As Mickie made it to the top of the staircase she suddenly she froze in her tracks. Her manicured hand clutched the brass banister.

"Sure. I'll take a look at it."

Her brown eyes went wide. It was him. It was John's voice. She would recognise that smooth husky tone anywhere. She poked her head around the corner to check. Shit. There he was standing right in front of the door she was about to go through. The last thing she needed was to add tardiness to his list of excuses to fire her. She ducked back round hiding behind the partition wall. Did he really have to be standing right there? He had a damn office. Why the hell wasn't he in there instead of blocking her path and making her even later than she already was? Of course she could always just quickly walk past him and not catch his eye. He was busy with someone. He'd probably not even notice she was there.

Mickie pulled on her lip with her teeth as she tried to pluck up the courage to move. She gazed down towards the floor. Her eyes widened as she spotted the corner of her magazine poking out of her bag. She smiled to herself as she pulled it out. It was total genius. She'd walk past John with her face buried in the magazine and he wouldn't even realise it was her. Mickie opened up her Vogue and stepped out into the corridor. As she walked to the offices, she engrossed herself in the article on the page she had opened it at. It listed ninety nine things to do to a naked man. She smirked to herself. If she ever found John naked, her list would far exceed ninety nine. In fact the list of things she would do to that man would be endless. Number fifty three looked interesting. Drag me into the bathroom at a restruant for some hot, dirty, stand-up sex. She wondered if John frequented with something like that. Maybe she could offer to drag him there in return for keeping her job.

"Damn it!"

Fuck. She'd run into someone. Mickie slowly lowered the magazine. Jack was in front of her rubbing down his shirt and she grimaced. Dark coffee stained the crumpled blue cotton. He held the remainder of his hot drink in his left hand. She quickly glanced around. Thankfully there was no sign of John.

"Mickie, why the hell don't you watch where you are going?"

"I'm sorry." she mumbled. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Mary over by Sandy's cubicle watching her. Bitch. She wondered how smug she would look if she marched over and slapped that smirk right from her face.

"Never mind the apology. Where have you been? You missed the meeting this morning." ranted Jack as he pushed his wire rimmed glasses up his nose.

Mickie's brown eyes stared at him blankly.

Jack shook his head and sighed heavily. "You were listening when we announced it at the meeting on Friday, weren't you?"

She paused for a second before she quickly nodded her head. "Of course I was." she lied. As she quickly made her way to her desk, she racked her brain to see if she could remember anything being said about a meeting. Of course it would have helped if she had actually been paying attention but her mind had been on something else. Or rather someone else who happened to be a gorgeous six foot plus hunk. As she dumped her bag on the floor, she heard her voice behind her and turned round.

"Mickie, there you are!"

Rachel was rushing towards her, her face pink with excitement. Mickie smiled curiously. She wondered if her friend's complexion was the reason why no-one had heard from her this weekend. She'd left her a message on her cell phone on Friday afternoon to say she wouldn't make it for a drink but she never left an explanation why.

"I really need to go over an article with you." she said eagerly. Her brown eyes were wide as she hung around the edge of her cubicle.

Mickie nodded and her eyes darted guiltily around the office as she picked up her leather bag again. No-one was even paying them any attention. Of course they had no clue about their secret code for skipping work. She suddenly froze by the small filing cabinet as she remembered that John did. If he came looking for her and anyone mentioned where she had gone, he would know exactly where they were. She saw Jack at Mary's desk looking curiously over in their direction. She quickly shook her head and her bag thumped to the floor. "I don't think that will be possible this morning. I've got a lot to do."

Rachel looked at her in surprise. "But Mick, I really need your help with this one. It's a huge article."

"I can't. I'm sorry." Micke forced a smile.

"Please? It won't take long. I promise to be quick."

Mickie's eyes stared at Rachel to somehow make her understand. "I honestly can't. Maybe some other time."

"Mickie."

She nearly jumped at the harsh tone of Jack's voice. His brow was furrowed and he wore a pissed off expression on his face. Just a typical Monday morning then.

"Go with Rachel, will you? We don't to listen to the pair of you arguing all day. Then maybe once you've sorted out the article you might actually feel like doing some work around here."

Mickie offered him a contrite smile and felt the heat rise to her cheeks as she bent down to pick up her bag. Slinging it over her shoulder, she followed Rachel through the now silent office. Practically every member of staff stared at them. She could feel Mary's piggy eyes practically boring a hole through her back. Jack was a fucking asshole. He wouldn't know the meaning of the word quiet if it jumped up and bit him on the ass.

As they walked along the corridor, that was when Mickie saw him. Fuck. She grabbed Rachel's arm stopping them in their tracks. The blood pounded in her ears as John walked in their direction. He hadn't noticed them yet. He was leafing through the papers he held in his hand. His head was slightly bowed.

"What is it?" asked Rachel as she looked at her friend in confusion. She followed Mickie's line of vision. Her lips parted in surprise as she saw the man walking towards him. "Holy shit." she said in a hushed whisper. "Is that who I think it is?"

Mickie nodded as her gaze remained fixated on John. He had stopped by the elevator. She was praying for some miraculous intervention that would make him get in the damn thing and remain oblivious to them standing there.

"How the hell….."

"Shhh!" hissed Mickie interrupting her friend. Her eyes quickly darted between John and the staircase. Shit. He was moving again. Maybe if they ran fast enough, they could make it down the stairs before he spotted them. She was about to whisper her plan to Rachel when John lifted his head. Her stomach dropped. His blue eyes gave them a quizzical look as he approached them.

"Good morning ladies."

"Good morning." Rachel beamed.

"Morning." Mickie mumbled. She couldn't look John in the eye. Instead she allowed herself to stare in the direction of his chest. He had on a navy blue suit today. It looked even more expensive than the one he wore last week. His white shirt looked new and crisp. She wondered if he had a girlfriend who had lovingly ironed it for him this morning. She knew he wasn't married. He had admitted as much on their fateful train trip together. But there was no way on earth a man like him was single. He couldn't be. John could have his pick of women. He was absolutely fucking gorgeous. Hell, he probably had a different one banging down his door every night of the week. Lucky bitches.

"Mickie and I were just going to discuss an important article." blurted Rachel.

Mickie quickly whipped her head round and glared at her friend. Her face flushed red. Had she lost her damn mind? Rachel knew who John was. She obviously remembered him from Bloomingdales. Would it be too much to ask that she could remember the damn conversation? After all, she was the one that had happily bragged to John about their secret code. A secret code that Rachel had come up with in the first place. All of a sudden, she wasn't feeling so guilty about ruining her friend's sweater. It could rot in her drawer now for all she cared.

"In that case I'd better not keep you." replied John as he shifted the papers in his hands. Mickie stood there almost afraid to move as he walked past them. She was getting away with it. John obviously didn't remember. Thank God! For once it looked like luck just might be on her side. She began to walk with Rachel, who was making her way to the staircase.

"Mickie."

She felt a spasm of panic as she heard John call her name. She silently cursed as she slowly turned round to face him.

"Once you've finished going over those articles, can you come and see me in my office?"

Mickie felt her whole body prickle. She stared at him for a few seconds unable to speak. His blue eyes were twinkling at her. He looked almost amused. Fuck. He knew. He definitely knew. The bastard was teasing her. She swallowed hard.

"Half an hour okay with you?"

Mickie managed to nod her head. She nervously cleared her throat. "That's fine." she squeaked, her voice trembling slightly. She slowly turned round as she made her way to the stairs. The blood was pounding in her ears. She had half an hour before she was undoubtedly read the riot act. She wondered if Starbucks was hiring. Maybe she would check it out while she was there…..

Half an hour later Mickie's stomach was churning anxiously as she approached John's office. She glanced at her watch. It had been exactly thirty minutes and John would be waiting on her. Shit. She hadn't even been able to enjoy her coffee and muffin. She'd left them practically untouched. She felt sick every time she thought about John and what he was going to say to her. But at the same time she'd also been totally gobsmacked by Rachel's news. Apparently Tim, her new man of the moment, had proposed to her over the weekend. He'd whisked her away to a hotel and popped the question over a romantic dinner. Rachel had said yes. Mickie had asked her if she had lost her marbles. They'd only been dating for a short space of time. So short that Mickie hadn't even met the guy of the moment.

"Hey Mickie"

Mickie jumped at the sound of her voice. She smiled at John's very pregnant secretary. "Hi Lindsey."

Lindsey stood up and picked up a bundle of papers from her desk. Mickie's eyes went wide as she took in her size. She was huge. Her bump looked like a giant beach ball against her thin and wispy frame. The poor girl looked like she was about to burst but apparently the baby wasn't due for another six weeks yet. God help her when it came to giving birth. She wondered if Harper would be by her side when she did. Lindsey handed her the bundle of papers in her hand.

"John is waiting for you. Can you give him these for me?"

Mickie nodded as she took the papers.

"Just go in." the small secretary said bubbly. Mickie felt like slapping her. How could she be so damn cheery at a time like this? She was about to face the firing line. Cheery was the last thing she was feeling. She approached the door slowly and her hand tentatively gripped the shiny handle. She hesitated for a second and muttered a silent prayer. Taking a calming breath, she walked into the office.

John was sitting at his desk. It was crammed with paper and was even more cluttered than it was on Friday. She noticed a tall plant in the corner of the room. It was new. It was a vicas. It was the exact same plant she used to have at home before she had to issue the last rites and chuck it out due to neglect. Mickie's soft brown met his and his warm and friendly blue eyes Mickie felt herself relax just the tiniest bit. Maybe he wasn't about to kick her ass. Or maybe he was just reeling her in before going for the kill.

"Hello." said John.

"Hello." she replied. She shifted her feet and shoved the papers towards him. "Lindsey asked me to bring these to you."

John smiled as he pushed back his chair and stood up. He took the papers from her hand. Their fingertips brushed together ever so slightly. Mickie almost jumped out of her skin as she still managed to breathe him in. He was wearing that cologne again. The smell almost made her weak at the knees. It was intoxicating. She wondered what he would do if she were to bury her face in his neck and just inhale deeply.

"Thanks although God knows where I'm going to put them." he said. He looked around him briefly before dumping them on top of the filing cabinet. "Take a seat." he said gesturing towards the chair.

Mickie sat down. When she looked up, John was back behind his desk. Her clammy hands rested on her thighs. There were tight little knots in her stomach. She had decided on the way back from Starbucks that she was going to be honest. It was probably the best policy especially if she had any chance of keeping her job. If that failed, she wasn't totally against suggesting the dirty sex in the bar. After all, it wouldn't exactly be a hardship. She could also offer to wear the lingerie. She was prepared to do absolutely anything. She just couldn't contemplate not working here. "I want to apologise for this morning." she said beginning their conversation. "I promise it won't happen again."

John raised his eyebrows as he watched her intently. "Which part? Missing the meeting or going to Starbucks when you should be working?"

Mickie's face was hot. It was probably flushed bright red. "Both. I'm really sorry. I can assure you it will be the last time I will ever do such a thing." She glanced down briefly at her hands and cleared her throat. When she looked back up, John was staring at her and she felt her body tremble slightly. "I love my job. I am totally committed to it. I'm totally committed to this company. I'll do anything to make it up to you."

"Anything, huh?" John asked, his mouth twitching.

Mickie nodded emphatically. "Anything."

John was silent for a few seconds as he just looked at her. He licked his lips. Mickie wondered what he would say if he even guessed the lengths she was prepared to go to. Especially when he just bit his lip. Sweet Jesus.

"Lindsey is leaving us at the end of the week. I'd like to organise a little party for her. Think you can help arrange that with me?"

Mickie felt her shoulders sag with relief as she instantly relaxed. He wanted her to organise a party with him. John obviously wasn't going to fire her. Her job was safe. And, as a bonus, she would get to spend some time with him as they went over the details for the small get together. This had gone so much better than she could have imagined. "Sure." she nodded.

"Good." He rested his hands together on the desk. "So, the people in the office seem like a good lot."

"They are."

"And it was nice to have the chance to be introduced to people from other departments at the meeting on Friday."

Mickie's breathing stopped as she stared back at John silently. Shit. He was going to bring up Michael. She just knew he was. Suddenly she could feel herself tense up once more and she rubbed her sweaty palms against her skirt.

"It must have been awkward for you."

Mickie's mouth went dry as he watched her carefully.

"Having Michael there, I mean."

She lifted her hand and nervously pushed her hair back from her face. She didn't want to discuss Michael with John. For some reason, it made her feel extremely uncomfortable. It was just a pity that in hindsight she hadn't felt that way on the damn train instead of rambling on about him like a drunken idiot.

"It must be hard seeing him on a day to day basis when you still care about him like you do." continued John.

"Actually you're wrong." Mickie snapped defiantly. "I don't care about Michael and seeing him in the office is definitely not a problem." She let out a shaky breath as she tossed back her hair. She knew her tone was harsh but he had rattled her. This conversation was making her feel extremely uneasy.

For a few a moments John just stared at her saying nothing and she shifted in her seat. She heard the sound of the traffic through the open window. The sun shone brightly into the room and she couldn't help but notice how the flecks of light shone through his hair.

"Good. I'm glad." he replied eventually, smiling gently.

"In fact, I've decided that mixing my personal and professional lives is a definite no-no from now on." she blurted out although she wasn't entirely sure why. Maybe it was because she wanted John to know she wasn't risking her job on no uncertain terms.

His reply was a nod as his soft hair brushed across his shoulders. "That's great although I'm sure the most of the male population of the building will be disappointed to hear that." Mickie's heart gave a small flip. It was on the tip of her tongue to ask John if he was disappointed. After all he must think she was sort of pretty to making that kind of statement. Or maybe he just felt sorry for her. She mentally kicked herself. Shit, damn and blast it. What had she done? If there was any remote chance of getting with John she'd just gone and ruined it. Not that there was much of a chance to begin with. She fancied the pants off him but she was nothing more than an employee as far as he was concerned. He'd certainly done nothing to show her otherwise.

"Anyway, I'm glad you can help me out with Lindsey's party. I'm not very good at that sort of thing."

"It's not a problem." Mickie replied as she smiled at him softly. "If she's leaving on Friday though, we really need to discuss it today."

Mickie nodded as he glanced up at the clock on the wall. "Unfortunately though I've got a meeting in five minutes. In fact, I'm tied up in the meetings for the rest of the day." He sat back as he picked his silver pen up from his desk. He began to flip it through his thick fingers as he looked at her with an unreadable expression on his face. "Unless of course you wanted to…"

"What?" Mickie asked almost too quickly as his voice trailed off. Her brown eyes were wide. For some reason her heart was pounding wildly in her chest.

"Well I was thinking or rather I was wondering…" He paused again. Mickie sat on the edge of her chair. She practically wanted to scream at him to spit it out. He was taking forever to ask her. In the meantime, her heart was in danger of thumping itself right out of her ribcage.

"Would you like to go for a drink after work and discuss it then?"

Mickie's lips parted. Oh my God. John was asking her out. Okay, it wasn't technically asking her out but he wanted to meet her outside their normal working hours. And they were going for a drink to a bar when he could very well have discussed the party in the comfort of his own office. She bit down on her lip. She wanted to grin like mad but she would probably scare him off. She was quite sure he wouldn't want a drink with a lunatic. She replied when she felt she was finally able to speak. "Sure."

"You don't have anything already planned do you?"

Mickie shook her head. Her plans had involved doing laundry which was currently heaped in the basket and had spilled over to the foot of her bed. She had put it off for a week. Another night wasn't going to make a bit of difference.

"Good. I should be done here around six. Is that okay with you?" asked John as he put down his pen.

Mickie nodded as she stood up from her seat. She smoothed down her skirt and smiled. "I've got plenty of work I need to catch up on anyway."

"Then I'll see you at six." he said, his blue eyes sparkling at her.

"Six it is." she replied. She looked at him for a moment before she shyly glanced away and left his office. She passed Lindsey who was on the telephone. She gave her a wave as she made her way back to the office. She tried to keep calm but every five seconds a huge grin spread across her face. Her stomach fluttered with excitement. She was going for a drink with John. God bless Harper William and his hormones. Because of him she was getting to spend time with the man who, in all honesty, had turned her whole world upside down from the moment she had met him. Fate had intervened and had decided to bring him into her life. Who was she to argue with that? She was going to grab this opportunity with both hands. She was going to charm the pants off John Cena, figuratively speaking of course. She wasn't going to blow this chance to spend time with him. She just couldn't. It simply wasn't an option for her.

Oh my gosh, guys i am about to cry. I keep messing up and i don't notice until my reviews. Paul is my boyfriend and helps me write these. I get easily disracted and right his or my sisters names. I am so sorry and i will try my best to stop being stupid. - SR