I haven't been in touch with my mother since two days when I left her a message to get back to me and she texted back that she'll call when she's completely free — which I believe hasn't happened till now. But it's friday, and if I don't get an answer by the evening, I'm dropping back at the house to know what actually happened.

"You look worried." Blake states, snapping me out of my thoughts and I give him a look because in the past two days I have realised that he has a habit of stating the very obvious things and while some would appreciate that, I just find it annoying.

"And you look like you have some work to do." I retort back and he rolls his eyes.

"Okay so I've gone over at least three resume since morning and all of them have been so damn impressive, how do I narrow it down?" He questions, confused and it reminds me of my internship days so I smile a little despite my sour mood.

"You got the job description with you?" I ask and he nods, opening another tab in his laptop that I got him assigned from the office. "See, you have to prioritise the features which are extremely important to the job, and I'm sure there must be at least one loophole in any resume, that's your cue to discard it."

"And if there isn't?" He asks but then nods, "Of course then I keep it. Gotcha!" He winks at me which I find very oddly attractive.

I've given Blake twenty resumés to go through and filter out five, which is like most basic HR work there can be. I'm not sure why he got interested in this field in the first place but I'm sure I'll figure it out sooner or later.

While he gets busy with his own work, I try to focus on mine and then text Caiden, because my nerves are getting the best of me now. I pick up my phone and type the text.

"Why hasn't anyone informed me regarding what went down at the twins' school meeting?"

He responds back almost immediately.

"We all have secretly decided to disown you from the family. It was Dad's idea."

I can't help but laugh at his text while shaking my head even though he cannot see me before I shoot back a text.

"HA-HA. Let YOUR folks know that if I don't get a call by evening, I'm coming over."

He doesn't reply to me but then I feel eyes on me and notice that Blake is staring at me. I arch an eyebrow and he shakes his head.

"I assume things are good between Genesis and you?" He asks and I want to slap him, really. Just when I start to think that I can bear the guy, he opens his mouth to say one thing or another.

"First, ew, that was Caiden. Second, how is that any of your business?" I snap at him.

His words seem to piss me off only because things have been far from fine with Genesis. We haven't talked apart from small talk in office, and my anger is starting to wear down, which means that I have started missing her now.

"Okay, just to be clear, I'm not interested in her, Emma. I mean, she's hot but she's nine years older than me. There are some things I don't do — one of them being into older girls or women, to be more precise. I mean, it's just ridiculous that you would assume otherwise." He gives me a serious look and I process his word, my inner self calming down a little because I assumed since Genesis is extremely attractive and guys these days are unpredictable, he would be into her.

"Thank you for saying that, but that still doesn't change that my girlfriend would happily jump your bones if you gave her a chance." I tell him and he gives me a look.

"Are you crazy? I think she just was curious whether she could charm off a guy so younger than her. If given the chance, I'm sure she wouldn't go ahead with it." He tries to reason out but I roll my eyes.

"I know that woman, Blake."

"And I know women, Emma. You wanna bet?" He says and I frown which makes him explain, "I would make a move on her, or just suggest that I'm interested and I can bet that she will turn me down."

I really really want to agree, but I know if she actually agrees, despite the false hope I wanna give myself, it would break my heart to find out if they were to even kiss each other.

"What if she agrees?" I think out aloud.

He shrugs, "I back off and tell her that I changed my mind. Which I really don't think what it would come down to. She won't agree in the first place."

"How the hell are you so sure?"

"Your choice cannot be so bad that you are with someone who's willing to screw your family friend. There must be something good about her apart from that figure she got." He clicks his tongue and his words hit me a little.

I have no idea what made me feel for Genesis in the first place. Sometimes I wonder if it's the attachment I share with her, because she has been the only person with whom I've had such a long relationship. For the past six months, her presence has been my escape to every little thing that has went down in my life. It's not because I would open up to her and she would comfort me, but just being with her makes me believe that the outside world is not as problematic as I like to believe.

If I were to name a few redeeming qualities of her, I would most likely come up empty handed because we don't share an exclusive relationship. She has this super weird way of showing her care, but I know that woman cares for me more than she lets on. Apart from that, I think what made my feelings grow was seeing how strong headed she is, and the way she carries herself amongst everyone. She just has a way with people that would charm everyone off.

"You have a lot of faith in my choice, considering you don't even know me that well." I look at him and he gives me a small smile.

"We have grown up together, even if that has meant keeping our conversations to minimum but we do know a lot about each other, you cannot deny that." He says before focusing his attention on the laptop screen.

He's right though. We have grown up together, given that our parents get along so well and I think Ella and Mom made some kind of pact that their children would also be friends since they are best friends. But for some reason Blake has always kept his distance from me, as I have done with him. I mean, I had friends but he was the first kid I saw growing up in front of me and I remember how excited I was when he was born because I finally had a someone I could play with. I was just four. But as he started growing up, we had our fun times but later he just started giving me weird looks or keeping quiet around me. I never asked him the reason because a few years later Caiden was born and I had my own baby brother to spend time with.

Pulling myself out of the thoughts spiral, I focus on my work. I didn't think that Blake and I could work like this comfortably in silence without him annoying me every few minutes. But I have observed that he just needs a few instructions and an overview of the work, and he handles the rest on his own without disturbing me until it's extremely important. He introduced himself to the rest of three interns, and I am not even sure what their names are but I know he takes lunch break with them, so it all has been working out great till now.

After a couple of hours, the clock strikes two and I shut the laptop almost at the same time he does, "I'm done with fifteen of them. Tell me I'm doing good work," He says and I shake my head.

"Well, I can tell you that once I have seen the work. Go have lunch now." I roll my eyes.

"I will, but first give me a call," He says and I frown at him, "I'm going to go talk to Genesis, just keep yourself on call so you can hear it yourself."

"Are we really going ahead with this? What are we even betting on?" I ask, nervous because I am not sure how it would work out.

"Loser pays for dinner at the winner's favourite restaurant. Deal?" He asks and I smirk because I'm sure he'll lose.

"Deal. No lying. No cheating. And you back off if she agrees." I put forward my pinky and his face stretches into a huge grin.

"My god, Emma. You haven't changed." He laughs before intertwining his pinky finger with mine.

Nostalgia immediately hits me because this is something we used to do a lot. It was like our thing in the childhood. I shake my head before picking up my phone and dialling him. He picks up my call and puts his phone in the front pocket of his shirt. He gives me a smile before pulling away his chair and making his way to Genesis's office and I stay on call.

I hear the chatter of the office and then a knock as I see him knocking on her office's door. The blinds are drawn so I know as soon as he enters, I'll lose the visual. He enters the office and I hear Genesis's voice.

"Blake. I wasn't expecting you. How is the internship coming along?" She asks, sounding a little distracted.

"Oh, I thought I'll just come and thank you personally because I haven't had a chance to do so since I joined. The internship is great. Emma, I mean Emily is good with supervising stuff. Thank you for assigning her to me or for the entire opportunity, actually." He says and I want to smack him for always calling me Emma in front of others.

"Oh, that's okay. It's good for Emily to have this experience as well, and I'm sure she's happy to guide you." She tells him, sounding professional which actually manages to surprise me because I haven't ever really heard them talking when they are alone.

"Is there something going on between the two of you?"

His question surprises me because he knows there is, I have implied it very clearly and yet he's asking her the same thing – it has left me more confused than ever. What the hell is his endgame?

"How is that any of your concern, Mr. Glazier?" She asks, sounding surprised and I frown because Genesis is not open about her personal life to anyone, not even to me.

"I was just curious, because if there isn't, I was wondering if you would like to grab a bite with me? Nothing serious, of course. Given the position we are both in. You're ultimately my boss and I'm just an intern," He says, sounding confident and I wonder if I was in his shoes, I would've been a nervous wreck and embarrassed as hell.

I hear Genesis laughing a little, "I'm flattered by your offer, Blake. And I'm sure there must have been some hint from my side for the same, but I'm afraid that I can't accept it. You're a very attractive person, but you're nine years younger to me and you're Emily's family friend at the of the day."

What? Did she really just turn down Blake because of the age difference, and because he's my family friend? Oh my god. I never, ever thought she would say that. I imagined that she would jump at the chance and make out with him. I take in a shaky breath because I didn't know I was holding my breath for her answer.

"Yeah, I figured but trying doesn't hurt, right?" Blake chuckles.

"Let me know if I can help in any other way." I hear her say and seconds later Blake steps out of her office and looks across to the corner, his eyes meeting mine and he gives me a victory smile.

"Told you I know women. You gotta have more faith in me, Emma," He says in the phone and I shake my head before hanging up.

I might have lost the bet, but I actually won this thing. I get up from my chair and make my way to her office and Blake arches an eyebrow at me as I pass him but I just swat his shoulder which makes him chuckle. He winks at me before disappearing and I knock on Genesis's door, but without waiting for her approval, I enter.

She's on the call and looks surprised to see me and holds up her finger to tell me to wait for a minute and I nod as I lock the door behind myself and make my way to her chair, standing behind her and she wraps up the call and looks up at me.

"What's up, Em?" She asks and I can't help but smile.

"Hi," I say before leaning down and kissing her and she kisses me back almost immediately, making me sigh against her lips because I've missed her so, so much.

She pulls me in front and forces me on her lap as we continue to kiss, her tongue meeting mine just a few seconds later. My arms wrap around her neck as hers explore my waist. I have missed this feeling, this escape when I'm with her.

She parts away a few seconds later and I see that her lipstick has smudged a little, making me laugh so I bring my thumb up to her lips and remove it and then give her a peck again.

"Hey." She grins, looking awfully happy for someone who was pissed at me two days ago.

"Are we good?" I ask her and she brings her hands up to my shirt, unbuttoning the first three buttons.

"You tell me." She smirks and my breath almost catches in my throat.

"Gen, we're in the office," I say, but don't make a single effort to move away from her, because I can't, not when she leans down to kiss my neck and I suck in a breath.

"And I'm your boss. Shut up now."

Just like that, I know that we are more than okay.