Mia had been cursing her decision from the moment she had made it.

Ultimately, she that it was the right choice, since she couldn't let her own judgement be clouded by the past. Mia had made it her mission to move on and she did.

However, to Mia, moving on meant never seeing Sebastian or his friends ever again. For years, she had made good on that, even despite working in the same company as him.

When Harry had first hired her, Mia was so happy and desperate, she barely knew which role or company she had applied to. When it dawned on her that it wasn't just a coincidence that the company was called Carter, Mia was filled with dread.

She was so desperate for a good job and good money, she wasn't even in the position to refuse the job. Mia also didn't want to miss out on a great role because of Sebastian either.

Somehow, Mia had worked three years in the company without having to come face to face with Sebastian and she thanked her lucky stars for it.

Now that blissful era was going to be coming to an end, since she would now have to see him over and over again, much to her chagrin.

She was now to assume the role of his assistant, which meant all the face to face time she managed to miss in those years, she was about to acquire.

The doom and gloom of the weather matched Mia's mood completely. She felt like it was the universe telling her, it understood. It wasn't going to be a sunny day, when she felt miserable.

Her journey into work was mostly compromised of Mia listing out pro's and con's of how this whole experience would go. It was safe to say he con's list was a lot longer, but at least the positives included a higher salary and a potential better job after everything.

Her meeting with Sebastian was scheduled in the morning, a little after she was meant to be in work. So for a while, Mia just tried to, albeit unsuccessfully, distract herself.

Until it was time for her to go up to the Sebastian's office floor and have the meeting with the devil himself.

Mia first went into Sophie's office, greeting her. It was already better to see a more friendly face. They spoke for a little while and Sophie gave her advice on how to 'go about things' when it comes to Sebastian.

What she didn't know, was that Mia already shared history with Sebastian and already knew, no matter what advice Sophie would give her, it wouldn't really matter.

Finally it came to the moment that Sophie spoke through her little intercom and announced that Mia was there for the meeting.

Putting on her big girl brave face she decided she wouldn't cower like the old her would've, she was stronger now, she wouldn't crumble.

So with that in mind, Mia walked towards the door and put on a smile as she knocked.

"Come in."

When Mia heard that voice of his, she took a deep breath and then finally opened the door and walked in.

Her eyes immediately fell onto the sight of a very smug Sebastian sitting at his desk, as if he was some kind of king. It irked her, but she didn't let it show.

The dark suit he wore, made it seem like it were some kind of armour. Not against her, no, but just to seem all the more powerful. She remembered back in high school, he had 'messy hair', brown and curly but now it was more styled and slicked back, but the waves of it still appearing.

He hadn't changed all that much, still someone she could recognise. All that was different, was that he looked older, the stubble of his beard showing as such. There was no chubbiness on his cheek, no, instead his featured looked sharp and strong.

For a moment, all of her memories of Sebastian came rushing back to her but Mia shook it off and kept her smile on her face.

This wasn't the time to show any kind of weakness.

"Good morning," Mia greeted, almost too cheerfully.

Sebastian was instantly annoyed at the blatant act she was putting on.

He could tell she was forcing that smile on her face, it can't have been genuine.

"Morning," he greeted back with nod.

'If she could act, so could he,' Sebastian thought, holding her gaze.

Mia stepped further inside the rooms and whilst she was not ready to look away, feeling as is this eye contact was a challenge in itself. The first to look away, lost the game.

However, she had to look away when she noticed three people sitting on a black sofa at the side of the room, clearly eyeing her up.

She immediately recognised Blake sitting there, a mischievous grin on his face. He was always recognisable to her through that smile and those blue eyes of his. She had seen it many times back in high school, whenever he was with Aaron and they were having a laugh.

Mia's eyes then drifted towards the other figures. Another man sitting there, one leg resting over his other knee and a basketball in his hand. He didn't have much of an expression on his face, but it was as if he were studying her.

There was another woman sitting next to him. She looked like she meant business, her sleek black hair tied up and a black jump-suit on. Mia felt like, she too, was assessing her. Her eyes looking her up and down.

Finally, Mia looked back to Sebastian who was just staring at her.

Whilst she had been focused on his friends sitting there, clearly analysing her, he was looking at her. He took the time to really look at her and saw how she was definitely the girl on the lift.

He could see her face a lot better now. She resembled the same Mia from high school and yet at the same time, she didn't. She still had a bit of fullness to her cheeks, her features almost soft.

Her hair wasn't kept up anymore like it was in the past but instead, curly and going down past her shoulders. She still had her glasses, the frame of it guarding her eyes. Sebastian half-expected her to be wearing a ridiculous outfit that wouldn't be appropriate in this office, but instead she was wearing a simple patterned blouse and black trousers with heels.

"Um, am I interrupting something?" Mia asked, again glancing towards the three figures seated on the sofa and then back to Sebastian. "I thought we had our meeting scheduled for now?"

He saw the look of confusion come over her face as she looked to them.

"It is," he then replied, nearly smirking at how she looked so intimidated. "These are just my friends, they'll be here in the background," he added.

'Maybe it might be better with the other three here,' Sebastian thought. He could tell she clearly wasn't expecting an audience, so maybe it might throw her off her game.

Mia looked to Sebastian, watching the corner of his lips tug upward a little and she knew he was enjoying this.

Raising her chin, Mia nodded.

'He could go to hell if he thinks I'm going to run away scared with them in the room,' she thought.

Mia took a few steps forward, standing beside one of the chairs in front of his desk.

Sebastian waited a moment. He could see the look of annoyance on her face and she glanced down at the chair beside her and then back to him.

She clearly wanted to sit, but couldn't let herself ask him for 'permission' and also couldn't just sit herself down, since it wasn't proper etiquette to just pull out the chair and sit yourself.

'Oh, I'm going to enjoy this,' he thought.

"Take a seat," Sebastian finally said, the amusement of his actions were evident on his face.

Mia felt like smacking that look off of his face but refrained from such actions...for now.

"Thank you," she gritted out, taking her seat.

The other three just looked on at the meeting between Sebastian and Mia with curiosity. They could instantly tell he was taking the piss and was enjoying it. Sebastian never acted like this with anyone else and so they were witnessing this behaviour for the first time.

"So, Miss Sareen, why do you want to be my assistant?" Sebastian asked.

Mia knew what he was doing. The act of being so formal with her, it was like he was mocking her. Even his question, 'want to be his assistant', the thought nearly made her laugh. She wouldn't want to be his anything.

"Mr Carter, your father, offered me the opportunity and after some thinking, I decided to take it."

"Why?" Sebastian asked, pushing for a different answer.

"Pardon?" Mia replied.

"Why take it?" Sebastian expanded on his previous question. "You've been in accounting for three years now, why take an assistant's role?" He questioned her.

"Accounting isn't what I want to continue doing. I've wanted to make a change for a while now, this opportunity came at the right time and Mr Carter has offered to help me after I've fulfilled my role as your assistant and when Mrs Turner comes back," Mia told him.

Richard helping her after she had done her time, was the only thing that was pushing Mia to accept this role. Otherwise she had no need to endure this kind of torture.

"I see," Sebastian hummed, before continuing. "Sophie is an extremely qualified assistant, she knows my needs before I do and is always on top of her work. You've never been an assistant before, how can I trust you'll offer the same level of commitment?" He grilled her.

If Mia was a qualified assistant he might have considered her himself, despite the differences between them but she only got here through recommendations. 'She probably didn't even know the meaning of hard work,' he thought.

He wasn't all too surprised either to learn that his Dad had offered to help her out in return. He was too kind-hearted for his own good, in Sebastian's opinion.

"I've been in accounting now for three years, it hadn't been something I wanted to do, yet I continued to be committed to my work and completed it to a high standard. I've also assisted Mr Nelson on many occasions and I'm sure he'd be my reference for my level of commitment," Mia finished.

She was a hard worker, anyone who knew her, would know that about her. But of course, Sebastian would assume the worst about her like he always had.

"If I may ask, how did you get a job in accounting? You didn't specifically complete a course in the field nor do you have the prior experience," he noted.

Mia expected this from him. He probably scoured through her application and past work, just to pick out mistakes, anything to embarrass her.

"I had newly graduated from university and I was looking for a role where I could apply what I've learnt. I had my interview with Mr Nelson and despite not having the exact skills, he took a chance on me," Mia said.

She kept out the part of her breakdown. That was only between Harry and her, and if Sebastian knew that, he would just use that as more ammo against her.

"It wasn't anything else?" Sebastian asked.

He didn't mean to insinuate anything with his words. Of course, he knew his godfather wasn't like that.

"Excuse me?"

Mia wasn't entirely sure what he had meant by those word but felt like there was something in his tone, even if there wasn't much of an expression on his face.

It was like he was purposely being blank with her, as if he didn't want her to catch onto his thoughts - not that she wanted to know his mind, but it bothered her to not know either.

"There are somedays where the workload will be extensive and not all can be done according to the normal working hours. I will sometimes require you to work later, will that be a problem?"

"No, it won't," Mia replied, despite every part of her screaming that she would never want to stay longer than she has to with him.

"Of course, it won't." Blake muttered from behind, before poorly attempting to cover it up with a cough. "Sorry, little tickle in my throat," he excused himself, when he noticed Mia's eyes on him.

Mia had turned around when she heard someone speak up and immediately her eyes caught onto Blake, who covered up his words with a fake cough.

She knew what Blake was insinuating but if she was determined to not let Sebastian get to her, there was no way she was going to let Blake get to her either.

Tearing her eyes away from Blake, Mia turned back to Sebastian, who had a half tilt of a smile on his face.

"I also sometimes work from home. On occasion, I've required Sophie to work from my home as well, will that be a problem?" Sebastian asked.

The idea of Mia in his home made Sebastian's skin crawl, but there were occasions where he just had to work from home and he sometimes required his assistant for that.

"No, it won't." Mia replied once more. She didn't want to voice her real opinion on the matter.

"I'm sure." This time the words were said by Roman, who then tried to use Blake's method of covering it up with a cough.

"Must be contagious," Blake snickered.

Mia didn't turn around this time, she could tell that it came from the other man sitting on the sofa. There was no doubt in her mind that Sebastian must've told him his version of the past, so of course he assumed something about her character.

Sebastian just watched Mia's reaction to Roman's words. He thought, like before, she'd turn around or possibly she might snap and behave unprofessionally, which would then give him a reason to not have her as his assistant. He was left disappointed when she didn't react, only taking a deep breath.

"Was there anything else, Sir?" Mia asked in a forced tone.

"Why do you want to work for me Mia?" Sebastian asked her.

This took Mia by surprise, she blinked slowly and her brows furrowed together.

"Pardon?"

She knew that Sebastian was aware of who she was and that he remembered her, however she didn't expect him to drop the oblivious act.

"Why do you really want to work for me?" He reiterated.

There was a part of him that was amused by the shocked expression on her face.

He was just a little tired of pretending now, he'd rather have answers.

Mia quickly regained her composure to reply.

"It will be a great way to gain some more experience."

"I don't believe you," Sebastian responded in a low voice.

The tone of his voice scared Mia a little, it sounded so cold and ruthless. Her mind flashed back to the entire prom ordeal, until she quickly put that memory to the back of her mind.

"It's the truth," she said, trying to be as nonchalant as possible.

"You can drop the act now, Mia. It's a little pointless, don't you think?"

Mia didn't really know how to respond. She thought they both were going to act as if they didn't know each other, and hopefully not acknowledge the past, but she should've known better.

If she acted like she didn't know him, Mia thought it would be better.

"Oh come on, Mia. I'm sure you haven't forgotten me," Sebastian said.

He was quite entertained by her 'deer caught in headlights' expression.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Mia replied calmly.

She refused to play his little game and be toyed with.

However, Sebastian wasn't one to back down so easily.

"Oh really?" He mused and then said the words that caused her heartbeat to speed up. "High-school, Tucker, prom, anything ring a bell?" Sebastian asked, knowing full well the effect it will have on her.

He just wanted a reaction from her and he could slowly see one coming through. Clearly his words were getting to her, now all he needed was for her to crack so he didn't have to hire her.

Mia clenched her fist so tight, her nails begin to dig into her skin. Hearing Tucker's name was almost too much for her, especially after what he tried doing.

"How's my good old friend, Aaron? We seem to have lost touch over the years," Sebastian then asked, pressing down further on what was an open wound.

"He's fine," Mia gritted out.

"So you do remember." Sebastian stated. It was no longer a question for him, especially seeing her seething expression.

"Yes," she replied.

She decided that acting oblivious wasn't going to work. She assumed his ego couldn't take her being so unbothered by him.

"I'm almost surprised you'd want to work for me. Almost. Did you learn nothing from high-school? Your whole act won't work with me," Sebastian her but Mia didn't respond, only looking him in the eye.

"You're going to regret ever taking this opportunity," he told her, using a mocking tone on the last word, as that is what she had called it.

Mia could see the brown and green of his hazel eyes clash together, as they narrowed in on her. Trying to intimidate her, scare her.

There was a small part of her that wanted to crumble, but she knew she couldn't be that frightened little girl that she was in high-school. She was never going to give Sebastian the satisfaction. He never deserved all the tears she had already shed because of him and his friends, and he still didn't.

Instead, Mia smiled. An action that caught Sebastian off-guard, not that he'd let it show.

"There's one difference though," she said, her voice calm and unwavering, something that Sebastian didn't expect. He thought she was going to cry, she almost looked she was going to a second ago.

"I'm not that little girl anymore, Sebastian. This time I don't stay on the ground, I fight back," she stated.

She stared into his eyes as she said the words, not backing down.

The two had a stare off, both of them carrying hatred in their eyes for one another.

Blake, Roman and Diana were stunned silent by the encounter, not uttering a single word. Blake was even more shocked, he remembered Mia like Sebastian did, a meek girl. He didn't expect to answer back, let alone look Sebastian dead in the eyes, basically challenging him.

"Sebastian, you have a meeting."

Sophie's voice echoed into his office from the intercom, breaking the eye contact between Sebastian and Mia.

"Right. Thanks Soph," Sebastian replied and then stood up.

Mia did the same, still smiling. It felt like a little victory for her.

"Well it's a been a pleasure, Miss Sareen. I look forward to working together," Sebastian said, however his words don't match his expression.

What he was really saying through those words, was that he was going to make Mia's life a living hell whilst she worked for him.

Mia knew this and still smiled at Sebastian.

"Likewise. Sir," she replied, in her own way saying, bring it on.

Both shook hands, as if declaring some kind of war.