"Mr. Burhock.""Please, just George. We've been through hell and high water together, that's enough to start going on a first name basis, I'd say."More camera flashes went off outside the car window, bathing the limousine's interior with rapid-fire illuminations like a chain of lightning strikes. The car began rolling again now that Mr. Burhock and Anthony had managed to squeeze through the paparazzi and get settled in, sitting opposite Atlas and Dolores. And then silence, finally.It lasted no longer than a minute."...Dolly, are you absolutely sure that you -""George, I swear to God." Dolores crossed one leg over the other and leaned against the window in a slouch. "Ask me that one more goddamn time..."Burhock gave her a wan smile. His normally ruddy face looked paler today, and more drawn. He was almost unrecognizable without his signature jolly smile, but then again, he didn't have much to be happy about right now. His company s

 "...Hi, Mr. Lee." Jia glanced around the store before looking back at the old, wizened man with a nervous smile. "Um...did you get my messages by any chance?"He was looking from her to Atlas and then back at her again, bushy white eyebrows furrowed in suspicious confusion. His English wasn't terribly strong so he was the type to listen carefully first before speaking, but Jia had the feeling that nothing she said would put him at ease. She was here two hours early with a strange man trailing behind her, after all -"Who?" he asked. He jerked his chin in Atlas's direction, watching the man's progress through the store as he examined the walls along the outer aisles. As an elderly man with limited access to media of any form, it was unsurprising that he failed to recognize the CEO."Just my boss. He's, um...we'll be leaving soon." Or so Jia hoped, at least. She didn't know why Atlas was doing this, or what he was looking for as he explored the perimeter of

 Jia was angry. She had come dressed in something formal but also something that she could wear to work, because she hadn't known what would happen between the time she left for Atlas's penthouse and when her shift (should have) started at eight. Dark slacks and a white button down blouse, she had come dressed to get fired.Instead, she was sitting on one of Atlas's sofas, smelling an aroma wafting from the kitchen so good that her mouth had turned down into a furious frown. Her fists were clenched in her lap, too, as she waited for the man to get off his phone in the hallway. His low voice was echoing amid the acoustics of the corridor with a pleasant, smooth ring, she noticed....and the conversation was taking too long.Oh, she knew she should have eaten before she left the apartment, but she hadn't had an appetite all day. Not until now.The worst part of it was that if she was being reprimanded in any way (it didn't seem like she was g

 This was an awful idea. Jia knew this. She also knew that she shouldn't be wandering around the penthouse with such fearlessness, but the place was gorgeous and she was still riding the delicious high of having won an argument against the great and ferocious Atlas Grayson. Because she had most definitely won, even though there had been no shouting or anything else to suggest the 'discussion' was an argument. He had caved, and she hadn't.That was cause for celebration, and by celebration, Jia meant claiming a self-guided tour around the luxurious unit. Atlas was simply following behind in silence as she wandered around the living room first, admiring the graceful yet minimalistic decor of the furnishings. And then the hallway next since she had already seen plenty of the kitchen.There were two paintings hung up here, one an abstract display of pale, cool colors swirling skyward, and the other a generic oil painting of a calm meadow. She squinted at the second on

 It was nearly eleven o' clock. It was a terrible idea to have stayed this long at Atlas's penthouse on a Sunday night when they both had to be in the office bright and early the next morning, especially when it hadn't been for business reasons as Jia had initially thought it would be.No, she'd had dinner and wine and a fine conversation interlaced with what she could have sworn were bouts of flirtatious prodding instead. She had been neither scolded nor fired, and the one time that she had brought up Dolly, Atlas had brushed it off with an assurance that things had been handled.She didn't understand it. Was it the wine that dulled her thinking faculties? She couldn't reason out why he would be so lenient with her when she had indirectly caused the company's profit margin to plummet to unseen depths. Not just lenient, either, but indulgent.She shivered in the passenger seat of Atlas's Lamborghini, chilled by the memory of him pressing into her back when