Good afternoon, guys! :) I'm glad you're enjoying this story. I wasn't so sure that you'd like it after I wrote the first chapter. I had the feeling it was a dull story, but after thinking about different options, and now that I've written this chapter, I'm beginning to enjoy writing it. This third chapter is a little bit hurtful for you Paily lovers, but I think this is necessary in order to get to a happy place. I don't know if you've read any stories I wrote before this one, but I love angst and cliffhangers, so you'll have to be patient about that. :D English is not my mother tongue, so I apologize for my mistakes in advance. Let me know your opinions about it.

MJ: Thank you for being so nice to me. I'm glad you like this so far. And I have a feeling you'll be officially a fan after reading this chapter. Hahaha. :D Hanna is the character I enjoy the most writing because of her sense of humor. :)

Guest #1: Thanks! Sexy Paige is going to be sexier from now on. That was only a tiny part of her full potential. xD

Guest #2: This chapter is even nicer. :D

Guest #3: I do remember that Ezria moment. I didn't think about that when I was writing, but now that you mentioned, it's the same feeling but with different characters. :D

Rudy Maro: I guess you wanting more is a good sign, right? xD Your wish is my command. :D

Thank you so much for everything. :) Enjoy! :D

IT'S NEVER TOO LATE

: Chapter 3 – Reality Slap:

'No shit!' were the only words that I managed to say when I saw the woman I was not supposed to see just in front of me waiting for me to shake her hand. I'm paralyzed, I can't move a muscle.

"Is something wrong, Emily?" Kevin finally breaks the silence and the awkward atmosphere that's invaded the room.

I look her in the eye and she doesn't seem affected at all. I must look like an idiot. I need to grow a pair and act normal, pretend that I've not been thinking about her since the day I met her at the airport.

"I'm fine. Everything's okay. I just remembered I left the hair straighteners on and I need to call my friend," I say, making up the worst excuse in the history of the world. I leave the room straight away, with my phone on my hands, trying to conceal my big lie.

"What was all that about?" I hear Kevin's voice as I walk down the corridor. I guess he's wondering what happened for me to behave like that.

I lock myself inside the restroom and close my eyes and I try to carry out the relaxation technique that Spencer once taught me and which she uses to concentrate before going inside an OR. I open my eyes and text Spencer. I need to get rid of this feeling and texting her what just happened may help. 'The woman you said was statistically impossible I would see again? Turns out she works here. I needed to tell someone.' I press the send button and I oddly feel better. It seems like it worked.

"You can do this, Emily. Now get your ass out there and get your shit together!" I say to myself while I look at the mirror. I open the door and walk towards the room where everything happened. Paige… Yeah, that's her name, and I like it… is now sitting on the table with a cup of coffee on her hands while Kevin is speaking with her. A silence falls between the two of them as I enter the room.

"Is there a problem, Emily?" Kevin insists. I suppose he didn't fall for my convincing lie. I wonder why.

"Everything is perfect. I only needed to make a very important phone call, that's all." Paige doesn't even look at me.

"Then I'll leave you two alone." 'I don't think that's a good idea, Kevin,' I think to myself. "I'm just an accountant and I don't want to be a nuisance." He stands up and laughs at his bad joke. "Anyways, you know where my office is, in case you need anything else, I'll be right there."

"Sure. Thanks," I say politely.

"Paige will help you to catch up regarding your project. Be kind to her, all right?" Kevin teases the beauty that's only a few feet away from me.

"I always end up having to deal with the interns, so I'm well trained to manage this situation," she adds, obviously trying to provoke me.

Kevin leaves and I take a few seconds to think about the proper words I'll use to let her know it's not okay to say what she said.

"I'm not an intern, you know." I should have thought for a few seconds more, because now I look like a moron. Having her right next to me doesn't help, though. "I've been working for five years and I was involved in a lot of important projects. That was inappropriate of you."

She just ignores me and that gets me in my nerves. She suddenly stands up and exits the room leaving me speechless. I follow her to an office that's nearby, it has two desks and she takes a seat on the one on the left.

"That is your desk," she says pointing at the desk that's next to hers. She stands up and opens a cabinet to get a mountain of papers from inside. She places it on my desk. "Those are the sketches and all the information you need to know about the project. Mark was working on those, but I guess you should be doing that from now on. Check that out and ask if you have any questions," she adds a little bit rudely.

"Kevin told me we were supposed to work together. I mean, you're an engineer, right?"

"Let me handle all the engineering matters and you just focus on whatever architects do, okay?"

"What the hell is wrong with you?" I don't matter if they fired me for yelling at her, but my patience has limits, and she is being a jerk.

"I like to work alone. It turns out I work better with no one bothering me." She doesn't even look at me. She may be hot, but she's a jerk and a coward.

"How am I supposed to work on the design if I don't know your thoughts about the water, disposal, electricity installations and everything else you are supposed to work on?" I add, showing her that I'm upset.

"I will show you my progress on those matters and then you can work with that," she insists. I know that method won't work, but I prefer to give up and ignore her as well. I will focus on the project and try to do a good job. Even if she thinks I'm an intern, I actually took a dual degree in civil engineering and architecture, so this is not a problem for me. In fact, I used to work on the whole project in my previous work back at Rosewood. I didn't need an engineer helping me like I'm supposed to work in here. Back then, I was responsible of every aspect of the project, both architectural design and engineering, so I can obviously handle this situation. That's why I decide to ignore Paige and keep up with my work. I take the iPod of my purse and put the earphones on with the intention of eluding the reality and focusing on the important project I have on my hands. I can be harsh too, and I will show her that. I don't even look at her, but I can feel her eyes on me and that feels like a victory. I submerge myself in the blueprints and calculations and time flies by. I look covertly at my watch when I realize that Paige stands up and see that it's already lunch time.

"I'm going to have lunch, okay?" I hear her words, but I keep ignoring her, so I keep my eyes fixated on the papers in front of me. I'm so mad that she will have to make a better effort if she wants me to treat her with respect. After a few seconds ignoring her, she just leaves. That's when a sight escapes my mouth and I suddenly feel better.

I texted Hanna before that I was thinking about getting a sandwich from the diner, but she insisted that she would send the delivery man. Besides, this building was part of his delivery route, so it wouldn't be a personal favor. That's why I finally accepted Hanna's offer. I already told her that I would love to have an avocado and shrimp sandwich, so I only have to wait. I dig immerse myself in reading the whole project and thirty minutes later I hear a young boy's voice. I take my earphones off and look at the shy guy.

"You're Emily, right? I was told this was your office." His kindness cheers me up, I guess people aren't always assholes.

"This is for you. And this…" he continues saying as he points at a cupcake, "This is on the house." I smile at him, and at that instant Paige makes her entrance. "Well, I guess you know who told me to give you this. I mean…" I interrupt his nervousness.

"I know that. Thank you so much. Have a nice day, Mike," I respond after reading his tag where his name is written. I smile at him again and make him flush.

I start eating the sandwich and I finish it in record time. I guess I was hungry after all.

"An admirer?" Paige asks, pointing at the cupcake. I turn my head to look at her with a furious look on my face. She's treating me like shit and now she's making fun of me. This is unacceptable. My face expression changes when I hear her next words. "It doesn't surprise me. Those dimples when you smile must have broken a lot of hearts." A look of astonishment invades my face and a blush follows it, but she acts like nothing happened. Was she flirting with me? I don't understand what is going with her, but it's getting very annoying. I don't know if I can keep working next to her even if we don't talk to each other. This is really awkward. I'm grateful Kevin enters our office and breaks the awkward silence that she obviously provoked.

"He wants to see you in his office. His last meeting ended and wants to have a few words with you." My heart skips a beat because I guess he's referring to my boss.

"Good luck with him," Paige adds satirically. The worst part about it it's that she got to make me even more nervous.

When I enter the office with the black door I realize that the office is not actually as intimidating as I thought it would be. It's actually simple but elegant at the same time. The tall man approaches me with a smile on his face. He seems nice. My nervousness fades away when he stretches my hand.

"We're really glad to have you here, Emily. I'm sorry I couldn't be with you when you got this morning, but I had a few businesses to attend. Anyways, I just wanted to thank you for joining us and I hope everything goes well for both sides."

"Thank you so much, sir. I'm happy to be here and I will work hard to prove that I deserve my place at this place," I admit.

"I'm sure of that. Your résumé was impressive so I don't have any doubt about your skills and efficiency." His comment cheers me up after the shitty morning I had. "I have to be in another meeting in five minutes, but I want you to know that I'm here for you, you just have to knock on the door. I'm being honest about that. I will do anything in my power to ensure that you're happy at the company, and you can tell me any problem you need help with." If he's being serious, I think he will be a great boss.

"Thank you so much. I really appreciate that." I smile shyly. He seems an honest man. I have to take advantage of that. "There's something that's been bothering me a bit, so if you have a minute for me…"

He takes a seat and looks me in the eye. "Sure, tell me. What happened?" He seems interested in knowing what is going on.

"Kevin told me that I have to work side by side with an engineer, it turns out she doesn't want to work as a team, so this could affect the project." I had to tell him what happened with Paige earlier. I mean, I don't want to make her look bad, even if she's a jerk. I just want to do a good job and it feels like that's going to be harder if Paige is my teammate. I want to be the best and if she's going to be an obstacle, then I need to be clear about it.

He starts laughing and I stare at him with a surprised look and open mouthed.

"Give her time, she can be an asshole sometimes." I can't believe he's talking about her like that. She's an employee and the words he used are kind of respectful. I guess he saw my face and tries to make amends. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said. Anyway, that's my opinion." He grins at me. "By the way, Paige is my daughter." I feel shortness of breath. Bad decision, Em. "Don't worry about that, I will speak with her. You did the right thing," he insists. However, I feel like I screwed up. I told my boss her daughter is an incompetent. "I have to leave now, but you know I'm here for you. I'm really happy to have you here. Have a nice day." He opens the door for me and I leave with a bad feeling.

I head to my office and I continue working. Paige doesn't say a word this time, but I can feel her eyes on me. I just put my earphones on and continue doing what I do best. Two hours later, Paige leaves the office and ten minutes later, I pick my things up and do the same thing. I should have left one hour before, but I wanted to finish something before leaving the workplace. Most people already left, so I take my coat and leave the office. When I'm approaching the president's office, I hear yelling. Then, Paige leaves the office slamming the door with a murderous gaze fixed on me. I hope my second day improves the first one. It's not going to be complicated.

….

When I open the apartment door, I see Spencer sitting on the couch and she suddenly jumps off of couch and approach me. I guess my exhaustion face is a hint of my mood. I saw a lot of texts from Spencer after I told her I was going to be working with Paige, but she doesn't know what happened later. She hugs me.

"That bad?" I hug her back.

"It wasn't the best day of my life." I pull away from the hug and try to smile.

"Hanna wanted to come over for dinner, but I suppose you'd prefer to rest. I will call her right away to cancel the dinner." She takes her cell and starts typing.

"That's not necessary, Spencer. I feel like talking to both of you. I need to vent to someone." She leaves her cell on the table.

"Go get a shower and I will cook. A shower always works for me and you'll feel better afterwards. Okay?" I nod at her.

"Thanks, Spence." She smiles at me, then makes her way to the kitchen.

Hot water always makes me feel relaxed. Once I'm out, I approach the kitchen and offer my help to Spencer, but she just takes a cold beer from the fridge and points at the couch.

"Thanks," I add politely.

"You're welcome. So… I know that Hanna wants to know what happened too, but…" She's obviously curious about my shitty day and I get it. Suddenly, we hear the bell. It's like Hanna realized we were going to talk about it. Spencer laughs at me.

"She has powers," she jokes. I laugh at her joke.

Hanna enters the apartment carrying a bag with ice cream. She hands it to me and I put them inside the freezer.

"So… bad day, huh?" She hugs me and I nod at her. "I'm sorry, Em," she adds before pulling away. The three of us take a seat at the dining table and Spencer serves the spaghetti. It smells great and I'm actually very hungry, so we start eating, even if I know they're waiting for me to start speaking.

"I have to work side by side with he. When I saw her… I was like… I don't know how to explain that feeling."

"I can help you with that, Em. Sexual attraction, those are the two words that you're experimenting." Spencer laughs at Hanna's words and I can't help but do the same.

"She's an asshole."

"Who is?" Spencer asks, frowning at me.

"Paige."

"So that's her name," Hanna adds. "What did she do?"

"She basically ignores me and we're supposed to work together. It seems like she wants me out of the company before she gave me a change to work with her. It's frustrating." I'm not holding tears, but this is upsetting me more than I expected.

"She's doing that because she likes you," Hanna lets out. Spencer shakes her head.

"What the hell are you saying, Hanna? I'm telling you she hates me!" I didn't mean to raise my voice, but I need to get rid of anger.

"That's stupid, Hanna." Spencer is clearly not supporting Hanna's theory.

"I'm sorry if that bothered you, Em. But I have a feeling she is attracted by you. I mean, that kind of attitude shows she's hiding something. That's only a supposition, though."

"That's not everything. I told the boss she was being a jerk and it turns out he's her father. Meaning, And that was everything that happened today. I was actually perfect," I say sarcastically.

"How did he react?" Spencer asks, frowning at me.

"He said her daughter is a jerk and that he would talk to her."

"That's good news, don't you think?" Hanna insists, trying to make me feel better.

"Well, yeah, but now she knows and everything will be even worse. I mean, we share the office and I have to see her face every day. Not only that, we are supposed to work together.

"You have to stay positive. Tomorrow will be another day." Even if they're trying to cheer me up, I don't think tomorrow everything will go miraculously smoother. However, ice cream heals everything, and that's what I'm going to do. I will focus on ice cream and forget about what is going to happen tomorrow.

To be continued…