Well, today was the day. The whole town was getting together at the beach to celebrate the completion of the latest Public Works Project.

Usually he enjoyed spending time at the beach. It was relaxing and helped him take his mind off of all the stress on his shoulders, which being the mayor and all meant he always had a lot of that.

He sat down on his bed, staring into the mirror that hung above the dresser. The bags under his eyes further proving how much stress being the mayor actually was.

But, there was one person that was always there to help when he needed her. One person who had been at his side since he arrived in town and somehow ended up with the most stressful job he had ever had. One person, who despite her clumsiness sometimes, somehow managed to steal his heart. His secretary, Isabelle.

Isabelle had a heart of gold. She worked just as hard as he did, but somehow managed to never look defeated like he currently did.

Just being around her anymore made the mayor's heart flutter. She was the girl of his dreams, and he knew it.

The only problem though was the fact that she was his secretary. The Mayor had a strict rule about keeping things at a professional level with his employees.

He was constantly trying to stay busy outside of Town Hall just so he didn't constantly have to be around her. He felt if he was, he would eventually blab his big mouth to her about the way he really feels, and he didn't want that.

The Mayor sighed before standing up and heading to his dresser to grab his swim trunks. He didn't keep them in his inventory, even though he probably should.

He changed into them before grabbing the towel that his friend from his old town had given him before he moved, and heading to the door.

He stood in front of it and sighed, before heading out and towards the beach.

He knew Isabelle was going to be there. He also knew she had bought a new bathing suit just for the occasion, mainly because she told him. She sounded excited when she did. He thought she was so cute when she was excited about something.

The beach wasn't too far away from the Mayor's house. As he neared, he saw that most of the other villagers' had arrived already, but he didn't notice Isabelle.

"Maybe she isn't here yet." He thought to himself.

He was well known around the small town of New Leaf, so it didn't take too long at all for the other villagers' to take notice of his arrival.

"Mayor, glad you could make it!" Tom Nook exclaimed as he approached the Mayor.

"Thanks, Tom." The Mayor replied with a smile.

"Love the swim trunks, Mr. Mayor." Rover said, as he and Lottie walked past chatting about something.

"Thanks, Rover." The Mayor said, a light chuckle escaping with his words.

"I think you were the last guest to arrive, Mayor." Tom Nook said. Although the Mayor didn't like being late to these kinds of things, he figured it didn't matter too much considering it was just a beach party, and he was the Mayor.

"So... have you seen Isabelle around yet?" The Mayor asked. Tom Nook raised an eyebrow at the question, this made The Mayor feel pretty nervous.

"I sure have! She said she forgot her towel back home so she went to grab it!" Tom Nook replied. The Mayor sighed in relief.

The Mayor did think it was weird that she forgot something as important as a towel when she was going to a beach party. She might have been clumsy, but she usually wasn't that forgetful.

After parting ways with Tom Nook, The Mayor decided to just wander around and check up on the other villagers'. He wanted to see Isabelle as little as possible today, even though he knew it was going to be almost impossible to achieve that goal.

He was in the middle of a conversation with Kicks about all the new shoes and socks his store was expecting to receive soon.

The Mayor nodded along as Kicks went on and on about shoes. He was glad that he had something that he really enjoyed.

The Mayor himself wasn't all that interested in shoes, but he vowed to get to know all of his town's villagers' better.

After Kicks going on and on talking about shoes for close to fifteen minutes, he was finally interrupted.

"Oh, hello, Mayor!" The Mayor heard a soft, yet cheery voice exclaim. He knew instantly who it was.

He slowly turned around, and what he saw, made his heart almost instantly pop out of his chest.

Isabelle was standing there, as happy as ever, in what must have been her new bathing suit.

It was a lime green bikini set. The top had ties in the shape of a "V" going from the top center of the top leading up and around her neck, tied in the back. Along with that, both the top and bottom had small ruffled green-flaps with white outlines running along the bottom of each. The top had the ruffles running along the top of the front, while the bottom they were on either side.

Isabelle twirled around so the Mayor could get a better look, and he had to look away before his nose started bleeding.

The one thing he did notice about the back, was her bottoms were a little small back there, revealing just the right amount of buttcheeks. The Mayor never knew of Isabelle to be so... viewable. The one thing he did know though, was that Digby would not approve of Isabelle's choice in swimwear.

"So, what do you think, Mayor?" Isabelle asked as she turned back around to face the Mayor.

"I...uh-um... I-I-" The Mayor stuttered trying to speak words. Isabelle giggled.

"I knew you'd like it!" Isabelle exclaimed happily. The Mayor had to look away, to refrain from passing out and worrying his whole town.

"Yeah, I'm going to uh... go over there for a little while. Talk to you later, Isabelle." He said before quickly rushing off, leaving Isabelle standing there confused.

The Mayor took off to the complete other side of the beach from where Isabelle was. He needed to slow his heart rate down before he died.

He had his back turned, and his hands resting against the farthest piece of rock he could find away from Isabelle, trying to calm himself down.

"You okay there, Mayor?" A voice asked, startling the Mayor as they placed a paw on his shoulder.

"Gah!" The Mayor jumped as he turned around to face the villager that almost gave him a heart attack. "K.K., you scared the heck out of me." He said.

"My apologies. I saw you over here alone, looked like somethin' mighta been wrong." K.K. said.

K.K. was another well known villager. He was a famous musician, so he was always hopping from town to town, but he mainly stayed in New Leaf.

"Yeah, I'm good, K.K., just have some things on my mind." The Mayor replied. K.K. nodded.

"I'm not one to pry, but what's the matter? Just Mayor things?" He asked. The Mayor nodded.

"As always." He replied with a chuckle.

He didn't want to tell him about Isabelle. He didn't really figure he'd understand.

"So, it's been awhile since I've seen you, how have you been?" He asked, changing the subject.

"Good. I just got another gig at this huge award show, so that's goin' to be cool." K.K. replied.

"That does sound cool. I'll definitely check it out." The Mayor said.

"Mayor, we're ready to start." Tom Nook said, as he walked up to the two. The Mayor looked at him and nodded.

"Alright. Thanks, Tom." He said. Tom nodded, before heading back to the group forming around the small stage that was set up on the opposite side of the beach.

The Mayor and K.K. walked together over to the stage. It didn't take too long before all eyes were on them.

The Mayor walked up onto the stage, where Isabelle and Tom Nook stood. Isabelle flashed a smile towards him as he did. He quickly smiled back, before looking away from her and towards the crowd.

"Alright, first off, I just want to thank all of you for coming out today, and I hope you're enjoying yourselves." The Mayor started, the crowed cheered. The Mayor smiled. "Next, I want to thank Isabelle and Tom Nook for helping plan all of this, and Reese and Cyrus for providing all of the food for today's event." He continued, the cheering continued. "We're out here today to celebrate the completion of our latest Public Works Project. If it wasn't for all of your patience and continued support, we would have never been able to finish re-constructing our town's hospital, that you all know we lost in that horrible fire just a few months ago." He said.

The town's hospital had burned down after some old, faulty wiring sparked and started a fire on the top floor. By the time the fire department had arrived on the scene, the hospital was already unsavable.

Luckily, there were no casualties during the fire.

The whole ordeal had put a lot of stress on the Mayor. Along with all the other problems he had currently been dealing with, things were rough.

But Isabelle, she was there for him the whole time. All the late night shifts, all the extra paperwork that needed to be done, all the problems the other villagers' needed solved. Isabelle was at the Mayor's side the whole time, and she didn't complain once.

"So, again, I just want to thank all of you for coming out today to celebrate, and I hope you all enjoy yourselves. Also, to go along with the special occasion, Mr. K.K. Slider has offered to give you all a free concert as a thank you." The Mayor announced. This got an eruption of cheers from the crowed. K.K turned around to face the crowed and gave them all a smile and a short wave. "So, like I've already said three times, I hope you all enjoy yourselves today. You've truly all earned it. Thank you." He finished, before backing away and offering a few waves towards the crowed. The cheering didn't stop until the Mayor had left the stage.

He couldn't even bare to glance over at Isabelle right now. So as he passed her, he didn't.

Isabelle took notice to this and was immediately confused.

The Mayor had quickly exited the stage and tried to blend in with the crowed so he could mingle with his town's villagers' a little more. Again, also to hopefully avoid Isabelle.

After halfheartedly listening to Mabel talk about some kind of blue video game hedgehog that she for some reason had a crush on, he listened to Mr. Resetti complain about the noise that the villagers' were making.

"Mr. Resetti, we're celebrating the completion of the new hospital. Why don't you get your swim trunks on and join the fun?" The Mayor said. Mr. Resetti thought about it a minute, but shook his head.

"And listen to all the noise even closer? No way!" Resetti exclaimed. "Just make sure you save before you leave!" He continued, before disappearing underground.

"What does that even mean?!" The Mayor exclaimed in confusion.

Resetti was always telling him to save, and he never for the life of him understood what the heck he meant.

As the Mayor mingled, Isabelle set out on a mission to locate him. But for some reason, she couldn't find him.

The sun was going to be setting soon, and K.K. was going to be starting his concert. She wanted to see if he wanted to watch it with her.

The Mayor had almost run into Isabelle a few times already, but every time he did, he either ducked out of the way before she could spot him, or he disappeared behind a larger villager.

Every time he saw her and had to hide, his heart rate would pick up. The way she looked in that bathing suit took his breath away.

At this point, the Mayor was just wandering around trying to avoid Isabelle more so than to mingle.

He had pretty much talked to every villager there at this point.

He wandered back over to the stage and bumped into K.K.

"Hey, Mayor, shows gettin' ready to start." K.K. said. The Mayor nodded as he looked over his shoulder. This made K.K. grow confused. "Looking for someone?" He asked. The Mayor turned back towards him and should his head.

"U-uh, no. Why do you ask?" The Mayor questioned, as he once again looked over his shoulder, that's when he spotted Isabelle, and she was close.

"You keep lookin' over your shoulder like you're trying' to hide or something." K.K. replied. The Mayor looked at him and shook his head.

"N-no, not at all. I'm just feeling a little sick is all. Sorry to be rude, but I have to go." He said, before quickly heading off, leaving K.K. standing there confused.

K.K. stood there watching him disappear into the crowed of partying Villagers', when Isabelle walked up.

"Hey, K.K. Was that the Mayor you were talking to?" She asked. K.K. looked at her and nodded.

"It was." He replied.

"What did he say?" Isabelle asked, curiously.

"Uh... he said he was feeling a little sick and he had to go." K.K. replied. "He was acting kinda strange." He continued. Isabelle was growing very concerned now.

Why was The Mayor acting so strange? She really wanted to know if something was wrong.

The Mayor had managed to get away from Isabelle, and decided to just head home.

The sun was setting, he had pretty much talked to all of the other villagers' already, and he just... needed to stop worrying about hiding from Isabelle.

The Mayor headed off of the beach and back towards his house, not bothering to tell anyone he was leaving as he did.

He didn't really need to stay at that point anyways. He had already made the announcements earlier thanking everyone and telling them to enjoy themselves. That's realistically the only reason he actually had to show up to begin with.

The Mayor walked down the sidewalk headed to his house. He looked up at the darkening sky, as the cool breeze ran through his hair.

As he walked, he tried to keep his mind as clear as he possibly could, but somehow, the image of Isabelle in her bathing suit somehow forced itself into his head.

He quickly shook his head, trying to push the thoughts away. He was growing very frustrated with himself. He didn't like having these feelings for his secretary. Maintaining a professional relationship with her is something he prided himself on.

Isabelle was beautiful. She was constantly being hit on by other villagers'.

Yeah, sure, it made him jealous when he witnessed it, even though it shouldn't.

But when someone would hit on her, she would always give them the same answer "I'm flattered, but I'm pretty busy with work." She would say. Which it's not like she was lying, she always had something going on in the office.

The Mayor finally managed to somehow push Isabelle to the back of his mind, as he made it to his house.

He walked down the stone sidewalk leading to the front door, before heading inside.

He had somehow managed to forget his towel at the beach, but he had not interest in going back to retrieve it. He figured someone would return it to him.

He headed straight into his kitchen and to one of his cabinets. He opened it up and pulled out a small bottle of alcohol.

Now look, The Mayor wasn't a drinker, like at all. But he did keep a small bottle in the back of his kitchen cabinet just in case he needed to relax himself. Which, he needed to do that all the time, but this, this time was different. He just really needed to keep his mind off of his secretary.

He poured himself a small glass of the alcohol, before heading towards his back deck. He liked sitting outside. Especially when the night was nice, particularly like this one.

He sipped on his small glass of alcohol, as he sat and slowly swung on his porch swing.

Staring up at the darkening sky always helped him clear his mind. He had been out there a lot in the past couple of weeks. It kept him from going mentally insane with everything that had been on his plate.

As he took another sip of his drink, his doorbell rang. The Mayor rolled his eyes, before setting his drink on the small table he had placed next to the swing, and standing up so he could go answer the door.

He was seriously wondering who in the world it could be. He thought everyone was at the party, and no one knew that he left.

He got to the front door, not bothering to look out the peephole, before answering it.

"Hel-" The Mayor started, before cutting himself off, as he saw none other than his cute, doggy secretary standing in front of him.

The first thing he noticed was she had a thin, lime green jacket on now, it wasn't zipped up all the way, but at least he couldn't see as much as he did before.

"Isabelle, w-what are you doing here? Why aren't you at the party?" The Mayor asked.

"I could ask you the same thing, sir." Isabelle replied. "I came to return your towel and to check on you. K.K. told me that you said you weren't feeling well." She continued, as she extended the paw she was holding the towel in.

The Mayor looked at the towel before taking it.

"Thanks. I-I-uh... I just..." The Mayor stammered, before shaking his head. "The noise... just gave me a headache after being there so long. It's not a big deal." He continued.

The Mayor couldn't believe this was happening. He left the party so he could get away from Isabelle, as bad as that sounds, but he couldn't just turn her away like a jerk, which he soon realized he pretty much already was on for not inviting her in after she came all the way to his house to return his towel and to check on him.

"Would you like to come in?" The Mayor finally asked, after silence had filled the air for several seconds.

"I'd love to, Mayor." Isabelle replied. She didn't sound as enthusiastic as she usually did, that worried him.

The Mayor moved aside so Isabelle could step through the door. As she did, The Mayor closed it behind her.

"So... I was just sitting out back if you would like to join me." The Mayor said. Isabelle looked at him and nodded.

"Of course I would." She replied.

The Mayor tossed his towel onto the couch as he and Isabelle walked through the house and out onto the back deck.

It had gotten pretty dark out, so the Mayor flicked on the bright, white string lights he had hanging up around the top of the awning and the beams of the railing.

It truly did look beautiful at night when it was lit up. It was Isabelle's idea for him to do that, so he had to thank her for it.

The Mayor and Isabelle sat down on the porch swing, and looked out towards the sky.

An awkward silence filled the air for several minutes, before Isabelle finally spoke.

"Mayor, is something wrong?" Isabelle asked. The Mayor slowly shook his head in response. He couldn't tell her, not now.

"Nope. Everything's great." He replied, before picking up his cup and taking another sip of his alcohol. "Oh, I'm being rude. Would you like a drink?" He asked, once he realized how rude he was being. Isabelle shook her head.

"No thank you. I don't drink." Isabelle replied. The Mayor nodded, before setting his drink back down.

Again, the awkward silence filled the air for several minutes, before Isabelle once again broke it.

"Why have you been avoiding me?" She asked, getting The Mayor's full attention. He felt his body tense up at the question.

"W-what do you mean?" The Mayor asked.

"All day at the party, the way you blew me off on the stage, and the way you've been working less and less in Town Hall when I'm there..." Isabelle started, before stopping and looking down towards the wooden deck. "Did I do something wrong?" She asked, sadly.

The Mayor instantly felt a huge wave of remorse run over him. He had never seen Isabelle this sad before, and she was sad because of him. Because of the weight of his stupid feelings for her. Because he's too much of a coward to tell a girl he likes her. Because instead of taking on his problems head on like a good Mayor is supposed to do, he's been hiding from them.

"Of course not, Isabelle." The Mayor replied.

"Then why are you acting the way you have been towards me?" Isabelle asked. The Mayor looked down, sadly.

"It's me, Isabelle. I've been ignoring you because..." The Mayor started, before stopping and closing his eyes. Isabelle sat in silence as she waited for him to continue.

This was it, The Mayor had to do this now. He had hurt Isabelle enough, he couldn't stand to do that anymore. It was time he faced his fears head on instead of running. Time for him to get this massive amount of weight off of his shoulders.

"Because I'm in love with you." The Mayor finally admitted. He felt so ashamed of himself that he couldn't even bare to look at his secretary at that moment. He had probably just made her feel so uncomfortable that she was going to resign and move out of town to a town with a less creepy Mayor.

Isabelle sat in silence, The Mayor's previously spoken words running through her mind. She was surprised.

The silence between the two was becoming too much to handle for The Mayor. The weight of his now former secret was gone, but it was now replaced by the weight of wondering what Isabelle was thinking.

The Mayor still couldn't bring himself to even look Isabelle's way. She had been so quiet, that it was almost like she had somehow vanished. He was willing to bet that that's what she was wanting to do; heck, that's what he was wanting to do at that moment.

And finally, after what felt like years had passed, Isabelle finally broke her silence.

"Y-you are?" She asked. The Mayor shamefully nodded his head.

"Yeah, I am." He replied, in an almost inaudible tone.

Isabelle looked away from him for a moment, before quickly looking back.

"Why?" She asked. "I'm just a clumsy, idiot secretary that messes things up all the time. You can do better than me, Mayor." She continued, before once again looking at the ground.

The Mayor shook his head, before finally looking back at Isabelle. He couldn't believe what he had just heard.

Isabelle talking negatively about herself? She had NEVER done anything remotely close to that before.

"No, Isabelle, you're not." The Mayor said, before gently grabbing her head to make her look at him. "You are the epitome of what I espire to be. You are the reason I've had enough strength to get through all of this mess over the past few months. You are the reason I stayed in town and became the Mayor. You are the reason this town is running as well as it is, not me, you." He continued, staring straight into Isabelle's eyes. "I'm in love with you. I love your clumsiness. I love you as my secretary. I love when you make a mistake, do you want to know why? Because it proves that even someone as perfect as you can make mistakes. I love everything about you, and I always will." He finally finished.

Tears started running down Isabelle's cheeks. She never expected The Mayor to feel so passionate about her. His words, they made a chill run down her spine, and her heart race a million miles an hour.

The Mayor gently wiped Isabelle's tears away, still not looking away from her.

"M-Mayor, I... I don't know what to say. I didn't know you felt that way." Isabelle said. The Mayor nodded.

"I have for a long time." He said. Isabelle looked off to the side without moving her head. The Mayor was still caressing her face, and she enjoyed it.

"I've... felt the same way about you since you arrived in town." Isabelle admitted as she looked back at The Mayor, this surprised him.

"You have?" He asked. Isabelle barely nodded in response.

"I-I *Nervous Laugh* I bought this bathing suit... for you." She replied, in an embarrassed tone, as she unzipped her thin green jacket once again revealing her new bathing suit.

The Mayor looked down, before quickly looking back up at her face once he realized he was staring.

"I... don't usually wear things like this... but I thought you would like it." Isabelle said.

The Mayor slowly leaned his head closer to her, she did the same to him.

"I love it, just like I love you." He said.

He and Isabelle stared at each other for several seconds, before closing the gap between them, as their lips met for the first time.

The Mayor gently kept hold of Isabelle's face, as he kissed on her very soft lips.

Isabelle's heart was once again back to racing a hundred miles an hour. She was actually kissing the town's Mayor. The same Mayor that she had secretly fallen for long ago.

Isabelle slowly ran her paws up the Mayor's chest and grabbed onto his shirt, pulling herself closer to him, only making their kiss deepen.

Several more seconds passed, before the two needed to separate for air.

Once they managed to pull their lips apart, they gently rested their foreheads together; staring into each others eyes with half lidded looks.

"I love you, Mayor." Isabelle said softy.

Hearing Isabelle speak those words to him after all he had been through made his heart do backflips. The Mayor was so happy at that moment, that he thought he was dreaming. But he wasn't. It was real.

"I love you, too, Isabelle." The Mayor replied, just as softy.

The two new found lovers continued to stare into each others eyes, as they once again closed the thin gap between them, as they joined together for another deep, passionate kiss.

The Mayor slid his hands around Isabelle's hips and pulled her closer to him. Isabelle wrapped her arms around his neck and moved in as close to him as she could possibly get.

Although Isabelle could taste the alcohol in The Mayor's mouth, she was enjoying this moment. She had fantasied about this way too much to even care.

The sweet feeling of Isabelle's soft lips were well worth the wait in The Mayor's eyes. He couldn't imagine anyone else being a better kisser than her.

The two eventually separated for air again, smiles on both of their faces.

The Mayor leaned back in the swing and Isabelle cuddled against him, as he wrapped his arm around her, holding her close to him as they stared out at the dark, star filled sky.

This was going to be a night neither one of them would ever forget. The night that they both admitted their feelings for each other. The night they finally bared their secrets that had been weighing them down since the day the met.

They were now together; now a unit, and nothing would change that.