Disclaimer: I only own London and Emerald.

Miami, Florida… Friday Morning

Her eyes shot open, as the thunder roared over her rooftop. London could hear the rain pouring down outside. She looked at the clock and it was 6:10am. "May as well get up now" she thought to herself, since she had to be up at 6:30 anyways for work. She yawned and stretched as she sat up right. She then made her way to the bathroom. She turned on the bathroom light and looked at herself in the mirror. She was not the same person she once was. She needed different ways to cope with what had happened in her life. Her blue grey eyes didn't have the same sparkle and life in them that they once held. Her beautiful smile that she once had was now non-existent. Her thoughts and memories of her tragic past consumed her. She tried to have a normal life. On the outside she had this façade; this mask that she wore for people, but no one knew what she was really feeling or doing behind closed doors to cope. No one knew of what happened to her in her life, and she wouldn't dare tell anyone. She didn't want to be judged or having people gossip about her or even blame her for what had occurred in her life, even though she blamed herself every day. London was her own worst enemy, but she didn't see it that way. She thought she deserved the way she treated herself.

London quickly gathered herself and turned on the water to the shower. As the water was heating up to the hot temperature she loved; she brushed her teeth, and then she put her golden blonde locks up in a messy bun, so her hair wouldn't get wet, and she washed her face. She stepped inside the shower, and washed her body, and stood under the hot sprays for what seemed like an eternity. Her past played in her mind like a movie, always on repeat from the beginning until now. She felt the tears build up in her eyes. She quickly turned off the water and stepped out of her shower and grabbed the towel hanging on the towel bar. She wrapped herself in the towel and cleared the mirror of the fog and once again looked at herself in the mirror. She hated what she saw every time she looked in the mirror. The girl she once was dead and gone and this new person she didn't recognize took over.

She went back into her bedroom which was small. It was a little bigger than a closet but not by much. London checked the time and it was only 7:00am. She had a bit of time before she had to be at work since she didn't have to be there until 8:30. She walked to her nightstand drawer and pulled out the item she knew she needed to help alleviate the pain she was feeling. Her handy little switchblade. This was like her best friend. It was a sad fact but it was the truth. She clicked on the switch to open the blade, and she immediately started cutting into her skin on her upper arm and she immediately felt this release from within. She tilted her head back, her eyes started to close as soon as the blood started to ooze out of her arm. London felt better already. The physical pain made her forget about her inner pain. It was like a high for her. Cutting always made her feel better. It was like the pain and turmoil she felt within was being released and she temporarily forgot her past, her memories, and her pain. She would hide her scars by wearing long sleeve shirts. Sometimes if she had no more room to cut on her arms, she would cut her stomach or her upper legs and thighs. Places where no one would see. After a few minutes of her self-cutting she cleaned her cuts off with water, and applied antibiotic cream and bandaged them.

She then proceeded to take her hair out of her messy bun and brush it out, and she left it straight and down, and she applied a bit of make-up. Nothing major, just some light foundation, peach lip gloss, mascara and some rose blush. She then decided to get dressed. She chose black slacks, a nice teal long sleeve buttoned up dress shirt that was tucked into her slacks. She left the first top two buttons undone. You could see a bit of cleavage but nothing unprofessional, and black three inch pumps with an open toe. After that she walked out of her bedroom and into the plain kitchen. She made a piece of toast. As soon as her toaster popped, she took the piece of toast in her hand, and looked at the time. She was now running late due to the time she took to cut herself.

She walked out of her apartment and locked the door, and made her way down the stairs to get outside to the parking lot. She made her way to her 2001 black Honda Civic. She turned on her car and the wiper blades. She was finishing her toast as she started to back out of the parking lot. She pulled out onto the streetway and made her way to work. After a twenty-minute drive in hectic Miami traffic she finally made it to work. As soon as she stepped foot inside of Sizzling Sports, which was a Sports Magazine where she worked, she was greeted by non-other than her best friend Emerald.

Emerald met London at a previous job. They both worked at this dive bar on the outskirts of Miami a few years ago. They both left that job when the owner Jacob MacLean got arrested and was convicted of drug trafficking. They both then landed a job at the Sports Magazine through a temp agency. London got hired on as an editorial assistant for the magazine, but she quickly made her way up to working closely with the Editor in Chief Shane McMahon, while Emerald worked as a writer for the magazine.

"How are you L?" That was Emerald's nickname for London.

"Good thank you Em. Sorry I didn't call you back last night. I ended up watching some mindless TV show, and then went to sleep. How are you?" replied London. They walked while they made small talk to London's office. Once they got inside London's office, Emerald closed the door and turned to face her best friend. Emerald's hazel eyes were full of concern for London. She knew something was wrong with her best friend, but every time she asked London, London always had an excuse, and told her that everything was fine. Emerald wanted to get to the bottom of what was going on with her best friend, and by damn she was going to do it one way or another. With London's cooperation or not. Emerald was determined to get to the bottom of what was bothering her best friend and do her best to help her through it, and help get her back to the person she once was. London was too beautiful of a person to be suffering in silence like she had been for so long.

"What is going on with you London?" Emerald asked her soft voice full of concern.

"I don't know what you mean." London replied her voice filled with agitation and sadness.

"Yes you do." Her best friend responded. Hazel eyes were staring into the blue grey eyes that were filled with so much hurt, pain, and suffering.

"There is nothing going on with me. Now if you don't mind I have an article to finish for Mr. McMahon. I will talk to you later." London said annoyed.

Emerald stood up and quickly made her way to the door. As she opened the door she looked over her shoulder at her best friend who was now focused on her computer. She quickly turned her head back and exited the office. She walked past Shane McMahon's office. He was standing by the door and smiled politely at Emerald. She smiled back, but before she could pass his office, Shane asked "Could you please come in here for a few moments."

Shane stepped aside allowing Emerald to walk into his spacious beautiful office. He closed the door behind her, and gestured to Emerald to have a seat in a chair in front of his desk. She sat as he walked behind his desk and took a seat in his chair.

"Do you know what is going on with London?" His voice full of concern. No one knew how Shane really felt about London, but Emerald had a suspicion that he was in love with her, but she could never ask her boss that question. That would be unprofessional. Little did she know that she was right. Shane had fallen in love with London over the course of their working relationship.

Shane was a good looking older man. He had a nice body, beautiful brown eyes and his hair was a nice shade of grey. He was a divorced father of three boys who he loved more than life itself. Declan, Rogan, and Kenyon were his life, his world. He never thought he would find love again after his divorce, but he suddenly one day found himself falling in love with London. He thought she was the most beautiful woman he had ever laid eyes on. Golden blonde hair that had layers in it, and went down to the middle of her back. Beautiful blue grey eyes. Sometimes they were blue, and other days they were grey and sometimes they were a nice mixture of both blue and grey. She had a nice hourglass figure, and curves in all the right places. She had a nice booty, and thick thighs. Her lips were a nice shade of pink and they were pouty. Shane had fantasized about what kissing that beauty would be like on more than one occasion. He was pulled from his thoughts of London as Emerald's soft voice spoke.

"I tried asking her just a few moments ago what was going on with her, but she said nothing was going on. I don't believe her though." Hazel eyes stared at brown eyes both full of sadness and concern for the woman in the next office. From that moment on both Shane and Emerald decided that they would both do whatever they could to try and help London out of whatever it was that was tearing her apart, and they would help her by any means necessary.

London was typing away while working on the computer when she heard a knock at her door. 'Come in." she spoke softly, but loud enough for the person on the other side of the door to hear her. Shane turned the door knob and proceeded to walk into London's office. "Mr. McMahon I am almost done with that article you asked me to do."

"London how many times do we have to discuss this? Please call me Shane, not Mr. McMahon. We have worked together for a while now. You can call me by my first name, plus Mr. McMahon makes me feel old." Shane stated with a smile on his face.

London smiled apologetically "I'm sorry. I will call you Shane from now on." London stated; voice soft as her blue grey eyes looked in his brown eyes.

"I am not here to discuss the article I asked you to do. I actually need to discuss a private matter with you." Shane looked at her, his eyes full of concern and love.

London had never seen that look before from anyone else, but she had seen that look in Shane's eyes on more than one occasion when he was speaking to her. She wasn't sure what it was, but it made her feel funny inside. It made her nervous, but gave her butterflies at the same time. She never felt this way before with a man. She didn't know why she was nervous, and happy to see Shane, but whenever he was around her or near her, she would always feel that way. She quickly pushed those feelings away. She couldn't get involved with her boss. That would end badly just as everything else in her life ended and then she would be out of a job. She loved this job and she wouldn't do anything to risk it. It paid her decently. She earned more from this job then she had at any of her dead end jobs, and she wasn't going to lose it. Plus, she liked what she did, and she made some friends there. Of course she would keep them at an arm's length, even Emerald. Yes, they were best friends, but London learned at a young age that when people got to close to her they would either leave her or back stab her. The only person she could rely on was herself. It was a sad fact but it was the truth.

Shane turned and closed the door. London couldn't help but stare at him while he had his back turned to her. He was in grey dress pants, which accentuated his nice firm backside, and a white long sleeve buttoned up dress shirt and his Nike runners. He always wore those, unless he had a business meeting, or clients to meet. If he had meetings then he would wear dress shoes, even though he hated them. His runners would match his outfit of the day. Today his runners were grey and white. London swore he had to have more than a hundred pairs of those Nike runners. Shane was like a woman obsessed with shoes when it came to those shoes. He hardly ever wore ties. He was still appropriately dressed for work, but he wasn't dressed in a suit and tie unless he had to be. London bit her lip as she checked out Shane's backside. He had such an incredible body for an older man, and his ass was perfect. It was firm, and round. London could never figure out why his ex-wife wanted to divorce him. Any woman would be lucky to have him. She quickly pushed that thought out of her mind as Shane made his way over to the chair in front of her desk. "What did you want to talk to me about Shane? Did I do something wrong. If I did I can fix it. I am so sorry." London stated her voice dripping with concern and fear.

"London it is nothing like that. You didn't make a mistake, and there is nothing for you to apologize for." Shane stated and a smile crept on his face. As soon as he smiled London smiled and felt more at ease.

"What do you need to discuss with me then?" London asked.

"London, please excuse me for being blunt here, but I am going to get straight to the point. Emerald and I are concerned about you. If something is bothering you or going on with you, you can talk to us. We want to help you. We both care about you."

"That was a blatant lie." I am in love with you London." Shane thought to himself. If only he could gather the courage to tell her how he really felt.

"Listen, I know I am your boss, but I also like to think we are friends as well, and friends are there for each other during good times and difficult times. Please tell me what is going on. Maybe I can help." Shane said, brown eyes were searching for a reaction from the blonde hair blue eyed beauty.

London quickly looked away from Shane's gaze. She didn't know how to respond. She never had someone care enough about her before to ask what was happening. Everyone she had met before just treated her like garbage and used her for their own selfish reasons. They never cared enough to ask her what was wrong, let alone wanting to help her. London was quickly pulled from her thoughts when Shane cleared his throat. She looked up at him blue grey eyes meeting brown eyes.

Apart of her wanted to break down and tell him everything that was happening. To have him hold her and tell her that it will all be alright. She desperately needed and wanted that comfort in her life from someone. She genuinely wanted someone to make her feel loved, and to take away the feeling of being completely and utterly alone, because that is what she was, alone. She quickly pulled herself together.

"Nothing is going on with me Shane. I appreciate yours and Emerald's concern, but everything is fine. I promise." London said.

Shane didn't believe her, but he decided to drop the subject for the time being. He didn't want to cause a scene or make London uncomfortable, especially at work. "Okay, but if you decide you want to talk to someone my door is always open." Shane said, as he got up from the chair and made his way to the door. With that he left and made his way to his office, while London thought about their conversation and his offer for her to confide in him. "If only I could" she thought to herself.

A/N: Thank you to everyone who took the time to read this. This is my first story that I have written. I hope you all enjoyed it & please feel free to leave a review.