Sorry it took me so long to update this. I kinda had a little case of writer's block and couldn't figure out what the heck I wanted to happen in this story. Anyways, I hope this chapter is worth the wait.

Chapter Six

Sometimes I felt stifled within my family. I was the youngest girl, slightly ignored, always over-protected, and sometimes feeling lost and not knowing what my place was in the family. Already my parents had a daughter that had screwed up her life and a daughter that had the perfect life. So, why did they need me? What purpose did I have in our family? What daughter was I supposed to be?

Ruthie sipped her coffee, savoring the hot brew as it slid over her tongue and down her throat, burning just slightly. The bitter taste was just what she needed to wake up after a fitful night's sleep. Running a hand through her hair, she sat down at the kitchen table and shuffled through the newspaper that sat in front of her.

It had been two weeks since the funeral, and life was slowly going back to normal for Ruthie. She had met with her editors and, though they were tentative, they gave her the go ahead for her book. The pages had been coming fast and furious after Eric's funeral. Ruthie wanted to hurry and write down every memory she had of her dad before the memories began to fade as memories have a tendency to do.

She flipped to the sports section of the paper, and Mac's face stared back at her. A longing ripped through her heart. They had been together so long, it was hard to imagine her life without him. But Ruthie knew that the relationship would have fallen apart if they had gone on much longer. With Mac it was always something different. He was never content to just be. He always needed to be doing something important. And he always needed to push Ruthie to advance their relationship. Mac didn't want marriage, he just wanted the benefits that came with marriage. Always he pushed her, driving her to the edge before Ruthie's morals kicked in and she said no. It had finally gotten too much for him, and he had sought out release in other places. Ruthie could hardly recount how many times Mac had slept with another woman, and she was fairly certain that there were even more than the ones she knew about.

With a sigh, she closed the paper. Standing up, she stretched out the kink in her back and headed into the living room. Her eyes instantly fell to the piece of paper that sat on the coffee table beside her laptop. Martin's number. She hadn't called it yet, wasn't sure that she should. After everything that had happened between them all those years ago, Ruthie couldn't believe that Martin was setting himself up to get hurt again. Not that she wanted to hurt him, but Ruthie knew the truth. She had a habit of sabotaging her relationships, maybe not consciously, but somehow, someway, she always sabotaged herself.

She picked up the paper and studied it. His phone number was written in a neat row, the numbers perfectly formed. Just below his number, in the same neat writing, sat his address. An overwhelming urge to suddenly jump into her car and drive up to Washington filled Ruthie. It filled her so greatly that her hands shook from the thrill of it.

No, she told herself with a shake of her head, I can't do this.

With a force of will she didn't know she possessed, Ruthie headed into the kitchen and buried the paper in a drawer loaded to the brim with junk. There. She would leave the paper there and forget that it even existed. She had messed up her own life already, she didn't need to mess up Martin's.

"Yo, Brewer, Hackman wants to see you in his office." Martin looked up from the sketches he'd been working on.

"Alright," he said, brushing the eraser dust off the large paper. "I'll be right there."

"Actually man, you might want to go now." His co-worker and friend, Carson, said. "Hackman looks pretty pissed."

Martin groaned. Oliver Hackman was not a man that you wanted to cross. He had a temper that was famous for being explosive and irrational.

"Thanks, Carson." Martin said, standing up and pulling on his suit jacket. If he was going into a meeting with Hackman he needed to look professional.

Oliver Hackman sat in his office behind his large mahogany desk, leaning back in his chair with hands steepeled in front of him. His gray mustache quivered with each twitch of his mouth, a sure sign that he was not pleased. The same steely blue eyes that had first paralyzed Martin with fear when he'd been interviewing for a job at Hackman Architecture four years ago stared at him with the same sharp shrewdness of a man that had seen much in his lifetime and didn't fool around.

"Take a seat." Mr. Hackman said as Martin shut the office door behind him. Martin took the proffered seat across the desk from his boss.

Uncomfortable under the formidable gaze of Mr. Hackman, Martin shifted in his seat, waiting for the older man to speak.

"Mr. Brewer," he said just as Martin was beginning to think that the silence would never end, "you've been with this company for quite some time now."

Martin, not knowing if he was supposed to reply to this statement or not, simply nodded.

"And in your time here," Mr. Hackman continued, "you've shown yourself to be a talented young man. I've often thought that you had the talent to someday run your own company."

The conversation had taken a turn that Martin hadn't expected. What was Mr. Hackman talking about? Where the heck was this conversation going?

"You're probably wondering why I called you in here." It was as if the man could read his mind!

"I'm not one to beat around the bush, so I'm just gonna come out and say this. Jeffery Dillinger is a moron."

"Sir?" Martin was obviously confused. Beyond confused, actually. He was baffled. What the heck did Jeffery Dillinger, Martin's top rival at the firm, have to do with anything?

"Dillinger bumbled one of the biggest accounts this company has had in quite some time and I had to fire him. Now I've found myself without an architect on the Mason account."

Martin perked up. The Mason account was a huge account. He had been vying for that account since the day Mr. Hackman announced that they won the bid. But Dillinger had gotten the job, leaving Martin, in a way, heartbroken. That account could have been his big break. Now, Hackman was telling him that he might have a shot at it once more. Martin's day couldn't have gotten any better.

"I want you packed and on a plane to LA in three hours." Hackman was saying, bringing Martin back down to earth. "You're going to meet with Jacob Mason and pitch him your ideas on plans."

Silence fell over the two once more. Martin couldn't find the words to express how he felt right then. The Mason account. Wow. It was like a dream come true.

Woohoo, another chapter finished. The stage is set now. Soon Ruthie and Martin will meet again and Mac will re-enter the picture. What drama awaits our lovelorn couple? Just wait and see.

PS. Review, review, review!

PPS. Thanks to all of you who have reviewed so far. You guys totally ROCK!