Abby just stared across the table at Wade with her mouth hanging open, he had just told her that he got tickets to the 3rd Annual Feed Our Children Gala scheduled for next Friday night at the Marriott Marquis.

"The 3rd Annual Feed Our Children Gala?" she repeated quietly, her voice barely a whisper.

"Yes, that's what I said, love. Is there a problem?" he asked.

A problem? A problem with The 3rd Annual Feed Our Children Gala? Oh no, of course not, it was only the organization that her scumbag exfiance Alexander James Worthington III and his bimbo arm candy Bambi had founded right after Abby caught them playing doctor on the conference room table. The memory of that day played in her head like a movie, she ran out of the office in a daze, her eyes filled with tears and hid out at her parents house for two days. When she returned to New York she found Alex's office empty, all their files gone and after several phone calls and emails, she quickly realized that more than half of their clients had also jumped ship and ran to sign on with Worthington Advertising.

"What the hell was I thinking, hiring a receptionist named Bambi…." She muttered.

"Abby? Abs? Abigail!"

She snapped back to the present to see a very confused British man staring back at her, concern clouding his pale blue eyes.

"Aww crap," she said, "Wade, I can't go, I'm kinda banned from the Feed Our Children events."

"Banned? How does someone get banned from a charity dinner?"

"Well…."

"Spill it Abs…"

Abby took a deep breath and twisted her hands in her lap, "Ok, so, the founder of FOC is my ex. My ex fiance who ran off with the tall, skinny, blonde receptionist who never spills drinks on people and can wear stilletto heels without breaking her ankles. Oh and they stole half my clients and nearly destroyed my reputation in the process."

"Oh bloody hell," he muttered.

"Yeah. I haven't seen either one of them since… that day."

"That day?"

"Errr, yeah, I kinda skipped a big part of the story."

Wade just nodded his head and waited, he was stunned by her reaction, he couldn't believe the transformation he witnessed simply by mentioning the gala event. Abby went from happy and laughing to hunched over and pale, he took her trembling hands in his and kissed her knuckles, "Abby, look at me love," he said softly. She raised her head and looked into his eyes, the sadness and insecurity he saw in her face was like a sucker punch to the gut. "It's the past. It won't change us, what we have together," he squeezed her hands and smiled, "Unless of course you tell me that you started making human sacrifices on your balcony to avenge the wrongs that were done to you."

She snorted and shook her head, "Although, now that you mention it, it might not be a terrible idea."

He grinned, "That's my girl! Now tell me more about this bloody wanker."

"How delightfully British," she said rolling her eyes and trying not to laugh.

"I aim to please, love."

"Ok, ok, so I met Alex when we were at NYU. I was there on a partial scholarship and was working part time to cover what my parents couldn't afford. Of course Alex's daddy had no problems covering the tuition and to this day, I don't think he got into Stern based on his intelligence."

"Hang on, you got into the NYU Stern School of Business on scholarship?" Wade asked, his voice full of both shock and admiration. He knew Abby was a smart cookie, but this was a totally different level of smart, this was genius smart.

She nodded, "And believe me, it wasn't easy. I busted my ass for what he was presented on a silver platter. Anyway, we wound up dating and got pretty serious, he propsed on our graduation day. We took his daddy's money and my brains and people skills and started our own agency. It was just the two of us for a while and it was hard work, long hours, no weekends off, no vacations, nothing. After a couple of years, we really made a name for ourselves, I contacted a temp agency about getting a part time receptionist and they sent me Bambi."

"Bambi," he interrupted, "Bambi? Please tell me that's some derogatory nickname you've developed for her."

Abby laughed, "Yeah right! Like I'd refer to her as something so innocent… That is her legal birth name, her parents actually called her Bambi. And to her credit, she was a great corporate secretary, kept the office running smoothly, always had me booked with clients. I started travelling and signing contracts up and down the east coast. Our business took off! I was over the moon about our success."

"Until…." Wade prompted.

"Yeah, until, I came back early from one of those business trips Bambi had scheduled for me. I had finished up a few hours earlier than I anticipated and hopped on an earlier train, and got back to the office just after lunch. And, the meeting taking place in our conference room was a private meeting for two. It was then that I realized why I was always the one going out and meeting with clients, and it wasn't for my bubbly personality and blinding intelligence."

Wade uttered a long string of swears that would have earned him a slap upside the head from his mum. Abby nodded her head, "Exactly. In the end, almost all of the clients came back to me, but I now charge them 10% more as a pentalty for their lack of loyalty. And I have Freddy who is literally everything I need as a business associate, a fashion consultant and a friend. And I have my girls, they've been with me since we were toddlers. I'm so much better off now than I ever could have been with Alex. But, still, I havent' seen him in three years.."

"Abby, we don't have to go to the gala, I'll give the tickets to Harv and Marci."

Abby squared her shoulders and looked him dead in the eye, "Oh no, Mr. Barrett, we are going to that gala. I am going to have Freddy pick me out the most stunning gown money can buy, and we will pull up to the Marriot Marquis in your beautiful Jaguar and you will escort me into that ballroom with your arm linked in mine and we will smile and be the life of the party."

"And we will make TMZ again?" he asked with a wink.

"Absolutely, because I will look drop dead gorgeous!"

"You always look drop dead gorgeous," he said with a wink.

After Wade left for the night, Abby sat with her head in her hands, she was good at sounding confident but lord knows she was terrified of seeing Alex again. She would never take him back, never even consider being friends or business associates, there were some bridges that could never be rebuilt once they were burnt. And with Wade by her side, she knew she'd look amazing and successful, but she would never be 5'10" with mile long legs and carry herself with a sense of grace that she always envied in women like Bambi. She grabbed her phone and fired off a text message to her girls "You both need to call in sick next Friday. Emergency spa day. Will tell you more during lunch tomorrow."

Oh come on, don't leave us hanging! Dani replied

Not fair, woman! Savanna added

Wade got tickets for the FOC, she tapped her phone screen with shaky hands.

Her phone buzzed as Savanna replied instantly, We will go dress shopping after work, Dani you book the spa.

I'm on it, but Roman will have to watch the boys. Dean has to work.

And like magic, Abby got a text from Roman, You owe me a million cupcakes for this.

Abby laughed, if nothing else, she had amazing friends.