I pull in up into the school parking lot at the same time as Principal Wallace. He eyes me briefly as we both disembark from our vehicles. He doesn't say much except for a polite greeting when we walk together towards the school building.

After news of Angelo's 'union' broke out, Wallace stopped being overly chatty with me, but for some reason he has continued to be as respectful as he had been before that, which is the complete opposite of what i expected from him under the new circumstances. I expected him to go back to treating me the way he did pre-Angelo.

As we turn towards the school hall, Rachel sees us coming and inconspicuously smile at me, as we approach her. As soon as Wallace separates from us, we burst out laughing.

"That's a new development, need i ask more?" Rachel asks, looking over my shoulder to the car.

"Don't bother" I say as we walk.

"Anyway, so, do you remember Gregory from the other night?" She asks.

"Yeah, you mean your date?" I snicker.

"Aahhh, yeah, well, he really took a fancy to you and has been bugging my cousin for your number"

"Really?" I am not very surprised, we vibed really well and i ended up spending more time with him than anybody else that night.

"Really, well, apparently, you blew him away and he, i quote ' hasn't met a girl as amazing as you in a long time' unquote."

"Well, he seemed like a nice guy too" I respond.

"Rich too, apparently he owns an advertising firm or something. I should have paid more attention to him." She scolds herself and i laugh.

"He told me he works at one" I respond.

"It's his alright...He is humble too, damn!" she playfully smacks herself.

I laugh again.

"Honestly, this is ridiculous, a couple of months ago, i was single and wanted to be in a relationship with someone, but i couldn't met anyone that i felt remotely attracted to or could have a decent connection with, but now that i kind of am in one, sudennly....."

"........you have all these suitors popping up left, right and center......Girl, these are the kind of problems i would kill for. But seriously, when you make up your mind, just hook me up with whichever guy you dissapoint ok?" She utters before dissappearing into her class.

I shake my head a bit as i walk into my class. Life has definitely taken an unusual turn for me lately.

*

This being the last week before the school term ends, the days feel like they have been rolling by fast, i can't believe it's already thursday. The excitement from the students at the term ending is quite infectious, so my days have generally been enjoyable at work.

My nights however, not so much, since i am usually alone. Angelo has been very busy, with his time mostly spent at the hospital or working, we have not even been able to see each other since monday morning when i dropped by the hospital.

Ivan's condition hasn't changed and he is still unconscious, so the family is still in limbo, 'just waiting to see which way the chips fall' as Angelo had put it.

I understand his absence and actually sympathise with him. I wish there was a way i could make things better or easier for him, but the best i can do right now is just let him know am here if he needs me and be on stand by incase of anything.

Unlike other school breaks in the past, i am really excited about this one because i have so much to look forward to. I plan to spend some time in Milford with mom and Jaden, maybe do some fun stuff together. And i already signed up for the town marathon and so i plan on spending more time training for that as well.

And then there is Angelo, i hope we can figure things out soon, because i want to devote as much time as i can on us. I want to do stuff with him like go camping finally, or travel abit together.

With Ivan being sick, despite us talking on the phone occasionally, i have not been able to bring myself to ask him about the annulment. I often wonder how the discussion with his father and Ben went. If they supported his decision to do it, and if they did, i wonder if Ivan getting sick caused him to change his mind about it or if he went ahead to file it.

I am dying to know then details, but i feel like it would seem selfish and inconsiderate of me to ask him about that when he is going through such a sensitive difficult time.

So now i am just waiting for him to bring it up first, or for news about it to pop up in the News or tv or something.

*

After another productive day at work, i meet up with Rita and Ally for coffee before going home. Like everyday this week, i expect to spend my night alone, but voices in the apartment let me know i have company this time.

Angelo has only been here once, on monday afternoon to pick up some things as well as some work documents, so we haven't really seen each other. Then his secretary came by yesterday to pick up some more documents. So i hope it's him in the house right now.

I approach the office where the sound of the voices is coming from and knock once before going in.

There are five people in the room including Angelo. I recognize Eva but the other three men i do not know. They all seem busy with a cluster of books and papers on the desk and couch where they are all spread out.

Jackets and ties have been disposed, shirts folded, and bottles of water and energy drinks everywhere, it looks like they have been here a long time.

"Hai" I murmur to...everyone.

Everybody looks up and returns my greeting. Eva walks towards me and shakes hands with me, and the other guys in the room follow her lead.

Angelo stands up from behind the desk and comes toweds me.

I don't know who these other people are and what his relationship with them is, so i decide to behave a bit more cautious with him and not seem too familiar or friendly.

However, when he reaches me, he puts his arm around my shoulders, pulling me to his side and kissing the side of my head.

He introduces the men as part of his work team, two of them are paralegals and the other, Hunter Davis, is a senior partner in the firm like himself. I already know Eva.

He introduces me simply as 'Marianne'. No added details despite the affectionate way he greeted me. He simply leaves the guys to make their own conclusion.

"You look busy" I say to him when the others return to their work.

"We are, we have an important case coming up tomorrow but we are not ready yet"he says, running a hand through his hair.

I nod.

"How's Dad?"

"Same....Ben is spending the night there tonight"

"Ok...well, i am going to take a shower and make something to eat. Need anything?" I ask.

He shakes his head and turns his head towards his desk.

Oookay...I mentioned the 'shower' and he didn't make any comment to join me, he must really distracted.

"Ok, I will see you in a bit then" I say.

"Alright" he nods.

I go up the stairs happy and excited to have him home again. I take a quick shower and put on one of his button up shirts. The blue one with white pin stripes and pair it with grey leggings with that have two white stripes on the sides. I pull my hair into a messy bun and go downs stairs to the kitchen.

I feel extremely excited just knowing that we are in the same house even if we are not together right now, and since Ben is staying at the hospital tonight, i hope he will spend the night here.

I pull out some ingredients and get started on dinner. I want to make something enough for him and his colleagues.

Because i am alone lately, i have allowed Mario and Seline to leave early everyday and so i am doing the cooking myself, not that i mind anyway.

I try not spend too much time cooking, incase they decide to leave before i am done but luckily, i finish while they are still in the office.

The apartment has a dining room but Angelo and i rarely ever use it and i personally prefer to eat from the kitchen, but since we have guests, i decide to set up the food there.

I finish everything shortly after 7pm and make my way back to the office.

Again, i knock once and enter the room. I find them having some kind of discussion, but sudennly, Angelo throws the book in his hands against the bookshelf causing a whole bunch of other books to fall to the ground in a loud thud.

"Fuck!!!!" He swears.

My mouth hangs open for a second in shock at his act of fustration, but nobody else seems to be surprised by his actions.

I look at Eva who rolls her eyes and makes a "shooting gun gesture' with her index and middle finger to his head, in reaction to Angelo burst of fustration.

I can't help the smile that spreads on my face in response.

'He is in a bad mood' she mouths and I nod at her.

I look back at Angelo and find him rubbing his face with his hands and then running his fingers through his hair.

"This is not working, we are not looking hard enough" he says hoarsely.

Honestly, everyone looks tired and defeated, i don't know how long they have been at it, but they need a break.

"Why don't you take a break and start again in a minute. I made dinner, you can eat and come back later" I offer cautiously, hoping not to overstep any boundaries.

I swear the paralegals look at me with renewed hope and straighten up in their seats.

"That's a good idea" Eva says.

"We don't have time for a fucking break. We go to court tomorrow and we don't stop until we have all our facts together." He growls, and returns to his seat.

I swear i can touch the dissapointment in the air that replaces the hope.

Eva rolls her eyes again.

I watch everyone start to get busy again.

"Can i help you with anything?" I ask.

Angelo doesn't even look at me in acknowledgement of my offer but proceeds to open books and papers and then stares at his laptop.

"Look, i am pretty good with research, I help Luke all the time to verify information from his sources, do research and analysis on data." I say to them.

Everybody but Angelo looks up at me attentively.

"Who's Luke" Eva asks.

Angelo looks at me now, but i avoid his intense stare.

"Oh, sorry, he is a journalist" I clarify, hoping i did not give away too much infortion. Most of the stuff i do with Luke is confidential and if word got out i do some of his work with him, he could lose his job.

Everyone gives me a look of understanding and one of the guys murmurs "oh.".

but Angelo just looks down again.

"Well, why not, i think we could use a fresh pair of eyes, no harm in trying. It could help to eliminate some of the information." Hunter murmurs.

I smile in appreciation.

He writes down what he needs me to do and look for and gives me a couple of books and papers to look through.

I walk to one side of the room and sit down.

"Say something if you are not sure about anything or need any help" Angelo finally speaks.

"I may not have a law degree, but i do have a degree all the same..I think i can handle some research and analysistical work" I retort.

No one says anything but they all smile at my remark. Even Angelo smirks before he looks down at his laptop again.

As i settle into a comfortable position, i look up to find Angelo watching me, but i quickly look away and focus on my work.

One thing i know about myself is that i am efficient and fast. So i get through the couple of book i was given, give Hunter some feedback and then ask for more work.

"Are you sure you know what you are doing" Angelo asks, looking up at me as if i was talking to him instead of Hunter.

"I am sorry, but i gotta ask too" Eva concurs with Angelo.

"Yes" I say confidently.

Hunter asks me to join him on the sofa and we share the stuff he is working on. This time i don't bother to look at Angelo even though i feel him look at me occasionally.

Some time later, I look around and find that everyone looks incredibly busy, and has their face buried in either a book or document.

It's way past 10pm now and i wonder when last anybody ate.

"There is dinner at the table if anyone needs to eat." I pronounce.

"You know what, i am sorry, but i need a break or else i will pass out" one of the paralegals says and the room echoes in a series of laughter.

I look at Angelo and he is laughing too.

"Go ahead. You have thirty minutes" he says.

Soon, we are left alone and i look back at him to find him smiling at the closed door before he feels my stare and looks at me.

I smile slightly and turn my attention back to my work.

Tired of sitting, i stand up and walk to the table on the other side of the room where i was before and put my papers there.

I hear movement behind and soon feel Angelo's arms wrap around my waist, his head drops to rest in the crook of my neck.

"I am sorry" he whispers against my ear.

"I know." I reply turning around.

He sits down on a chair next to the table and hugs my waist, resting his head against my stomach.

"You need to go too" I whisper.

"I can't right now. This is important" he says with his eyes closed.

I run my fingers through his hair and he groans appreciatively, hugging me tighter.

"Have YOU eaten?" He asks.

"I will eat when you eat" I respond.

I did snack a bit when i was preparing dinner, but other than that, i have not really eaten, but atleast i am not as hungry as everyone else.

I kiss the top of his head, then his forehead and then his nose. He opens his eyes and tilts his head back to give me access to his lips.

I hold his gaze for a second before my mouth takes his. I feel his tongue touch my lips at the first contact and i shiver in response, opening my mouth too to allow him access.

Our heads twist and turn against each other as our tongues twirl and tease each other. Then his arms pull me lower and i sit down sideways on his lap. I feel his fingers pushing some stray hair behind my ear and touching my face as mine wrap around his neck and run through his hair as we continue to kiss.

I shift slightly on his lap and feel the evidence of his excitement pressing against the back of my upper thighs and melt even further in his arms, i pull away slightly to look at him and we smile at each other briefly before continuing our kissing session.

"Hey, do you guys ha......." Someone says walking into the room, and then apologizing and retracting again upon seeing our 'current position'.

We finally pull back and press our forehead against each other and chuckle at the interruption.

"Angelo, you need a break too."I murmur.

"I just got one" he replies, pecking my lips.

"I am serious, eat something please"

He pulls back and pushes me to my feet, then kisses my stomach while inhaling my scent, then he stands up too.

"Ok" he says, stretching his hand towards me.

I smile and put mine in his. We walk silently out of the room and to the dining room where everyone is talking and laughing loudly and sit down next to Eva.

*

From the way everyone is talking and laughing at nothing seriously in particular, i can see now just how badly they needed a break, and to eat. They aleeady look a little reenergized and i am grateful for it.

I look at Marianne as she quietly listens to something Eva is saying and feel complete gratitude that she insisted on this. I am even more thankful that she is here tonight and is helping us with the work.

Honestly i think i would have completely lost my shit if she had not been here tonight, and everytime i hit into a deadend and felt like going apeshit, i would look at her and gather the strength to keep it together.

I regret how the night has gone by though, it's not rare for us to spend long nights on a case like this, the guys know it's part of the job and they are paid well for it, but tonight, i admit my mood is on another level.

Dad's condition has kept me distracted, which has also added more work on my plate from some of his responsibilities. With this case coming up, i trusted the team to be on top of things, which they usually are, so i was generally pissed to find that they had not backed up an important part of our defence and so i decided to go through all our material and seal any other holes, which indeed turned out to be more than one.

I look down at my plate, the food is delicious but only half eaten, i don't have much of an appetite. Marianne on the other hand, is eating generously, and it makes me happy to watch her.

"Alright, break is over, i would like to get home before midnight, so let's finish up guys" Hunter says standing up.

We get back to the office but twenty minutes later Marianne, who is sitting next to Hunter, sudennly squeals with excitement.

"I think i found it." She says with a grin.

She turns to Hunter who looks at her information and then throws his head back at the back of the couch.

"Yes!!!!" He raises his hands up in the air in relief at finding the last piece of evidence we were looking for.

The room fills up with happy cheers.

"Alright alright, let's finish up and call it a night." I say.

Marianne excuses herself as we gather around each other for a final review and sumarise our records and facts. Afterwards we draft and file our documents along with the evidence and testimonies in readiness for tomorrow.

"Alright, i think we are done" I announce and they all sigh a breath of relief and start to gather their things to go.

"Where's Mary? i would like to say goodbye to her." Eva murmurs as we walk out of the office.

I am just about to go up stairs to check the bedroom where when Eva adds.

"Nevermind, she is here." She says, walking into the living room.

Marianne is stretched out on the couch watching TV.

She stands up when everyone enters the room.

"Done?" She asks.

"Done" someone responds.

"Feel free to join our legal team anytime"Hunter murmurs jokingly.

"You can't afford me, besides your working hours are absurd, so i will pass...but am free for consultation, anytime" she responds in light of the situation.

Hunter laughs in return, shaking her hand appreciatively.

After a few more words passed around, everyone finally leaves, leaving us alone.

I turn to her.

"You ok?" I ask.

She nods.

"You?"

"I am now that you here" I reply and she gives me a warm smile in return.

"C'mon' I say, turning towards the stairs.

We walk up the stairs together, with me slightly ahead of her and her fingers wrapped around my index finger.

Even in my state of complete tiredness, i still feel the sparks where our hands are touching.

"I am going to take a shower" I murmur, when we are in the bedroom.

She nods and sits down on the bed.

The warm water hits my skin gently, massaging my sore muscles that are as a result of fatigue, and sleeping on a hospital bench or chair all week. It's so uncomfortable, it makes the couch i had been sleeping on before that seem like a king sizes bed.

I take my time as the water runs over me, feeling no rush to be anywhere. It's been a shitty week, but somehow, i have managed to be productive. I just hope things will start looking up soon.