that chair.

The celebration that had just started was soon cut short when she remembered her necklace that was in his possession.

Since he didn't ask her about it, then he had no idea it belonged to her, right?

That thought seemed to calm her a bit until another crossed in.

The picture.

In the locket was a tiny picture of her parents and her, when she was just four years old. It was one of the few pictures she had of her family in one Frame.

Jace might not recognize the picture and--

Realization hit her yet again.

And she burst into a grumbling cry, kicking her legs as she did.

"Oh damn damn damn damn damnit." She cursed, pulling at her hair.

Her phone number was in the picture!

Almost immediately, her phone beeped. It was a text from Jace ordering her to come to his office.