(Emily's point of View)

"My Mother always trained me to be the perfect wife, the societal lady that is beloved by all. I listened, never disobeying them or giving them a reason to doubt me. That was until they made a decision for me that I couldn't go through with." I began with Nathaniel's eyes on mine, his face seldom and nodding every now and then. I went into how I wanted to refuse and get out of their offer. That they planned on marrying me off to a man I didn't even know the name of.

"So, that's why you were drinking that night I found you?" He inquired, hitting the nail on the head. I nodded slightly, and that was all the confirmation he needed. I guess we found more of an understanding with that, why I was so emotional that night towards him. I was projecting my anger onto him, while he was infuriating even when I was sober, I still made too many assumptions about him.

"It was a stupid decision; I've only ever drank three times in my life." The first time was in college, Sierra spiked the punch without me knowing. The second was on my twenty-first birthday, the gang took me out saying I had to drink for my birthday. So, there was about a year between each drink, making me a lightweight.

"Your mother, she doesn't care about your opinion in this?" His eyes captured mine, cobalt blue clashing against emerald green. He held my gaze worry and pity floating through his eyes. I could hear more birds chirping outside the diner window making me look away from his gaze. Some small blue vireo birds were perched on the planters that hung on the outside.

"They're beautiful arent they?" I asked trying to change the subject only to turn back to find him looking at me with a dazzling smile that was so bright it almost hurt my eyes.

He replied without looking at the birds at all, "Yes, they are." I audibly gulped, having the feeling he wasn't talking about the birds. My breath quickened by just an inch, and for some reason I couldn't look away from his dancing eyes. If the birds were beautiful then his eyes were gorgeous, I may have called him sexy in the past, but this was a whole other side of him I was witnessing. It was a softer side, one with dazzling smiles.

"Am I interrupting something?" I jumped slightly noticing that Nathaniel also had moved slightly away from me. I turned towards Nick, stuffing a piece of my delicious pancakes into my mouth.

"What could you possibly be interrupting?" I shot back whilst handing Auburn another slice of bacon, not particularly minding that that I was getting bacon crumbs all over my pants.

"Whatever you say Em." He replied shaking his head slightly before placing Nathaniel's plate of food down in front of him. He cut his pancakes into eighths like you would a pizza before ruining the entire thing by placing several Dollops of clotted cream on half of it.

"That's disgusting Nate." The words slipped out of me before I could stop them, and Nathaniel looked over at me slowly with a grin making its way on to his face. I didn't mean to say the nickname that Nick had used, it just came out because I was so shocked from his food choices.

"Sure, nothing is going on at all." Nick twirled his towel in his hands before heading over to take the check off of several tables. Nathaniel continued to smile at me like the Cheshire cat, his eyes holding joy and disbelief at the same time.

"Feni-" Before he could get that dumb nickname out of his mouth I slammed a twenty onto the bar top, not waiting for any change I got up taking the plate of food with me. I would give Nick his restaurants plate later. I stormed out of the restaurant without so much as a goodbye to Nick.

My little dog was once again in the passengers seat, this time with several pieces of bacon in front of her. I drove to central park , figuring it would be the best place to relax before I had to see that infuriating, low lif- As I rambled in my head and walked through the park I didn't quite see where I was going. I fell to the ground, Auburn growling at what I just had bumped into.

"Are you alright miss?" I heard an angelic voice come from above me, like liquid silk it was music to my ears. I slowly blinked my eyes open to see a man above me in the bright light of the sun.

"Have I died?" I asked as he came more into view, his bright grey eyes were the first thing I saw. Whispy blonde hair also came into view as I took in all of his features, which reminded me of someone just slightly.

"Nope!" He popped the 'p' before lending his hand out to me, I slowly took it slightly baffled by the whole thing. He gently pulled me up with a kind smile, warmth radiating off of him.

"I'm so sorry for bumping into you." I told him wanting to avoid any conflict, though I felt like I didn't need to worry to much. He laughed slightly dimples appearing and eyes closing. He almost seemed child-like, that would be if he wasnt walking in central park in a suit.

"No worries Madam, I was just enjoying the beauty this park had to offer." For some reason when his eyes glanced into mine, I felt like he wasn't only talking about the park. How very charming and bold of him, but I felt like he was always like that.

"I'm Harris, nice to meet you." He held out his hand again, this time in a more professional manner like he had done this frequently.

"Emily." I responded, taking his hand and giving him a firm handshake. I had done this quite frequently as well, and I would not be intimidated by a man. He smiled and nodded almost as he approved of me.

"A lady with a firm handshake is hard to find, you impress me Emily." He said my name with such easy and elegance, charming indeed. I slowly took my hand from his grasp, glancing down at Auburn who was still growling at him. I checked my watch, I had already been here for an hour.

"I'm truly sorry again, however, I have an appointment I have to make..." I trailed off as I moved to leave. However, he grabbed my hand bringing it up to his face and placing a light kiss on its back.

"It was a pleasure Emily." He replied before dropping my hand and turning around. Auburn let out a small bark as he left, however once she noticed that I was leaving she rapidly followed me.

It was a fairly short drive before arriving at Nathaniel's apartment complex, I used the parking pass he had given me at the interview before heading into the lobby. The receptionist was not at the desk, so I made my way onto the elevator and hit the penthouse.

As the doors opened, I found Nathaniel sitting on his couch in front of a coffee table, playing a game of chess. I let Auburn down watching as she ran towards him, not caring that he seemed too focused to play with her. She snuggled into his lap as he made his move and spun the board so he could play the other side.

"It seems rather lonely to play chess alone, Nathaniel." I honestly didnt expect him to respond, especially after seeing how Auburn didn't even get him to blink or move. However, his head raised and he looked into my eyes, I could already feel his smirk ready to make an appearance.

"Oh, not Nate?" I couldn't fight the small blush that tinted my ears, nor how I broke my gaze from his eyes. I didn't respond walking towards him and locking my gaze back to him.

"A lot can be said about how someone plays chess..." I paused and stop him before he can spin the chess board around, he had already had a pretty intense game going on both sides acting in opposite ends of the spectrum. His side of the board was very defensive, meanwhile my side was very aggressively laid out.

We each made a couple of moves, his strategy being rather defensive with the occasional strike of aggression. Meanwhile, I played aggressively the entire time, my brother had taught me how to play chess from a young age. Since he had always been such an aggressive player that was how I learned to play as well.

We were there for hours, the clock inching by faster than it normally would. The birds outside were like cheering fans watching our game of wits. The majority of our hours were spent in silence, minus the birds and the occasional check. All our talking was made through our bodies.

Our eyes would lock after we played our move for just a moment, a smirk playing through our lips. Our postures straight and the our emotions were all out to play. While his teasing nature still was prominent I could feel another side to him, still playful but more kind.

A phone ringing broke our concentration, Nathaniel's gaze breaking from me but not before I saw the flash of surprise in his eyes. He looked at the phone with disappointment, and a glanced at the clock. It was already five, we had been sitting here for almost five hours.

"I'm sorry Emily, I must take this. Lizzie will show you to your room." A woman appeared beside me making me jump, she was wearing a long white apron and her hair up in a bun.

"You have a maid?" I turned back to ask but he was already walking briskly away, whatever was attracting his attention seemed to be rather important. My question was lost in the air between us. I turned to Lizzie seeing that she was beginning to pick up all my bags.

"Here I'll help." I went to help her only for her to wave my hand away, she briskly collected all of my things before speeding off. Even with all of my bags she was still faster than me. Auburn, who I mostly had forgotten about since I started the game of chess, was sitting in my room.

Lizzie placed all my bags along the wall giving Auburn a small pat on the head, small licks were her greeting as Auburn happily wagged her tail. Lizzie came over to me and bowed slightly.

"If your to be needing anything just let me be knowing." She seemed sure of her words, though I picked up on her French accent. She must have started to learn English recently, and while it wasn't perfect I could tell how hard she was trying.

"Thank you Lizzie." I smiled brightly at her, she gave me a soft smile before returning back. She seemed very young, her short brunette hair following behind her as she left. I wondered how she ended up as Nathaniel's maid, how she came to know him.

I began to unpack my things, feelings of joy surrounding me. For so long I had lived in a cage, but now I was free. A knock on the doorway startled me, causing me to throw into the air the article of clothing, which just happened to be my panties.

"I didn't welcome you properly," He began walking towards me, with a smirk on his lips. He glanced down seeing my underwear on the ground, a blush began to make its way on my cheeks.

"But I see that you've already made yourself at home Fenice." He replied making my blush further, I began to push him out of the door. First I see that he might be an alright guy, we played chess against each other and it was like I was back in college. Then he turns into this man again and I don't understand him at all, or what I feel.

"Stop calling me that!" I successfully pushed him out of the door, he began to walk away heading to what I could only assume to be his room. I headed back into my room cleaning up all the panties before feeling the joy I had felt before Nathaniel entered the room. I let out a small squeal before spinning around in the room like a kid in a candy store.

I had no idea that Nathaniel had come back to watch me be happy, even just for a second. He watched me with a soft smile on his face the entire time, and yet he was gone by the time I stopped. I continued to unpack, not with any help from Auburn who attempted to eat all my clothing. I sighed knowing that soon I would have to meet the man my mother had picked for me. It was inevitable, and I still didn't have a real plan to deal with it.

I slept that night knowing, that for once I didn't have to worry about the rest of the people in my house. About their expectations and wishes for my life, instead for a moment I was at peace.