"...and we can't make her talk because we know that she's just going to keep pleading the fifth," Olivia, an associate at the firm, was saying.

"Well, our job is to make her talk, so how about you do your job and figure how to make that happen!" Ryan exclaimed. 

I chuckled from the doorway. Same old Ryan. Some things never changed.

"Get out of my office, now. I have things to take care of," Ryan said to Olivia after glancing at me. Olivia, who was now red in the face from embarrassment, excused herself and shuffled out the door. I watched her go before turning my attention to Ryan. I raised an eyebrow at him.

"That was harsh," I said.

"You see what happens when you leave me? Incompetence!" he said, thrusting a manilla folder in the direction that Olivia had walked in. I laughed and then went all the way inside his office, sitting myself down in front of his desk.

"So you're finally back?" he asked.

"For good this time," I replied.

"Better be," he said. 

"What are you going to do when I get into law school and won't work here anymore?" I asked.

"Well, we all know you're going to go to Harvard Law. And  once you graduate, you'll be back here working for me anyway. So I can be patient," he replied.

"You? Being patient? I find that a little hard to believe," I said. He gave me a look and I smiled at him. He rolled his eyes at me and then put on a more serious expression.

"You doing ok?" he asked. 

"It's been a rough couple of weeks," I admitted, sighing.

I had moved back to the city two weeks ago. When I got back, however, I still wasn't up to going in to work. Today was the first day in a while that I stepped foot inside the firm building. And I had to admit, it felt nice. 

"I can tell. You look like a ghost," he said. 

"Thanks. You always know how to get to a woman's heart," I said to him sarcastically.

"You know what I mean. You've really got to start taking better care of youself," he said. 

"Thanks for the concern," I told him. 

"So, seriously, are you actually staying for good? Or are there plans to go back?" he asked.

I thought of Carter's wedding invitation that was stuffed at the bottom of my unpacked suitcase at home. The wedding was a week from today. And I still had no intention on going.

After I told Carter about Lillian, I was disappointed, to say the least. I gave him the time he asked for, but I expected him to try to talk to me before I left for the city. He didn't. I didn't even see Carter for that next week. Just as I had previously made an effort to not see Carter around town, he was doing the exact same. 

And I was just fine with that. If that's how he wanted it to be, then so be it. It was, after all, what I had wanted. I wanted things to remain the same as they had been before. I wanted him to still marry Julie. I wanted him to never meet Lillian. I wanted him to remain distant from me.

So what was this feeling of emptiness that I couldn't shake?

"I'm staying for good," I assured him. "The longer I stayed away from here, the more I realized that this is where I belong. I'm not a small town girl. I never was. I was always meant to be a big city girl. It's who I was born to be," I said.

"I'm sure your parents would have been proud to hear you say that," Ryan replied. I smiled sadly at him, thinking of my long deceased parents.

We were quiet a moment. I stared at my hands folded in my lap, wondering whether or not to tell Ryan about spilling my secret to Carter.

"Are you going to spit it out or what?" Ryan asked finally. I looked up, confused.

"What?" I asked.

"You're clearly thinking about telling me something. Just spit it out already," Ryan said. I smiled weakly at him. If Danny was my hometown older brother, then Ryan was my big city older brother. If the two ever met, I was sure they would get along, if only for my sake. 

"I told Carter," I said to him.

"About Lillian?" he asked. I nodded. He let out a long sigh. "And?"

"And he didn't have a reaction. He said he needed time, but he never got back to me before I left," I replied.

"Asshole," Ryan remarked.

"You can say that again," I mumbled.

"Asshole," Ryan repeated, a small smile on his face. I looked up and gave him a look, fighting a smile off my own face. He leaned forward, crossing his hands in front of him on his desk. "Look, as far as I can see, he doesn't deserve you. That bastard should have come running back to you the second you went back to town. And the fact that he hasn't contacted you after you told him about his child just shows how selfish he is," Ryan said.

I knew he was just trying to make me feel better. But for some reason, I didn't like it when he said those things about Carter. Even if I did agree with him.

"He's getting married in a week," I told him.

"Doesn't matter. He's still an asshole," Ryan said, leaning back in his chair. 

I bit my lip, not defending Carter, but also not agreeing with Ryan. I sighed and then sat up straighter.

"So, boss, what do you want me to do?" I asked, mostly to change the subject. 

"Well, you can start by helping Olivia figure out the case I assigned her. I honestly feel like this new bunch of associates that was hired is a group of completely--" Ryan started rambling, but I cut him off.

"Be nice," I said. 

"Yeah, whatever. Now you get out of here, too. I have some reading to do," he said, pulling forward a stack of papers. I smiled at him and nodded.

"And Arya?" he said, stopping me at the door. I turned and looked at him. He smiled sincerely at me. "I'm really glad that you're back," he said.

"Me, too," I replied, before turning and walking to my own office. 

                                               ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It didn't take me long to get back into the swing of things. Before I knew it, in about a week, I was caught back up in my work life, just the way I liked. I busied myself by helping everyone at the firm with their cases, doing my job as a paralegal. I spent most of my day holed up in the library or in my office, looking at books and reading case reports. I was, after all, the best researcher at the firm.

Ryan was especially in a good mood to have me back. When I had been away, I could tell by his constant, nagging text messages that he missed having me around. And although he would never admit it, I knew. 

"Girl, you can never leave this firm. Ryan was a nightmare to deal with when you were away," Nadia, one of the associates, was telling me in the break room. I shrugged.

"You just have to know how to please him," I said.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say he was in love with you," she said. I laughed at the absurdity of her statement. 

"If you knew any better, you would know that Ryan's like an older brother to me," I replied.

"That's not how it looks from the other side of the glass door," she said. I rolled my eyes at her. Nadia was one of those girls that looked for drama at the office. She was a propagator of gossip, the one who yearned for her life to be like that of a TNT drama. I learned long ago to just tolerate her instead of correct her. Because honestly, there was no point. 

"I should get back to work," I said, grabbing a granola bar from the snack basket. She waved a hand at me as I walked out with my coffee.

I was in a good mood that day, especially considering the fact that it was also Carter's wedding day. I tried not to think about the burned ashes of the wedding invitation that were sitting in my fireplace back at home. I tried even harder not think about how beautiful Julie probably looked in her wedding dress and how incredibly handsome Carter definitely looked. Instead, I relished in the fact that I was back where I was meant to be.

I had to pass by the associates' desks on my way to my office. I smiled and waved to the ones that I knew by name. As I passed Ryan's office, I waved to him inside. He didn't see me at first, so I just stood there, making a face at him. When he finally looked up, he rolled his eyes at me. I laughed and then continued on my way to my office.

I rounded the corner and then pushed open the glass door to my office. I set my coffee down on a coaster and sat in my plush leather chair, pulling up the document that I had been working on. I cracked my knuckles and my neck and then immersed myself into my work.

After a few hours of diligently working, I decided that I needed a break. That, and I needed to fill up my coffee cup. I stood and stretched my back and then walked out of my office. I passed Ryan's office and then ran into his secretary, Emilee, who was around Ryan's age, but was a lot of fun to talk to.

"Where did you buy that skirt?" she asked me as I approached her. I smiled and shook my head. It was such a typical way for her to greet someone. Skip the hello and go straight to the important things.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because I think I have the same one," she said, reaching around to see the tag. I side-stepped her.

"Get away!" I squealed, laughing.

"Where did you get it?!" she asked.

"Probably Barneys. I don't know," I said.

"I can't believe you wore yours before I wore mine. Now I can't wear mine!" she said.

"Or we could wear them on the same day," I suggested, knowing full well that she wouldn't go for it.

"And be twinsies?!" she asked, pretending to be excited. She batted her eyelashes and bobbled her head. I laughed.

"You are so--" I began to say, but my attention was diverted by someone stepping off the elevator. The smile on my face immediately dropped and I heard Emilee gasp.

It was Carter.

"What is he doing here?" Emilee hissed. Because Ryan knew everything about Carter and I, naturally, Emilee knew, too. Because Emilee knew everything about everyone. She wasn't nosy. She was just a really good listener.

"I have no idea," I said, my voice low. 

People looked at him curiously as he walked towards the center of the office, probably trying to remember where my office was.

It looked like he had just come from his wedding, although the ceremony wasn't due to start for another hour. He was wearing a very well-tailored grey suit that fit him perfectly. He had on a light blue tie that contrasted perfectly with his brown eyes. His hair was disshevled as usual. He looked all-together extremely handsome, just as I had anticipated. But why was he here?

"Is he skipping out on his wedding?" Emilee asked.

"I have no idea and I don't want to find out, either," I replied. He hadn't seen me yet. I still had time to get away and hide.

Just as I thought this, though, his eyes met mine. 

Damn it.

He started walking towards me. 

"I guess you don't really have a choice," Emilee whispered to me. 

"Isn't it wonderful that all of the offices in this building have glass doors and walls?" I asked sarcastically. Emilee gave me a pity smile and I moved away from her. I started walking towards one of the conference rooms and then went inside. A beat later, Carter came in, too. 

I stood by the window, my arms crossed over my chest. Carter came up and stood next to me. I knew that back outside, the rest of the floor could see us. I turned around and then went to the wall of windows. I pulled the string to let the shades fall down so that the top parts of the windows were covered at least. It wasn't complete privacy, but it was better than being completely exposed in a glass bubble.

After I let down all of the shades, I turned towards Carter, who was now scratching the back of his neck.

"What are you doing here, Carter?" I asked.

"I needed to talk to you," he replied.

"It's a little too late for that," I said. 

"Arya, please," he said, his expression pleading. Up close, I could see that he had dark eye circles and his skin was paler than usual. 

"Aren't you supposed to be getting married in, like, an hour?" I asked. 

"That's a part of what I needed to talk to you about," he answered. 

"You had your chance to say something. You had a week to think about what I told you before I left and you didn't say anything. Now it's too late, Carter. There isn't anything left to talk about," I said to him. 

"I called the wedding off," he said abruptly, catching me off-guard. 

"You what?!" I exclaimed.

"I called it off. I'm not marrying Julie today," he said. "Or ever," he added after a second.

"What are you talking about?" I asked, rubbing my forehead with my knuckles. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. He called off his wedding to the girl he had been engaged to for three years? How was it possible? 

But of course it was possible. Because he knew about Lillian now and he had never taken the promise that things wouldn't change between us. He was here now, despite my desire for him to stay away.

"I want to meet her," Carter said, ignoring my question. I looked up at him sharply, narrowing my eyes. 

"No," I said.

"Arya, she's my daughter, too. I have every right--" he started.

"You have NO right to meet her. She's only your daughter in the respect that she has some of your genes. But that's all. I was the one that was there with her since she was born. I fed her and changed her long before I put her up for adoption. You weren't there at all. You didn't help raise her at all--" I began.

"Are you even hearing what you're saying right now? It makes no sense! I didn't even know about her until two weeks ago! How the hell could I have been a part of her life if I didn't even know about her?!" he shouted.

"I don't care! You can't meet her!" I yelled back.

I was glad that the glass windows in the conference rooms were sound-proof. No one outside could hear us screaming at each other. 

"You're being ridiculous--" he said.

"Why does it matter? You had your chance to say something, but you didn't. It's too late now, Carter. You've missed your chance--" I said, feeling my throat constrict. I felt a lump rise in my throat and the warm sting of tears behind my eyes. 

"I needed time to think, Arya. How would you have felt if you found out you had a daughter after six years? You're being completely selfish right now," he said.

"Selfish? I'm being selfish?! I was nothing but selfless this whole time! I thought about nothing but you and your future! And now you're calling me selfish?!" I cried. The tears were falling freely from my eyes now. I was losing control. 

"I never asked you to do any of that! If I had known from the beginning, I would have never let you leave for Boston! I would have stayed by your side and helped you! I promised you that when I told you that I loved you," he said, his tone turning gentle at the end. "I promised you that I would always be there for you and that still holds true today," he said, coming up to me. He took my face in his hands, brushing the tears off my face. 

"Arya, please. Try to understand," he pleaded. I shook my head, fresh tears falling onto my cheeks. He sighed, closing his eyes in frustration. He opened them and pulled me into an embrace. 

"I'm not going anywhere until you take me to meet her," he said to me, softly stroking my hair as I cried into his expensive suit. 

"Why didn't you try to talk to me before I left?" I asked him, pulling away slightly. He wiped the tears from my face again.

"I had no idea what to say to you. I had so many different thoughts going through my mind and the only thing that I knew for certain was how much I care about you. But after you told me, I knew I couldn't stay with Julie. Especially because she knew and didn't tell me. I tolerated a lot with Julie, but when you told me that she threatened you, I couldn't handle it. I had to break it off," he explained. 

I remained silent. I still didn't want him to meet Lillian. But why?

Here he was, completely willing to accept my daughter--our daughter--and I was hesitating. I knew the answer deep down, but I didn't want to admit to it because it made me look horrible. The real reason I didn't want him to meet Lillian was because I knew that would mean that I would have to accept my responsibility as a mother.

Carter would never stand to let Lillian continue to live in an orphanage when both her parents were alive and well. He would insist that one or both us take her and I knew there wouldn't be any convincing him otherwise. And there was no way in hell that I was going to let him take her. Not after all the time I had spent with her. 

But did that mean that I was ready to take her back? Was I ready to fully take on the role of Lillian's mother, complete with all of the responsibilities that accompanied parenthood? I knew that it was this thought that scared me the most; even more than having to lose Carter forever.

"Arya," Carter said, pulling me from my clouded thoughts, "if I could go back to that December when all of this happened, I would. I would do anything to change whatever happened between us. As far as I was concerned back then--and even now--you and me were going to be the ones getting married. You and me were supposed to last forever. But I didn't try hard enough to find out what was wrong and now we're here. But I just need you to know that I would do all of it over again," he said, his voice gentle.

This made me start to cry again. 

He wasn't supposed to be the only one saying all of this. I should have been apologizing, too. But hadn't I already apologized? Before I left, hadn't I spilled my secrets to him? And he didn't say anything. So was this too little, too late? Or is it never too late? The thing about cliches is that when they apply in real life, their consequences are often undesirable. And the consequences of these cliches were most certainly not an exception to that.

"Why do you keep crying?!" Carter exclaimed, pulling me away from him and shaking my shoulders slightly.

"I don't know!" I said, shrugging his arms off of me. I moved away from him and went towards the wall of glass windows. "Carter, you can't just come back here and expect everything to go back to the way it was before. We can't start back up where we left off," I said to him. 

"I didn't say that's what I expected. I just need you to be a little more understanding, Arya. I've had a lot to take in over the past couple of weeks. But I'm here now and that should mean something," he said. 

"Six years' worth of effort to keep us away from this moment. Do you realize how long that is?" I asked Carter, turning to face him. 

"I do and I appreciated what you were trying to do for me, even though it was completely unnecessary. But now it's time for you to stop trying so hard because I know now and I'm here and I'm willing to be every bit apart of this as I should have been from the very beginning," Carter replied, coming closer to me. 

"You make it sound like it'll be so easy..." I said.

"Maybe what comes next isn't, but this part is," Carter said, reaching up and tucking my hair behind my ears. "Trust me, Arya. I'm not going to let you go again," he said. 

I looked at him, my green eyes meeting his amber ones. I felt vulnerable all of a sudden; even moreso than I did before. I also felt weak and tired. I didn't want to do this anymore. There really wasn't any point now. He had called off his wedding for me, broken off his three-year engagement for me, and was now openly willing to accept the daught he had no idea about. There wasn't any point in pushing him away now. 

I sighed and nodded.

"Ok. Meet me at my place at 10 am on Saturday," I said. "You're going to meet Lillian." 

____________________________

A/N: Ok! Please don't kill me! I know I said I would update a while ago, but I just got so damn busy once school started. I'm actually supposed to be doing homework right now, but I couldn't concentrate. So here's this chapter! I know I said this would be the last chapter. It's not. There will be one more and then possibly an epilogue. I didn't intend on writing that whole beginning part with Ryan, but I guess it kind of needed to be in there for the sake of plot. 

Anyway, let me know what you think! Carter and Julie have called it quits! You think Arya and Carter will get married now? How will Lillian respond to the news? Leave me a comment below!!

And don't forget to vote!

I'll update when I have time again. This week won't be as hectic as the past two, but I will still be busy with school. So NO PESTERING ME.

XOXO