"Ms.Fontanel?" Mr.Maxwell asks, confusion etched on his face.

"Yes, sir?" Grace answers, her voice high and extra chirpy.

"Why are you here?"

Grace watches as his chest heaves up and down, as he slowly gains control of his breathing.

"I'm starting to feel a bit chunky and I remembered that you jog so, I thought why not?" She mutters, placing her hand on her stomach for effect.

"I-"He starts but stops as his sharp eyes slowly rake over my attire. "You're wearing that?"

Grace eagerly nods, stifling the snarky remark dancing at the tip of her tongue.

Be a good girl.

"I don't even know what to say."

He pulls his gaze away from Grace, his brows furrowed. Running his hands through his thick, brown hair, he defeatedly sighs and glances back up the pathway a second later, he nods towards the road and starts a slow, graceful jog.

"Oh, okay." Grace says. "We're going now?"

Quickly entering the recording app and tapping the big red button, Grace tightens her grip on her phone, keys and sticky note as she rushes to catch up to him

"So, you like running?" She asks, watching as his eyes remain fixed on the road ahead.

"Yes." He sighs, his legs pumping faster and arms moving to and fro; following the beat of his erratic heart.

"Why?" Grace breathlessly asks.

I'm tired already? Man, I'm unfit.

"It helps me relax."

His feet pound harder on the pathway as a cloud of air puff out his mouth.

Grace nods, gulping in a large breath of air and taking a second to watch him run.

He's like a pro.

Mr.Maxwell keeps his back straight, legs steady and butt tightly tucked in as his misty, grey eyes never leave the open pathway.  Grace, though, looks like a complete amateur; a newborn finally learning how to take their first steps. Her leg movements are much sloppier and her arms swing to their own accord.

And to think I called his perfect stride a trot.

Grace wildly shakes her head, gaining control of her breathing and focusing on the task at hand; getting Mr.Maxwell to answer these questions and properly this time.

"So does you work make you feel stressed?" Grace asks.

"No."

Liar.

"Then why would you need to relax."

Mr.Maxwell keeps quite, his only answer the short glare he shoots her through the corner of his eye.

"Just asking." Grace mumbles, her feet harshly slapping against leaves and stones.

The two carry on running in utter silence, the only sound coming from the nocturnal animals scurrying in the dark trees and the constant whining of a night owl.

"Yes, work can be a bit draining." Mr.Maxwell finally answers, his pace slowing down.

"So, you believe having other activities outside of work is beneficial?"

"Yes, I do."

Nodding her head, Grace holds off on asking the next question when she almost drops her phone onto the ground but losing her keys in the process.

"Shucks." Grace mumbles, quickly stopping, her eyes squinted as she searches for her keys.

"What now?" Maxwell groans stopping beside her.

"I dropped my keys."

"Why did you bring them along anyway?" He asks, his tone heavy with judgment.

"Where else was I supposed to put them?"

Grace squats down on the ground, her hands roaming the rough pathway.

"Use you phone's flash."

"I can't, I don't want to mess up the recording."

Grace sighs as she moves away from the pathway and to the dark, earthy soil.

"You're recoding this." He asks, his voice skeptical.

"In case you haven't noticed, you suck at answering questions," Grace glares at him from her position on the floor. "but when you finally do, I want to hear word for word what you said, not paraphrase it and let it be ruined by terrible memory when I finally write it all down. Now are you finally going to help me?"

Maxwell rolls his eyes back as he quickly bends down, in his hands a silver Volvo key.

"Looks like your eyesight isn't that great either."

"Whatever." Grace mumbles, a ghost of a smile on her face. "Can we just continue?"

"Yeah, we can."

Stuffing her car keys into his front pocket, Maxwell walks over to a nearby bench.

"Are you coming or...?" He asks, leaning back on the bench.

We're sitting? Finally, I don't know how much more I could have taken.

Grace sits as close to the edge of the bench as she can; slowly unraveling the pink sticky note.

"You ready?" She asks, gingerly gazing at him.

"Yes."

"Okay then, what is the biggest obstacle you've faced?"

And thats how the rest of the night went, Grace asking the questions scrawled on her little piece of paper and Maxwell answering the ones that he could, the best he could.

Hitting the record button and quickly saving the 2 hour long recoding, Grace sighs as she leans back against the park bench, her eyes trained on the moon.

"Why did you land up answering my questions?" Grace asks, dragging her gaze towards him. "You seemed pretty determined not to at the office. Is it because I cornered you?"

"No." He casually drawls out. "I just realised that you're doing this for the company and anything that helps improve it, I know I want to be a part of. And you could never corner me."

"Oh but I did." Grace laughs. "You should have seen your face when I popped out of the bushes."

"In my defence, I thought it was a large ferret."

"Ah, whatever."

Grace slowly makes her way out of her seat, sticking her hand out towards him.

"I better get going, I still have work in the morning you know?"

Maxwell throws the keys into Grace's palm before standing up.

"I expect you there early." He mutters, staring off into space. "You have to make up for your early departure today."

Yikes!?

"Who told you?" Grace asks, her eyes trained on the ground.

"Nobody had to tell me." He answers, slowly backing away. "It's my company, I know everything."

"Sure you do." Grace nods, her eyes focused in on his retreating form.

"Goodbye, Grace." He says, taking off into the darkness.

"Bye, Vincent."

••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Hey Luvies,

I just realized we passed the 20 chapter mark...AHAHAHAH.

Like what? Who would have thought. I just want to thank everybody who's been reading and voting, I truly appreciate all of you.

Don't forget to Vote, Comment and SHARE THE LOVE