08/11/2012

Aria Montgomery gazed up the towering skyscraper she would soon call home. Here she was, a 5-foot-nothing girl from a small town, facing a monstrosity of a building that she never quite seen the likes of. It was ironic really, how accurately this moment captured the turn her life had taken. Just a couple months ago, she'd graduated with a degree in English and a new career as an investigative reporter waiting for her at the Leicester Times. Who would've thought that a big time private investigation agency would seek her out personally and take her on, just weeks after she'd scored the reporting job? No one, that's who. No one except her grandfather, who'd always claimed Aria would do big things, even when no one else believed it.

Thinking of her Papi only brought a lump to her throat-he had recently passed away from colon cancer, and the effect that his death had on her was indescribable. Nevertheless, she couldn't let it break her-the very last moments that she'd spent with her grandfather, he'd made her promise that she would do big things so as not to make him look like a fool for predicting such things. And she planned to do just that.

Taking a shaky breath, Aria walked into the Pierre D'Arriare Hotel to begin her first assignment as an undercover private investigator. She was told to dress as normal as possible for the occasion, so as to blend in with everyone else. Unfortunately, Aria had no idea what 'normal' meant in New York City, and opted for what she deemed casual attire: a black hoodie and dark jeans. The sexy red Marc Jacobs top underneath her hoodie was her piece de resistance-she just couldn't go drab all the way. The agency had already taken care of logistics, and she was told all she had to do was claim her key card and head up to her room.

"Venetia Russe." She spat at the man at the information desk. Gary, her mentor at the agency had advised her that hostile and arrogant was the best way to go at hotels, it guaranteed minimum conversation and questions. It was for this reason that Aria chose the alias Venetia-she couldn't imagine anyone but a hostile and arrogant female with that name. The clerk pursed his lips together and handed her a keycard.

"Welcome to Pierre D'Arriare. We hope your stay with us is everything you imagined it would be and more. One of our staff will be up shortly with your luggage." He told her in the most unwelcome, monotonous tone.

Aria almost let out a little smile, feeling bad for the guy, but quickly regained composure and made her way to the elevator without another comment.

She plugged her earphones on and threw on her hood in an attempt to avoid any further conversations whilst maintaining her typical teenager look. Once in the elevator, she hit the "close doors" button, before let out a huge sigh of relief.

"Wait! WAAAAIT! Hold that door!" A high pitched voice cried, in seemingly deep distress that the elevator, one of many elevators one might add, was about to leave without her. Aria watched as a long bare leg plunged into the elevator and blocked the doors from closing. An arm and body soon followed, belonging to a stunning woman in her early twenties.

Once she'd gotten the door open, she held it like that and turned to face Aria with a dirty look. "Since you were obviously never taught this, I think it's my civic duty to let you know it's common courtesy to hold the door for people."

Aria opened her mouth to apologize before she remembered she was supposed to be hostile. A young man rushed into the elevator at that moment, and the girl turned her attention toward him, smiling.

"Sorry, babe." He said breathlessly, giving her brief kiss.

Aria found herself staring at him-it was hard not to. He had a disheveled head of curls and deep blue eyes, and he was dressed just as elegantly as his girlfriend, Miss Phi Alpha Beta as Aria had now nicknamed her. She quickly averted her gaze before they caught her staring, focusing on the elevator's carpet instead.

"Oh, don't even worry about it babe. You're not the one who should be apologizing."

The girl shot Aria a dirty glare, which Aria pointedly ignored. The boyfriend noticed the emo-looking individual for the first time and tried to get a look at her face, which was pretty much concealed by a hood, wavy brown locks, and large earphones. He raised his eyebrows at his girlfriend in question.

"She didn't even hold the door open for me when I called out! It was so rude and embarrassing, Z!"

"Well, Jackie. I don't think she quite heard you through those earphones. And come on, it's not a big deal."

"Seriously, Ezra?" She scoffed as the elevator stopped on their floor, walking out in a huff.

"Jackie, wait." Ezra called, glancing back at the girl who'd caused the problem in the first place. Aria unintentionally raised her eyes and met his mesmerizing ones. They stared at each other for a couple of seconds before he turned away and ran after his girlfriend lugging her enormous suitcase in tow.

Aria finally had the elevator to herself and breathed a long-withheld sigh of relief. She couldn't stand girls like Miss Phi Alpha Beta. And she couldn't stop thinking about the boyfriend's eyes.

After giving herself a little pep talk about how she was here to complete her very first assignment and not to waste her time on attractive guys with irritating girlfriends, Aria entered the suite she would occupy for the next few months. She fell asleep as soon as she hit the queen-sized bed, enveloping herself in expensive, white sheets.

Hours after a restful nap, she was up and alert, feeling the desire to do something extravagant and out of character before her assignment truly began tomorrow. It was a quarter past eleven, and the fancy lounge restaurant she'd seen on her way in had never sounded better. After donning her royal purple Alexander DeMange dress, and doing herself up in the bathroom, she headed downstairs to the restaurant.

The one great thing about eating at a beautiful restaurant alone was that opportunity to really appreciate the ambience, the food, and the people around without any distractions. Aria took in the sight before her-business men in suits, women in expensive gowns, a live orchestra playing in the center, and a beautiful aroma of Italian food. Entering the restaurant, she presented her hotel card, and was ushered to a table for two in a quiet corner. It was perfect: away from the loud chatter so she could eat in peace and get some reading in.

She was so engrossed in her reading that she barely noticed the tall man in front of her. It was only when he cleared his throat awkwardly that she glanced up.

"Hey, sorry to interrupt but I was wondering…well, this might come off as really rude but my girlfriend sent me down to snag a table for 12am and it seems there's nothing available. And if I go back up there telling her this, she will have my head. So, I was just wondering, if you…I mean-" He sounded so flustered, Aria had no choice but to cut in.

"You want my table." She stated simply.

The man looked relieved and finally found the courage to look at her, having had stared at the table the entire time out of shame. He nodded before a look of recognition took him over.

"Hey- you're that girl from the elevator who got Jackie all riled up." He shook his head, sporting a little smile.

Aria didn't smile back. "Let me get this straight," she said, closing her book and crossing her legs.

"You come here to interrupt me midway through a great book, steal my table, and as if that wasn't enough, accuse me of provoking your girlfriend. Are there any other ways you'd like to insult me?"

Ezra looked dismayed and held his hands up. "I'm terribly sorry, I didn't mean it…I mean, I did, but-"

There was the adorable stuttering once again. Aria couldn't take it anymore, and let out a little snort.

"Hey," She said, placing a hand on his arm to calm him down. "Relax, I was kidding."

The guy stared at the hand on his arm and Aria quickly took it away.

She laughed lightheartedly, getting up. "You're welcome to this table, it's my bedtime anyhow. I probably look less than decent right now."

He looked her up and down. "You look much more than decent right now."

Aria felt herself blushing just as Ezra realized that he'd basically admitted he was attracted to her.

Running a hand through his curls, he gave a nervous laugh and steered the conversation back to safe grounds. "Sorry, I should've figured out you were kidding. I'm just not having the best day, as you can probably tell by now. My girlfriend isn't the easiest person to live with-and that's too much information. Sorry." He laughed again, shaking his head. What was wrong with him?

Aria smiled kindly. "No worries, we all have those days."

Ezra noticed the book in her hand, and used it as a change of topic.

"What are you reading?" He asked.

"Nothing exciting, just Tolstoy. They didn't have anything else interesting enough in the hotel's library."

"There's a library in this hotel?" Ezra asked in astonishment. "And I didn't know about it?"

Aria nodded with a laugh. "Don't worry, you didn't miss out on much. It hardly counts as a library; all they've got is Tolstoy and Dickens." She said, wrinkling her nose.

"That's all a library needs!" He argued. He placed his hand on the chair and waved the other one around, gesturing with fierceness.

"So let me get this straight, you don't consider Tolstoy and Dickens two of the greatest writers to grace this earth?"

Aria put her book down, getting ready for a heated debate.

"Not. At. All. In fact, they don't even make the top 50."

Ezra took a seat at the table. He needed to sit down for this.

"Unbelievable. I mean it's one thing to discount their brilliance, but not even granting them top 50? That's just ludicrous and downright disrespectful. I'm sorry to have to tell you that, but it's the truth."

He shrugged his shoulders, waiting for her response.

Aria tried to hide her smile as she sat down across him.

"I feel sorry for you. I mean, obviously you haven't read enough to know the meaning of brilliance." She retorted.

And so the debate went on for quite a good while, with both sides substantiating their points with evidence and refusing to back down from their original views. In fact, they were in so deep that they failed to notice a certain tall blonde headed towards them in blatant fury.

"What do you think you're doing with my boyfriend?" She said, directing her wrath at the object of his attention.

Aria felt like she was being awakened from a trance and rose from her chair, slightly disoriented.

"I'm…I'm sorry-" She began.

"Relax, Jackie. We were just talking." He interrupted, not bothering to get up.

Jackie gasped. "Ezra, do not tell me to relax!"

By this time, the entire restaurant had turned to stare. Aria realized that she had done exactly what she'd ordered not to do by the agency-stand out of the crowd. Her heart sank as she thought about what was at stake.

Slowly, she inched herself away from the scene. Ezra looked up as she began to leave, and called out.

"I'm sorry, I-I have to go."

She heard Jackie's colourful choice of words trailing behind her as she bolted out of the restaurant.

The next morning, Aria woke up to discover that she had slept in. On the first day of her new career. With a loud groan, she forced herself off the bed. It was a good thing she'd planned her outfit ahead of time, because at this rate, she'd have to hail a taxi in order to make it on time.

Aria put on a form-fitting dress with knee-high boots, and the reddest of lipstick. After that, she threw on the same hoodie from yesterday, partially obscuring her face with the hood. The point was to blend into the background at the hotel and its surroundings but once on location for the undercover assignment as Venetia Russe, throw casualty out the window and bring out the bold and sexy.

As she rushed out of the elevator, Aria bumped into a stranger and nearly toppled over. Fortunately, the stranger easily caught her in his arms.

"Whoa there, slow down!"

Aria looked up in amazement to see Ezra holding on to her. She just could not escape him. Aria felt herself let out an involuntary shiver as his strong arms hugged her. She also couldn't help noticing that he smelled incredible.

"You again!" Ezra exclaimed, his arms still wrapped around her upper body.

Aria realized she had to get away from him before he caused any more trouble for her.

She straightened her body and gave him a blank look.

"Do I know you?"

Ezra looked at her in confusion before his face crumpled in laughter.

"You're doing that thing where you're funny, aren't you? I'll give it you, almost fell for it again." He told her, wagging his finger in mock admonishment.

Her heart sank as she realized how much of an idiot she was, making rookie mistakes. It was as if he made her forget what she was there to do. And as much as she hated to admit it, she had to get rid of him. Have one of the guys transfer him and his girlfriend over to another hotel. And remind herself that he'd been nothing but a distraction when she never saw him again.

For now, she settled on the jealous girlfriend argument to keep him away.

"I'm sorry, Ezra. Your girlfriend will make my life a living hell if I keep talking to you. I think it's best if we just…stop." She told him awkwardly, glancing at her Michael Kors watch. "I have to go now."

Ezra stood there in dismay as she raced out of the hotel. He wanted to call out her name. Unfortunately, he'd never bothered to ask what it was.

Aria heard the bell ring just as she made her way into Rosewood High. Instead of a taxi, she'd opted for public transit, thinking she'd have enough time; she'd thought wrong.

She walked into a classroom, glancing down at her schedule to make sure it was the right one as she did. The teacher had his back turned, writing his name on the blackboard. Aria took the opportunity to grab the first seat she saw before he realized she'd walked in late. It was in the first row, dead center and quite possibly the best seat she could've picked considering the fact that her alter-ego, Venetia, basked in the center of attention.

As the teacher turned to face the class, however, she realized that she'd actually picked the worst seat. In front of her stood the last person she needed to see. In front of her stood Ezra Fitz, whom she had just written out of her life moments ago.