Chapter 1

It had felt like a ton of bricks were piled on top of my heart.

I couldn't think, I couldn't speak, I couldn't even breathe properly. I walked as fast as my feet would allow me down the hallway as the tears began to fall steadily down my face. The statement "Anything else is considered irrelevant" echoed throughout my head. This wasn't Sebastian talking, this couldn't be Sebastian. Sebastian was different. He was the carefree, humorous, immature Harrison that I had fallen for unknowingly. Not this...asshole.

My first instinct was to call Sarah. I had no idea where she was or what she was doing, maybe she was still in the conference room? No, they had already dispersed, minus the reporters who had stayed behind to ask the Board questions. Maybe she was with Lucas? I don't know. I went into my office and sat down on my chair. Darcy had left, leaving a note that she was retiring for the night. I took a breather before dialing Sarah's number; I didn't want her to know I was crying.

"Hello?" Sarah said.

"Hey, Sarah. Where are you?" I asked.

"Um, Lucas and I are still in the conference room but we're about to go home in a bit. Why? How did it go?"

I was silent.

"...Come meet me down in the lobby." She told me, before hanging up.

I gathered my stuff in my purse, cleaned up my running mascara, and made my way out of my office. Once I locked the door behind me I made my way through the dimly lit reception area towards the elevator. Mr. Hall, the janitor that always works on this floor, greeted me as I walked passed him. I waved at him, pressed for the lobby and waited for the elevator doors to open. When the doors opened, I walked inside and pressed for the lobby again for safe measure.

I was growing impatient. I wanted to see Sarah already; to hear what she would say about the situation. Sometimes I wished I was like her. Never afraid to speak her mind, not afraid to say what she thought was right and wrong. I was a timid mouse most of the time compared to Sarah, who was a confident, outspoken feline predator; wherever she walked she exuded a demeanor that no one wanted to question. I, I was just known as the pushover.

The halt of the elevator doors closing interrupted my thoughts. As they reopened, my breath hitched in my throat. The tall, suited man who just rejected me moments ago walked into the elevator, but not before widening his eyes and the sight of me. I contemplated making a run for it, but the doors were already closed when the thought crossed my mind.

Fuck.

I kept my eyes on the elevator buttons, though ignoring Sebastian's presence was a challenge. After everything that had happened the past few hours, it was impossible to forget, to pretend that nothing had happened.

Sebastian was doing a damn good job at it though.

It was the 10th floor when the doors opened. A few older businesswomen spotted us and decided to wait for the next one, a blush prominent on their cheeks. The thought of exiting out crossed my mind, yet I decided to stay, surprisingly; frankly dealing with the awkward air was a far better idea than running away from it.

6th floor. I glanced slightly at Sebastian, who was staring directly ahead at the doors. I heard his phone vibrating more than four times but he didn't answer it. He just put his hands in his pockets. His posture was stern, strict. It scared me. Weeks ago I was pushing him through a fucking hospital hallway because he begged me to for fun, and now...this? My chest was plagued with a disgusting feeling. Maybe this was my fault. I mean, of course, it was; I rejected him out of stupidity, out of fear. But he couldn't have become like this from that. Maybe this whole self-cleansing thing was a mistake; he's become what Garret wanted.

I looked at his face. His expression was blank, but as I looked at him I felt butterflies in the pits of my stomach; he was so good looking. Everything about him seemed perfect to me. His hair, his eyes, his smile, everything. Why did I even say no in the first place?

"Because you're an idiot" My conscience teased. I frowned.

Lobby. Once the doors opened, Sebastian and I both darted for the exit at the same time. Sebastian stopped in his tracks, yet I did as well.

"After you." He said, gesturing his hand out in front of him. I nodded, avoiding eye contact, and exited; it was as if he didn't even know me.

Sebastian met with two men I had never seen before, and went to the left hallway, while I made my way to the lobby.

Sarah and Lucas were sitting on one of the couches, Sarah looking impatient while Lucas looks as if he wanted to go home; Sarah must have forced him to stay.

When Sarah spotted me, she immediately stood up. Lucas stayed seated until she kicked him, causing him to stand.

"Well...what-what happened?" She said.

"I-it's...I don't..."

She sighed "Damn. Maybe it isn't best to talk here. How about your place?"

"That would be wise, but my car is there, Beth is with Leo and Paul-"

Suddenly, my phone began ringing.

"Hold on a sec, it's Paul," I told her. She nodded.

I slid to answer and held my phone to my ear "Hey Paul-"

"Bitch! Why didn't you tell me you were coming back today?" He whined.

"Sorry, I just got so caught up."

"I had to find out because of the stupid press conference; don't know why they do those on Fridays." He said.

"Me neither."

There was silence.

"...Something is wrong, Ms. King. Does it have to do with bae?"

I cringed. "He isn't...bae," I replied, my tone more venomous than it needed to be.

Paul gasped "Something happened. I'm coming over. You still at the office?"

"What-yes I am but you don't need to come over-"

"I'm coming to pick you up right now."

"Paul, no. What about you and Max? Friday is your date night."

There was a pause.

"Hold on a second Les. Max! I'll be gone tonight. Let's do movies tomorrow."

I heard Max scream "alright" roughly in the back round before Paul resumed talking.

"He doesn't mind. I'll be in the garage in five."

"Paul-"

"Bitch, you know that when there's a drama involving my friends I'm there. I'm coming, no excuses. Love you!"

Then he hung up.

I sighed in defeat "My friend is giving us a ride."

"No problem, this works out fine." Sarah said, tying her hair up into a bun "All that matters right now is finding out what happened."

Lucas groaned "Do I have to go? I mean I haven't been home in three months-"

Sarah rolled her eyes "Oh, stop being a little bitch. If you wanna go home, take the metro train."

Lucas grimaced "This late? I'll pass."

**

Paul called me exactly five minutes later and told me he was in the garage. When we made it there, I spotted him leaning against his Nissan Altima on his iPhone. When he saw me, he hugged me tightly.

"Ugh, I missed you!" He said.

"Me too. Oh, Paul. This is my friend and our new co worker, Sarah."

Sarah and Paul exchanged a friendly hand shake.

"Nice to meet you, girl." He said. Sarah laughed.

"And this is Lucas, he works here now as well."

Paul's facial expression completely changed when he saw Lucas. He raised his eyebrows in amusement over his thick rimmed glasses.

"Hey." Lucas greeted.

"Hello, there." Paul said with a smile, grabbing Lucas' hand. Lucas looked confused as ever.

After ten seconds, I separated their hands.

"Paul, remember Max?" I said.

He breathed heavily "I know, I'm faithful, I'm faithful..." He repeated as he stepped into the driver's seat. Sarah had a devious smile on her face.

"Cute couple." She told Lucas as she opened the back door.

"Shut up." He replied.

**

"Here it is. No dogs, so don't worry if you're afraid of them." I said sluggishly. I walked into my room while Paul went into the kitchen. I opened the door, to find all of my bags there, as promised. As usual, I would check if everything was there. But for now, I had a more pressing problem on my mind.

I went into the living room and sat down on the couch. Sarah and Lucas were sitting on the couch opposite of me.

When Paul came back, setting the bottle of alcohol he had in his hand on the table, Sarah began talking.

"Okay, so what happened?" She asked.

I sighed "It...wasn't what I thought would happen." I mumbled. Sarah's jaw dropped.

"Wait, what are you talking about?" Paul interrupted.

"Yeah, I'm with Paul. What the hell happened?"

"In the back room before his speech he told me that he had feelings for me."

Lucas clapped his hands together "I fucking knew it!" He yelled.

Paul was frantic "What the fuck did you do? How could he reject you if-"

"I told him no, and he assumed I didn't feel the same way so he got angry and stormed out."

Paul was silent.

"Why would you tell him 'no'?" Paul said, putting air quotes over the last word of the statement.

"Because I was scared. Because of what happened with Hudson and-"

"-William." Paul added, remembering Sarah's involvement. She felt his stare and quickly poured herself a glass of vodka.

"Yeah, that. I just didn't want to...I don't know."

"Okay, so I know that part, what happened after that?" Sarah asked impatiently.

"I waited for him to stop talking with Garret when I got upstairs. When he left, I entered the office to tell Sebastian once and for all. But he...changed. He was...he was like..."

"Like what?" They all asked in unison.

"...He was exactly like Garret."

A look of disgust washed over Sarah's face "Holy shit, this is bad..."

"I tried to tell him but he told me that anything not regarding business was irrelevant, that all he cared about was business, and that from now on I have to refer to him as 'Mr. Harrison.'"

"What!?!" Sarah yelled.

Lucas' mouth gaped open in shock "Damn! Talk about reject-"

Sarah flung her hand up and smacked Lucas on the back of his head, making his drink spill on his pants and over the table.

"Shut up, Ace." She said, as he began to have a coughing fit. Paul reached over and began rubbing Lucas' back, which generated a fearful look on Lucas' face.

I set my head in my hands.

"I don't know what to do..." I said.

"Leslie, this is bad. He won't get over this lightly."

"Well he doesn't want to talk about it anymore so I don't know what to do-"

"We don't do anything. We wait and see how this plays out. He's acting like a child acts when they can't have their favorite toy."

I looked up "Yes, except this is a man who is the CEO of a multi billion dollar company, and instead of it being a toy it's a woman."

Paul crossed his arms over his chest "You get her point. What you have to do is make it look like it doesn't impact you as much as he wants it to."

"Alright, I'll try."

Sarah set her drink on the table "Be warned, though. Sebastian isn't going to get over this overnight. Expect the unexpected."