The decision to leave Blue Sky seems a little more appealing in this moment, as I wipe a damp towel across Chris' blood-stained knuckles.

After the security guards arrived, they escorted a bloodied Jeremiah from the premises, and gave Chris a formal warning for his outburst. Although Chris was just defending himself — and me, I'd like to think — he beat himself up about his actions, saying that he was 'out of line' and that he 'never should have even interfered'.

We sit in his office, the sunset casting a sherbet, orange glow behind him as I kneel on the floor before him, gently cleaning his wounded hands. I stop patting, and stare directly into his green, hazel eyes.

"Maybe it wasn't your fight, but I'm glad you said something," I admit. "I've always been too afraid to actually tell him what I'm thinking, or how I feel about anything. I've let him disrespect me and take advantage of me over the past three years. Now, it's finally over and done with."

He looks more surprised than the words taste coming out of my own mouth, and although I'm exhausted, and Chris and I will probably be dragged through the mud by the rest of the board for this, I smile. I smile because I realize that I'm no longer in love with Jeremiah. It's as if his recent behavior has jolted something awake inside of me; I don't care about his opinions on my personal life anymore, and I sure as hell don't seek his approval anymore.

Chris lifts the corner of his mouth up in a sad attempt to follow suit, and I laugh because his lip is swollen, and he can't stretch them that far.

He winces at the pain, and then rolls his eyes at me with a huff.

I plant a soft kiss on his mouth.

"So," I say. "Now that our secret is out, what do you want to do?"

***

I can't get the nagging feeling out of the back of my mind that I need to tell Chris about the job offer I received earlier this week. I don't see why I need to tell him right now though, since I don't even know if I'm going to take it.

You'd be crazy not to.

Although I tell myself that it's necessary to keep this a secret for now, so I don't add any more stress to his overbearing schedule, I know how I'd feel if our roles were reversed.

And I will tell him... eventually.

At least once I've decided if I'm going to take the job or not.

Chris and I wait on the bench outside of the conference room to meet with the board about our actions, and I nervously pick at my cuticles, my leg bobbing up and down rapidly.

Chris raises an eyebrow as he looks at me from out of the corner of his eye.

"You know I love all your cute, little quirks," Chris states, as he shifts his body so he's facing me. "Like how you suck in your bottom lip when you're thinking, or how you scrunch your eyebrows together when you're frustrated, but could you please stop shaking your leg? You're making me nervous."

I stop fidgeting immediately.

"Sorry," I mumble, looking at the floor. "This is just a waste of time."

He nods his head, his mouth tight.

"I agree, but everything will be just fine," he assures me. "Everything happens for a reason."

I snap my head up to look at Chris. He gazes off into the distance now, his face completely zen.

My heart swells with the love and affection that I've tried so hard to push away, and I smile to myself as I recall my mother's commanding voice reciting that phrase to me throughout my childhood. This time, however, it's coming from Chris, who doesn't even realize that he's made my day so much better in the slightest possible way.

I think back to spending Christmas Eve with him and Audrey; how he was there for us even though he didn't have to be. Since Jeremiah had his little outburst a few days ago, I decided to keep Audrey for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, and promised him that he could have her for the entire weekend since his family doesn't celebrate together until after the holidays anyway.

Since he owed me, he agreed, begrudgingly.

Chris had called me the night of Christmas Eve, and asked if I wanted company. When I told him I had Audrey for the holiday, he replied, 'Great, because Santa dropped her presents off at my place for some reason, so I need to bring them by'.

He arrived about ten minutes later, baring gifts and sweet treats, along with a bottle of my favorite white wine with a big, red bow on it.

I literally almost cried when I opened my front door to that sight.

We laughed and joked; we hung stockings up on my electric fireplace, and played with Audrey until she passed out around 9:00. Chris and I stayed up talking until about midnight, made love and then fell asleep.

It was the first night he had stayed with me at my place; actually, it was the first night we stayed together period, and I have to admit, I enjoyed having the other side of my bed filled with his presence. He spooned me to sleep with his head resting in the crevice of my neck and his arms wrapped snugly around my waist.

I felt whole again.

The next morning, Audrey and I had to leave for my mother's for Christmas brunch in Helen, which is two hours north of Atlanta. Even at the crack of dawn, with sleepy eyes and bed hair, Christopher looked like a Greek god.

I reveled at his good looks as we lay in bed together, his fingers drawing small circles across my bare skin, and couldn't help but be happy with the twists and turns my life has taken just to lead me to him. I know that somehow we came into each other's lives on purpose; as if we were meant to meet each other in order for me to move forward and create the life that I never knew I needed. I'd like to think that I helped Chris as well. Who knows what mess he'd be in if he continued to stay in that emotionally abusive relationship with Dawn? Granted, he did go back to her while he was trying to get over me, but it was for the best. He never would have found out the truth about her unborn baby, and would probably still be beating himself up about it to this day.

My mother's house wasn't any different than how it normally is each Christmas, only this year, I had my daughter to enjoy our traditions with.

"So, I heard you and your boss are screwing," my older sister, Abby, had said to me nonchalantly at the breakfast table.

Abby is, and always will be, considered the "golden child". She graduated high school with all honors, got into Georgia Tech on a scholarship and majored in Business Administration. Upon graduation, she became the Head of HR at a law firm back home in Helen. Not that she needed the job, because she met her husband, Matt Costa, the son of Gabriel, who owned the law firm. They were married just four short months later, and currently have three beautiful children: Chloë, Landry and Sophi.

Her life has always been perfect.

After coughing incessantly from the food that I had accidentally inhaled out of shock, I glanced around the table discreetly, and then turned to look at her with wide eyes.

"Abigail, who told you that?" I asked worriedly, praying that it wasn't Jeremiah.

"Ness, I'm PTA President at Chlo's school. I know everything," she explained, as if it were a normal thing. I had rolled my eyes, amused that people all the way back home had somehow gotten wind of the happenings in my personal life, but the nagging feeling of Jeremiah's betrayal still lingered in the back of my mind.

Dawn was the one who relayed the news of mine and Chris' relationship to Jer. Apparently, she showed up at the company Christmas party, ready to dig her claws into Chris once again and ask him to take her back... again. She saw us slip out of my office with each other, and put two and two together. I guess jealous ex-girlfriends can be a lot more crude and destructive than one would think. Chris didn't seem surprised when he heard the information; Dawn's always had a penchant for drama.

After we had eaten brunch, we all opened our presents. My mom got me a self-defense kit. It's honestly really cool; it has a knife disguised as a comb, a lipstick taser, and a lot of other weapons made to look like accessories. She told me I always need to be prepared since I'm a single mom now. I rolled my eyes at her phrasing, but was actually very grateful for her concern. Abby's kids were the center of attention at my mother's, which I didn't mind, because that meant I got to sit quietly with Audrey and help her open her gifts in peace. My mother was overjoyed, her life finally full of the love, light and grandchildren that she's always wanted.

I'm brought back to the present just as a man with blonde hair in a navy suit, and a plaid tie emerges from the elevators. He glances around the lobby for a moment with his briefcase in hand, before turning his mouth down into a frown when he spots us.

I elbow Chris in the side to get his attention, and we both stand as the man approaches us.

"So," he begins upon his arrival, his eyes bouncing back and forth between the two of us. "You're the ones who've completely soiled the company's great image."

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