Wow, I am amazed at the reception of the prologue! 20 reviews? Amazing! Thank you guys so much for the reviews and I hope you enjoy this chapter! Glad you guys like the story so far!

Oh, and I like that you guys caught the Murder in the Hamptons reference. :)

Around 11 o'clock the same night, Eli was done with work until 10 am the next morning. After changing out of his doorman attire in his uncle's office, he walked out of the building in his usual skinny jeans, black shirt, and a black blazer. He fluffed his hair up a bit from his very straight laced, pulled back hair for work. He checked his watch as he turned a corner and entered a local bar. He approached the bar and was immediately presented with his usual drink.

"Like clockwork," the bartender, Natasha, smiled and leaned against the counter. "How was the doorman's day today?"

"Same old, same old," Eli muttered before sipping on his drink.

"Really? Cause a little birdie told me that the girl you're completely in love with came home today," she sing-songed teasingly. She looked up and waved at someone then walked over to a customer who just came to the counter. Right then, Eli's best friend came over beside him and patted his back.

"How'd it go?" Adam asked.

Eli shrugged. "She came. I made a fool of myself. She walked inside. That was it."

"Well then…how'd she look?"

"Beautiful," Eli breathed and couldn't help but smile to himself. "It was only 4 months since I saw her last and she got even more beautiful. I didn't know that that was possible. She dresses differently though. More…adult, mature, classy. Not that she wasn't before. She didn't have the usual floral patterns that she always wore. Oh and her hair is shorter and curlier. God, she was beautiful."

Eli didn't realize that Adam was laughing until a minute after he stopped talking. Adam had his hands over his face as he chuckled, and eventually he said, "Dude, you are sooooo whipped and you're not even with her."

"She doesn't even know my name," Eli groaned into his hands pitifully. "This girl that I've loved for a long time has no idea what my name is."

"Then what about this idea? You introduce yourself." Natasha stood behind the bar directly in front of Eli as she cleaned a deep glass. She was tapping her foot and looking at Eli with an amused face. "You come in here so often, always talking about this practically royal princess and yet you can't even get yourself to say 'Hi Ms. Edwards, my name is Eli Goldsworthy'. I mean honestly, I think you should at least be on first name basis with her."

"It's rude to just ask a tenant what their name is and I seriously doubt that they would even care what mine was," Eli reasoned with both Adam and Natasha. "Sure there are few of them who know my name but Clare has never asked. She always asks me to call her Clare, not Ms. Edwards, but she has never specifically asked me for my first name."

"You're such a wuss," Adam muttered to himself. "Just be like, 'Good morning Clare. I just realized that I've never formally introduced myself, I'm Eli Goldsworthy and I'm completely, irrevocably in love with you. Now will you please go out with me before I turn into a complete stalker and follow you to fill my needs?'"

Eli took a jab at Adam's shoulder and Adam rubbed that aching spot. "Dude, not cool. I'll probably have a bruise there."

"Yeah well," Eli replied nonchalantly. He continued to drink his drink. "I have work tomorrow around mid-morning so maybe I'll see her. I might get the chance to speak with her. Since she's just visiting I wouldn't know what time she'll come out or come home. It'll be a waiting game."

"A waiting game you don't mind," Natasha teased and stuck her tongue out. "Even when your shift is over you'll still be waiting for her to come back just to get a glimpse of her."

"If I see her, I'll see her. I'm not gonna wait for her," Eli said seriously.

Adam and Natasha glanced at each other and laughed. "You've been waiting for her for a long time, Eli. And you're still going to be waiting for her until you two finally have some sort of conversation," Adam told him. "Just…introduce yourself before she goes back to school. At least. You'll be waiting for five months for her to come back."

"Fine, fine," Eli sighed. "I'll try."

The following night, Eli was at his usual spot with his frozen stature. Feet firmly planted on the ground, hands clasped in front of him against his body, staring front as if he didn't exist. It was pretty late that cold December night, around midnight, and Eli felt like his hands were going to fall off with the chilliness of Toronto. He breathed hot air into his gloved hands, rubbing them together to create some warmth, and he touched his face and felt that his cheeks were very frozen and probably really red.

This was one thing he hated about his job. The cold, winter nights he had to endure outside. He hated it a lot more when it snowed. He had partial shelter above him, covering him from rain, snow, or other things falling from the sky, but many times he had to help the tenants out of their cars, getting himself snowed on, and he couldn't go inside to rid himself of the wet feeling he would get after having snow pound on him until his shift was over.

But tonight was a clear, freezing night and he was counting down the minutes before his shift was over. It would be done at 1 o'clock and he had an hour left to endure. He hadn't seen any tenants since 9:30 when Mr. Austin Kelly, a business man, retired up to his loft which he shared with his wife Grace and toddler daughter Katharine. Eli had his suspicions about the man. He would go to work around 9:30 in the morning, come home briefly and leave at 3 before Mrs. Kelly would get home from picking up Katharine at pre-school, then come back home late at night. He would sometimes pass by the front doors speaking in a hush tone on his phone, saying "I'm home now. I miss you too." So Eli believed that Mr. Kelly was having an affair. Not the first time Eli heard about infidelity from the tenants.

Now 12:30, Eli was practically counting down the seconds to when his shift would be over. He imagined picking up a burger from the 24 hour diner beside his apartment, going home, taking a very hot shower to defrost, enjoying his burger, then retire to bed. But then he remembered that he would have to spend another cold day outside once again and he just deflated.

He was getting tired of this job. Sure it was good money and sometimes he received hefty tips from the tenants which would leave him financially secure for a while but what was he doing? This job was usually for older men, not 20 year olds who could be in school or working at jobs that they actually enjoy.

And Clare Edwards. He was never going to talk to her. He was never going to spend time with her like he'd like. He was never going to receive the feelings back from her as he felt for her. He stayed at this job for her, just to catch a glimpse of her and maybe talk to her but that was it. She never acknowledged him more than a doorman.

Eli decided he would quit tomorrow. He was sick and tired of a job that he never really wanted in the first place and he was qualified for other jobs. Maybe he would even go to college. He just needed to feel happy for once in his life and this job was holding him back as it took up all of his time.

12:45. Eli saw Clare coming from down the sidewalk, her small frame completely bundled up in a thick winter jacket, winter boots, and a knit hat. She had her arms over her stomach, obviously freezing, and her head down to combat the very cold and fierce winds. Eli started to get nervous, as he always did when he saw Clare Edwards, and when she stopped right in front of him, looked up, and smiled, he nearly lost it.

He didn't nearly lose it because she was smiling at him, he nearly lost it when he saw her eyes were red, her makeup was runny, and her nose was red and moist. He knew that this wasn't because of the cold weather. She was crying.

"Oh hi," she said nervously, taking her covered hand and rubbing it under her eyes. "Didn't realize someone would still be at the door in this weather."

"I'm always here," he joked. His heart fluttered when she chuckled softly.

"You are," she agreed. "You must really enjoy this job."

"It pays," Eli shrugged in response. "And my uncle gave me this job so if I skip a day he would give me hell for it."

Clare nodded in understanding and sniffled. "But it's freezing. Shouldn't you go home?"

"My shift ends in a little bit," he said as he checked his watch. "I get off at 1."

"Everyday?"

He shook his head. "It switches around. Sometimes it's later, sometimes it's earlier. It depends. But when I'm not here, the other guy is."

Clare looked like she was thinking and her realization face made Eli smirk a bit. She's so adorable. "I just realized that I don't even know your name!" she said in a gasp. "I am so terrible. You're so nice and you're here all the time and I've never even asked for your name."

"Well if it makes you feel any better, no one really asks for my name," he said to her with his smirk. "My job is just to greet people and open doors. I don't need a name."

Clare shook her head and said, "No. I'm going to fix this. I'm so rude." Then she held out her hand. "I'm Clare Edwards. And you are?"

There it was. She asked for his name and offered her hand. He took it with his own and even through the fabric covering both of their hands, he felt a slight jolt of electricity and it wasn't from static. He looked at Clare in the eyes and she gasped softly, and he wondered if she felt that too.

"Eli…Goldsworthy. I'm Eli," he replied and shook her hand.

"Well it's nice to meet you," Clare smiled. "I really am sorry for not asking for your name before. That is so rude of me."

"It's okay," Eli assured her. "Really."

"It's not, Clare countered. "I feel absolutely terrible. Hm…how about I pay you back by inviting you to have dinner with me right now? I am starving and I would like some company. And I really don't want to go back upstairs and see my parents figh-, well I just don't want to see them. So will you join me for some food? I know it's late and all but the dining hall is always open and I'm sure that-"

"I'd love to," Eli answered, cutting her off. "But my shift isn't over yet."

Clare glanced at her phone and checked the time. "It's 12:53, seven minutes won't hurt, you know. And if you get in trouble with your uncle, I'll cover for you."

Eli then opened the building door and gestured for Clare to enter. She smiled and he followed her inside. She led the way to the dining hall where the waiter was sitting at a table, falling asleep. Clare rang the bell at the front of the hall and the guy, who Eli recognized as a guy named Arthur, sprung up and ran over to them.

"Evening Ms. Edwards," he said nodding to her. "And…Eli?"

"Late night dinner," Clare explained. "Table please."

"Right this way," Arthur said. He grabbed two menus and led them over to the two person table near the back of the room.

Eli pulled Clare's chair back for her and allowed her to sit before he sat down in front of her. Arthur handed them their menus and asked for their drinks. Eli asked for water and Clare wanted hot chocolate.

Eli gave Clare a curious look once Arthur walked away. "It's freezing!" Clare explained. "I need to warm up."

We could do something else to warm you up… Eli's perverted thoughts ran rampant and he pushed them back into his brain and focused on this moment. Is this a date? I can't believe she finally knows my name and she asked me to have dinner with her. This doesn't mean anything though. She just felt bad for me and she didn't want to be alone. Yeah, that's it.

"So what are you getting?" Clare asked, bringing him out of his thoughts.

Eli flipped the page over and saw that they served burgers. Yes. "A burger," he answered.

"I'm having the chocolate chip smiley pancakes, haven't had those in a while," she laughed. Eli couldn't help but think that Clare was the most adorable person in the world. She was even nicer, funnier, and cuter than he had imagined. "Whenever I had a meal here I was with my parents so I'd have to order regular breakfasts like egg and bacon, or I'd have to order pasta. Now for my first meal without them, I can order whatever I like."

"Yeah order whatever you like, I'll pay," Eli offered.

"No need. This all goes to my parents' bill," she said sinfully with a smirk. "Best thing? They won't know what I ordered. And they won't even glance at the bill. So they won't even know of this night."

"Oh." Eli kind of felt…disappointed. That meant she wanted to erase this night, have no evidence of it.

"No, that's not what I mean!" Clare recovered as if he read Eli's mind. "It's just that…my parents ask a lot of questions and if they know that I had a late night dinner they'd ask a lot of questions. They usually give a receipt at the end of the meal so I can keep that as a remembrance of our first meal together."

First meal…does that mean there'll be a second, third, fiftieth? Eli sighed in relief. He smiled at the thought that Clare wanted to remember tonight. Once Arthur came back he took their orders and the food came out within ten minutes, seeing as no one else was there.

Eli ate pretty quickly, not realizing how hungry he really was, and Clare ordered him a side of fries. "We'll share," she said when Eli began to protest. "I'm in the fries mood."

"Pancakes and fries…yum."

An hour later both he and Clare were full and talked out from having spent the entire time talking and laughing. Clare kept asking questions about Eli's job and he even shared a few stories about what he has heard. Arthur gave them a receipt and Clare put it into her wallet as Eli watched smiling brightly.

They walked into the main hall of the building and Clare asked. "What have you heard about my family?" she asked curiously.

Your sister was shipped away, your parents spend more time yelling at each other than talking, and you…you're the most angelic person I've ever met. "Not much," Eli shrugged. "Honestly, your family is the quietest one of them all. Everyone has scandal but you guys don't really. Unless you've murdered someone or robbed a bank and no one found out."

"I guess I'm just good at secrets," Clare joked. She glanced at the big clock in the room and sighed. "Time to head upstairs. It was really great to officially meet and spend time with you Eli. Maybe we can do this again sometime."

"Sure," he smiled. Clare held out her hand and it would be their first skin-to-skin contact. Eli gently touched Clare's soft hand and the electricity was more noticeable. His skin tingled, all over his body, and he wished he could just take her up in his arms and love her to oblivion.

"Goodnight Eli," Clare said to him, looking up into his green eyes with a completely complacent expression.

"Goodnight Ms. Edwards," Eli said automatically.

"It's Clare," she reminded him. "If you call me Ms. Edwards again, I will…I'll tell your uncle to tack on an extra hour onto all of your shifts."

Eli's jaw dropped teasingly. "Ouch! And here I thought that we were getting along!"

Clare started walking towards the elevator and it opened quickly and she stepped inside, turned around, and waved to Eli. Once the doors were closed, Eli smiled. "Goodnight Clare," he said to himself with a silly grin. He walked out of the building and headed towards his apartment, not able to wipe off the smile on his face.

So how was it? Please review! Just an FYI, this story will be slow and my updating will be sporadic. I have another current story going on as well so I'll be alternating chapters. But thank you guys so much for the support of this story! I'm still amazed that I got 20 reviews just from a short prologue! You guys are amazing! I hope you guys continue to review and continue to love the story!

Every chapter from now on I will pick my favorite review that I receive and dedicate the next chapter to you. :)