Carmen rushed down the hallway, stopping momentarily to straighten her skirt before she entered Sal's outer office. "He's waiting on you," his secretary whispered harshly, obviously annoyed with the fact that she'd taken the brunt of Sal Williams irritation for Carmen not being there on time.

"Yeah, sorry," Carmen hissed back. She really didn't like Sal's secretary. The woman had a brain the size of a pickle seed and an attitude that would make Hitler seem cuddly. *Wait do pickles have seeds?* She took a deep breath and opened the door. Closing it quietly behind her before turning towards Sal and the two men with their backs to her. "Sorry Mr. Williams, elevator backup."

He smiled but she saw the warning in his eyes as she approached the desk, taking the closest seat. She looked at the man beside her, returning the smile he offered and returned her gaze to Sal.

"So, what we're here for is to get you introduced mainly. Just get the basics of what you'll be doing out of the way. And Mr. Yates has an itinerary for you and Mr. Sadler so you can get you're schedules synchronized."

Her heart stopped. Sadler?

No. This wasn't happening to her. She swallowed hard to keep the bile from rising as her stomach lurched. Closing her eyes she leaned back in her chair then looked around Mr. Yates. Yep. That was him. She couldn't believe she didn't recognize that hair when she walked in.

Elliott turned towards her, his eyes full of hurt and anger. She didn't understand. Why was he so angry with her? He was the one who'd left.

"Excuse me," Elliott said quickly rushing out of the office leaving the three remaining in stunned silence. Well two of them were stunned. Carmen definitely was not.

"I'm so sorry. I'm not sure what that was about," Mr. Yates said obviously flustered by his driver's abrupt departure. "Let me go see what's wrong."

Carmen placed a hand on his arm stopping him before he got up. "It's all right. You two talk. I'll go see what happened."

She didn't know what she was doing as she left Sal's office. Her heart was pounding out of her chest and she dreaded this. What was she going to say to him? If she ever found him that is.

---

Elliott knew she was behind him before she said anything. Going back to bed was definitely starting to look good. "What do you want?"

She stopped behind him, crossing her arms over her chest, trying to keep things professional. "I want you to go back in that office and sit down so we can get this over with," she replied trying her best to sound calm and collected.

He shook his head, scoffing at her attitude. "Why? What's so important? I don't even know why I'm there. It's obviously something that Robert's working on with Sal why do I have to be there?"

"Because you're the driver of our car, apparently." She cocked her head in resignation. "Look. I don't like this anymore than you do. If I'd known it was you I was going to be working with I wouldn't have taken the job but as it is, I have and I need this promotion. I need the money. So we need to just be mature adults about this and get back in there and tough it out."

"What do you need the money for? Frank doesn't make enough to support the both of you?" He turned towards her with narrowed eyes, the venom in his voice obvious.

His words stung more than she cared to admit but she wasn't going to let him get the upper hand. "Don't start that shit with me, Elliott," she bit back all thoughts of professionalism out the window. "You're the one that left me, remember? Not the other way around. As for my relationship with Frank, it's none of your damn business. You gave up your right to knowing about my life when you took off and never said another word to me, so suck it up and be a man because this is your fault not mine."

She turned sharply and started back towards the office, stopping only when she reached the door. "Now get your ass upstairs and grow up."

Carmen rushed back towards Sal's office doing her best to keep the tears from falling. Things weren't supposed to be like this. Her heart ached. Every thing she'd ever felt for Elliott came rushing back when she'd seen him only to be reminded of what he'd done to her. She had to keep it professional or she was going to lose her job. There was no doubt in her mind that Sal was going to ask her what happened and she knew she was going to have to tell him. She just hoped she could get through this without going crazy.

"He'll be right up," she said softly, returning to her seat next to Mr. Yates.

He looked at her apologetically. "I'm really sorry. I've never seen him like that before. I think he got some bad news this morning or something he's been kind of out of it since he got to work."

Elliott walked in a moment later offering a quiet apology as he sat down next to his boss. "I'm just not myself today. You'll have to excuse me."

"Not a problem, young man," Sal replied with a bright smile. "Life sometimes gets in the way of business doesn't it? Now lets get to work."

---

Nearly three hours later, Carmen and Sal sat in his office quietly going over the itineraries for Daytona that Mr. Yates had given them. "So you'll be leaving on the 2nd for Daytona. Elliott's got some promotional things to do, just a few corporate and charity things so you'll be able to ease into it but Daytona is NASCAR's Super Bowl so just expect things to get crazy real quick. I'll be down there for the Shootout on the 7th so we'll get together and see how things are going."

Carmen listened quietly as Sal ran down the list of things on the paper in front of them. Frank was going to have a fit. But quite honestly she didn't care. Lately he'd been a little too clingy, so maybe this was just what she needed. After all they'd be getting married in a little over a year, once that happened he'd constantly smother her.

She shook her head wondering what was wrong with her. She'd never had these thoughts about Frank before. She loved him and he loved her and that's all that mattered. Seeing Elliott was obviously messing with her head. The first thing she was going to do when she got home was fix a nice romantic dinner and enjoy a quiet evening with Frank.

"Carmen? Are you listening to me?"

"Huh?" She gave Sal a confused look. "Did you say something?"

He signed heavily and leaned back in his chair. "What's going on with you Carmen? You've been out of it since the meeting. I'm not even sure you were paying attention during the meeting. Did something happen when you went out to get Elliott?"

"No something happened years ago," she replied. Prepared for the questioning look her gave her, she closed her eyes and leaned back in her chair. "Um, Sal, I know Elliott. We grew up together."

"That's great! Then this should be no problem for you," he beamed.

"No, it's not great," she said softly, causing Sal to look at her obviously confused. "Elliott and my brother, Charlie, are best friends. They have been since preschool. Elliott and I started dating our sophomore year in high school and through the beginning of college. Then after my sophomore year I came home for summer vacation and he was gone. He didn't tell me goodbye never called, nothing. So needless to say seeing him here today nearly caused me to have a heart attack."

Sal's mouth closed, his lips forming a firm line. "Carmen if this is going to be a problem…"

"No. No, it's not. I want this job. I just want you to understand that it's going to be a little difficult for me to begin with but Elliott and I were friends a lot longer than we dated so I'm hoping we can get past this long enough for me to do my job and him to do his."

"Very well. I guess that explains why he shot out of here this afternoon."

"To say the least."

He nodded in agreement. "Why don't you go ahead and take the rest of the day off. I'll see you on Monday."

Carmen rose quickly to her feet, more than ready to get out of there. "Good afternoon, Sal. See you then." She walked quietly to her office, her mind full of questions and insecurities. She just hoped she could do this without falling apart. When she'd seen Elliott this afternoon all those feelings she thought were gone started seeping to the surface again and she didn't think she could handle it if they grew too close again.

-next-

FEEDBACK? GO HERE