She couldn't believe her eyes, before leaving for North Carolina Emilie had left Luke in charge of Olympic Records. She had expected to come back to a pile of ruble but was surprised to see that not only was the store still standing but was in better shape then she had left it. Every sale was properly recorded and every cash draw was counted to the exact cent. He had even made a list of the inventory, noting what they needed to order and what merchandise they were overstocked with. It almost gave Emilie a sense of pride to see what a capable businessman Luke had become. She always knew he had it in him, from the day she hired him she saw something in the nineteen year old college drop out that most people didn't take the time to notice. And over the years he had proved to her that he had the potential to take charge. That was why she chose him to run the store in her absence. He was smart, observant, and respected and well liked by the rest of the staff. He had everything Emilie was looking for in a replacement but that was a whole other story. Hearing a light knocking Emilie looked up from her desk to see Luke's head peaking in through her office door.

"Hi Luke. Come on in." she said gesturing for him to step inside. He walked in, closing the door behind him.

"Hey Chief, I just wanted to remind you to call back the Epic distributor and tell him that we gave away all that promotional crap they sent us."

"You got rid of all of it? Wow, I've been trying unload that shit for months. How'd ya do it?"

"I just gave it away with every purchase of any Epic merchandise. People love free shit. And I sold the buttons for a dollar; we might as well make some profit of that stuff."

"That was a really good idea." Emilie said with delight as she looked at the dark haired man standing before her. He even looked more professional then she was use to. His regular attire of skater T-shirts and grimy worn jeans were replace by a nice black button up shirt and a fresh pair of clean jeans. Emilie almost felt kind of dingy compared to him. "I'm really proud of you Luke. You really stepped up to the plate when I needed you and you did a really good job too. How would you feel about a promotion?"

"A promotion?" He repeated a bit stunned "What kind of promotion?"

"I would like to make you assistant manger. It's going to be mean more work and responsibility but I think you've proved to me that you can handle it. Plus a five dollar raise. How does that sound?"

"Chief...I don't know what to say."

"A simple thank you will do."

"Thank you! Thank you so much!"

Luke turned to leave, nearly skipping out of the room, unable to contain his giddiness. But as he opened the door he paused for a moment. Looking back at his boss he couldn't help but wonder where all this was coming from. After all these years of running the store by herself without any problems why the unexpected need for an assistant.

"Hey Chief? Not that I'm not grateful but why the sudden promotion?"

"Well Luke I want you to get a feel of what it would be like to be in charge on a regular basis. In case I need you to take over for me someday."

"You're leaving Olympic?" Luke asked with a mixture of concern and heartbreak in his voice that made Emilie's heart melt. She didn't have the heart to tell him about the life changes she had been considering lately. Instead she just laughed slightly and smiled at him.

"No...but I'm not gonna be here forever. And when the time comes for me to go I want to make sure I leave this place in the care of someone I trust. And who knows, you might be the next Chief around here."

"That'll never happen. There will only ever be one Chief."

Emilie smiled at the sweet young man's comment as she watched him exit her office. I was nice to feel so wanted, a feeling Emilie had almost forgotten until she met Jeff. "Oh Jeff" she thought to herself. The past two weeks had been amazing, even if they were cut short by Vince's demands that he and Matt appear on the Smackdown that followed SummerSlam. Still it was the best two weeks of Emilie's life. She was even contemplating Jeff's offer. The more she thought about it the less crazy it sounded to her. Why shouldn't she move in with him? She loved him and he clearly returned the feeling. So what was holding her back? Her job; perhaps? Her band; maybe? Her family; defiantly not? Or was it fear? Fear of giving herself so completely to another person, leaving her exposed and vulnerable. "Stop it Emilie!" she mentally scolded herself. "You can't move in with him. It's too soon. It's insane...Isn't it?" It was times like these she wished she had that no fear attitude Jeff was so famous for. He probably never gave anything a second thought. Just go for it, don't think about what tomorrow might bring. Emilie envied that about him. She on the other hand always worried about the future. She never took a leap without looking. Often time overanalyzing and over thinking every situation. And, up till now, that never bothered her. But now she was about to take a huge dive in introducing Jeff to her family. It wasn't so much what they would think about him that bothered Emilie but what he would think about them. She wasn't kidding when she said her family was different, especially compared to Jeff's. He was probably raised with quiet dinner and simple get togethers. How was he going to react to Aunt Joy's ghastly bright orange wig or Uncle Eddie's in depth conversation about his colonoscopy? Not to mention Cousin Heather's over dramatized ranting of how all men are scum, mainly targeting her lying, cheating, dead beat ex-husband. One thing she knew for sure, Jeff had no idea what he was getting himself into.