| Nathan |

I was sitting at my desk, the clock in the front of the room read 1:33 pm and I was waiting for some new charity files to be sent up to me. Every month I chose three different organizations to donate too, which could mean anything from places in Africa, to schools that needed help getting off the ground. I believed that if I was so well off, than I should always find some way to give back, especially to those who really needed it.

There was a timid knock at my door and I hit the buzzer, unlocking it and letting whoever it was in. Martha's little form peaked through and she came in with the files. I eyed her, my fingers pausing in their attack on my keyboard in the email I was writing to some investors as she walked to the conference table, set down the papers and then looked up at me.

I dared her to speak, and luckily she didn't.

"Yes?" I ask.

"Um, well these are the charities I picked out for the month, o-options I mean." She says.

"Martha, what had I told you about stuttering and using the word 'um'?" I ask sternly, my deep voice resonating across the office.

"Sorry sir." she says. "I mean Mr. Price." she stutters again, letting out a short breath.

"Alright." I pause, finishing the email, sending it and then getting up. I walk to the conference table to pick them out. I liked to be punctual with things, so getting this out of the way, was now a top priority for me.

I sat down at the head of the table and motioned for her to take the seat next to me. She sits down and hands me a stack. We went through them all slowly, reviewing articles she had printed out on each place or organization. I already had a money set aside for my school in Africa, but I wanted to choose two more to give money too.

I settled on an organization for foster children, and then we went through more. I finally stopped at a charter school article.

"Martha?" I ask, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes Mr. Price?" she asks.

"What's this?" I ask her, showing her the file. She lets out a breath.

"I might have snuck that one in there. I went there for all of elementary, junior and high school. It's a K through grade 12 charter school that incorporates the classical education system, it's an incredible place. The teachers really care, the students are all nice enough and I learned so much." She says, rambling a bit, but nonetheless I was listening. I thought education was incredibly important myself, I was just shocked she had had the confidence to 'sneak it in'.

"But they don't have enough resources to have a real gymnasium, an athletic department or an art department. Well really, they don't have a ton to offer other than book-smarts, but they want to change that. They just need the money." She continues on, biting her lip as she looks at me, clearly trying to decide if I was even considering this. She knew I always leaned more toward the foster system and other none-profit companies.

"So you want me to help your old school?" I ask slowly.

"Yes." She says, smiling a little.

"I don't understand, if the school was so great why are you my secretary?" I ask. "I should think you would aim higher."

"I'm actually still in college, sir, I'm studying to become an attorney, when I saw this position open, it seemed like a good learning opportunity and it paid well." She says matter-of-factly.

"You must work hard then, this is a full-time job." I say, slightly impressed by what I had just learned about my new secretary.

"I do, but it's all worth it honestly Mr. Price. Plus you know the reward of hard work yourself." She says and I nod.

"I certainly do." I tell her.

"Where is the school?" I ask.

"It's in the South Hamptons." She says. "I can get you directions." I nod and then after thinking for a moment I decided to go with the school.

"Fine then, I will donate to..." I pause, checking for the name of the school. "Pine Ridge Academy."

A bright smile lights up her face, and she looked like she might want to shout or something, but luckily for her, she composed herself.

"Thank you Mr. Price." She says quickly. "Would you like me to arrange a date to meet with the principle of the school?"

"Yes Martha." I tell her. "Please clear these." I motion to the file folders full of articles on the different charities and non-profits. "And then go on your lunch break."

"Thank you." She says again, beaming as she cleans up and I stand. I walk back to my desk and sit again, preparing to do more work.

-

A week later Martha had the appointment all set up for me, and I headed out. The drive hadn't been bad, roughly 3 hours, and soon I was pulling into Pine Ridge's parking. There were some students walking around, but mostly, everyone was in class seeing as it was a week day.

The building was beautiful, it had to have been a church previously, judging by the grand structure. I parked my car, climbing out and then walking up to the entrance. I followed the sign which directed me to the front office. I walked down a hall, framed by the doors to all the classrooms on the main floor, and found the front office.

I entered and was surprised by how quiet it was. I rang the bell on the desk, waiting for someone to show me to the principal's office.

"One moment!" calls a soft voice, and I was shocked by who rounded the corner from the back of the offices. She was clearly shocked to see me too.

"Isabella."

"Nathan Price." She says slowly, almost in awe and obviously wondering what I was doing here. I wondered the same of her. She shakes her head, smiling, as though she had decided something.

"You remembered my name?" she asks humorously, clearly surprised. She was dressed in a simple pencil skirt and a soft, blue button down shirt, which was tucked into her skirt. She looked professional and I liked it.

"Well I make a habit of remembering everyone I meet." I tell her firmly. "I'm here to meet with the Principal, Ryan Scott."

"Yep, he mentioned a new donor was coming by." She says, and then the realization hits her. "Why are you donating here? Not that its not amazing of you to do, but..."

"Well I read about and was told about the school. I decided it seemed like a worthwhile place, especially with the education system." I say simply and she nods.

"I'm working here while I finish school. I was kind-of forced to go here as a kid, but I wouldn't change that for the world." She tells me, answering my unspoken question. "Well, follow me."

She leads me around the corner, her black heals clicking on the wooden floors. We go down a short hall, past several offices, to what must be the principal's office. She knocks at the door.

"Enter!" calls a boisterous voice.

"Mr. Scott?" she asks confidently, peaking her head in the office. "Mr. Price, the new donor, is here to meet with you."

"Excellent!" the voice calls. A man with a large gut, greying hair and a bushy mustache appears. "Thank you Miss. Smith." He says and she nods, smiling quickly at me and then she ducks away back to the front of the offices.

"Mr. Price!" he proclaims loudly, holding out a pudgy hand, I take it shaking it.

"Thanks for having me." I say curtly.

"Of course! It makes my day when I hear some like yourself wants to support our school!" he says. "Come on in."

He goes back into the office and I follow, he motions me to a plush red chair in front of his desk and I sit. He goes over a few things with me, mostly about the school. Once he's done he sits back and asks if I have any questions, which I don't. I've been told enough to know I made the right choice.

Like Martha had said they wanted to use the money for an athletic department, complete with a gymnasium, a field for outdoor sports and all the equipment necessary.

"Would you like a tour of the school?" he asks.

"Is that customary?" I ask in response.

"Yep. Pretty much, but of course it's up to you." He tells me.

"Alright then. I would like a tour." I say, after all I did drive up here for the day and the meeting had only lasted about 45 mintues.

"Miss. Smith!" he calls again, his voice loud enough to startle me and certainly get her attention.

"Let me just tell you, she was one the best turn-around students I've ever had." He says matter-of-factly.

"Turn-around student?" I ask quizzically.

"She was a real rebel in her freshman year of high school, and even a bit into sophomore year, but she shaped up and worked extra hard. Became one of the best here in fact." He says fondly.

"Oh." I murmur, and no sooner had I said that then Isabella appear back in the office.

"Please give Mr. Price a tour of the school Miss. Smith." He says gently, standing. I do too, and turn to see her standing there. She smiles at me.

"Yes sir." She says and waves me along to follow her.

"Thank you for having me here Mr. Scott, I will be sending you the funds tomorrow morning." I tell him and he nods, shaking my hand again. Then I turn and follow Isabella out of the room and back down the hall to the front of the offices again.

She walks out of the offices, and we end up in the hallway, which is still uninhabited by the students who went to this school.

"Okay, so this is the first floor with all the elementary classes. They don't have recess for another half hour so that's why things are so quiet." She tells me. We walk down the hall, she points out small things and we peaked into one 5th grade class which was in the middle of a lesson on American Government.

Then we climbed up a fairly grand staircase to the junior and high school classrooms. Red lockers were on nearly every wall of the hallway, bulletin boards were hung in places where the lockers were not and contained flyers on different school clubs, school events and testing schedules for the SAT or other standardized tests.

"How long were you here?" I ask her as we walked through the science hallway.

"I was here from Kindergarten to senior year." She says.

"Did you like your education that you received?" I asked, trying to learn a bit more about the place I was about to be donor for.

"Yes." She says instantly. "Yes, I loved it. I didn't always love it of course, but I learned a ton here."

I nod thinking back to what Mr. Scott had said about her 'rebel years'.

"Where did you go to school?" she asks me.

"Greystone Academy." I say quickly, not eager to share more than that about my past. "It's a private school, but the education was excellent."

"Oh, what about college?" she asks.

"Harvard Business School." I say. "But I ended up graduating early."

"Impressive." She says smiling. "Then you started your company?"

"I was starting it while I was still in school." I explain, but that was all the explanation I gave. The rest of 'my story' was something I liked to keep mostly private.

"Hmm." She murmurs. "Well this is the end of science hallway. The school actually competes in the Science Bowl every year, we've won our division several times in past competitions."

"That's good." I say nodding.

"Okay, well, we'll go down over here and then out to outside." She says, leading me down some back stairs. She pushes open a door and we walk out into the warm late-morning air. The sun was already high in the sky, and the marine layer was completely burned off.

"So over there." She points to a field behind the building which had a lone play structure next to it. "Is where kids will have PE, and recess." She says. "And there." She points to several picnic tables underneath a red awning. "Is where some classes, mostly the high school, will have lunch."

"So you really do need a gymnasium then." I say.

"Yes. That was a big part of what I missed when I went here, the sports. So if we were able to have sports teams, I feel like we would have way more students attending the school and a lot more sponsors. The district funds us for the education, but not much else." She explains, just as Mr. Scott had.

"I believe my money will be put to good use then." I say, satisfied. I certainly appreciated what the school was trying to do. Most public schools didn't offer the education that this school did, and the fact that my donation would help them get even more students to attend was a good thing.

"Yes it will." She says smiling. "Well we can walk around the building, or we can go back inside and then out to the front again."

"Do you need to go back inside?" I ask her.

"Actually, I was about to get off because I have classes later and so I would just grab my things." She tells me.

"Then I'll walk with you." I offer and she nods, smiling again. She sure did smile a lot, something that would bother me on anyone else, but I didn't so much mind on her. Maybe because her smile was soft, and not in any way obnoxious.

We walked back through the school, she pointed out a few more things and then I waited outside the offices. She returned carrying her purse and a light jacket that she must have been wearing this morning. We walked out and then stopped at my car.

"You know, there's super cute café just like, two blocks away. Do you want to get a coffee with me?" she asks, surprising me. She was bold, and, just like at the party, so at ease around me. I'd never really meant anyone, outside of my family, that I didn't intimidate, at least a little bit. But not Isabella, no she was too carefree. However, that didn't change the fact that I never had nor ever would, date. I had tryst's that was all, one-night-stands, whatever you want to call it. Danni had been an exception, but she was the last and the only one. I would make sure of it.

"I don't date." I say instantly, assuming this was her way of asking me out. Like most woman did when they met me.

Instead of shying away or smirking at me like Danni would have or any other girl for that matter, she laughs.

"I just asked you to get coffee." She tells me, pausing to watch my reaction "As friends." She adds when I start to shake my head.

"Okay then." I tell her mindlessly.

What the hell?

I never just agreed to something. I had to drive back, I had to get to work, but that didn't stop me from changing my plans to get coffee with this girl who had been completely un-phased by my attempts to dissuade the offer.

She dropped her things in her car, only taking her purse with her. Then we began walking down the street. We walked two blocks like she had said, and I was surprised how quickly our surroundings changed to a quaint little town.

It was funny to me that she could talk about the simplest things, like the weather or even an object she saw in a passing store window, but whatever it was I found it in me to give her my full attention. I didn't ignore it, like I would with anyone who tried to engage me in any sort of pointless conversation.

What was more, I didn't have to speak much either, because she had a ton to say.

We stopped outside a place with a sign in front that read 'The Coffee House'. I followed her inside, not quite sure what to expect and if coming with her to get coffee 'as friends' was a mistake or not.

_