A week later, after a satisfying visit with her aunt, she walked into Diana Mailler's room, and Diana was in a sorry state.

In her normal business attire, Georgia was wearing a deep plum pencil skirt with a matching jacket, a white silk blouse underneath, and low black heels finished off the outfit. Her hair was drawn back into its normally neat chignon, and her thick black-rimmed glasses were perched on the end of her nose.

"Thank God you're back Georgia, I cannot stand him anymore. You have to talk to him. He's ruining everything." Diana had to be talking about Ewan.

It didn't strike her as odd or rude that Diana never asked her about her vacation or how her aunt was. It wasn't in her personality to show interest in other's lives.

"Tell me, I meet with him and Mr. Parks in an hour."

Diana threw herself on the bed. "You must stop taking these vacations. Things are so hard when you aren't here."

"Miss Diana, you know that I have to go home once a year for my visa. It's not that I want to. I have to."

"Well, this time it was alright at first because Ewan was gone, but then he returned, met James, and went through the roof. He says James only wants me for my money. Why does he always say that?"

Because it's true, Georgia thought silently, not saying anything aloud as Diana sobbed into her pillow.

Diana was Ewan's half-sister. His father remarried after the death of his mother, and Diana was the result. She was fifteen years his junior, and at twenty-four, she still had a lot to learn about life, never having had to live in the real world.

Realizing that she had better get the facts, she sat down and rubbed Diana's back. "Tell me about James," she soothed.

Diana sat up and threw her arms around Georgia. "You will talk to him, won't you? Besides Craig, you're the only person I know who isn't afraid of him."

Craig Parks was Ewan's personal assistant and had worked for him for ten years. Craig knew about everything that happened in Ewan's life, personal or not, but if he knew about her and Ewan, he had yet to let Georgia in on the fact.

Diana launched into a long romantic tale about how she had met James accidentally when his car had rear-ended hers at a party of some mutual friends. He had insisted on taking her out to lunch to make up for the fact, and they had spent almost every day together until Ewan's return a few days ago.

"He got to him. I know he did," Diana wailed, throwing herself into the pillows. "It was Craig. I know it was. He told Ewan."

Georgia didn't try to deny her accusation, knowing it was most likely true.

She spent the next twenty minutes calming Diana down before she had to leave for her daily meeting with Craig and Ewan. It was a meeting that they had every day, if they were all in residence, to go over schedules and make sure that Ewan knew exactly what was going on in the Mailers' world.

His father had long ago passed, but his stepmother had a villa in Spain that she rarely left, so keeping up with his sister was his job alone. If Diana ever met the right man and married him, it would be a relief to Ewan. She would no longer be his problem.

As Georgia made her way down the corridor towards Ewan's suite of rooms, she mentally prepared herself for the change she would encounter. The first time she had been hurt, but now, as long as she had time to prepare herself, she was able to keep it all business.

She rapped on the door and was bid to enter.

Her eyes were immediately drawn to Ewan's large presence behind his desk. Her heart skipped a beat as he looked up and noted her entrance, but there was nothing in his gaze other than mild curiosity.

She scanned Ewan's office, noting no change. It was a light wood-paneled room that had hardwood floors and beautiful Persian rugs scattered about. There was a leather couch and two armchairs in front of a fireplace, and his massive desk sat in the middle of the room with two similar leather armchairs in front of it. All around them were books. There was nothing personal in the room to tell you about the man. It was all staged to be dramatic and overwhelming.

"Georgia," Craig greeted, kissing her cheek. "Thank God you're back. How was your trip? Your aunt is well?"

Georgia gave Craig a smile and nodded. "Yes, thank you for asking."

"If you two are done. We have a lot of catching up to do this morning and a limited time in which to do so."

Georgia and Craig exchanged a look of understanding then they moved to the two armchairs.

"Mr. Mailler," Georgia greeted, keeping her expression sunny and pleasant.

"Ms. Dawson." He nodded, his face betraying nothing. "Let's start with the schedules first."

The next half hour was spent reviewing Diana's schedule and his own, ensuring that nothing was left out or forgotten. There were a few events that he and Diana would be attending together, and those were confirmed.

"Now, let's talk about James," Ewan said as he looked at his empty coffee cup and buzzed for some more.

"Ms. Dawson?" He waited silently for her to fill in any gaps that might have been missed. Ewan steepled his hands as he listened to her looking at the papers on his desk.

At one time, Georgia would have felt guilty about betraying Diana's confidences. However, the many times they had had to pull her out of the fire without her even knowing she had landed in it was enough to keep her sharing, but she tried to share only what was necessary.

There was also the matter of the first day she had met with Ewan, and he had assured her that Diana might have hired her, but he employed her. He paid her her very generous salary, and he would be the ultimate word in what needed to be done.

The thing that had allowed her to work so well with Diana was that she had never admitted to having had this conversation with Ewan. She had never once uttered the phrases, let's ask your brother or if your brother says...

Diana had chosen to be blissfully unaware of Georgia updating Ewan.

Just then, the door opened, and a new maid entered with a coffee tray. Her eyes were riveted to Ewan. She looked as if she had never seen anyone so awe-inspiring before.

Just as she reached the desk, her toe caught the edge of the rug, and she fell forward, spilling the tray and all of its contents hit the side of the desk, the steaming hot coffee splashing everything, most of all Ewan.

It splashed his shirt and tie, making his white shirt stick to his undershirt. Most people would have jumped out of their chair from the pain of the hot liquid, but Ewan barely felt it on his scars as he slowly looked down at his shirt and held it away from his body, his face showing no more emotion than usual.

The maid immediately started to apologize, and Ewan held up his hand, not saying a word.

After a moment when the young girl hadn't moved but had started to cry, Georgia felt the need to intervene.

"Please go get something to clean up the mess." Georgia stood, gently taking the crying girl's arm and leading her towards the door. "But see to yourself first." Georgia looked down at the young girl's hand, which was flaming red from where the hot coffee had splashed her.

She nodded mutely before running off down the hallway.

"Will she be O.K.?" Craig asked.

"Yes, it was just a mild burn."

They both knew better than to ask Ewan if he was all right.

Georgia bit back a smile as she looked at Ewan, holding the sopping stained shirt away from himself.

"I'm glad you find this so amusing, Ms. Dawson," he said dryly as he rose from his chair.

The coffee had not only hit his shirt but his pants as well, and it looked as if he had an accident.

It really wasn't that funny, but to see the great Ewan Mailler spattered with coffee and looking like he had peed his pants gave her the giggles. It was childish humor at best, but it made her feel better about his actions towards her. It was getting harder and harder to return after their trips together.

"I-" she had to clear her throat before she could continue, "I hope you weren't injured sir, I have heard that scalding coffee in the lap can be painful."

"I will live. Thank you for your concern, Ms. Dawson."

Craig remained silent, his face expressionless, which brought Georgia back to reality with a thump.

"Shall I handle James the usual way?" she asked, all seriousness again.

"That would be best," Ewan said as he moved across the office to the door that led to his private sanctum.

Georgia really did hope that he hadn't been burnt too badly.  As she turned to leave, about to make her exit, the young maid pushed the door open, and it caught Georgia on the side of the face, knocking her glasses off and onto the floor. The sudden impact made her see stars for a moment, and when the young girl started moving around excitedly, Georgia was forced to order her to stop loudly.

"My glasses," she said.

The girl froze in place and started to look around on the floor.

Georgia dropped to her knees and started to look around for her glasses. She was not so blind that she wouldn't be able to see them, but they had landed under something for them not to be apparent.

She had crawled over to the couch and was on all fours, feeling under it when she heard Ewan.

"Ms. Dawson, what on earth are you doing?"

She looked up. Her dark blue, almost violet eyes were bare without her glasses.

"I am looking for my glasses Mr. Mailler She then turned to resume her looking.

"Please stand up, Ms. Dawson. Mr. Parks, will you please help Ms. Dawson find her glasses?"

Georgia rose and stepped back, giving Craig room.

Turning to look at Ewan, she saw that he had changed his clothes.

"Ms. Dawson." Ewan took her chin in his hand and turned her face towards the light. "What happened to your face?" The feel of his hand on her chin was unexpected, and her pulse leaped.

"It seems it was fate's retribution for my earlier lack of tact. I walked into a door." Georgia grinned, unable to resist the humor in the situation.

Craig coughed from somewhere under the couch at her comment, and she swore she saw Ewan's lip twitch as he released her chin.

He turned to the new maid, his face like stone.

"Here they are." Craig quickly held up her glasses, and Georgia placed them back on her nose, unable to keep from flinching from where they hit her cheek.

Parks looked from her to the maid, and Georgia quickly picked up his cue as she turned and marched the young girl out of the office with her.

"I've done it. I've lost my job!"

"No, you haven't. Keep a low profile for a few days. Mr. Parks will take care of it." She released her arm.

"He is so gorgeous. How can you stand working with him every day? Don't you just want to stare at him? I wonder what he looks like without his shirt." Her eyes grew dreamy.

"If you want to keep this job, you had better get those ideas out of your head. He has fired women for thinking less," Georgia said more sharply than she had intended to. It was no business of hers what the maid thought. If Georgia had to guess, she would bet most female staff felt the same way. They just hid it better than this young girl did.

The young girl looked at her curiously. "What's your name?" Georgia asked, wanting to divert her from recognizing her sudden streak of jealously, which she had to admit, was the reason for her sharp reply.

"Molly."

"Molly, I'm sorry if I sounded harsh, but I've seen it happen to many girls here. They get this sudden idea that they're the one that Mr. Mailler has been looking for all of these years and quickly find themselves without a job and with no reference. If you really need this job, don't go down that road."

"You're jealous."

Georgia silently groaned. She hadn't been heard, at least not the part she wanted Molly to hear. "No, I'm not, but I can see that this is a lesson you'll have to learn the hard way," she said, shaking her head, and knowing that she had a lot to get done, she walked away from the situation.

She pulled out her phone and texted Craig about the potential problem, even letting him know that the young girl had been so unwilling to listen that she had accused Georgia of being jealous and spreading false information.

There was no response from him, and she hadn't expected one, and knowing that he would most likely share the information with Ewan, she couldn't help but worry about what he would think.

When she walked back into Diana's room, she was finished dressing and ready to go to the fashion show she had been invited to attend.

"Georgia, what on earth happened to your face?" she asked, looking shocked. "Ewan never-"

"No, I walked into a door."

Diana took her time assessing her then smiled. "Yes, I can see that. If anyone would walk into a door, it would be you, Georgia."

Not giving another thought to the subject of Georgia's health, she led them out of the house and to the waiting car. Georgia would have liked to put some ice on her eye or even take something for the headache she felt building, but there was no chance.

Diana was once again in a world of her own, unconcerned about those around her.