"Welcome to Russells." The shop attendant smiled.

"Hello, I'm here to pick up shoes for William Illston, I'm his PA." I brought out my ID and showed her. "Please tell me it is here." It only occurred to me midway dragging my foot here, that Lilian could've already sent the shoes to the office. If I showed up there one more time, the security would definitely think I was crazy, especially with a broken heel.

"Um, it is." The woman eyed me warily. I sighed in relief and instantly sat down on one of the plush foams.

"By the way, do you fix heels?" I removed my pump and smiled. Thirty minutes later, I walked out with William's shoes, suit and a fixed pump. Another thirty minutes passed and the cab dropped me in front of his apartment.

"You're late," were the first words the despicable man said when he saw me.

"I am late?" I laughed humourlessly. "Look at me, I look like I was trying to escape a mugger and not get some damn suit and shoes," the glimpse of my reflection in the mirror was enough for me to see my windswept hair, flushed face and wrinkled dress. "You have no idea how hard it was to get these items and of course majorly no thanks to your— nevermind. Here." I handed over the ensemble, a little more forcefully than necessary.

He cleared his throat.

"Where is the makeover team, won't you need one of those?" I looked around the empty apartment.

"Not when I have you. You will help me." He turned and started walking in the direction of the stairs.

"Me?"

"Yes you, come on." He answered without turning back. Begrudgingly, my feet moved and I followed him up the stairs and into his room.

It was my first time seeing his room. It was huge; probably the size of my whole apartment. The decor and tones of the room were mostly dark which I decided suited him well. He went straight towards a door in the far left corner and behind it was a walk in closest that was definitely bigger than my kitchen and bathroom combined.

"Remove everything and set it on that chair." He passed the suit and pointed to one of the armchairs that was placed in front of the full length mirror. I carefully removed the suit from its packaging and set all the different pieces on the chair. When I turned around, I didn't expect to see him shirtless. He'd certainly hit the gym more over the years. My eyes unblushingly washed over his shoulders down to the hard lines of his stomach.

"Nothing you haven't seen before." He said snapping me out of my perusal. "The pants first," he directed and I quickly handed him the pants then turned back to face the pile of clothes. Ophelia you shameless girl, It's just a semi naked male. One you strongly dislike too. No biggie at all.

"Shirt." In the same manner, I quickly passed his shirt. "Well you have to help me button it up."

I stared at him blankly but he only stood looking expectant.

Was he even for real?

"You're not a toddler," I grumbled as I inched closer to him. My fingers brushed against his hard chest as I hurriedly buttoned up the white shirt.

"Tie next."

I resisted rolling my eyes and brought the magenta tie over. With my four inch pumps, I managed to reach just below his nose. My fingers knotted the tie methodically, solely concentrating on finishing the knot. My skin suddenly felt hot and that was maybe due to the burn of his gaze on me. I pulled the tie up tighter than was necessary and he groaned. I grinned till I felt his warm hands encase mine.

"I don't particularly want my cause of death to read, tie."

I glared at him and he smiled in return.

"I'm done."

"I'll deal with vest, jacket and shoes myself. You can go down."

"Okay."

Downstairs, in front of the mirror, I repacked my hair, made a few minor adjustments then patted my red cheeks.

"Are you ready?" My gaze shifted from my reflection to William who stood about six feet away looking stupidly dashing in his new expensive suit. I nodded and soon we were outside, in front of the building waiting for the car.

"You have a limo," I said matter of factly as the sleek black limousine pulled up in front of us.

"And bodyguards," he added as another car stopped behind the limo and two tall bulky men stepped down.

"Of course you do."

The men gave a quick summary of their expectations for the night before getting back into the black car. William and I entered the limo, he at the back while I sat in front.

"Hey Jay."

"How are you tonight?" He smiled.

"Tired and this party hasn't even began." I answered and he laughed. We fell into a light conversation as usual as he started the car and the journey proceeded. A few minutes later, the screen that divided the front from the back went down.

"I'm guessing you didn't prepare anything?" I heard William ask.

I slightly turned, eyeing him confusedly. "No?"

"Jay please stop at the nearest flower shop." He said then the screen went back up.

Damn, I was meant to get flowers?

The vehicle came to a halt in front of a very dainty flower shop. I wasn't sure whether the building was painted dark blue or dark purple due to the tinted windows of the limo. The screen went down again and William's voice came through.

"If I happen to have a date to one of these events, Lilian usually prepares a bouquet of flowers."

I quietly nodded.

"Order a bouquet of roses, you still have my card right?"

I murmured a yes before opening the door. The sun had fully set and the sky was now dark. The flower shop was indeed painted dark blue and walking towards it, I wondered why William couldn't just get the flowers himself.

The shop was near empty, the guy behind the counter twisting stems, being the only other person inside, besides me.

"Good evening, can I get a bouquet of roses?" I requested.

"Colour?"

"Any." He nodded then stood up dropping the stems he was twisting. I half heartedly viewed the rest of the shop while waiting.

"Here you go."

"Thanks." I collected the bouquet of white roses and paid. To my surprise, William was leaning against the side of the limo when I walked out.

"Here," I gave him the bouquet. He stared at it critically then his gaze turned to me.

"I don't like the arrangement. Ask for a different arrangement." He handed it back to me. My jaw slacked.

"Are you kidding?"

"No." He said dully.

"You're kidding me," I laughed although there was nothing humorous about the whole situation. "Then get your own flowers yourself William, she is your date not mine." I shoved the flowers back into his chest. How dare he complain about flower arrangements after the last couple of hours I'd had?

"Hm, jealous?" He mocked as he took hold of the now crumpled flowers.

"Jealous?" I laughed again, this time actually finding humor in his words. "The only thing I feel is sad. Sad for the woman who has to endure as your date through the night."

The smirk he spotted immediately disappeared. A few moments of silence passed before he wordlessly turned back to limo, about to go in with the limp flowers.

"Wait." I sighed.

"What?"

"Are you going to give your date crumpled white roses?"

"Forget it, let's go." He said and I rolled my eyes then breathed out again.

"I'll go get the stupid flowers." I didn't wait for him to say anything. If the guy thought it odd that I was back ordering another bouquet, he didn't say as he handed another to me, with a different arrangement. This was a flower shop anyway, I bet they had their fair share of drama from time to time. Outside again, William was still where I left him.

"Take it and if you don't like this arrangement as well then just go get it yourself." I said as he collected the flowers. A ghost of a smile appeared on his lips.

"Was there nothing sent to your email?"

"About?"

"You should check it. You would have known to do all this." He said before opening the door and finally entering. I remained standing and tried to remember when last my email was opened. As we drove to Michelle Vale's house, I decided to open the app to check for any new mail and there it was, three days old.

'Mr Illston's Likes and Dislikes~ gala edition'

Dammit.

***

The entirety of my Sunday was spent sleeping, eating and watching reruns; basically rejuvenating.

Saturday night went well. Michelle Vale was everything I'd imagined; a tall raven haired beauty with a soft smile. After arriving, she and William were led to a table while I slipped away and through the rest of the night, stayed by the sidelines.

Knowing Lilian, her plan was probably to make me feel green and watch 'something I could never have'. Well, the joke was on the both of us. The only way I felt was ridiculous. Ridiculous, I'd ended up as a PA for my ex and somehow had to stand semi bodyguard for he and his date at an event.

By Monday morning my body was recharged enough and I hummed an old song as I made my way to work.

From afar, I noticed the huddle of people who gathered close to the entrance of D&L. Getting closer, I saw they were reporters trying to gain entrance into the building. Did something happen? The security let me pass through after seeing my ID. In the lobby, even the staff seemed tense, giddy and worried. Upon reaching my floor, I found Heather pacing the space between our desks.

"Hey, what's wrong?" I asked her placing my bag down. "You seem even more tense than some of the staff I saw in the lobby, then what are reporters doing outside? I could barely hear a word they were saying."

What could have happened over the weekend? I was dropped off first Saturday night. Perhaps it was something between William and Michelle Vale?

"Oh, Ophelia you are here! Have you checked your phone this morning? Like the internet?" She asked and I shook my head.

"Did something bad happen?" I asked worriedly.

"Just check your phone, it's crazy," she said and I was prompted to do so. As my browser loaded, she continued, "absolutely crazy. The rumours circulating about Mr Illston. The media is saying he apparently bought this company to woo a university ex. Now everyone is going mad trying to figure out who the supposed ex is!"

***