"Do you both have up to date passports?" I asked Ben and Gail, the two Business Systems Analysts that I planned to bring with me to Norway. One of the first things that we told new hires was to get their passports, as we'd done projects in both Mexico and Canada, and they never knew when they might be needed. Granted, Europe was a much bigger step, but it still applied. I'd just told them about the project now that I was back in the office, and they were trying their best not to freak out too much.

Ben nodded quickly, and Gail followed suit. Ben was older at 55 and was one of the nicest people I'd met. He was perfect for this job, as he had a way of making the client feel at ease with change, and that was important for setting a good tone for future work. Gail was newer but was attached to Ben like his surrogate daughter. She had joined us as an intern, much like Zee was going to, two years ago and had been assigned to shadow Ben. Now they formed a great duo that had both a steady hand and outside of the box thinking. They were by far my best team, and I only hoped that Ben would stick around for many years, because we'd all miss him if he wanted to retire at some point.

"I'm so excited!" Gail blurted out. "Thank you so much for picking us to go with you."

"Don't thank me. Honestly, as soon as I knew we were in the running to get the contract, I knew that you'd be the pair that I'd want to go with me. There will be a fourth too, as we're going to bring an intern along as well. That way she gets to see a project from the inception, which will really help."

"An intern? Ben wondered. "Will the client be okay with that?"

"We're not going to bill them for her. She'll go over at our expense as a learning trip, just like we did for Gail when we sent her to Atlanta with you." The best we could do would be to charge a quarter of our rate for a programmer, but I hated rushing people in without seeing them in action. A new hire generally had a little experience, but I never expected an intern to, that was our job to give them.

"That should be good. I learned a lot by being on that project early." Gail smiled over at Ben, and it made me wonder if maybe I was wrong about their relationship. Was she into him? I mean, they had an age gap about double the one that Zee and I had, but if it worked for them then who was I to say anything?

"Exactly." I cleared my throat, trying to refocus as thoughts of Zee flitted through my mind again. "Now, Telenor is a telecom company, but there is a lot more to it than that. The kickoff project will mostly be with improving customer satisfaction, which has been mediocre, but there is an opportunity to do more with them later. I already have a file put together about them on the shared drive. Look it over, try to familiarize yourselves with them. We'll have briefings before we go, probably in the week leading up to our trip, so don't feel like you have to rush. Just do a little bit at a time when you're free, okay?"

"Got it!" Ben said with a quick nod.

"We're gonna kick ass!" Gail promised.

I laughed lightly at their enthusiasm, then nodded in return. "That's what I like to hear. Oh! And just so you know, their headquarters are in a place called Fornebu, just west of Oslo, Norway. It's going to be very cold there in January, so plan accordingly! Go shopping between now and then if you need to. Us Floridians might feel like popsicles up there!"

The rest of the day went pretty smoothly. My assistant, Will, kept things running smoothly and made sure I could ease back into the office routine. He was an ex-army supply sergeant and was used to juggling schedules and getting things done. After he retired from the military, he'd just wanted something with no stress, and working for me gave him that since I never asked for anything crazy.

That meant that Monday was nice and relaxed, with nothing but some status calls, and a few client meetings where they wanted my presence. But really, I just had to be there and remain quiet because my project managers had everything under control. Just what I needed. Most of the projects we had going on were in good hands, but I had to admit that some of the more junior project managers needed more handholding than others. But looking at my calendar, those were scheduled for tomorrow along with my first therapy session so I could talk through my feelings about the attack. Will was a great assistant, and knew that I'd be working from home and could be more relaxed. Hell, I'd even had time to schedule Jashanna and Gracie for a tour of the FSU campus the Friday after the Thanksgiving break, so I had one more thing knocked off my list.

I'd really gotten lucky when I hired Will. He was still working on his degree, but I hadn't worried about that, because the experience he'd had from over 20 years in the military was easily more than enough for me to put my trust in him. Now, he kept the office running smoothly, and I'd never regretted my choice.

I stood up and stretched. My back was better, but I still got stiff when sitting for a while. Not wanting to sit right back down and compound the problem, I strolled out of my office and wandered near Will's desk. "Do you have any good plans for Thanksgiving, Will?" I asked, startling him slightly as he'd been concentrating on the schedule on his computer.

"Shit, sorry." I looked up, shaking his head. "I'm not really sure. My youngest is due around then, so it depends on when her little one wants to be born. I'll be a grandfather pretty soon."

"Wow! I didn't know that. Congratulations."

He grimaced, then smiled. "Yeah, I can't wait to see my little grandson, but it's going to be rough. My daughter is only 18, and not even out of high school. Obviously, this wasn't planned."

I nodded thoughtfully. I'd only been 19 when I had Hollie, so maybe I could offer a little perspective. "Is the father involved?"

"The father isn't even known," he grumbled. "She was at a party in the spring, and it was her first time drinking. She doesn't even know who she had been with that night. She never even said anything about it till she started to show." Damn, that couldn't be easy for her. It was probably something that happened more than people cared to admit, but I'd thankfully never had to face that issue with my girls.

"I raised my two girls while going to college and being a mostly single mom. I got a lot of help from my mother in law, and I know your daughter will get a lot of support too. If you ever need to bring her in here, or you need to work from home, just let me know and we'll make it work. We'll help however you need."

He nodded gratefully. "I know, everyone else has told me the same thing. Really, everybody has been so supportive."

Honestly, our talk would have gone on much longer, and I would have loved to have found out more about his daughter and pending grandson, had Elliot not decided to come into the office. As soon as I saw him, I took two steps backwards as my heart started to hammer in my chest.

"Elliot, you're not supposed to be here!" He didn't look good at all. Where my bruises had mostly faded, his face was still a total wreck, with both eyes still blackened, and his nose at an angle after Zee evidently broke it. "There is a restraining order, and you know it!"

"Demi, just stop this!" he pleaded. His eyes widened as Will got up and stood between us, his hand on his chest. "I was drunk, and you know I never would have done it otherwise! You don't need to ruin my life."

"And if you hadn't been pulled off me, what would have happened then, Elliot? You might have been drinking, but you had enough wits to steal a garage door opener and remember where we hid the key."

He opened his mouth to protest, then shut it as Will pushed him backwards. "You need to leave, Elliot. You're already going to be in trouble for ignoring the restraining order, so just walk away."

Elliot ignored him, looking over his shoulder at me once more. "I know, it wouldn't have been ideal. But you know me, right? Would one more time have been so bad?"

"Yes!" I shouted. "Elliot, are you serious? Do you really think I would have wanted that? Your coming in here isn't going to help, just go talk to a doctor, or get some other help. Plead guilty and you'll probably get nothing but misdemeanors knowing our judicial system. Go away, stay with your other women, you still have plenty of money and should be fine. Just stay away from me and the girls."

"You expect me to give up my daughters?"

"Yes!" I cried out in exasperation. "Hollie already doesn't want to see you, and Gracie doesn't know you at all, plus with you breaking in she's terrified to be anywhere near you. I don't think you have much of a chance with them, at least not right now. It's going to take time before either of them would want to see you, or trust being alone with you."

He moved a step back as Will kept pressing on him. "This is all your fault! You just had to get a divorce, didn't you? You just had to end our marriage."

"Elliot, seriously, just stop. You've been having affairs for years, and our marriage wasn't even a friendship, let alone a loving relationship. If anything, it should have let you go have fun with your Orlando ladies. I have no idea why you're hanging onto this."

Elliot just shook his head, and I had no idea what he was thinking. Was he really this upset about feeling like I was rejecting him? How did he not realize that all his cheating was him rejecting me?

"It just isn't right." He didn't expand on that, but he finally started moving away, backing towards the doors. Will kept himself right in front of Elliot, his bulk between us until he slipped out, and I was grateful for his presence. Several other workers had rushed over, hearing the shouting, and were just staring at the scene from the sides while several recorded it on their phones.

At last, though, he was gone, and I sat down heavily while everyone huddled around and made sure I was alright. As soon as I was calm though, I let Monique know what had just happened and sent a video from one of the workers who had gotten it, and then I called a corporate security company, because we were going to get keycards for all the doors now. I didn't ever want him getting back in here!