Hi, so, I know that I said that I was done with this book, but, last night, in my way back home, I just heard this song 'Love you to death' by Chord Overstreet, and, this came to life... So, yeah, it looks like Emison beat, it's still alive, ha! I didn't see that coming, but, here this 1st chapter of this mini story.

Not sure of where I'm going with this, but, I hope you'll be willing to take this road with me... once again...

Love you to Death - Part 1

*** Alison's narrative (voice-over) ***

Even if it's just one night... even if it's just during a brief moment... wouldn't be great to love someone? Love... such a foreign feeling... so strange for my heart, that I wonder if I will ever feel it before Death...

Trapped in a big list of things to do, Alison DiLaurentis, the big CEO of the empire of her family is sitting in her big CEO chair, and, working. Working as crazy as hell, because after all, making money is the only thing she has in life. No family, no friends, no lover; Alison has made time just for one thing in her life, and, that's work...

Alison looks at the hour and sighs. - "Almost midnight..."

How fast fly the time? Alison wonders while she looks at all the things she hasn't done yet. But, looking at the hour, Alison decides to put a stop at her never-ending work. She has witnessed before that at this late hour, her brain doesn't make the wiser decisions, so, the blonde stands up, she stops working, and, takes her belongings, to get out of her office. With her portfolio in one hand, and, her coat in the other, Alison closes the door of her office. At this hour, she would be the only person in the building, but, to the shock of the blonde, she wasn't...

Alison frowns when she sees someone standing in front of her. - "Miss... uhmm... Secretary... uhmmm..."

The blonde scolds herself because she can't remember the name of her own assistant, her brain definitetly doesn't work well at this hour. But, thankfully, her secretary doesn't take offence on it, after all, she is...

Emily. - "Miss. Fields, I'm Miss Fields..."

She's Emily Fields, the more forbearing, kind person that exists in this world. And, maybe that's the reason why she has been able to work with someone as demanding as Alison for so long. Yeah, it was already a year since the brunette got the job. And, it's kind of a record, because before Emily, there was no assistant that could resist to work with Alison DiLaurentis for more than a month.

Crazy hours, weekends, holidays. The blonde demanded a complete assistance, 24/24h, the 365 days of the year. It's something crazy for the majority of the people, but, for Emily, it was just a request of loyalty, and, if there was something in what Emily was perfect, it's that... loyalty. There's no one more loyal than her, and, even if the blonde can't appreciate it, Emily is loyal to her work, and, to her boss...

Alison. - "Why are you still here? It's late..."

Emily. - "You're still here..."

Alison. - "We already had this conversation, Miss... uhmm..."

Emily. - "Miss. Fields..."

Alison nods. - "Right, Miss. Fields... If it's past 10pm, you should be at home, already..."

Emily. - "I can't leave, knowing that you're still here. What if you need something...?"

The blonde wants to deny it, but, truth be told...

* At 9pm *

Alison pushes a feature button of her telecom, and, says on speakers. - "I need the Marketing report of the past trimester..."

Emily. - "Yes, I'll print it, right away..."

* At 11pm*

Alison pushes a feature button of her telecom, and, says on speakers. - "Get me, Miss Hastings on the phone, I want to know where she's with the negotiations of the new deal in Tokyo..."

Emily. - "Okay. I'm dialing, right now..." (She cuts the line, to talk with the other person, and, then, she says) "I have her in the line, I'll transfer the call to your phone..."

And, just like that, Alison has no argument to deny how useful is to have Emily around her, all the time...

Emily turns down her computer, and, says. - "If you're ready to go..." (She grabs her bag, and, says) "Then, I'm ready to leave too..."

The blonde just nods, and, both of them, they take the elevator. The blonde pushes the button for the underground parking while Emily pushes the button for the lobby...

Alison frowns. - "You don't have a car...?"

Emily shakes her head...

Alison. - "So, how are you gonna go home? You live out of the city, right?"

Emily smiles. - "You remember..."

Alison is as surprised as the brunette, she doesn't know why she stocked that information in the back of her brain, but, it's there, filed in the database of her mind...

Emily. - "It's okay. There's a bus, which leaves me just at the corner of my home. So, I'll take the bus as always..."

It's late, and, Emily is sure that even if she runs to the bus stop, she will miss the last bus. And, she wasn't wrong...

Emily loudly says while she runs. - "Wait! Wait! Please!"

She was so close, but, the driver didn't care, he closed the doors, and, drove away...

Emily stands at the bus stop, alone, and, sighs. - "Damn it!"

With her hands over her knees, the brunette was tilted, looking down, trying to catch her breath, and, thinking how the hell she will go home now? How...?

Alison. - "Get in..."

Emily mumbles. - "Huh?!"

The brunette looks up, and, gasps surprised when she finds her boss, opening the door of her car for her...

Alison. - "Get in, now..."

Emily. - "But..."

Alison. - "Now!"

The brunette nods, she can't say 'no' when the blonde is using her big boss' voice...

Emily gets in the car, and, shyly says. - "Thank you..."

The blonde just nods, and, starts driving...

Alison. - "Can you write your address on the GPS? I have no idea where are we going..."

Emily. - "Oh, yeah! Of course..."

The brunette looks at the panel of the car, it's not rocket science, but, this is one of the reasons why she has never dared to learn how to drive. She just doesn't get it...

Alison pushes some buttons, and, says. - "There... just type your address..."

Emily mumbles again a 'thank you', and, she puts her address...

Alison reads it. - "Rosewood...?" (She frowns) "That's at 2 hours from the city..." (She looks at Emily, and, says) "Why you live so far...?"

Emily shyly plays with the sleeves of her sweater, and, says. - "My parents are there. My Dad, he..." (deep breath) "He can't see, he lost his eyesight during his last tour in Afganistan. And, mom, she... she's starting to lose her hearing..." (She sadly chuckles) "I guess it's the age..."

Alison stays in silence, she wasn't prepared for this kind of revelation, neither sure of what to say after that confession...

Emily. - "With my salary, if it would be just me, I could live in the city. In a little studio, close to the Metropolitan Opera, so, I could hear the great music from my window while I drink sweet, hot chocolate..." (She smiles when she starts to picture it in her mind) "Maybe I could even get a dog..."

The brunette talks about it, like she had already thought about it before, but...

Emily. - "But, that's just something that I can't do right now. I can't leave them alone like that... they need me... So, I stay in Rosewood..." (She takes a deep breath, and, turns her head towards the window, and, mumbles) "I stayed..."

There's a little of sadness in Emily's words. She loves her parents, but, living in a big city was also a big dream for Emily. But, sadly, for now, it's just that... a dream.

Alison stares at the brunette, at the girl who looks at the big buildings, at all the lights of the city like if she wouldn't want to leave. And, Alison gets it, she understands the feeling of long for something, something so close, and, at the same time so far away...

Alison says while she drives. - "It's impressive..."

Emily. - "Huh?"

Alison. - "Not anyone puts its family's needs ahead its owns... so, what you're doing, it's impressive..."

Like Emily, family's needs, that's something Alison is familiar with. Because, yeah, being a workhaholic who just cares about the money, it was never her dream work... oh, no, the blonde had another kind of dreams to pursue when she was younger, but, just like Emily. Alison put those dreams aside when her father, in his deathbed, asked to the blonde to take care of the family business. Because after all, if it wasn't her, who would have take care of the legacy of her parents?

The CEO lost her mother when she was 5, and, her father at the age of 21, from a heart disease she didn't inherit, she has checked it. But, even if she has no issues with her heart, she definitely believes that there's something wrong with it. Because after the death of Kenneth DiLaurentis, Alison's heart, it just shot down, it turned off without saying why... Maybe that's why Alison is so good at making money, all her decisions are driven by her brain; her decisions' maker is never driven by her heart... at least till now...

Alison closes her office and, says. - "Sorry, I got carried away again, and, I didn't notice that it's already past midnight..."

Emily grabs her stuffs, and, says. - "It's okay..."

They get into the elevator, Alison pushes the button for the parking, and, when Emily was going to push the button for the lobby, Alison stops her. The brunette blushes with the contact, Alison's hand is warmer of what she ever believed...

Alison says while she looks at the numbers, decreasing. - "It's too late to take the bus. I'll drive you home..."

Emily shyly says. - "You don't have to... You..."

Alison turns her head towards the brunette, and, when their eyes meet, she says. - "I'll drive you home, there's nothing to discuss about it..."

Emily nods, and, when the blonde turns her look, once again, towards the numbers on the elevator, the brunette shyly smiles, flushing. The heart of the brunette jumps of joy, she feels really happy, Emily can't understand why till, the next morning, in the coffee space...

Hanna. - "You left after midnight?!"

Emily nods

Hanna serves the coffees, and, says. - "Really, Em. You should quit. What they pay you, it's not enough for all the work she puts you through..."

Emily takes her cup, and, says. - "My salary is correct..."

They drink their coffee while Hanna keeps talking bad about Alison. Just like the rest of the people, Hanna thinks the worst of the blonde. Cold, heartless, rich Queen... Alison has heard that kind of nicknames, more than once, that's why she's not shocked to hear that kind of comments when she passes by the coffee space...

The blonde was walking by, when she hears Hanna Marin talking bad about her. Other members of the staff get closer, and, get in the conversation.

"She just cares about the money..."

"Yeah, that's why she's alone..."

It looks like everyone has a comment about Alison, and, they would be afraid to talk about her if they knew that Alison was there, standing on the other side of the tiny wall. Alison could make a scene, appear in front of them, and, shut their mouths, but, the blonde has no time for that, and, she's not shocked by all the things that people say about her, but, Alison gets astounded by...

Emily angrily snaps. - "Shut up!"

Everyone around freeze, even Alison stops walking. This is the 1st time that the kind Emily raises her voice to anyone...

Emily. - "My boss, YOUR boss is a good person! So, don't you dare to talk bad about her..."

Hanna. - "But, Emily, she..."

Emily. - "She works more hours than anyone else in this building..." (She looks at all the staff who's around her, and, says to them) "Last year, when HR said that they needed to make some cuts due to the economic crisis, did anyone get fired?"

Everyone shakes its head

Emily nods. - "Exactly, no one. And, do you know why? Because my boss... YOUR CEO said 'no cuts in the personal'. And, I know that, because I sent the memo to HR..."

And, it was the truth, Alison made cuts in the budget for some projects, for some departments, she even reduced her own income because she refused to let people go...

Emily. - "Miss DiLaurentis works her ass for this company... for us. So, how you dare to say that she's a cold, heartless bitch...? If you think so bad about her, then, quit... leave, and, see if with another company, your boss is capable to put your needs before his own..."

Everyone looks down, Emily's words hit them hard, and, that's why everyone goes back to its desk without saying a word. And, Emily was going to do the same, she walks towards her desk, but, before leaving the coffee spot...

Hanna mumbles. - "You talk about her, like if you loved her..."

Alison hears it, Emily hears it, and, both girls look taken by the idea of 'Love'. But...

Emily looks at Hanna, and, says. - "And, what if I do...?"

Alison leans over the wall, she puts her hand over her chest, and, for the 1st time in years, she can feel her cold heart, beating...

Emily. - "I..." (She smiles when she realizes something, and, declares) "I love my boss, so, don't you dare to talk bad about her in my presence, ever again..."

And, with those words, Emily walks away from Hanna, and, Alison, even if the brunette didn't notice that the blonde was leaning over the other side of the wall...

Alison mumbles in shock. - "She... she loves me...?"

*** Alison's narrative (voice-over) ***

Love, such a foreign feeling, and, very far away for a very long time, but now, it seems like Love is closer than ever... thanks to her...