Disclaimer: I do not own anything, but my own story idea. This is a Modern AU Victoria/Lord Melbourne Fanfiction.

Victoria awoke with a start from the couch she was sleeping on. The throw that covered her slid to the floor, her eyes squinted at the unusual brightness of a London morning out her window. In the background she could her cellphone buzzing on the night stand from where she had set it the night before. As she stood up her whole body ached from sleeping on the couch, Victoria silently cursed herself for staying in the sitting room instead of going back to her bed. Ignoring her still buzzing phone 'The Company will survive another ten minutes without me' she thought to herself as walked into the kitchen for some Nurofen and orange juice. Once taking her pain meds she slowly padded her way to her bedroom where her phone had finally gone silent.

Surprisingly Dash was still soundly asleep on her bed, considering the phone had been ringing for at least ten minutes. Glancing to her phone Victoria could see she had a few missed calls from Eliza Skerrit her assistant and a call from William. Before she could listen to the voicemails that had been left, Eliza was calling again. "Oh thank goodness Ms. Kent you answered," Eliza said with relief in her voice.

"Whatever is the matter Eliza, I am not supposed to be in for another 2 hours for the board meeting" Victoria answered back slightly annoyed. "Ms. Kent the board members decided to move the meeting up it is happening in the next 30 minutes. Mr. Melbourne is on his way to your apartment to pick you up." Eliza said with urgency. Victoria knew this was one of her uncle's doings; they had been the main bank rollers in Conroy's attempted takeover. They hadn't gotten over it and they tried whenever they could to undermine her work in hopes of her being cast in a bad light with board. Glancing at herself in the mirror Victoria cursed before telling Eliza to try and delay the meeting as best she could before hanging up to get ready.

Throwing her hair up in a tight bun Victoria quickly put on some make up before grabbing the green dress she had put out the night before for the meeting. Even though she was stressed she smiled because she picked the color with William in mind. He always seemed to like the color green especially on her even though he would never admit it. A knock at her door brought Victoria out of her reverie and back to the present, Dash who had been still lounging on the bed went to greet the person at the door.

"Why hello Sir Dash, where might be your owner?" William said as Victoria heard him come in through her door. "I am right here, really why must my Uncles undermine me at the most inopportune times" Victoria barely noticed William's intake of breath at the sight of her, she was carrying her black heels in one hand and struggling to zip her dress with the other.

"I think that is the point Victoria is to catch you off guard, but no worries that is why I am here to collect you." She listened to him speak as she slipped her shoes on before turning around "Would you mind William I think my zipper is stuck." She could feel his warm breath on her neck as he made work of the stubborn Zipper. As the zipper finally went up Victoria shivered at the unplanned intimacy of the moment. William was so close she could smell the faintness of his aftershave; the moment seemed to last forever yet it was only a few moments. It took all Victoria had to not say to hell with board meeting, when William put his hand on her shoulder signifying he was done with her zipper. Turning around she flashed a small smile and said thanks as she rushed to grab her tablet and clutch before they walked out her door and onto a waiting elevator.

They rushed into William's town car, but Victoria quickly realized even if they had a miracle of no traffic they would not reach the meeting on time. William could see the frustration on her face as they made their way to the office. Reaching out he grabbed her hand giving it a squeeze, but before he could take it away Victoria held on. The contact for her was reassuring, especially since she did not know what type of future she would be walking into with this board meeting. She was hoping for the best, but something in her gut told her that wasn't the case.

Once arriving at the office building Victoria rushed into the elevator with William not far behind, they were 20 minutes late. Taking a deep breath before the elevator door opened, Victoria worked to put a smile on her face before facing the board and her uncles. Determined she walked straight into the meeting, which already seemed to be wrapping up.

"Victoria, how nice of you to join us, and Mr. Melbourne always not far behind," said her Uncle Leopold barely even disguising his dislike for William with his comment. "My dear you have just missed the board's vote on the merger. It is a great day for Kent Financial or should I say Kent-Coburg Financial as it was approved 11-3." Victoria kept her cool and happy demeanor face on as Leopold snidely delivered the news to her.

"It is a great day Uncle to bring another company into the fold, though I wish I would have been more informed about this sudden decision," she said trying to figure out his game. "Oh but Victoria I tried meeting with you on several occasions to discuss the merger. You were just always conveniently occupied with your VP," Leopold stated to all of the board members causing a few questioning glances her way.

"Well Uncle I should like to get up to speed on this deal, when can we expect the arrival of Mr. Coburg?" she asked not liking that Leopold really had worked to undermine her this time. "Actually Victoria we will be dealing directly with Albert as his father Ernest has decided to step down with this merger. I believe your assistant has the details regarding the meeting. Let's hope this one you may be able to make." Leopold after shaking the hands of one of the board members stood up and strode out of the board room barely casting a second glance at Victoria.

While Victoria's heart skipped a beat at the thought of working with Albert, she couldn't help but wonder what her uncle was up to.

A/N Please review and tell me what you think