Dean sped up the car through the city street to arrive at the famous bar where Leilah had told him they were. XX was written with huge golden neon signs and as soon as he stopped his car in front of the door a concierge came up to him. “Mr.Wess,” He greeted with a smile and Dean smiled back at the young man, “Hi, Paul. How are you going tonight?” He asked, “Good, Sir. As always,” The young man answered as he stood back waiting for Dean to get out of his car. “How are exams? I heard you’re swamped these days,” “I bombed a few of them but I think I can manage to graduate thanks to you,” He said with a grin making Dean smile back at him. “Well, good. Otherwise, I won't have anyone to fill that position I had been keeping for you. Give me a call when you’re ready,” He told him with a smile and the young man’s eyes brightened as he nodded. “Keep my car close I will be picking up someone and heading out soon,” he said heading into the building. The manager was waiting for him at the

Nadia wondered why she was always thrust into these kinds of situations. There should be some warning signs she could put up front for people to take into consideration. Her people skills can only take her this far in her professional environment. She was born a shut-in, a nerd with an introverted personality who just happened to have enough money in her childhood to be able to live without having to put up with other people and their social bullsh*t. Her tolerance can only take her this far and she was reaching her limits. No one should be subjected to this much attention when they hate socializing as much as she does. “You know that you actually need to smile when you greet people…” Dean trailed off as he leaned toward her. Nadia resisted the urge to pinch him in the arm which she was holding but decided against it knowing that there there was a slight possibility that she was being a grumpy bit** and that Dean was right. “This is as far as my social lever can take me. My health

Flashback (Five years ago) Nadia’s head snapped to the side as she felt the impact of a slap against her cheek. Taking a deep breath, she looked up at her father who was glaring down at her venom in his eyes. Behind him, Kate stood smirking as she held the white triangular stick, looking at it with triumph as if it was a prize far better than she had expected. “Can’t you do one thing right?! How can you do this to us at such a critical time!” Her father ranted. “I could overlook your troublemaking through high school and even the hacking incident at your college since Kate was always there covering for you,” Covering for her… what a joke. All those incidents were things that Kate had initiated. But Nadia was always the one who took the fall… “But this time, you had to go and get pregnant from a man you didn’t even know?! What in the world am I going to tell Mark?! How am I going to face people when they learn about this?!” Nadia remained silent as she listened to him yelling. P

When Nadia opened her eyes, her mind was as clear as a blank piece of paper. Everything seemed clear and refreshing. Even the dark thoughts swirling in her mind were clear, they were precise decisive, and ready for her to work out. Dean was nowhere to be seen. She could still remember snips from last night. She had been unconsolable and out of her mind, and he had been by her side through it all. Whenever she opened her eyes and no matter what state she was in, he was always sitting next to her. Helping her, and comforting her. She smiled at the surprisingly heartwarming memory. He was such a nice man if only she had met him back then… Stopping that train of thought she got out of bed, took a shower, and made her way into her office immediately opening the door to her secret door. It had been a while since she had been in there. The screens before her gleamed activating upon one touch of her fingers, and just like that, Nadia was sucked into her work. It took her mere minutes to ac

“There should be a limit to how extravagant this is going to get…” Nadia said feeling a headache on the making as she stared at her tablet. “With my mother, I don’t think that the word Limit and parties can even be put together in the same sentence,” Dean answered as he leaned back on his desk staring at his laptop with a wry smile. “This is a freaking Ice statue! I haven’t seen one since the last grand winter gala last year. And that’s the biggest event of the year in Starlington City,” Nadia complained and Dean sighed. They were currently in Dean’s office trying to catch up on the work they hadn’t been able to do thanks to this fiasco. But as soon as they were on lunch break, they got an email from his mother with the details of the engagement party she had decided to throw for them, and singlehandedly was preparing on her own… “I don’t have the willpower or the energy to try to stop her,” Dean said, “Why don’t we let her do whatever she wants to do?” Nadia furiously flipped thr