The phone call with his sister was exhausting, and he didn't know what else to do about the topic that they were discussing.

'What is up with you this morning?' Miss Clark asked as she entered the CEO's office without knocking.

Larissa Clark was a friend of Sebastian's since they were little. She was almost like the third sibling of the Crain family. Their families had business ventures together and always got along amazingly well outside the professional world too.

The woman was a few years older than him, making her another big sister. Thinner and taller than the average woman, with platinum hair shoulder length and big eyes in a dark shade of a mysterious grayish color with dashes of blue and green.

'Morning, Larissa. Where are your good manners?' Sebastian asked harshly. He sat on his chair, looking through the enormous window that gave him a privileged view of the entire city as the morning light hit it.

'You don't need me to be nice to you, you need me to tell you the truths you don't like to hear. So, tell me, what bug bite you this morning? Someone dumped you for a change?' Larissa leaned against the wall.

He rolled the chair around in order to face her.

'You know that never happens,' he said with a smirk, and the dark cloud that surrounded him faded a little.

'Then what happened?' She walked closer to him and, with her hands on her hips, waited for an explanation.

'Lina called.'

'Oh—,' she sighed. 'So, you also got the invitation today.'

He nodded. 'She wants me to go with someone. And she said it can't be one of the shaggy models that I'm usually seen with. Her words, not mine. She's trying to set me up with so many of her friends! In her head, I need to get married after she does. She's worse than our own mother! In fact, my own parents don't even care, so why does she?'

Larissa giggled in a failed attempt of containing a full laugh, as that powerful and successful man in front of her was worried about what his big sister might say about his romantic life, or in this case, lack thereof.

'Respect your superior, Larissa,' Sebastian grumbled. He crossed his arms over his chest and put on the serious and arrogant mask he was used to wearing at business meetings.

'Come on, Sebastian. You've got to admit that this is a funny situation. I know Lina can be obnoxious, but you love her anyway, and you just need to find someone decent enough to take to a wedding. How hard can it be? Don't you have any friends?'

'I think you qualify as a friend.' He had a very amused expression on his face.

'No. I just put up with you because of my paycheck at the end of the month.'

'Ouch. That's mean.' They both laughed. 'Can't you go with me?'

'Hell no!' she said, speaking louder than she expected to. 'There's a reason we get along so well, Sebastian. It's because we don't do that type of thing. We scream at each other, tell the truth, and are just friends. It would be weird. It would be like going with your sibling.'

Sebastian chuckled. 'Hm... I guess you're right.'

'Besides, I'm already going, just not with you.' she said with a grin.

'You. Are. Awful. Who are you going with?'

'Alone. Because unlike I don't care about what Lina says.'

'Point taken. Don't you have a friend that can go with me?'

'Don't even think about that. I would not put any of my friends in your sleazy womanizer hands.'

'Sleazy womanizer?' he asked with a confused frown.

'Do not pretend that you are not one.'

'I am extremely offended by such insinuation, Larissa.' A playful smile danced on his lips.

'Oh, shut up. Anyway, you know you don't have to take anyone, Lina is just trying to annoy you. She likes to provoke you. To provoke everyone, for that matter. At this point, I'm starting to think that she thrives on it.'

'I know,' he sighed. He turned his chair around to face the window again. 'I just want to annoy her more by proving her wrong.'

Larissa smiled with sympathy and left the man wondering about what he should do.

For most people, this would be a simple matter. Even a ridiculous one at that, but for Sebastian it was a lot more than to simply do to what his older sister was asking. This was about her wanting him to grow up, to be a better man.

Sebastian tried every day, but he thought nothing was enough, so he would do anything to please his family. To make them happy, he would even oblige to the most outrageous of requests. Behind the egocentric facade and despite coming across as selfish, Sebastian was quite the opposite of that around the ones he cared about.

While Sebastian stood still on his chair, lost in his thoughts as he drifted further away into his own mind, Eleanor ran around the office, working as hard as she could. The internship meant more to her than everyone else there knew. An opportunity like this was not something that she could waste. She had to do better each day, she needed to prove to herself that she could.

Building a career and forging her own path was her primary goal. She was more focused on that than on anything else. And as she got closer to her goal, she started to neglect everything else, even herself.

'Eleanor, can you come to my office, please?' Larissa called and Eleanor's body began to shake, wondering about what she might have done wrong.