Olay I said by Monday and I had it by end of day. So I think that's pretty good. Thanks to all of the reviewers on this story. Reviews always make me want to try harder and do more.

I don't own any of these characters. They're all Kelley Armstrong.

Tori was standing next to Simon. As we crawled out she looked us up and down, taking in the mussed hair the slightly swollen lips. "While you two were getting it on in the elevator, I took a look at your laptop Derek. You had the old version on the motion capture program on it. What I designed works just fine. You should look more closely at the dates on things."

I opened my mouth to protest her assumption about what we'd been doing in the elevator, but she'd already turned and walked away.

Simon also looked pretty smirky. "Just get out of public spaces and you can do whatever you want."

"We weren't-" I began and then gave up. He'd believe what he wanted. I tried to ignore his knowing look, but I'm sure I still turned bright red.

He turned to his partner for more ribbing. "Derek, maybe this is the first girl who ever said 'I like you' but that doesn't mean you can do the nasty where ever you want. Though I have to say, I don't think you can do better than Chloe."

Derek just grunted in response. He put his hand on my lower back and led me to the stair. We walked up the last flight. As we stepped out onto the floor, he noticed my discomfort and asked me what was wrong.

"Everyone thinks we had sex in the elevator. I know even if I told them what happened, they'd just think I was covering up."

"Chloe, Simon and Tori do not constitute "everybody." I'm pretty confident that they know us well enough to know that nothing happened. Well nothing major. They don't often get to rib me so they're going to milk it for all it's worth. If we'd spent the night reburying zombie corpses, and were covered in grave dirt, they'd accuse us of getting it on in a cemetery."

I turned to him, concern clear in my voice. "Derek, can we talk about what did happen last night."

His face became an emotionless mask. "I can't right now." He glanced around like a caged animal. "I have to go. I'm sorry" and he turned and left.

I didn't see him for the rest of the day. I tried calling his cell, but there was no answer.

I asked Simon about it and he just said to give him space, that eventually Derek would come around.

That wasn't enough for me. In desperation I went to Tori. "Do you know if Derek's coming back? Is he okay?"

"He's not coming back today. He just called Simon and me to meet him at his place tonight."

He did have his phone. I was half hoping he'd left it on Tori's desk and that he wasn't just avoiding my calls. I tried to smile causally. "Can I come?"

"Sorry. This one's a family affair."

I sighed in defeat, and my shoulders slumped. "Listen, it's been kind of a long day. Do you mind if I go home?"

"Go ahead. See you tomorrow."

I went home and stewed about what I should have done different. Somehow I'd pushed him even farther away. Had I gone too far? Too fast? I ate a pint of Cherry Garcia and went to bed.

The next morning I dressed carefully and I took my time with my makeup. I was worried that today was going to be my last day with Design Sorcery, and I wanted to leave a lasting impression.

Walking in the door, I couldn't help notice the current that was running around the office. Something was going on. As I walked to my desk, Simon hailed me from across the room.

"Chloe, we've got a staff meeting in five minutes. Be there or be square." And he shot me a smile.

What was going on? My stomach lurched was this the last time I was going to see Derek? I couldn't let them know how close I was to tears. I numbly put down my lunch and my purse. I grabbed a notebook, schooled my face into a mask of indifference and started to the meeting room.

I was walking by an empty office when a hand reached out and grabbed my wrist. I gave a small shriek. So much for my nonchalant attitude.

I turned and was surprised to see Derek. He looked a little worn around the edges like he hadn't had much sleep, and he obviously didn't shave this morning.

For a second I saw something in his eyes. Something that rewoke the hope in me that there could be more to this. "Chloe, I-" He paused as if trying to figure out what to say next, then a tentative touch to my waist and his head started to lower -

"Ewwwww I don't need to see you two making out." This time it was Tori. Lousy timing must run in the family. "Come on, Derek. Let's go. They're waiting for us."

Derek looked at me and said "I need to talk to you after the meeting."

I went into the meeting room and sat down at the table. I was surprised to see Simon, Derek and Tori all remain standing at the front of the room. This was much more formal than they usually were.

Simon cleared his throat clearly nervous, "Hey guys… uh… you know the last couple of years working with you all have been great. You're like a family to me, well to all of us."

Was this about Simon going to Japan? The whole staff must already know he's going. Why make such a production out of it?

"But sometimes we need to make changes for ourselves." That was from Tori. Was she leaving too?

"We sold the company and all of the rights." Leave it to Derek to become annoyed at the sentiment and get to the point.

Simon jumped in "Don't worry, you all still have jobs. The deal we've arranged with the purchaser is to continue business as usual until all current projects are wrapped up. Which you know can take years. At that point you have the option of staying on with the new company or taking a generous severance package. The job is yours as long as you want it. It's up to you." A brilliant grin "That was also a part of the negotiations."

I was stunned. Not so much about whether or not I'd have a job, but the fact that they'd sold the company. The meeting went on for a while longer, with people asking questions about who'd bought the company and when things were going to be happening, but I wasn't paying attention anymore. I was trying to go through the implications of this in my head.

Why had they done this? Was it Derek's decision? Were Simon and Tori okay with it?

Even after the meeting broke up, there were a million questions around the office. People were moving from desk to desk talking about what they thought was going to happen, what the new bosses would be like. I think I was the only one actually working. I didn't want to talk about this with my co-workers, I wanted to talk about it with Derek.

Derek must have been doing some talking and organizing of his own, probably was working over contracts and calling the one person who wasn't in today. It was over two hours later that he finally came to my desk.

"Hey." I'd been staring at my screen not really having comprehended anything for a long time. Just needing some where to look. I jumped a little bit and then gave him a "Hey" back.

"Uh. I don't really feel right talking here. Not even in my office. Do you mind if we go somewhere for lunch?"

"Lunch would be good." I shut down my pc, grabbed my purse and followed him out of the building. Summer was waning but it was one of those perfect seventy degree days out.

We went about a block into a non-descript building. If there was a restaurant in here, it must be very high end. They obviously didn't feel the need to advertise. I didn't see any signage.

Derek brought me to the stairwell and I followed him up to third floor. I knew we weren't going to a restaurant; we must be going to his place. I thought I lived close. He led me down the hall to apartment 3E and unlocked the door. He opened it for me and gestured me inside.

"I'm sorry, I should have asked first. Is this okay?"

"Yeah. It's good." I wanted to know more about him, and his apartment was a good start.

"I didn't really feel like being in public at all. I can make us lunch."

It wasn't your typical bachelor's pad. No black leather and chrome or super modern and filled with things from Sharper Image. He was surrounded by practical things. His furniture was obviously new, but still comfortable looking. A big overstuff couch and chair, end tables a coffee table and even matching lamps. He saw me looking closely at the things around him. "As soon as we started making money, I got this place and the furniture. I'd never really had a home before."

I'd never seen a single man's place look so homey. Surprising touches here and there from the ever practical Derek. He had a turned wood bowl of fruit on the counter, and a couple of stylized wolf statues on an end table. There was framed art in the living room that looked original, but the dining room he'd filled with pictures. He had pictures of Simon and an older Asian man I assumed to be Kit. There was another one of Derek, Simon, Tori and Liz together all toasting the camera with glasses of champagne around the Design Sorcery sign. It must have been opening day. One of Kit grinning broadly with his arm around a graduation gown clad Derek. A shot of Derek and Simon on either side of a campfire holding marshmallows. I was surprised to even see one of just Tori making a funny face and flicking off the camera. There was one in the group that wasn't a picture at all, but a drawing. Simon's necromancer had her arms wrapped around the big black wolf from the graphic novel. My eyes stopped on that one and lingered.

Derek flushed and cleared his throat. "Simon gave me that one last week. I framed it and put it up. It was the closest thing I had to a picture of you."

"We'll have to remedy that, won't we." I said distractedly. I was on his family wall. That had to mean something. Didn't it?

"Are you okay with sandwiches for lunch?"

"Sure." I expected peanut butter and jelly. Instead I saw him haul out a hunk of meat.

"What is that?"

"Roast beef? Is that okay? I had Sunday dinner here last weekend, and there were leftovers. I always make too much."

"You made roast beef?"

"Yeah. I like to cook." He proceeded to slice the beef very thin, got out some cucumbers and onion and sliced them thin too. He layered it on fresh bakery bread with a spread he made of horseradish and blue cheese. "Salad?"

"Yes, please."

He got a salad spinner out from the fridge and took out a couple of handfuls of mixed greens, sliced a pear and added blue cheese. Then he got out some balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil and dressed the salad. They whole thing barely took him five minutes, and it was a gourmet style meal. Give me five minutes I'd give you burnt toast.

I took one bite and I was in heaven. "Oh, man. This is so good. If this is what you can do with sandwiches, you'll have to cook for me sometime."

"I'd like that." I looked up at him in surprise. Time to get down to business.

"You've been busy the last twenty-four hours." It sounded more accusatory than I meant it too. I just felt bad he hadn't included me in any of his planning.

"The first few hours were just me trying to figure out what to do. Then I made some calls. We've been approached several times in the last year with buyout offers. It was just a couple of calls to find someone who'd meet our asking price."

"So what's next?"

"I'm going back to school. I've enrolled for this fall at the U. I'm going to get my masters in physics, and then go on for my PhD. I could teach, or work for NASA. I don't really know what I want to do with it for sure. I just know it's what I like to do."

"What are you going to do for a job while you're in school?"

"Actually, I think with the sale of the company, I'll be able just to concentrate on my studies." A pause and a sheepish grin. I had a flash of déjà vu and that terrible interview we'd done. "That's bull. I know I don't have to work. To tell the truth, it would take some pretty fancy cars and extravagant living to blow my share from the sale. I don't know that I'd actually ever have to work again."

"You're finally doing something for yourself."

He nodded.

"Can I ask what brought on this change of heart?"

"I thought it would be obvious."

Maybe, but I wanted to hear him say it anyway. I raised my eyebrows.

"You. You did, Chloe. You were right."

"Hrm. I think we should start keeping a scorecard. Who's right more often: me or you." Derek snorted "You'd hate it if I won though. Just to clarify, what exactly was I right about this time?"

"Doing things because you think it's what's best for others isn't always the best reason to do them. Turns out both Simon and Tori were only staying in the business because of me. They'd liked the offers that came in, but didn't want me to feel I'd failed by selling to someone and not being the owners anymore."

"So you were all just hanging on for the each other and none of you wanted it anyway. Sounds like something families do."

"Yeah. I guess." He laughed. "I called them over yesterday to ask what they thought about it. Tori's first words were 'It's about time.' I talked to Kit yesterday too. He doesn't care how successful I am. He just wants me to be happy."

"From what you've told me about him, that sounds about right."

"So that's my new goal. I'm going to try to be happy."

"To repay Kit?"

"Yes. Well that and I think it's time. I can't let the past eat at me anymore, or it will win."

"And to make yourself happy, you're going back to school to do something you like to do."

"No. . . well yes, that's part of it. But I was thinking about something a little more personal." He took a deep breath "I'm not a piece of shit so I need to stop acting like one and tell you how I feel. Chloe, you make me happy. Being around you makes me feel like I am a better person. I don't want anything from you that you're not willing to give, but if you're still interested…." He looked at me with a puppy dog expression. Like one whose has been kicked too many times not to expect it.

"I am. Interested that is. I am very interested."

A brilliant smile lit his face. "Good."

With that he pulled me into his lap. He bent his head to kiss me, but just before he did he pulled back.

"What?"

"Give me your phone." I pulled it from my pocket and handed it to him. He flipped it open and turned it off. Then he opened his own and did the same thing.

"We're not going to be interrupted again." Then he kissed me. And it was everything I was hoping it would be.

And that's the end. :) I have a maybe thought for a one shot for this, but I'm not sure. It'd be a Tori & Simon one. (One that features both of them, not one of them getting together. Ewwwww) R&R -Heather.