It had been a long yet short, two weeks. Ella had managed to stay busy some days when Damien had her running some extra errands for him. He had seemed to get comfortable enough, and Ella had even managed to set up a comfortable station in his office. Of course, she still made sure she was never in his way or bothering him, and that was really the only reason Damien kept her around.

She was quiet enough that he almost didn't notice her lounging around, but she was also mostly there when he needed her to go fetch a file or a copy of something. She had even held a few meetings in his place whenever he found himself tangled up in one of Kim's extravagant schemes that seemed to only get even more mischievous as time passed by.

"Ms. Cortesa," Damien didn't bother lifting his eyes from his work after hearing Ella stand up from her seat.

"Files?" Ella didn't even need Damien to confirm before she swiftly plucked the sticky note and went on her merry way. A short few minutes later, she returned. Now that she knew her way around the case room, she knew exactly where to go and would have them back to Damien in no time.

As soon as she returned, she placed down the files and noticed that he had some papers on the corner. Realizing that they were the notes that he had taken for the upcoming meeting, she went off to go print the seven copies before returning them.

"Thank you." Damien murmured, feeling the gust of her scented fragrance hit him. "Could you also copy th..." he trailed off, noticing that she had already done them. "Thank you, then."

"You're welcome." Ella provided before returning to her seat.

That was typically what would Damien ask of her whenever he needed the extra help. When he didn't, because there were some days where he would spend the entire day out of the office, going to clients or meeting with people that would help him build his case, Ella would have to stay cooped up in the office. Those were the days that she would find herself wandering around to the balcony and then back to the lobby where she would just browse online or read a book. She missed her job terribly, but at least here she could occasionally lend a hand whenever needed.

"Ms. Cortesa," Damien called from his desk, signing off on another contract for his client. He received no response, so he looked up to find that she wasn't where she usually sat, which was on the sofa that was up against a wall that was almost concealed from his sight.

He sighed, deciding that he would just do it himself. Grabbing the sticky note of files to grab, he made his way to the case room, but not before passing by Oliver's room where he caught a glimpse of Ella.

Figures, he thought before continuing his own merry way. Oliver had expressed his obvious attraction to the young woman. She was pretty, Damien concluded. It wasn't every day that you could see someone with such class and with at least an average level of intelligence like Ella.

Hours passed by, and Damien continued to do his own work and errands since Ella had yet to return to his office. As time passed by, he checked his watch, upset to see that he had lost some valuable time by having to do the small details he had quickly gotten used to not doing.

Suddenly, his office door opened. He looked up in relief only to realize it was Mr. Kim. "I don't think I've ever seen you this happy to see me." Mr. Kim joked, closing his door before moving to unceremoniously throw himself onto the sofa, right above Ella's purse. "Ow!" He wailed loudly, rolling off instantly.

"Ms. Cortesa's purse is there." Damien let him know a little too late. Kim only grumbled incoherently under his breath.

"Yeah, thanks." Kim sarcastically huffed, setting the pale pink bag onto the coffee table that was in between the two sofas before he settled down again. "I heard you're working Ella like a dog." Damien threw him an unamused stare. "Just kidding. She would never say anything like that. The poor thing is having trouble coping without work right now."

Damien said nothing. It wasn't like he wasn't interested, he just didn't know what exactly Kim was trying to get at with this chit chat.

"I'm hiring a secretary for you." Kim pointed out, kicking his feet in the air after sitting back down.

"What's wrong with Ms. Cortesa?" Damien frowned. Up until now, he had no complaints towards her. Sure, he had held his reservations about her at the beginning, but now, after working with her for almost a month, he liked her work ethic.

"Ellie? Nothing. She's just... I think she's going back to her parents for a little bit. Right now, we're just like sitting ducks waiting for the trails to be set and for the date to approach."

"Where are her parents?" Damien wasn't the type to ever prod for information unless it was crucial. He considered this information as crucial considering it would affect him and his work.

"Spain." Kim sighed, almost as if Ella was already gone, and Damien also almost found himself sighing in the same manner.

"When does she leave?" Damien's cogwheels were turning. Training a new secretary would be difficult. Ella had no trouble keeping up with him since they were quite similar. He would have to carefully consider whether it would be worth the effort and time of training the new person or would be rather just do the work himself.

"I'm saying I think. Nothing has been confirmed." Mr. Kim groaned obnoxiously as he got up. Soon after, Ella entered the office once again, looking at Mr. Kim in confusion and amusement.

"You okay?" She walked over, giving him a hand to stand up.

"Yup. I was just telling Damien about his new secretary."

Ella's face fell just a tiny bit. "Oh... that quickly?" She laughed it off. She knew her position there wouldn't last forever, but she couldn't help but be saddened that she no longer would be helping around.

"Just to prepare for your leave to Spain." Kim threw in casually to which Ella frowned, and Damien noticed.

"Prepare? Spain? What are you talking about?" Ella looked at Damien, almost expecting him to have the answers to her question.

"Mr. Kim said you were going to your parents for a while." Damien clarified, to which Ella's frown deepened.

"Who told you that?" She looked at Kim. "Jihye?" She persisted when he didn't answer.

"Myself?" He questioned, and Ella breathed in, laughing. Meanwhile, Damien felt the heaviness leave his head, relaxing only a bit.

"Well, tell your little noggin to stop making things up. I already said that I wasn't leaving, not until all of this gets resolved anyway." Ella sat down, before remembering something and stood right back up. "Didn't you need something?" She directed to the question to Damien.

"Before he answers: did Oliver let you know anything about the trails that we didn't already know?" Kim asked at the door, ready to leave.

"He was just asking for a few documents."

"How are things looking?" Kim continued, eyeing Damien warily since Kim already knew Damien hated being bothered while working. This time, he didn't seem to mind. Quite the contrary, he was also paying attention to the conversation.

Ella seemed to show her tiredness for a bit, just a brief and fleeting moment before she pulled off a grin and shrugged. "I'm praying and hoping, but... who knows." Ella shook her head. "Go, we all have things to do." She ushered Mr. Kim away, to which he agreed to.

Ella turned to walk to Damien's desk, reaching to grab the papers he was handing her, but he didn't let go. Ella looked up at him in questioning. The way the sunlight hit them allowed Damien to clearly see that she had hazel eyes that glowed almost golden when the brightness hit them. He blinked, "are you okay?"

Ella smiled, that smile that showed how she really had faith that everything would turn out okay. "Yes, thank you." She nodded, her eyes twinkling with appreciation that Damien had cared enough to ask.

Damien let the papers go, and Ella left.

It was later at night that Damien had remembered about the dinner at his mother's. He was tempted to blow her off again. Invent some excuse and slip away, but he couldn't bring himself to do it for the third time that month, so he had agreed. It was a Friday anyway, so he knew that whatever work he would leave unfinished today, which wasn't a whole lot thanks to Ella, he would pick up back again on Monday with ease.

"Hey," Ella entered his office after knocking. Damien had been packing up, and he looked up at her. Did she always smile like that? Like everything in the world would be okay?

"Did you need something?" He automatically questioned. He couldn't help how cold he sounded, but she never seemed to be bothered.

"We're heading out for dinner; Kim specifically addresses it as a 'company bonding dinner' but we all know that's code for 'getting employees drunk so that they can fess up to secrets'." It was a joke, and Damien cracked a grin, watching as Ella rolled her eyes playfully. "Would you like to head down with us?"

Damien had never attended one. When he had first started, he had intended to go, but somehow something always got in the way. Later, as time went by, everyone in the office knew that he just didn't go and sort of stopped inviting him. All they really did was just inform him in case he ever did want to attend. Damien had turned it into a habit. Now would be no different.

"No, thank you." He shook his head, and Ella nodded.

"That's okay. There's always a next time." She nodded. Her analyst mind begging her to ask why but her reasonable one pleading for her to not. In the end, her reasonable one won. "In that case, goodnight, Mr. Petrotti."

Damien gave her a nod, "goodnight, Ms. Cortesa."