It was another day of work and I was almost finished doing all of the filing that Wade had so kindly left for me. I huffed while trying to get through the fifth pile. My friend Adele came rushing toward me, her heels clicking on the tiled floor. "Oh my god! Lea!"

I looked at her confused. "What is it?"

"I just heard that Mr Barrett won't be back till next week, so someone is coming to fill in" she said.

"Someone is coming to fill in?"

She nodded. "Yeah, he's supposed to be a good friend of Mr Barrett's, probably just the same. Imagine that another Barrett."

"I can't imagine it" I said. The idea of another Wade wasn't that bad.

"Yeah he's going to be here soon, so better be ready" she warned.

I nodded as she returned to her desk. I went into Wade's office, the room was pretty messy because I had been neglecting to tidy it, until Wade would come back. So I rushed as I picked up the things and tossed them in the bin. I neatened the desk area, so the room looked as if Wade would have usually had it. I walked back outside and there was a man standing with his arms crossed in front of the door. He had a low brown ponytail which was slickly pulled back, with small strands fell around his face. He wore black trousers and a blue shirt with a white neck tie, the shirt really bringing out his blue eyes. This grin crept on his face as he looked at me. I looked at him guiltily as I stood in front of him.

"You must be Lea, Wade's assistant?" His Scottish accent echoing as he spoke.

I nodded.

"I'm Drew McIntyre" he said putting his hand out "I'm going to be filling in for him."

I smiled and shook his hand. "Nice to meet you Sir, I'm sorry I was just making everything perfect for you."

"Please don't call me Sir, just call me Drew."

"Alright... Drew." I chuckled. He definitely was not like Wade.

He smiled. "It would be great if someone could show me around, do you mind?" I looked at the other lots of files that crowded around my desk. I thought I would try my match maker skills.

"Adele could do it; she's one of the lawyers here."

"Um... alright where is she?" he asked looking around to all the people.

I pointed him to the direction of my petite friend, her long black hair swayed on to her shoulder as she sat on her desk; she looked to be writing something. He looked at her with delight.

"I'll just call her" I said. I walked toward her, as Drew looked on.

I bent down in front of her desk so she could see my face above her paper work. "Hey Adele, are you doing anything important?" I whispered.

"Just some paperwork for the DiMera case" she said.

"I see, well the new guy is here you know the one filling in for Mr Barrett."

"That dick is here" she said looking around.

"Yeah... he's over there" I said looking at Drew. Adele looked at Drew who waved to her cutely.

She waved back. "That's the new guy" she whispered moving closer to me.

I nodded.

"He is hot."

"He is pretty handsome" I said. I enjoyed watching her get so excited over him.

"He is gorgeous" she said.

"He's Scottish too." I gleamed.

"I always thought Scots were hotter than British guys."

I chuckled, well that explained her dislike for Wade. "Anyway... he wants someone to show him around so could you spare some of your time for him?"

She grinned. "Oh you know I can."

I smiled. "Fantastic."

She followed me as we walked back to where Drew was standing. "Drew, this is Adele... Adele this is Drew."

"It's nice to meet you" she said smiling.

"It's a real pleasure to be here" he said.

"So... you wanted to be shown around, I have some time."

"That would be great" he said.

...

I was almost done with the last file, when Drew approached my desk. "Hey Lea."

"Hi Drew, is there something you need?"

He smiled. "Nope, you can go home now."

"Home? But it's only a quarter to three" I said looking at my watch.

"Yeah, I wanted to send you at half past but I wanted to make sure you got all your filing done."

"Are you sure, I mean normally I'm the last one to go home. Are you sure you don't have something else you want me to do."

"I just want you to go home; you're always here so early, Adele let me know so you can go home early. You've worked hard enough. That bastard made you do enough."

I laughed hearing Drew call Wade a bastard was hilarious. I smiled. "Thank you"

"You're welcome"

"Can I ask how you and Mr Barrett are friends? Obviously you guys are both from the UK but how are you two friends, you two are complete opposites!"

He chuckled. "Well we knew each other from when we younger, I went to England to study and Wade was there. But we came to the US for different reasons. He came because of love and I came because I wanted money, but I guess we both just have money now."

"I'm sure the both of you can find love" I said as I glanced at Adele.

He looked at her too, chuckling. "Wade has a great assistant."

"Well, Mr Barrett isn't too bad of a boss."

I returned home, parking my car in the driveway. Once I locked my car the smell of barbequed meat wafted through the air. I was surprised that Dad would be barbequing; there was no football on today and I was sure no one was coming over, well I hoped not. I walked through the backyard and found Dad sitting under the pergola. "You came home early?"

"Yeah I actually didn't have much to do" I said sitting with him. "What's with the barbeque?"

He shrugged his shoulder. "I was hungry."

"You were hungry? We're in winter father... you wouldn't dare barbeque because that would take effort from you. Is someone coming over?"

He chuckled.

I shook my head. When I felt someone's hands cover my eyes from behind. I could feel someone kiss my cheek. I smelled their scent and immediately knew who it was. I was ecstatic as I pulled his hands down and hugged him; he wrapped his large arms around my waist. "I missed you baby" he said in my ear.

"I missed you too." He put his hand on my cheek and kissed my lips.

Dad cleared his throat and John pulled away. "Hey that's enough."

We laughed as I turned to John; he was wearing a apron and held a metal spatula in his hand. "When did you get here?"

"Um... three hours ago" he said.

"How did you get here? I mean you don't know where I live and I'm sure you didn't ask Wade."

He laughed. "No I didn't ask Wade, your Dad came and got me. We had some time to get to know each other, let him know what was going on and I think, we may have actually bonded."

I looked at Dad; a smiled appeared on my face knowing that the two were getting along. "You went Dad?"

"Well he's my future son in law, I thought the least I could do was get him from the airport" said Dad.

"So what do you think?" I asked wanting to hear his verdict of my chosen man.

John looked at him eagerly. "Do I make the cut, Coach?"

Dad chuckled. "Definitely husband material for my little girl."

I ran over to Dad to hug him. "I love you Daddy."

"I love you too Darling."

John watched on, fondly.

"Well are you staying here?" I asked John.

"No I'm actually staying with a friend, I don't want to crowd around."

"You wouldn't" I said.

"No it's alright, you should stay with us" I said.

"Lea, its fine." When we get married, we'll live together forever" he said stroking my cheek. I liked the sound of that.

"Well... aren't you going to tell her about the party!" said Dad.

"Party?" I said looking baffled at the two.

"Well I talked to my friend and we wanted to hold a party for your friends and family tonight. I thought it would be nice for me to meet everyone" said John. He looked so excited to meet everyone.

"That's a nice idea, but its a little short notice for everyone."

"Well your Dad called some people to invite and they said they'd make it" said John. I looked at Dad.

"It's just a couple of people" said Dad. I looked at him, hoping he had not invited Randy.

"All the people you want" said Dad. I smiled.

"Well, I guess you boys have done everything."

"Nothing to do but sit and relax... and eat John's chicken" said Dad chewing on some wings.

...

Everyone was already at the party when I had got there; I was wearing this navy blue, one shoulder maxi dress and decided to wear my black stiletto heels. I walked into the house and was greeted by everyone. I just smiled at everyone, as they all hugged me. Most of them were saying how they were all so happy that I am finally getting married. I found John talking with some of my Dad's friends. I just stood there watching him; he was so good with people. Everyone seemed to love him. He looked at me and a grin grew on his face as he walked toward me. "And here is my beautiful future wife."

Everyone cheered almost simultaneously as we kissed. "Wow, you seem to be a hit!"

"They can't resist my charm, I suppose."

I chuckled. "Sorry I took so long, I was having trouble picking something out."

"I'm sure you would look beautiful in anything, but you do look rather stunning in this dress" he said holding my hand.

"Thank you, you look quite handsome" I said. He was wearing his grey trousers and a black shirt with a blue neck tie.

"I try my best" he said tightening his tie.

"Now you have to meet some of my people" I said pulling him through the house. I saw Adele standing with a cocktail in her hand; she was dressed in a short, dark green bandage dress and gold stilettos. Her long hair, curled to the side. She grinned seeing us make our way toward her.

"Adele, this is John" I said "John, this is my best friend Adele, she works with me."

"Nice to finally meet you" she said.

"Your name is also Adele?" he said. I nudged him.

"Sorry?" she said confused.

He shook his head. "Nice to meet you... wow Lea has some nice looking friends."

Adele chuckled.

"So what happened with you and Drew?" I asked.

"Nothing really, he was just really nice" she said.

"Well I think he may have a thing for you."

"You said that last time" she sighed.

"I did... but Drew is much nicer and he's got a lot of money" I grinned.

"Nice Lea" joked John "it's nice to know my fiancé is only interested in money."

"Shut up!" I said kissing his cheek.

Adele liked seeing us together. "You look really happy Lea, I'm so happy for you." She put her arms around me and embraced me.

"I'm going to leave you two and see how the men are doing" said John.

"Alright" I said. He stole a kiss from me before he left.

We watched him leave before sinking into the couch. "Wow, he is great" said Adele.

"Yeah?" I said.

"Yeah! He's cute, funny and very charming. I like him."

"He is pretty great!" I said smiling.

Adele chuckled. "I'm really happy to see you this happy, it's great."

"Thank you" I said putting my hand on her lap.

"By the way, I already knew about the party when we were at work. Your Dad called me."

I laughed. "Of course, I'm glad you came. I wouldn't have been able to take being here with just my family."

"I'm glad too, I wouldn't have missed getting to meet your adorable new soon to be husband!"

I looked over to the crowd and glanced at a certain Scotsman standing in the crowd looking quite singled out. He seemed to be looking for us. He was dressed in a nice white shirt and black trousers and jacket. His hair still tied in a ponytail. He looked in our direction and waved. I could see the colour in Adele's cheek change as she looked at him.

"You can thank me later" I whispered to her. She grinned. I signalled her to go over to him.

"Thanks" she said as she headed in Drew's direction.

The two looked great together. I walked around the room trying to converse with everyone. I found Bethany eating with her son Henry. "Hey guys" I said sitting down with them.

"Hello miss bride to be, John is great!" she said swallowing her food.

"You look pretty Lea" said Henry.

"Well thank you Henry."

"You do look nice, you're tall so you can pull off a maxi dress, I would just look someone with a poncho on" said Bethany.

"No you wouldn't" I said.

"Well it looks like everyone seems to like John. He is very sweet, he already knew who I was you must talk about me all the time."

"Yeah, all the time" I lied smiling at my cousin.

"Well be careful I think my Mum has a crush on him, she's been following him around everywhere."

I laughed. "What does your Dad say?"

"He doesn't care; he let her out on the loose."

I shook my head. "Well I'll come back to you guys."

They nodded. I left the two and tried to find John. I found someone familiar in the kitchen. I wasn't sure why he was here though. He had dark brown hair and large blue eyes; he smiled his dashing smile at me. "Hey Lea, Congratulations."

"Hi Cody."

"Hey? Did you get invited?" I asked.

He smiled. "Well yeah, this is my house."

"This is your house! Wait you know John?"

John walked behind me, as he put his arm around Cody. "Lea, this is my friend Cody Rhodes. This is his place."

"Yeah I just found that out" I said.

"I'm glad you're marrying Lea, she's a nice girl" said Cody.

"She is nice isn't she" said John kissing my cheek.

"How are you two friends?" I asked, confused seeing the two males together.

"Wait, how are you two friends?" said John looking at the two of us.

"Well... we're not really friends, we just have a friend in common" explained Cody.

"Yes... one mutual friend" I said looking at Cody.

"Oh alright" said John.

"I'm sorry about you two by the way, I heard you two weren't friends anymore" said Cody to me.

"Sorry?" said John.

"Yeah I don't want to talk about it" I said, glaring at Cody.

"Alright, you two have fun" said Cody leaving the awkward situation.

"Cody wait, thank you for letting John stay here and having the party" I said.

He turned around and flashed another smile before moving to the other room. John turned to me. "Is everything alright? You seemed a little anxious after seeing him."

"Yeah I'm fine, he just reminds me of somebody" I said. "It's fine, so how do you two know each other?"

"Well, my work had some guys come in from all over America for this company project and Cody was there. We became pretty good friends; I didn't know he lived here though. He's a cool guy" explained John.

"Was that in 2004?" I asked.

"How did you know!" he exclaimed.

"Yeah that was before he moved here" I said.

"By the way, your aunt won't leave me alone" said John.

"Yeah... she does that, when she sees a young guy. She'll lose interest in you soon."

He looked confused.

"Anyway I'm going to find my Dad."

"Good luck" he joked.

...

Little did John know how easy it was to find my Dad especially when he had been drinking. I found him sitting outside, in the middle of his friends, a bottle of beer in his hand as he kept slurring as he spoke.

"She's my little girl... you know... she is everything" he slurred.

His friends nodded.

"You know I raised her by my self... I raised her! And this dickhead is going to take her from me!" He slobbered her beer half down the side of his chin.

"Dad..." I said sitting next to him, putting my head on his shoulder.

"My little Lea, I still remember when you used to sit on my lap and we would play games. We had tea parties... played with Barbies... everything... please tell me I did a good job" he said.

My eyes became glossy, I hadn't thought about after when I got married that I wouldn't be with my Dad all the time. "You did the best job in the world Dad, no two parents could compare to how good you did with me."

He put his arm around, droplets of beer falling on my shoulder. I put the bottle on the table so he wouldn't spill anymore. I could see tears down the sides of his cheeks. "I just want you to know that... I'm very happy for you Lea. You have found someone who loves you and makes you very happy... and I can see the prick makes you happy."

I chuckled. "Thanks Dad."

I felt someone pull at my dress and it was Henry. "John wants you Lea."

"John?" I said following the little boy inside.

Where I saw John talking with somebody else, I tapped his shoulder and smiled. John kissed my lips lightly. "Hey beautiful, I want you to meet my friend."

I looked up at the man; I was shaken as I stared at the blue eyed man. His face was as shaken as mine. "Hi" I said, my voice trembling.

"Lea, this is Randy" said John. "Randy, this is my fiancé."

Randy looked at me, the fear of seeing him caused me to lower my head. "So this is your fiancé?" said Randy.

I could feel the anger in his voice.

"This is she. I'm the luckiest man in the world" said John putting his arm around my waist.

"You are lucky. She's beautiful" said Randy.

"Randy and I met in Italy" said John to me.

"You went to Italy?" I said.

He nodded. "Yeah for work, I was there when he and his wife got married."

I glared at Randy. "Oh you're married?" I said to sting him.

"I am... look I'll talk to you later John, I better go check on my wife" said Randy. "It was nice to meet you Lea."

I felt bad watching him leave I shouldn't have been rude. I told John I just wanted some air and followed Randy who was standing out the front of the house. I walked slowly toward him and stood in front of him, lowering my head. "I'm sorry."

"You're sorry? You're sorry! Lea you're engaged and you didn't even tell me!" he shouted. "Hell I told you my wife was pregnant but you couldn't tell me you were engaged!"

"I'm sorry you found out like this but how could I tell you?" I screamed.

"Um, I don't know Lea... how about... Hey Randy, just letting you know this guy proposed to me!" he said.

"It's not that easy... How could I tell the man I was madly in love with, that I am now with someone else and I am going to marry him."

"Was in love with?" he said sadly.

My eyes filled with tears. "Randy... I can't do this with you anymore. That's the whole reason I went away, to escape you. I was going into chaos seeing you and Ivana together and then you told me you guys were married, how do you think that made me feel?"

"Lea... do you have any idea how hard it was for me! I mean I didn't see you for weeks, I wanted to call you and find you but you told me that you didn't want to be friends anymore. I would visit your Dad just so I could feel some part of you. I would stare at your paintings, I missed you a lot. I'm only staying with Ivana because I made her leave her whole life in Italy so she could be with me and she's pregnant. I know I made mistakes but I do love you, I would do anything to take it all back."

"I'm sorry but whose fault is that. You were too late I mean for god sakes you married her and then you realised after I told you that I was in love with you that you felt the same way. It's just too late... and I'm with John now and he makes me happy, he's everything to me, I love him."

Tears trailed down his face as he put his hands to my face. "You know what the funny thing is; I actually tried to fix you two on a blind date."

"What?"

"Remember I was saying that I knew someone at work that was perfect for you... I was talking about John" he said putting his hands down. I moved away from him.

"Well then I guess you of all people know that I should be with him" I said.

He rolled his eyes. "No Lea I don't."

"I just want you to be happy for me, Randy." I pleaded.

Randy shook his head and walked back inside. I sat on the pavement and sighed, wiping the rest of my tears as I decided to head back inside. I looked up the house and there was a figure standing there watching. It was John.