Yours, Forever

t h r e e

Satisfied with her outfit, she quickly grabbed her purse and slipped on a pair of black pumps she had taken from the mini shoe closet next to her front door.

Seeing that it was a quarter to 10, she called an Uber, but still had to wait 7 minutes for the ride to get to her apartment. She really needed to look into driving again. She had decided to not get a car due to her poor eyesight at night, knowing she stayed at the office til late at night sometimes. The only time she drove was when she went home for the weekend and took her mom's car to run errands.

It took another 10 minutes for her Uber drop her off at the front of her firm. LA traffic was terrible, especially around downtown LA.

And that was how she found herself running into the firm 15 minutes late. No one was even surprised anymore as this happened quite often. Instead, they would watch her in amusement as she scurried across the lobby in full panic.

A ding let her know that the elevator had arrived on the 4th floor where her office was located. The firm was only 5 floors and had an open concept, where architects were allowed to freely move around. Everyone had their own individual desk and work space, but no walls separated them allowing free communication to flow. Only higher position offices, model making workshops, break rooms, and conference rooms had walls.

Aurora quickly walked through the large open space filled with desks. Architects, both senior and junior, design techs, and project managers, as well as interns and assistants were busy bustling around. There was never a quiet day at Smith Architects.

As soon as she stepped foot into her office, a familiar voice called out to her attention.

"Good morning Aurora," Grace, her assistant, had gotten up from her desk across from Aurora's office and followed her into her office."I brought you your usual cold brew from Massie's since I figured you would be running late."

Grace had been her assistant since the day she took her position as one of the department heads at Smith Architects. Despite graduating only a year before taking on the position as Aurora's assistant, Grace was really good at her job. She seemed to compliment Aurora well, knowing how Aurora worked and thought.

Grace handed Aurora the coffee as well as a small paper bag. "These were on the house."

Two chocolate donuts sat at the bottom of the bag, begging Aurora to be eaten.

"Thank you. What would I do without you Grace," Aurora gave Grace a big grin before taking a sip of the bitter, yet sweet goodness. "God, you're a lifesaver. Remind me to thank Massie when I see her."

Speaking of Massie, it had been 3 days since she had seen Xavier. She found herself wondering about him occasionally, wanting to know more behind his mesmerizing grey eyes.

"Mr. Smith wanted to see you before you got settled down," Grace added making Aurora groan.

"Is he mad? Is it because I was running late today. It was only 15 minutes!"

"I don't think that's why," Grace let out a small chuckle. Sometimes it seemed like Aurora was younger than she was. "He didn't seem mad or upset."

"Alright, I'll go see him right now," Aurora placed her purse next to her coffee and began making her way to the door. "Can you check in with Henry and their team to see how they're doing? I sent him the revised panel before I left yesterday."

"Of course," Grace gave Aurora a reassuring smile as she began to walk off. "Oh, and good luck Aurora."

Aurora laughed, knowing that luck will definitely be needed. Liam Smith was a force to be reckoned with. He was one of the youngest architects to ever open his own firm, just recently turning 32. Despite his young age, Smith Architects was already one of the most renowned firms in the world, having high end clients wanting to have their homes and buildings designed by the firm.