The week was almost over, it was Friday afternoon and Mia's last day to get the work completed.

Sebastian had held off on visiting the room for the entire week. He wanted to see it on the last day, knowing that it would still be a complete mess. He didn't expect any miracles there.

Although, what did surprise him, was Mia's ability to still assist him throughout the week. Whether it was keeping his calendar in check, or organising meetings, she seemed to be on top of it all.

Somehow the task that he set her, hadn't hindered in her role as an assistant and that wasn't something he'd expected all.

He was waiting for an opportunity to chastise her, but she, annoyingly, hadn't given him one.

Sebastian glanced at his watch and knew that the allocated time he had given Mia was up. She hadn't come to his office and wasn't in hers, so he could only assume that she was in that storage room, probably trying to hastily sort through things at the last minute.

He then left his desk and began to make his way to the storage room.

As he walked up to the room, he saw Mia closing the door, her back towards him.

He was standing directly behind her, yet she had not noticed. Only when she finally turned, was she startled to see Sebastian in front of her.

Sebastian's eyes narrowed in scrutiny, as he took in Mia's form.

Over the course of the week, Mia's appearance had worsened.

She had bags under her eyes, which could now even be called luggage. The frame of her glasses managed to reduce the look of the dark circles, but it wasn't completely hidden from view. Her hair was dishevelled and so she had kept it in a messy bun the entire week, but still a bit of hair were sticking out everywhere in the bun.

The outfit she had worn, a simple shirt and a skirt, looked creased and not appropriate-looking for the place she worked in, but the lack of sleep she was getting from all the work, was causing her to become so tired that she don't even have the energy to iron her clothes.

Mia glanced up to look at Sebastian, whose eyes were already trained on her, and sighed.

"I'm done," she said.

"Quitting already?" He asked her, and looked down to his watch. "Only a week in and..." he's about to continue, only for Mia to interrupt him.

Sebastian stood there in complete shock for a moment, processing her words.

"Already? How?"

The task was meant to be impossible for one person to complete on their own, even for two people finishing the task in a week should be impossible.

"You told me I had a week," Mia said.

Sebastian walked passed her and opened the door to room.

He saw the stacks of paper that were once a mess, were now neatly arranged in boxes, each with a label on, categorising them. The floor was clear of all the loose papers, the room in general looked a lot more cleaner.

"But I didn't expect..." he began to say in astonishment, his voice trailing off. 'What the hell was this girl made of?'

Sebastian then stepped back out the room and closed the door. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. This wasn't meant to be a task to be completed.

Mia looked at Sebastian, who was just facing the door, his back was turned towards her. She knew that he thought she would never manage to complete the task and she almost didn't. It's funny was sheer willpower and the drive to win, will make you do.

It also helped that Sebastian never said that she couldn't take stuff home and organise it there. Another thing he hadn't mentioned was that she couldn't use anyone's help, but Mia didn't want to do that, because it would really be success on her own. So, day and night she flipped through the papers and managed to sort through them.

"Where are papers meant to go?" Mia then asked, causing Sebastian to turn around and face her once again. "I arranged them into boxes for now but..." she was about to continue when a familiar voice called out her name.

"Mia, my dear."

The two glanced towards the source of the voice and saw Richard coming towards them, a warm smile on his face.

"Richard," Mia smiled back at him.

No matter how bad her mood, Richard was could always make her smile and since Harry had officially retired, she didn't have his warm smile to greet her anymore.

"How are you, dear?" He asked her.

"I'm doing good," she responded.

However, Richard frowned when he observed Mia's face.

"Oh dear, you have bags under your eyes," he said

Mia knew that the darkened areas around her eyes must look horrible right now. Her glasses or even the minimal makeup she wore, wasn't going to be hiding it.

"Just a little tired," she replied, a small smile on her face to not make him worry, although it warmed her heart that he did.

"Sebastian's isn't working you too hard, is he?" Richard asked.

The man in question, tensed a little at Richard's words, knowing all this week he had made Mia work harder than ever.

Mia gently shook her head. "No, no, I'm just getting used to the workload," she responded, which wasn't an exact lie. She then glanced at Sebastian, before looked to Richard once again. "I'm not a quitter."

"That's great to hear," Richard said, not catching on to what her last words actually meant or whom they were for.

"Did you need something, Dad? Sebastian then questioned, stepping towards his father and standing beside Mia.

Richard turned towards him, a wide smile on his face. "I finally decided what to do with this room."

"What?" Sebastian asked.

"I'm making it into a common room. You know how they have in colleges and universities? It can be used for leisure time during breaks, which would help the employees relax and can boost productivity,"

"That's actually a great idea," Sebastian smiled.

Finding ways to help boost productivity in the office was something Sebastian was all for, he himself often organised days out for staff.

"Now I can't take all the credit, it was Mia who helped me," Richard said.

Sebastian turned his head towards her, with a curious look on his face.

"I just made a suggestion," Mia shrugged.

"A wonderful one," Richard noted. "Now, I've got the people coming in on Saturday to clear this room out. They can finally get rid off all that rubbish in here."

Mia was left confused by his words.

"Get rid of?" She asked him.

She really hoped that he meant rubbish, as in the random chair in the room and the table. The filing cabinet, even.

"Oh yes, dear. We have some very old papers in there. The important ones I've kept with me but these ones will be going to recycling. I was meant to do it years ago, after we converted them onto the computers, but I forgot and then the room just became storage," Richard informed her.

This was meant to be the cherry on top of Sebastian's plans.

"They don't need sorting out?" Mia asked.

Richard chuckled. "Of course not, dear. It's all junk."

It's all junk.

Mia's face fell at his words.

She felt like screaming or even crying, at all the anger she felt right now. All the wasted time and effort that she had put in, for an entire week, all for a meaningless task. She was exhausted and tired, running on barely any sleep and energy and only now she was finding out it was all for nothing.

When she spoke to Richard about the room, she had assumed that all the changed and transformation of the room would take place afterwards. After she had sorted through the papers.

Sebastian kept his eyes on Mia and saw the small smile on her face, morph into something that was more...lost.

He could tell that she had understood that this wasn't a real task and just something done to drive her crazy and want to make her quit. Or at least that was the plan.

It should bring him some kind of joy that he held true on his words. He had told her that she would regret taking this role and this plan was meant to do exactly that. Although she wasn't mean to complete the talk, it still would've driven her insane, he should like that...and yet he didn't.

The look he saw on her face, it almost made him feel bad. There was just this bitter feeling now.

'This was the plan. This was how it was supposed to be. She loses,' he thought to himself. But it didn't really feel like he won either. He just wasn't sure why that was exactly.

"Sebastian, did you call the recycling company to collect the papers?"

This then snapped him out of his thoughts and back to reality.

"Yes, I did that on Monday. They'll be here by the end of the day" he responded.

Mia turned to him and realised just how cruel his plan was. He knew. The entire time that he made her do this, he knew this was how it was going to be and yet she had wasted a whole week on this.

She was so angry, so livid, but moreover, so tired.

"Very well," Richard spoke and then glanced at his watch. "I've got to meet a client, so I'll let you two go now. Bye, Son. Bye, Mia." He said, before walking away.

Mia stood there, not knowing what to do right now. The urge to take off her heel and smack Sebastian with it, was almost overwhelming right now but she couldn't even do that.

Whilst Mia stood there, contemplating ways to hurt Sebastian, he just looked at her.

He opened his mouth to say something, but then immediately closed it again, not knowing what to say. Or even why he should say anything at all.

Sebastian looked at her for a moment longer, before walking away too, leaving Mia standing there.

He shook away his previous thoughts and tried to remind himself that this was what he wanted. He had promised to make her regret working for him and this was only start of it.

Mia was sat in her office, thinking about all that had happened an hour ago. She felt like such an idiot after finding out about Sebastian's plan.

She wasn't sure why she was so surprised after finding out that the papers were going to be recycled. Of course he would plan something like this. Mia hated to admit it, but it was good plan - in a cruel way.

He clearly won this round of the battle, a fact which annoyed Mia to her core. She had to be prepared for the next time he threw something at her. She had to be ready.

"Miss Sareen, if you're done sulking, I would like a coffee on my desk now," Sebastian's voice spoke through the intercom.

'The nerve of him,' Mia thought. She knew he probably thought that she was crying her eyes out over him and her loss, but instead she was seething with anger. 'Coffee on my desk. I'll pour it on your lap instead, you git.'

"Of course," she then replied, holding back on her real words.

Sebastian was sat in his office, leaning back in his chair. He felt quite good about how his plan went. Sure, he didn't think she'd complete the task, but the fact that she did, still counted as a win for him technically.

He assumed that she was probably moping about in her office, over what had happened. 'Maybe she might want to quit now,' he thought.

Just as he thought about her quitting, Mia knocked on his office door, opening it slightly. She peeked through, holding a mug in her hand.

"Coffee," she said, raising the mug a little.

Sebastian nodded, gesturing for her to enter and watched as she walked in.

He held back from telling her off for not waiting for him to tell her to 'come in', before she entered his office. He figured she'd probably had been through enough with the whole paper-sorting ordeal, he could let her off... for the rest of the day. He wasn't completely heartless.

There was also the fact that she was bringing him coffee. As much as he disliked Mia, she made a really great cup of coffee, even better than Sophie or anyone for that matter, but of course he'd never tell her that.

As she walked towards his desk, Sebastian leaned forward, his eyes narrowing on Mia's form.

Her appearance wasn't what was concerning him, but rather the way she was walking. She was limping and he could see the slight wince on her face, as it scrunched up with every step.

Sebastian kept his eyes on her, as she moved towards his desk and placed a mug on top of it. With her every step, he could see a painful expression in her face.

Just as Mia turned around to walk back, Sebastian decided to ask about it. Purely because he didn't want it to effect her work, not because he was worried or anything.

"Wait," he called out.

Mia stopped in her steps and turned around to face him.

"Yes?"

"Why are you limping?"

Mia was confused by the question. Not because she didn't understand it, but rather didn't understand why it was coming from him. He can't be concerned and yet that's what she felt like she was seeing on his face.

It was definitely a foreign emotion to see from him.

She debated on whether or not she should mention anything, and then just decided against it.

"Nothing, I just..." she tried to say, but Sebastian cut her off.

"Do not lie to me. I do not care for it. You lie to me and I don't give a shit about my Dad's decision or a contract, I'll fire you right now," he said in a deadly serious voice. "So I'll ask again, why are you limping?"

Mia had never heard him speak like this before. He'd been cold or eerily calm, but never like this.

She then realised that he wasn't going to let this go, until she gave him the real answer.

"I fell."

"How?"

Mia sighed, realising he really wasn't going to let this go.

"My foot got caught between a stack of papers. Somehow, managed to trip over it and I think I must've twisted my ankle," she said.

The throbbing pain in her ankle hadn't got better since the morning she had fallen, only getting more uncomfortable. She felt so stupid after having tripped, she just didn't want to tell him.

As she told him about what caused her limping, Sebastian felt like complete dick.

He wasn't the one to push her over the stack of papers and make her trip, however he was the one to place her in the room and work. She was probably rushing to get through the work in the the given deadline, and in the haste tripped up.

Her reason carelessness, was on him.

He didn't want her in his office, but he never planned on causing her physical pain either. That most definitely wasn't the plan.

Sebastian closed his eyes, letting out a deep sigh, before proceeding to get up from his seat.

Mia just watched him in confusion, not really understanding what was going on. She saw the expression he had on his face, whilst looked as if he were trying to solve a complex problem, until it went blank again and he got up.

'What was he planning now?' She wondered.

She stood there, keeping her eyes on Sebastian. Mia saw him walk towards the side of his office, pulling out one of the drawers of the large display cabinet. He then seemed to have taken a box out and walked up towards her.

"Come on," he said, holding out one of his hands towards her, whilst the other held onto the box.

Sebastian could see the way she looked at him, as if he'd just grown two heads and a tail. Behind those glasses, he saw her blink slowly at him and then look down at his hand, as if examining it.

He blew out a breath in frustration at her taking so long, as if it weren't his hand, but a venomous serpent instead.

"It's a hand, Miss Sareen. Would you be so kind to take it, so I can help you to the sofa and help you?" He asked her.

His question was clearly rhetorical and one that would anger Mia, however right now she was too baffled to even register his words. He wanted to help her? That was new.

She had managed to walk all this while and was pretty sure she could make it to the sofa as well, but seeing as how he was being 'kind' enough to offer a hand, Mia took it.

Oddly enough, he didn't push her to walk faster or drag her, he was actually patient. Not saying anything, just letting her limp at her pace.

As they reached the edge of the sofa, Mia turned to sit down but her actions were too rushed and she would've at an odd angle, had Sebastian not kept a firm grip on her arm.

'What is wrong with my balance today?' She thought, as she took a seat properly this time.

Instead of saying anything about her clumsiness, Sebastian sat down next to her and reached forward, taking one of Mia's hands in his hold, the one he had used to help her walk.

He looked at it intently, before taking the other in hold too and assessing it, whilst Mia looked on. She had no clue what had become so fascinating about her hands all of a sudden.

"Your hands, they're..."

"Rough," she finished his comment for him.

Sebastian looked down at her hands and frowned. Her hands, that seemed so small in his hold, seemed a lot coarser than they should be. He then also noticed she was wearing a wrist-support band on her right hand.

He realised this was all due to handling the papers in that dusty room, the typing, filing and scanning. The overload of work had made her hands like this, even given her visible paper cuts.

For a moment, Mia was caught off guard by the look she saw on his face. He seemed genuinely concerned about her hands, as if they were something precious of his.

However, she also knew he wasn't going to actually apologise. She knew not to expect that from him.

She didn't really blame Sebastian for the injury. He was an arse, yes. But this was caused through her own lack of coordination.

Suddenly, Sebastian moved off of the sofa and kneeled down in front of her, reaching towards her feet.

"What are you doing?" Mia yelped, when he began to tug off one of her heels.

"Easy," he said, looking at her in the eye. "I'm just taking your heel off, to put spray on some pain relief."

"No, it's..." she was about to protest, but he cut her off.

"Don't argue." Sebastian glared at the stubborn girl.

He shook his head, before returning to her shoe. Of course she'd even try to argue with him, as he was helping her.

Reaching for the box he previously took out, Sebastian grabbed the pain-relief spray. This was something that would help him after gym and assumed it should provide her with some kind of ease too.

Mia watched him curiously, as he moved to kneel on one knee and then placed her foot, ever so carefully, on top of it.

He took the cap off the spray and used it on her ankle, the cool sensation covering the entirety of where the pain was stemming from.

Once he was done, he slowly placed her foot back down and began to put her high-heel back on for her. 'Well, this was odd,' she thought.

Sebastian then stood up and just as Mia was about to get up too, he offered his hand to help her once again and she took it without hesitation this time.

"Thank you," Mia said with a smile, the genuine kind, something she hadn't offered Sebastian in her whole time here.

This time it was him, who had been caught off guard by her smile.

He noticed it was different from the other fake smiled she'd usually give him, normally after a sarcastic response. This seemed real, one that reached her eyes and showing off the dimple she had on the right side of her cheek.

Sebastian then let out an awkward cough, realising he was thinking about her smile for a little took long.