"Miss Adams, is something wrong?" I hear, breaking me out of my reverie with a tone that sends chills down my spine.

I look away from the empty space my mind had disappeared into back to the extremely dissatisfied face of Monique. She awaits a response from me, her eyebrows raised with irritation and dismay, and I can almost see the ticking of a clock and dollars signs floating away behind those eyes of hers as each second goes by. From the impatient look on her face I'm going to guess she definitely doesn't care if something actually is wrong. Clearly my shock had distracted me for far longer than Monique or myself desired.

"Sorry, Miss Kelliher. Nothing is wrong. I just got lost in my thoughts for a second planning out the day." I respond, attempting to cover up my clear and momentary derangement.

She seems to respond with an expression which appears to almost say 'hmph' in annoyance before finally walking off without a reply back to her office, leaving me to finally cope with the changes in our schedule and the news I have been confronted with. I slowly settle back into my seat once I see Monique arrive back at her desk, as though I must be hesitant in case something else decides to spring up out of nowhere to surprise me.

"You okay there?" Stella's checks, having rushed over to my desk as soon as she saw that Monique's attention was elsewhere and that I was finally free.

"This day just keeps getting better." I sarcastically comment, already overwhelmed with today.

"What now?" Stella wonders, her curiosity taking over the better of her as she takes a seat on the corner of my desk.

So I start from the beginning, finally getting around to revealing to her how I broke up with Derek which she seemed to react with both sympathy and satisfaction about. I then go on to explain my meeting with Theodore and my obvious interest in him that night. When I break the news regarding the reveal of Theodore's relationship with my sister, Stella reacts with both shock and amazement at what I admit would be truly fascinating entertainment; almost straight out of a telenovela. I felt an extreme sense of deja vu rush through me as I recalled how only two days ago I was recalling these events to yet another friend, no more clearer about the whole situation now then I was then.

When I finish my recollection of the past week's events Stella sits there with her eyes wide with what seemed to be an eager hunger for more information and utter shock.

"Goodness gracious, you've got a lot going on. Remind to bring popcorn next time we go over what's happening in your life." Stella remarks, making me quirk my mouth and raise my eyebrows with agreement.

As I speak, Stella seems to lean in closer to me, resting her head on one hand before she whispers to me so that only I can hear "Just how hot is this guy, because Lindsay from photography seems pretty excited to take a damn photo or two," she asks me, making me divert my gaze away from her to whatever is on my computer screen so as to completely ignore answering. "Oh come on, just answer the question." she begs.

With me failing to respond and going back to my work she rolls her eyes and starts waving her hands in front of the screen. After I begin swatting away her hands she simply switches to attacking me with more begging. "Oh come on, just admit it. You know you don't have to hide anything from me."

"Fine," I concede, "I admit that I did find him quite attractive."

"He's hot. Just say it."

"I suppose one could say that he is what you classify as hot if he's your type." I respond, looking anywhere but at Stella as I say this to try and cower away from the embarrassment.

"I stalked this guy online when Lindsay finished talking to me and if we're talking about the same  tall, chiseled and tragically handsome guy, then yeah, I think that tends to be a lot of people's type." she teases, a smug grin growing across her face at my blatant avoidance of the topic.

Having finally got what she wanted to hear, Stella gets up from the desk to return to her own so we can both actually start working. As she moves away she says, "Oh wow, your life is so hard. Have fun getting paid to research this crazily attractive guy who you get to be around all day and watch during a photoshoot. I know it'll be so boring."

I naturally flip her off, of course checking if Monique could see first.

"Oh and please let me know when he arrives. Watching you fumble around him is just too good to miss. Who needs Netflix when you've got your life to entertain us all. Plus, I just don't want to miss the eye candy." she adds.

And with those comments she earns my other middle finger too.

Once Stella is finished with her teasing I get right into what she was just joking about: my actual task of researching Theodore Harrington. When I open my browser and search his name he appears in one of the first few results, him name mentioned in articles along side Harrington, Albert & Co. 

The recent business announcement that Damon had expressed some irritation with was making the rounds in the business world and Theodore was being described as a talented architect and youthful entrepreneur. We don't seem to be the first media outlet interested in his story, especially after this, with another article being written about him only mere weeks ago. Upon seeing the endless content available to me.

It appears I'll actually have some content to skim through so I pull up a new document and prepare myself to delve into the world of Theodore.

I am quick to find the basic information about him from these articles and some brief social media stalking. I learn that he has just turned twenty-five years old on the eighth of October. I learn that his peculiar accent comes from him having been raised predominantly in England until his early teenage years, with short periods of time in Scotland intertwined, before moving over to the US with his father. He would only stay here for a few years though, graduating from high school and then starting university at Harvard, before moving to Scotland where he would spend the remaining years of his degree studying architecture at the University of Edinburgh.

Theodore would remain in Scotland for a few more years following the completion of his degree where he would work alongside some of the best architects in Scotland and England. He would then return to the US where he would join his father's development company Harrington, Albert and Co. as a lead architect, having been here in New York ever since.

Besides these basic facts about his life and career there wasn't much out there about him. He's hand a handful of professional shots taken and displayed on the company's website. His social media profiles are basically non-existent, with basically only tagged photos making up his content. There certainly seemed to be some stunning figures by his side in a few of the shots although some of these photos were from quite some time ago. 

There weren't many personal facts about him out there, few facts about anything besides his career being made available to the public; an impressive achievement for someone apparently so social and up-and-coming in New York City.

Regardless, I add all of these facts to my notes alongside what I had already learned about him from his gathering on Friday night, from my sister and from our dinner on Saturday night. This included the completion of a significant project for his company and what I knew of the new business venture. I hope that the information I've gathered is enough for Monique and her team, and if not then I would just have to pose this lack of information as an opportunity for her to gain information that no other media outlet would have gathered till this moment.

While I close all my browsers and wait for my notes on Theodore to print out, I am left lingering on a photo of him still open on a webpage. The image, yet another professional portrait could draw any individual in with the way his eyes captured your attention. His steely blue eyes stare back at me from the screen so intensely as he leans against a desk in what was presumably his office, dressed in a sleek suit and focused. Those eyes have this way of making me feel, in this moment, like it was actually him behind the glass looking at me patiently and waiting for a response.

I quickly turn my gaze away from the screen once I hear the return of Monique's walk across the office floor, realising how absurd I was being and closing the browser instantly with embarrassment. I watch as she disappears down the walls of hallway, not sure where she was going as I check over her schedule. I take her departure from the office as an opportunity to bring all of the resources she'll need for today to her desk without having to interact with her, her presence truly being intimidating at times.

Once I arrive at her desk, I look around with awe at her office. The back walls bring in streams of light as the windows go from the floor to the ceiling, putting the remarkable view of the New York City skyline on display. White overwhelms each facet of the office, adding a crisp and modern sense to the room. I can just imagine the power which would be rushing through Monique's body as she sits behind the extensive expanse of her white and stainless steel desk in the comfort of her high back, white leather tufted chair.

Breaking out my daydream, I decide it's probably wise for me to return to my desk before Monique returns so it doesn't seem as though I was snooping around her things. With one last check of her desk to see if all was in place and to satisfy my OCD, I leave the opulence of her office for the simplicity of my desk. Once I return to my less than comfortable chair at my desk I am quick to get right back into my work, rearranging Monique's commitments for the day now that we would have Theodore coming in. 

I am so lost in what I am doing, sending emails and taking calls, that I barely acknowledge the sound of Monique's steps and voice as she returns to the office.

"I am sure you can understand the mayhem that takes place at this time of the year. Everything needs to be finished up in such a short amount of time," she says in a tone so sweet and almost seductive that it disturbs me. I most certainly have never received such a tone, rarely receiving one that could be described as kind. "So, thank you so much for being able to fit us in a bit earlier before it all gets even more chaotic. You're helping us out a lot." she continues, making my ears quirk up once I recognise what is strange about this situation.

I lift my head to check if my suspicions are true, finding someone who proves they are.

"This is my assistant Elizabella Adams. She'll be helping out with everything regarding the article." Monique says, introducing me to some one I have well and truly gotten to know by now.

"Hello Elizabella." Theodore says with a trademark smirk standing before me, arriving to haunt my mind. 

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Hope you're enjoying reading the story so far. Any Ella and Theo shippers will have plenty of content to obsess over next chapter so look out for my update hopefully soon. Also, when I wrote that last line there the attached image on the top is what I imagined and please tell me who wouldn't freak out with that sight standing in front of them looking at them (with a tiny bit more moodiness to the smirk might I add). 

Just letting everyone know that I somehow forgot to mention Ella's pet dog in the chapters so far. I know right, what a crime. So i'll be going back and editing him into the chapters. Just letting you know so that you can keep any eye out for that and aren't confused when reading future chapters. 

*Update: Charlie, Ella's beautiful golden retriever has officially been added to the story. Keep an eye out for mentions of our good boy!

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