-Athena-

''Oh shit! Shit! Shit! I'm late!'' I shout as I stumble from my bed to grab my alarm clock. ''Oh crap it's 07:45! I need to get to the office.''

I walk to the bathroom in my drowsy state and take a quick shower, then put on some casual clothes. I grabbed a granola bar from the kitchen cabinet and rushed to my car in the basement.

As soon as I get to the office, all the staff turn to look at me, waiting for me to give them orders. ''I want the heads of all the departments in the board room in 10 minutes. Nancy! Get me a coffee stat! black. No sugar, no milk.''

''Umm...excuse me Ma'am?'' Someone says from behind me. I turn to find Summer who is holding a few files in her hand. ''Nancy is off for the weekend and doesn't resume until Monday,'' she says timidly.

Oh great. I have a busy weekend and my assistant's not here. ''Very well then, Summer, you're my acting assistant until Nancy resumes. Now leave those files and get me my coffee, then take a notepad and meet me in my office in 05 minutes!'' I order her. She nods and hurriedly goes to the food court.

I sit at my desk and take in a deep breath and sigh in relief. Blocking the mate bond was a good idea. I don't feel bounded anymore. Speaking of, I haven't heard from Theo since last night. After he left abruptly, I didn't know what to do, so I gathered my stuff and left the apartment.

His words however, left a stinging mark on me. Am I really that selfish? Was I wrong to want to leave Crimson and continue with my life here? should I apologize to Ethan and Mom? Did I do wrong by them?

The more I thought about it; the more it all started to make sense. Theo was right, I am selfish and proud and vain. I only care about myself. But from what he said, I was not this person before. Who was I then? Was I a kind hearted person or was I mean? I left my family to grieve my dad on my own. Months have passed by now but not even once have I properly honored him. Oh my god, I'm a monster! Does that make me a bad daughter?

They were right! Theo was right! This is not me; this cannot be me. I need to get my memories back.

''Oh god, oh god,'' I start hyperventilating, ''what have I done? What have I become?'' I clutch my head in my hands. ''I need to apologize to Ethan and mom.''

I'm about to get up from my desk and leave the office when Summer walks in, ''Your coffee ma'am and Mr. Oliver is here to see you,'' she says politely then places the coffee on my desk and takes a few steps back.

Oh right! The fashion show. Damn it! I can't leave now; I can't even leave this week. I close my eyes and massage my temple before looking up at Oliver, our chief accountant. ''Hi, what brings you to my office today?''

Guess my visit to Crimson will have to wait. I just hope the self-revelation I felt a few seconds ago doesn't go away by then.

''Well Athena, I've actually come to discuss finances with you,'' Oliver starts. I gesture him to take a seat then lean back on my chair and motion for him to continue.

''If we are showcasing our designs at the awards this weekend, we need a large amount of capital. My team has done the calculation of the money we need and the total looks like this,'' he hands me a paper.

I skim my eyes over it and an involuntary gasp escapes me. ''Okay, wow.''

''Yup, that sounds about right,'' he folds his hands in front of him. ''How about we discuss this in the meeting,'' I tell him and as if on cue Summer's head pops into my cabin. ''Everyone is ready ma'am.''

''Thanks summer. Oliver, please, after you,'' I offer and we both head towards the board room with Summer at my heels.

''Thank you all for coming to work on your day off and thank you for joining me today. As we know we are one of the few lucky ones to be given the opportunity to showcase our designs. We are required to present seven of our all-time best selling clothes. So without further ado, let's get started on what we need for next Saturday.''

''Excuse me, Ms. Athena, if you don't mind me asking, isn't next Saturday too short of a notice? Most companies got their invite 2 weeks ago, '' Simone, our head of sales asks me.

''Yes, about that, someone had gone to personally collect the performance invite but it was never delivered to us,'' I reply, suddenly remembering that I was to ask Charles about this yesterday. ''However the committee called up and informed us, so now we have 7 days to be ready. Anybody else got a problem with that?''

No answer.

''Right, I thought so. Now moving on, Oliver here, just handed me the total costing for this and I'm appalled at these figures. But we need to do this, so I will pass it. My only hope is that our photo-shoot next month goes well so that we can profit from the advance sales.''

The meeting continues for another hour before I dismiss them all. ''Uhh Mason, I call out to the head of production who works closely with Grey industries. ''Yes?'' he replies.

''I need you to call your liaison at Grey and let them know that we are popping in. I'd like to personally see how far they are in production. Let me know when will be a good time to go, anytime from 11:00 will be fine by me,'' I tell him as I look at the time on my watch.

''Summer, I want you to call all the models we have signed to see who will be available for the show and if they confirm tell them to be here at 04:00 pm on Wednesday for the rehearsals.

I sip my coffee while I stand by the wide window, looking at the opposite building. ''Holy crap, Charles!''

I grab my bag and jacket and shout a quick, 'I'll be back,' to the office and sprint out of the building.

I walk across the street and into Theo's building right up to the 18th  floor. ''Hmm 18th too, could this be a coincidence or am I reading too much into it?'' I muse as I walk up to the receptionist.

''Hi, I'd like to see Charles. Is he in?''

Before she could reply, I hear a husky voice behind me, ''Athena? what are you doing here?''

I purse my lips and turn to look at him, ''Theo,'' I say curtly, with no emotion on my face. ''I'm actually looking for Charles, is he around?''

''Why don't you come in my office, we can talk there,'' he offers. I nod and follow him to his big, wait scratch that, huge office. Holy shit! What level of being a billionaire has this guy unlocked?

I look around his office which is black and brown with accents of gold. He even has a mini conference area in it. There is a wide shelf situated right behind his desk with various books and some pieces of art too.

He suddenly stops in his tracks and since I was busy admiring his office, I didn't notice that making me ram into his back. ''Ouch,'' I take a step back and rub my head.

''You okay?'' he asks and attempts to touch my forehead but I take another step back. ''I'm fine, thanks for asking. Look, I'm in a hurry so if you'd please tell me where Charles is, that'd be great.''

''Ohh Charles, he left very early this morning for Vancouver. The pack needs attention and as beta he needs to be there,'' Theo replies casually. ''Is there anything I can help you with?''

''Umm no...it's okay. I just needed to talk to him about something else. Thank you,'' I say and turn to leave.

''You're always welcome Athena,'' he replies.

I walk towards the door of his office not wanting to spend another minute here but something makes me stop and look back. So I look over my shoulder to see Theo busy typing away on his laptop, a small smile forms on the corner of my mouth before I walk out.

I'm met with Mason outside our office building, waiting for me. ''Ahhhh ma'am, so glad I found you here. Let me ask the driver to bring around the car. Miranda, my contact person at Grey is waiting for us.''

''Great, let's go,'' I tell him, secretly praying that I do not get to see Leo. I don't think I'm ready to face him yet.

We finally reached the Grey building after a long awkward drive. I tried to make small talk with Mason just to keep my mind from drifting off but he isn't much of a talker so, bummer.

''Hello, we are from the Nightshade office, here to see Miranda Stanley,'' Mason introduces us to the security personnel at the entrance.

While the guy scans our IDs, I use my enhanced abilities to scan the presence of Leo in the building. Dang it, he is in his office right now with two others, so all I have to do is avoid his floor altogether. Okay, cool, that should be easy.

''Here you go,'' he hands us the IDs. ''You can take the lift on my right, right up to the private floor. Ms. Miranda is in Mr. Grey's office right now. You can meet her there, she has already been informed.

Seriously! Well there goes my plan to avoid him. What did I do to deserve this, it's not fair ''Look, umm...is there any way she can just meet us in her office?'' I ask the guard.

''Actually, she requested that you meet her there since she was discussing your project with Mr. Grey. Please, this way,'' he states and leads us to the elevator.

''We couldn't have come at a better time could we?'' I ask Mason, sarcasm laced in my voice.

''Oh I know right. With Mr. Grey present, everything will run smoothly,'' he replies.

I fight the urge to face palm myself. ''Come on, let's get this over with,'' I grumble in annoyance.

Leo's scent keeps on getting stronger by the minute. I can't let him affect me. I'm here for business and that's what we're sticking to. So I take in a deep breath, regain control of my senses and walk in to his office, with my head held high.

His head snaps in my direction the moment I walk in. He looks shocked at first but quickly regains composure.

''Mr. Grey,'' I nod curtly at him, ''Ms. Stanley,'' I offer a small smile at the woman.

''Ms. Robinson, I didn't expect you to be joining us. When Mason contacted me, I expected only him to come,'' she says, clearly surprised at my presence.

''Well you know what they say, expect the unexpected. Anyway, I'm not here to chit chat, I'd like to see the samples that are ready.''

''Sure ma'am a moment please,'' she then walks to the far corner of the office and rolls in a rack, ''I had them brought up here to show them to Mr. Grey before we sent them to your office on Monday. But, since you're here.... well.... it's umm...a two birds with one stone kind of thing,'' she laughs nervously.

For some reason Mason found it funny and laughs with her. I look at him disapprovingly before he shuts up. ''Let's get to it shall we?'' Leo says. 

Oh couldn't agree more.

''Well to say the least, I'm impressed. Although there are few changes I'd like to make here and there. I shall ask Mason to get in touch with you,'' I tell Miranda after she shows us the samples of the first draft of clothes.

She nods in respect and walks out the office. ''We should leave too Mason,'' I tell him and we both get up. ''Good-day Mr Grey,'' I nod at him once more and walk out.

''Umm...Athena? do...do you have a moment?'' I hear Leo call out just as I was about to set foot in the elevator.

''I'll see you downstairs,'' I tell Mason and turn to face Leo. ''I can spare a few minutes.''

''Let's talk inside,'' he offers and we walk back to his office.

''How.... umm.... How are you?'' he asks me.

I bite back a smile and reply, ''I'm great, although I can't say the same for you,'' I reply slyly, indicating to his heart beating rapidly.

''Look, I'm sorry. I'm sorry for how I ended things. I just thought that Theo....''

''Let me stop you right there,'' I signal him. ''I don't need you to repeat everything you told me three days ago. I get it okay.We broke up. End of story.''

''That's it? End of story? You were asking me not to break up with you and now you're okay with it?''

''I don't know what you want me to say Leo but here's something; thank you for breaking up with me, it was a moment of revelation for me,'' I walk towards the door, ready to leave.

''So you're walking away from me huh?'' he calls out, clearly not expecting me to react like this.

''Yup, and you can watch me shut the door too,'' and with that I close it behind me and leave.

Damn that felt good. Ugghh it was such a hair flip moment, if only I hadn't tied it up in a bun. Oh well we can't have it all.

I walk out the building with a smug smile on my face and we drive back to my office.

-Theo-

I have to give it to myself for the amount of self-control I showed when Athena walked in my office.

Judging from her reaction, I knew she liked the office. One thing I'm glad of is that she didn't realize my office faces hers directly and I can see everything that goes on there.

Some might even call it stalker shit, but she is my mate after all and I need to keep an eye on her.

The fact that the mate bond is blocked might have helped in me not wanting to get close to her the moment she walked in. Which leads to me to start thinking that Athena might be right but that doesn't change the fact that we are still mates and we are endgame.

My train of thought leads me to start thinking about the times we spent together the past year when I'm interrupted by the phone ringing.

''Charles,'' I say knowing it's him from the caller id.

''Hey man, I just got to the pack. We are having some trouble with our accounts. I'm on my way to see our gamma and I'll keep you updated.''

''Sure man, if it gets out of hand let me know, I will fly back as soon as I can.''

''Hey don't worry. Your priority right now is your mate; I'll handle the stuff here. You handle Athena. How is she by the way?'' he asks, with concern in his voice.

''She is surprisingly doing well. In fact, she was here a few hours ago, looking for you.''

''Looking for me? are you sure it wasn't just an excuse to see you?'' he chuckles from the other end of the line.

''No, it definitely wasn't because of me, I can guarantee that. She looked stressed though. Did you say something to her?''

''Whoa, how can you say that with so much conviction, did something happen between you two after I left last night? You better not ruin it this time Theo especially since men like Leonard Grey are just around the corner,'' he advises.

Crap! I still haven't told Charles about the argument and the mate bond thing. Shit, he is going to flip when he finds out. ''No...no...nothing happened. We're cool. Anyway look I have to go, pass my regards to Mila and please check on mom,'' I tell him and quickly cut the call.

''Speaking of....'' i lean back on my chair, a plan formulating in my head. I speed dial my driver and he picks up on the second ring, ''Hello, Mr Argent?''

''Roger, bring the car around, I'll be down in 5,'' I order him and get up. I adjust my black coat and leave the office.

''Where to sir?'' he asks as soon as I get in.

''Leonard Grey's office. It's high time he and I have a talk.''

***

So what did you guys think? i thought i should give some attention to Athena's business life too.

What do you think Theo will tell Leo? how do think their conversation will be like?

Don't forget to vote and comment as usual.

-Jessica.S