There was complete silence behind me. As I turned my doorknob I couldn't resist looking over my shoulder at Wyatt. He was standing frozen in the spot with his mouth open and a dazed look on his face. I giggled and blew him a kiss and went inside, shutting the door behind me. I couldn't believe that I did that! I shocked the crap out of Wyatt.

I walked over to check on Lexine and as usual, she was just fine. Taking my iPad into the bathroom with me, I turned on music and sang along while I took my bath. Going to my closet, I looked over my clothes. If I was smart, I'll find another thing with pockets. I picked out a pair of slim black slacks and a knitted dark green tunic with elbow length sleeves. With the phone in my front pants pocket the tunic would cover up the bulge. Black heels completed the outfit along with a green crystal bracelets. I put on a little more eye makeup than I usually did and it looked good. I felt great and decided to do something different with my hair. I assembled my hair into a side bun with curly tendrils escaping. With some rosy liptstick, I studied my appearance. There was a new light in my eyes and my skin seemed to glow. Or maybe that was just my imagination. I shrugged and went to get Lexine up and dressed.

She was actually looking forward to school today and chattered on about learning things and playing with her new friend. Lexine told me that I looked really pretty today and that she wanted to look nice too. I told her that I would do her hair different today but no wearing fancy clothes to school. She chose to wear a green top and black jeans mimicking my outfit. I smiled and put her hair up in a high ponytail with a poof in the front. She looked adorable.

Gathering our coats and my purse and phone, we left the room to find Preston picking up my robe from the ground.
"Care to explain why your robe is on the ground Delphine?" he asked with a smirk on his face.

"Oh, I must have dropped it." I said with a straight face and held my hand out for it.

"I'm sure that you did." he said trying not to laugh. Wyatt had to have told him what happened. He handed me back the robe and I took it back into my room. When I came back out he was telling Lexine how pretty her new hairdo was. She was smiling and then pointed to our matching outfits.

"My girls are matching today! Both of you are so pretty. "he said and picked her up. We walked downstairs together and went into the kitchen. Jake was already there cooking bacon. "Good morning" he said to me with a special smile. I replied the same greeting and went to the fridge to pull things out. Preston took Lexine to the living room after getting a mug of coffee. Shutting the refrigerator door, I turned around to find Jake right there. He put an arm on either side of me and leaned on the fridge effectively pinning me in place.

"You look good enough to eat this morning! Did something happen last night put you in a good mood?" he said with a knowing grin.

"Yes, something did. I learned something new." I said to him and ran my finger down his chest.

He made a strangled sound and I looked down to see that he had reacted to my flirting. "Damn it." he growled and kissed me quickly and then turned away and went back to the bacon. I laughed and started making waffles. "You are going to kill me woman!" he said with a smile at me.

Soon we were sitting down to eat breakfast and I looked up to see that Wyatt was sitting across from me. I smiled at him and he just shook his head at me. "How has your morning been Delphine?" he asked me. "Did you drop anything?" Casually he picked up his glass of orange juice and took a sip. I saw the gleam in his eye. He was going to try to embarrass me! All my sassiness came back.

"Well.." I slid my foot out of my high heel and stretched my leg out. "Yes, but only because somebody asked me to." I slid my foot up his thigh as I answered him. He choked and started to cough. I pulled my leg back and slid my foot back into my shoe. "Are you ok?" I asked him. Brady sitting next to him patted his back with a highly amused look on his face. "Be careful what you ask for bro, you might get it." he said to Wyatt. Preston was sitting next to me and gave me a knowing look. "I've created a monster." muttered Jake out loud and that made me giggle. I couldn't stop and the guys started laughing too. Lexine joined in with her little girl giggles even though she had no idea what we were laughing about.

After breakfast was over with, Wyatt told me that he would be taking me to work today and that Preston was having lunch with me. Lexine and I gave hugs and kisses to the guys and left with Wyatt. When we got to my office, Wyatt pulled up to the curb and gave me a kiss on the cheek. "Be careful and keep your phone on hand." he cautioned me and I nodded. I got out of the car and opened the back door so that I could give Lexine a kiss. "I'll see you later ok?" She nodded and waved goodbye at me. I shut the door and walked into the office. Wyatt waited until I was inside before he drove away.
"Good morning Don." I said while taking off my coat and hanging it on the back of my chair.

"Good morning Delphine. You look very nice today." he said with a smile. His words were inoffensive enough but I guess it was his tone that made it seem sleezy.

"What would you like me to start with this morning?" I asked him as I put my purse away and slid my phone into my pants pocket out of his sight.

"There is more paperwork to file today. Can you start with that and then I'm going to need you to enter in more things into the computer later." he said to me.

"OK, I'll get started right away." and took the stack that he handed to me. I worked quietly but efficiently, stopping only to answer phone calls. Don seemed like he was in strange mood but wasn't saying much. I was fine with that. He just kept handing me more paperwork to file until it was time for his lunch break.

"I'll be back at one. You can take yours then." he said to me and then left. I kept busy filing the last of the stack and then got to work entering in data for him. I was lost in emails, when the office door opened and I looked up to see Preston. I gave him a big smile and gave me one back. I stood up and he came over and kissed me. The office door opened up again and Don came in. I pulled back from the kiss blushing but Preston kept his arms wrapped around me and gave Don a cool nod.

"Mr. Kingsley! So good to see you. Picking up our Delphine for lunch date?" Don gushed. Preston tensed when Don said "our Delphine"

"Yes, I am. I like to make sure that my Delphine is taken care of." Preston said firmly.

Don forced a fake laugh looking nervous. "Of course, of course," he stammered. "Have fun at lunch Delphine!" I nodded and Preston helped me with my coat and I grabbed my purse and left with him.

"I really don't like that man." Preston told me outside of the office. "I saw that there is a new Bistro a few blocks away. Would you like to try it?"

"Sure!" I said and held his hand hoping to put him in a better mood. I smiled at him and he let go of my hand to pull me close and kiss me. "My delightful Delphine, what would I do without you?" he said to me. I just smiled at him and pulled his arm around my shoulders. He started us walking towards the Bistro.

"I heard that you were a very naughty girl this morning before breakfast." he teased me.

"But I only did what was asked of me!" I protested. "How was that wrong?"

"You just about gave Wyatt a heart attack! The poor man was just standing there when I asked him what was wrong. He told me what he said and what you did then took off to his room muttering something about having to take care of business!" Preston said and started to laugh.

I laughed with him and he continued to say, "When you so very effectively stopped his teasing you this morning, it was all I could do not not laugh at him. You are a force to be reckoned with! Remind me not to get on your bad side."

We reached the Bistro and Preston requested a table for two. Looking over the menu, I chose the shaved roast beef sandwich with caramelized onion and garlic aioli on a fresh herb roll. Preston ordered it for me with the french dip for himself.

While we waited for our food, Preston asked me questions about Don and work at the office. "Well, I've been filing quite a bit of paperwork and entering in some data to online forms. Other than answering phone calls that pretty much is all that I'm doing right now." I told him. I thought about Don's weird mood today and wondered if it was worth mentioning to him.

"What is it?" Preston asked me. Nothing got by the man!

"Umm... Don was in a weird mood today. He hasn't said anything inappropriate but he was giving off a weird vibe."

Our food came to the table just then. Waiting until the server had left, Preston said to me in a serious voice, "Don't discount your inner voice and gut feelings. They are usually right. Do you want to quit right now?"

I thought about it and shook my head. "I don't think that I do. But if things are still weird by the end of the day, then I'm quitting."

Preston looked at me thoughtfully and said, "I'll support whatever decision that you make."
Changing the subject, he told me about some of his fussy clients looking for houses that had me laughing. We ate and talked. All too soon it was time for me to get back to work. We reached the office and he opened the door for me. Instead of saying goodbye, he came in and walked towards Don.

"Mr. Meyers, Delphine says that you were interested in showing me some new insurance?" Preston turned on his charm. Don fell all over himself showing Preston a seat and pulling out different brochures left and right. I went back to work sneaking little glances at them. What was he up to? They discussed different options for several kinds of policies and drew up numbers. They talked for about 15 minutes when Preston reached down and grabbed his phone. Looking at it and frowning, he very politely excused himself citing a work crises. I knew that to mean he was needed on an Academy job right away. Giving me a quick kiss goodbye he flew out the door.

"Very busy and important man, isn't he? Thank you for getting him to sit down with me to talk about new insurance. Remember that you get a commission if he signs up with us." Don said to me with a smile.

"Oh, I don't want that." I said to him.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure something comes your way!" Don said with a wink. I suppressed a shudder and got back to work.

After a while, I got thirsty so I went to the back to get a bottle of water. I was in the back hallway headed back to my desk when Don appeared blocking my way.

"Did you need something Don?" I asked. I felt a frisson of unease.

"So have you been dating Preston long?" he asked me with a strange gleam in his eye.

"Long enough I suppose..." I answered vaguely.

"You have a lot of male roommates too right? I saw you kissing the guy dropping you off this morning."

"Mr. Meyers, that is personal. I'd like to get back to work now. Please move." I said firmly with a confidence I didn't feel and started to move around him.

His arm shot up blocking my way. "Preston doesn't mind sharing you with other guys? Or does he even know about it? If you like the attention of that many guys, I'm willing to give you some!" he said while leering at me.

"No! Leave me alone!" I raised my voice. I was starting to panic. Why didn't I quit at lunch when Preston asked?

Don grabbed my arm and I twisted trying to get him to let go. He backhanded me across my face and I stumbled and fell hitting my head against the wall. I was dazed for a second and Don took the opportunity to grab me and pull me back up. He started to drag me into the back room and I fought back.

"Listen up bitch, you obviously like to give it away and I'm going to have you too." he snarled at me. I saw that I was still clutching the bottle of water in my hand and I tightened my grip on it and smashed it across his face as hard as I could. I heard his nose make a crunching noise and he let go of me to grab it while blood poured out. He was still blocking my way out and I ran into the ladies room and locked the door. With shaking hands I grabbed my phone and pulled up the first guys app that I saw and hit the emergency button.

The door to the bathroom rattled and I heard Don's voice. "You broke my nose you little bitch. I was going to take it easy on you but you are really going to get it now!" He started to kick the door. I clutched the phone like a lifeline and whispered over and  over, "Please get here quick, please get here quick!" I stood there shaking and paralyzed by fear.

Don kept cursing at me and trying to kick the door down. After what seemed like a lifetime but probably was only a few minutes, I heard a door slam and a male voice. Don's voice shouted something unintelligible and then he cried out and there was a huge thud and silence.

"Buttercup? It's Brady. It's ok to come out now." his voice came through the door. Still shaking I reached out and unlocked the door.