Author's Notes:  Sorry for the short chapter! I figured this is the best way to end it. It's finally the weekend, and since I've only had a week of uni, I'm not flooded with homework for a change…so I promise to work on this overtime hehe keep the reviews coming! They keep me writing :) (no, that wasn't a veiled threat haha)

*****

I reach the office bright and early. Hardly anyone else is around, which is fine by me. Grab a steaming mug of coffee, sit down, look around, notice Sark's arrival - ooh. Heart rate just shot up for a second there. It's probably fairly obvious that I'm staring at him but hey, at least I remember to sip a bit of coffee now and then.

Sigh. How can one man in a tailored suit look so utterly gorgeous? Even his shoes look sexy.

Ahem. Better stop that train of thought before it inevitably gets derailed. Wonder what he's like at home? The Secret Life of Sark. Does he have his slob moments too? Haha. Somehow, I doubt it. Slob and Sark don't belong in the same sentence.

I resist the urge to swoon as I watch him file through his paperwork. There's this slight crease between his eyebrows and he purses his lips while sorting through a particularly tedious pile. How he transforms the most boring part of this job into something worth melting over is beyond me.

Sydney Bristow, get a grip! This is Mr Sark you're drooling over. Bad guy, highly dangerous, mysterious motives. And that accent. Aah. He can even make 'moron' sound exotic. I stifle a giggle. And then sober up.

It can't end happily can it? For all I know, I'm just another way he keeps himself amused. (I shoot him another look. And melt.) Oh well. I'm not going to get sad over this. That growing ache I feel inside has nothing to do with him. I'm okay with his harmless flirting. Even if it amounts to nothing. I mean I could handle Danny dying in a bathtub, killing Noah, kinda dumping Vaughn, working for a man I SO hate, having an emotionally detached father, not knowing whether to trust my own non-dead mother because welll where do I even START -

Oh dear blinkblink I'm tearing up. I rub discreetly at my eyes, grateful I didn't bother with mascara today because that would really mess things up. Ohboyohboy this is well and truly embarrassing hope nobody saw me. Stand up and keep my head down. Off to the bathroom where I get to bawl in peace -

'Sydney.'

This can't be happening.

'Yeah?' I say quietly, not wanting to look at him. Like this. Wonder what he's going to say. Words can't fix this. Words can't fix me.

He squeezes my hand gently, lifts my chin up, and smiles.

*