The next day at the office, Mia found herself to be in a good mood once again.

She had given Chloe, Mason's number and both Nicole and her had sat in the living room and watched as she called Mason.

Although, Chloe only really managed to say 'hi' and also to agree on going out for a coffee together with hi, it left Nicole and her feeling so excited for their friend.

Mia placed her things down in her office and settled in.

She didn't know if Sebastian's mood had improved since yesterday, but she really hoped that it did. They had just been making good progress on a friendly, working-relationship, she didn't want to lose that so suddenly. Especially when she didn't know why.

With the thought that she could be nice today, Mia prepared a coffee for Sebastian, that would be ready and waiting for him before he would be in the office.

As she walked towards the door, Mia felt like she heard the sound of typing coming from within and frowned.

'Sebastian was never in before her,' she thought.

Mia then opened the door without even knocking and was surprised to see Sebastian sitting at his desk, as he typed away, his focus on the screen.

"Good morning," she greeted him, a little puzzled that he'd just been in his office and wondered when he had come in.

She then frowned that he hadn't even greeted her back.

With the coffee in hand and tablet in the other, Mia walked further into his office and placed the mug down onto his desk.

Again, no answer.

Sebastian hadn't intended on acting this way with her, but he was still annoyed after she had left to go to that dinner with Mason. Even after he talked it out with Diana and the others, a part of him was still pissed that she had accepted his offer.

'If she weren't interested, she'd clearly say no. Right?' Sebastian thought.

He watched as she entered his office with a bright smile, one which had faltered when she saw him sitting there. Was she upset to see me?

Sebastian then saw the mug in her hand and the tablet in the other. He was surprised to see her bring him the coffee so early, instead of making him wait.

'Maybe she was in good mood? Or maybe, she was in a good mood due her date last night.'

"Morning," he then greeted her gruffly and moved his eyes back to his monitor.

"Is something wrong?" Mia asked him.

"No," he then replied curtly, without even sparing her a glance.

Mia just couldn't comprehend what she had done. 'Maybe he was just having an off day,' she thought.

"Well, I brought you some coffee," she said and gestured towards the mug she had placed onto his desk, as she hoped maybe that would lighten his mood.

"Thanks," Sebastian replied, and this time he didn't look at her.

Mia felt a little hurt at his behaviour, especially the way he didn't even acknowledge or make eye contact with her. All the progress that they had made to better their working-relationship, seemed it to all be up in smoke.

"I-I told my friends about the pasta place we when to lunch for," she said, trying to make conversation. "They're excited to go there too," Mia added on, hoping he'd say something in return.

Sebastian could tell she was trying to talk to him but he just wasn't in the mood. Not now. If she said too much, he may lash out, something he was trying to avoid. His temper could sometimes get the better of him, so right now he was trying to keep in control.

"What's the schedule for today?" He asked instead.

Mia just sighed. There was clearly something was up with his mood and he just didn't want to tell her. Which was fine, but he could at least not take it out on her.

"Okay," he nodded and didn't utter another word.

Dejectedly, she then closed her tablet. "I'll get back to work then," she said.

He didn't look at her or motion for her to stay, so she turned around to leave.

Sebastian wanted her to leave but then also couldn't get rid off all the questions that were running in his head a mile a minute, so he thought to just bite the bullet.

"Wait!" He called out to Mia before she could leave.

"Yes?" She turned back instantly with a smile.

"How was your dinner last night?" He asked.

Mia was both surprised and confused at his question. That wasn't exactly something she thought he'd ask at all.

"Dinner?" She asked and Sebastian nodded. "Oh, it was really fun, I had a great time. I'm really glad Mason invited me," Mia replied with a smile.

Sebastian's jaw clenched hearing her words.

The smile on her face, as she seemed to reminisce the dinner, had just said it all for him and it annoyed him to no extent.

Mia then saw his angered expression and wondered what she had said this time?

The only thing she could think, was that he was annoyed that the invite wasn't extended to him. But then he couldn't possibly be mad at her about that, especially since it wasn't her invite to extend.

"Are you alright?" She asked him after a moment of silence.

"I'm fine," Sebastian brushed her off. "You can go now," he dismissed her and then looked back to his screen and began to type away again.

"Uh okay," Mia muttered with a small smile and then left his office.

Sebastian felt a little regret over his behaviour, after he saw her leave so dejectedly. He had been in two minds ever since the night at the construction sight, and it was giving him a massive headache.

"Fucking get a grip on yourself, Sebastian," he told himself and tried to snap himself out of his state, but it wasn't helping.

After that awkward morning, the rest of the day was no better.

Sebastian had carried on to act cold and indifferent towards Mia and it left her bewildered. However, she tried to not think anything of it and assumed it was one of those bad days, where everything felt off.

In this current moment, the pair were heading into a meeting with Paul Stein and his group of associates.

"Hello, everyone." Sebastian greeted the group as he entered the meeting room. "Mr Stein, thank you for coming for this meeting," he then shook hands with him.

"Of course, Sebastian," Paul replied.

His eyes then wandered towards Mia, who stood beside Sebastian. "Whose the lovely lady?" He asked.

Mia noticed a weird glint in his eyes, that caused her a little discomfort. She knew that look and hoped it wasn't what she thought it was.

"This is my assistant, Miss Sareen," he introduced her.

Mia just nodded at Paul, whilst he did the same, only with a slight smirk on his face.

"Shall we start the meeting?" Sebastian asked.

Paul then took his eyes off Mia. "Of course," he said and everyone took their seat.

The meeting had finally come to a close, two hours later, and had seemed to have run smoothly, with both parties pleased at the outcome.

"Well, I'd say that was pretty successful," Paul said as he stood up from his seat, with a smile directed towards Sebastian.

"Glad we could come to an agreement," Sebastian responded and stretched his hand forward, towards Paul, for him to shake.

"Likewise," Paul replied, as he shook hands with Sebastian.

At the same time, Mia had also stood up and organised her papers within a file and placed her tablet on top.

Throughout the meeting, she had this unsettling feeling, as if Paul's eyes had occasionally been landing on her. A part of her just hoped that she was imagining it.

"Miss Sareen, you can clear up in here and then type up the minutes of the meeting for Mr Stein after," Sebastian instructed, his tone still sounding curt towards her.

Mia nodded and gave him a tight-lipped smile.

Sebastian noticed the look on her face but didn't say a word. It was probably juvenile for him to act this way, he knew that, but it was better than yelling at her for his own offset state of mind.

Paul then placed a hand on Sebastian's shoulder. "Come now, Sebastian. You can call me, Paul."

"Very well, Paul. If you would like to come with me, we can go have a drink to celebrate, on me," Sebastian said and nodded at the others in the meeting room.

"Lead the way, man," Paul chuckled and walked out the meeting room along with Sebastian, but not before he turned his head in Mia's direction.

She had her back towards the door, but she could tell that someone had eyes on her. When she looked over her shoulder, she saw the sleazy-looking man grin at her, before he walked out the room.

The interaction made her uncomfortable but Mia was thankful he had left.

As Mia continued to gather up the remained filed around the table from the meeting, she was so invested in the task, that she hadn't even realised that the door had opened.

She then felt this unsettling feeling, as if there were eyes on her, causing Mia to abruptly turn around.

Her eyes widened a fraction, as she saw she wasn't alone.

"Oh, Mr Stein. You scared me," Mia breathed out, slightly startled by the man.

Paul just chuckled. "I did not mean to," he said and then stepped forward. He didn't even attempt to mask the way he looked Mia up and down.

She shifted uncomfortably on the spot, under his lustful gaze and then took a slight step back.

"Is there something you needed?" she asked.

"Yes, there is," Paul said, with a sinister look in his eyes, and Mia immediately realised his intentions, she'd seen that look before.

"I need to get back to work, so if you'll excuse me," Mia said, her tone icy.

She tried to side step past him, but he stepped in her way, effectively blocking her exit.

"Oh come now, Miss Sareen. Won't you keep me a little company?" Paul asked, grazing Mia's arm and she jerked away from his touch.

"Excuse me," Mia gritted out.

She was trying to be respectful despite the pervert not deserving any from her, she was only doing it for her job.

Paul smirked at her. "Why so coy?"

He raised his arm to touch her face and Mia smacked it away.

"Don't you dare touch me," she warned him and took a step away from him, unfortunately hitting the table behind her in the process.

"Feisty? I like that," Paul said and then lunged forward towards Mia, gripping her by the arms, before even she had a chance to move away from him.

"Let me go, asshole," Mia tried to raise her arms, pushing the burley arm away from her, but he was overpowering her.

"Come on, girl. Just give me a little taste," he then said menacingly.

"No, get off me," Mia squirmed under him. "Let me go, you prick," she struggled.

The memory of Tucker pushing her against that wall in high school, clouded her mind and tears began to escape. She felt powerless then, and despite trying to change herself and become stronger, she felt powerless once again.

However, she'd be damned if she let herself go down without a fight.

Mia wasn't able raise her legs to knee him, since he wasn't giving her much space, however she was able to lift it just enough to stomp on his foot with her heel.

This lead to Paul cursing out loud and Mia shoved him back, caused him to stumble and nearly fall to the ground, only to catch himself at the last minute.

Before he could advance towards her again, the door to the meeting room opened.

"What the fuck is going on here?" Sebastian's voice boomed into the room.

Paul strained himself up and moved further away from Mia. He looked flushed, his cheeks reddened and shirt-untucked slightly.

Sebastian's eyes immediately went towards Mia. He saw the red-hue on her cheeks and her shirt a little creased. Her hair was in disarray and her hands were clearly shaking by her sides.

"Oh, S-Sebastian," Paul stuttered, gulping loudly.

As was stood there, anger radiated from his pores. Sebastian realised Paul was taking too long, after he slipped away, lying that he left his phone behind, but never did he think that this was what Paul wanted.

"What. The. Fuck. Was going on here!?" he bellowed, stepping further in the room and people on the floor started to form a slight crowd outside the meeting room.

A sinister smirk than came over Paul's face. "Your assistant wanted to sweeten the deal a little. I was just going along with what she said, thinking you put her up to it," he lied through his teeth.

Mia shook her head rapidly at the blatant lie. Her whole form was on the verge of shaking, out of both anger and slight fear.

"He's lying. I didn't-... I wouldn't..." Mia started to say, her eyes brimming with more tears.

Paul then turned to Mia with a scoff. "Don't act all shy now. You weren't so shy a minute ago," he said smugly, trying to place blame on her.

"You bastard," Mia spat out towards him. "You're lying," she said, before turning back to Sebastian. "He's lying."

"It's just your word against mine," Paul stated, seemingly so full of himself.

For Mia, this was just a flashback of high school, the whole situation was an echo of the way Tucker and Victoria had made it seem like Mia was the one who came onto him, and the whole school turned against her. Even Sebastian turned against her, and in this moment she couldn't tell whether he believed her or no, but internally she was begging him, just this once, take her side.

Sebastian took a step forward. "Mia, I-"

However, she didn't let him continue. The look on his face, she assumed that he didn't believe her again.

Little did she know, that wasn't what he was going to say.

"No, I-I can prove it," Mia said.

Paul turned to her in a flash. "Liar," he spat out, his inner monster showing once more.

Ignoring him, Mia grabbed at her phone. Every meeting she made a recording, to help her with the minutes of the meeting, in case she had missed out on something. The recordings she initially made to help her out, were now going to be her saving grace.

"Mia, I-"

Sebastian was just about to tell her that he believed her, only for her to play the recording, loud enough so it echoed in the room and even people outside could hear it.

Hearing Mia's desperate pleas, Sebastian's hands clenched into a fist and shook in rage and his jaw clenched.

Paul sensed his anger and his eyes grew wide, looking panicked now. "Sebastian, no. It's fake," he tried to defend himself. "You can't believe this slut, she's expendable anyway," he gestured towards Mia.

Sebastian took a challenging step forward.

"Apologise," he growled.

"What?" Paul was taken aback.

"Apologise to her," Sebastian yelled, and even Mia was startled by the way he said that. She half expected him to ask her to apologise.

"You're joking," Paul scoffed. "You think I'm going to apologise to this whore? She's the one sending me flirty looks, practically begging for me to..." he said with venom lacing his words but before he could continue with it, Sebastian swung his fist at Paul's jaw.

The move surprised both Paul and Mia, and gasps could be heard from everyone else as well.

"You talk about her or any other woman like that and you'll get worse," Sebastian roared.

As he heard every degrading would Paul said about Mia, it was as if Sebastian couldn't control himself, it angered him to the bone.

"Oh, you'll regret that," Paul said, wiping the blood from his busted lip.

"No, I won't," Sebastian disagreed. "It's needless to say, this deal is over. Your company needed my investment, not the other way around," he informed Paul and then shoved him back. "So you can take your deal, and shove it up your arse!"

"You can't do that!" Paul shouted.

The way Paul said he couldn't do something made Sebastian let out a humourless laugh.

"You think I'll continue with the deal, after you laid your dirty, filthy hands on my assistant?" He questioned him with a glare.

Paul looked from Sebastian to Mia, and as if a light was flicked on he then chuckled.

"Oh, that's what it is," he started to say. "You're fucking her? That's why you're acting like a hero."

Mia winced at his words. They were so vile, she couldn't believe that he was actually saying those words and trying to make her look like the bad seed, when he was the real piece of utter shite.

Sebastian noticed the look on Mia's face, the way she frowned, and once again he couldn't control himself and landed another punch on Paul's face, who then stumbled back from the impact.

"Get the fuck out of this building," Sebastian roared once more and then grabbed Paul by the collars. "You come even a mile near her, me or this office and I'll send your arse to prison," he yelled and shoved Paul away.

In the meantime, security had made its way up to the floor and into the room, and held Paul by his arms.

"I'll make you regret this," Paul warned.

"Get him the fuck out of here," Sebastian said, unbothered by the baseless threat and security then escorted him out.

His eyes then drifted towards Mia, who seemed to look so lost during the encounter.

He wasn't sure exactly what he felt for her, but the way she looked lost right now, he knew that it pained him.