Good night! :) The Sunday update is here, folks! I know this one is short, but I barely had time for more. I won't have time to update next Sunday because I'm going to be out of town all weekend. Anyway, I hope I take some time every day to write a little bit and update the story even if the chapter is a short one, but I can't promise anything definitive. I hope you enjoy this one and have a nice week you all! ;)

PD: I stopped proofreading 'cause I don't have time for that, so you'll have to get used to my mistakes. ;)

liekedk99: Thank you! They deserved a sweet moment after all the drama. ;)

Herhers: Sí, tienes razón, igual me he pasado de moñas. Era por el día, que me dio por ahí, cuando en realidad soy todo lo contrario. :D Paige está alterada, pero ya se calmará. ;) Ali aparecerá, pero tendrás que esperar un poco. Que pases una buena semana! ;)

Tns729: Thank you so much!

MJ: That's a shame they had to interrupt them. But they shared cute moments too, so that's the important thing. Emily's being as supportive as possible, but Paige is dealing with so many issues that she has to be around her no matter what. Thanks for your nice words. Have a nice week. ;)

Enjoy the chapter, guys!

IT'S NEVER TOO LATE

: Chapter 25 – Impulses:

The phone rings and I quickly open my eyes, nervous because I have the feeling I overslept. I jump out of the bed and look at the watch. It's seven in the morning and I scheduled the alarm to ring at seven thirty. The phone keeps ringing. I grab it and see that's my dad calling.

"Hey. Is something wrong?" My sleepy voice makes him laugh.

"Were you still sleeping?"

"Of course I was. The meeting is supposed to be at nine thirty." He keeps laughing.

"You still have that bad temper when somebody wakes you up."

"Me and everyone on the planet, dad," I tease him, a laughter coming from the other side of the line. "So, what's going on? I hope it's good."

"Yes, it is, honey. I just needed to tell somebody, I couldn't wait." He seems eager.

"Come on, dad, just say it," I insist. He already got me nervous.

"I just received a call and they chose us, Paige! I know they were supposed to tell us the decision on the meeting, but they called me saying that they were really happy to collaborate with us."

"That's fantastic." I can't help but smile widely. This is really important for us after all the hard work involved in this project. I had a feeling they liked us and the project itself, but you always have that doubt that you can't avoid in cases like this.

"I'm really proud of you, honey. It's basically your project." He can sometimes be really sweet, even if we, the McCullers, don't like being too emotional. We show our feelings with acts, not words, and I think that's equally respectable, even if some people may think we have no feelings at all.

"Don't say that, dad. A lot of people worked on it. It's a team work."

"I know that, but you were the pillar of the project, even if you're too humble to assume the victory."

"Stop it, dad," I tease him.

"Anyway, I was thinking of buying you breakfast. Unless you have other plans," he emphasizes.

"Of course I'm in, dad. I can't go to sleep now, so I'll have to eat something. How about we meet at the hall in about thirty minutes? I'm going to have a shower first."

"Okay. See you later, honey." I end the call and I jump into the shower. I feel good, motivated.

I see a man reading the newspaper and I suddenly realize it's him. He waves at me when I leave the elevator and approach him.

"Morning!" He looks ecstatic.

"Good morning, dad."

"Come on, let's go, I'm hungry. We're having breakfast in a café that looks nice. I passed by the place yesterday and it caught my eye. I hope you're hungry." I nod at him, smiling at the same time.

Once at the café, we take a corner table and I look around. People are having breakfast before going to work, chatting or reading the newspaper. The waitress takes our order and I break the ice.

"I don't know if I've ever seen you so happy, dad."

He laughs. "I feel excited, that's all. This is huge, Paige. It's not just this project, it's about the possible upcoming ones if we make a good job and they trust us. This firm has a lot of power in Europe, so that means we could explore other markets and leave our mark in them. They also have a lot of Asian clients. We need to be professional with them."

"I will do everything in my power to satisfy them."

"That's the spirit." He grins at me.

When the young girl brings our food, we start devouring it and that means no talking at all. I look at him and I suddenly feel brave enough. I wasn't thinking about bringing the issue, but I will have to do it eventually.

"Dad, there's something I want to talk about."

He stops eating for a few seconds and stares at me. I guess he realized something odd in the tone of my voice.

"What is it?" He leaves the fork and knife on the table and gazes at me. I look away, my heart starts pounding quicker than ever, I'm a bundle of nerves. "You're worrying me. Just say it."

I take some guts and I finally look at him. "Do you remember how you told me you didn't like me dating a workmate?" He sighs. This is going to be hard.

"Are you thinking about Jason again? I told you I didn't like that."

"I'm not talking about Jason, dad."

He opens his eyes widely. "What do you mean?"

"This is difficult to say." I look down at the table, avoiding his gaze to make me even more nervous.

"Hey, Paige, you can trust me." I raise my head to look at him and a tear rolls down my cheek. "Don't be afraid." He looks worried.

"I'm dating a woman, dad," I finally admit.

"What?" I sense astonishment in his voice.

"It just happened, dad. I… I don't…" I stutter, but he interrupts me.

"Hey, look at me." I don't have the courage to see the rage in his eyes. "Look at me, Paige!" he insists. I slowly raise my head, and the tears start pouring again when I meet his eyes. "Don't cry, please. I'm not mad." He gives me a tissue and I wipe my eyes.

"This is embarrassing. I don't know why I chose this moment to…"

"You needed to get rid of the burden on your shoulders. I understand that." I look at him and I see a shy smile on his face. What the hell is going on?

"What do you think? Be honest, please."

He laughs and his reaction shocks me.

"This is not a joke, dad."

"I know that, Paige. Is that all?" I give him a shocked look. "I mean, what do you want me to say? Are you happy?"

"I am," I admit, still curious about his reaction.

"Then I'm happy for you."

"I don't understand what is going here," I exclaim. He keeps eating, like nothing happened.

"What did you expect? If you thought I'd have a bad reaction, then you're wrong about me. I'm not like mom, if that's what you were thinking." I remember about her and her opinion on homosexuality, especially her sister, and I feel my stomach clench up in knots.

"I'm just surprised, dad." I give him a shy smile. "I'm glad you are fine with this."

"Do you remember my best friend Eric?" His question surprises me. I don't know why she changed the matter so drastically. I nod at him. "He's gay, in case you didn't know. I admit I had a different opinion maybe twenty years ago. Everything was different back then. You know how much people fear the unknown, when someone is different from them. I think that's the problem with homophobes. I got to understand that was bullshit. When Eric told me about it, I rejected it. I feel embarrassed now. However, I came to realize there's nothing wrong about that. Who I am to judge?" The tears start coming from my eyes again, but this time they mean something different, I feel lucky to have him as a dad. I stand up and go hug him. I don't even remember when the last time I hugged him was. As I said, we're not very touchy people. He deserved this embrace though. "If I thought you'd react this way I wouldn't have said that. Everyone is looking at us." I laugh and then wipe the tears with the almost soaked tissue he gave me. I now know why I don't like being the center of attention either, he's just like me.

"Thank you. I mean, you made me the happiest person on Earth."

"I'm glad you trusted me. I just want you to be happy." He makes a pause and then continues speaking. "I'm just curious why you had to mention work and Jason before telling me this." He frowns at me. The first part was a triumph, I hope he doesn't get mad now. He didn't like me dating Jason because he was a workmate, and that applies to Emily too.

"Well… that's…" I take a deep breath, his eyes fixated on mine. "That's the problem. You know her." He's still frowning, he didn't decipher the clue.

"Oh, God!" The moment I hear those words my pulse races. "Is it…? It all adds up."

I nod at him, even though I'm not sure he knows it's Emily.

He shakes his head, this doesn't look right. It'd be a shame if he disapproved after the moment we just shared.

"Just say something," I say.

"I don't like you dating a workmate, I already told you when you were with Jason."

I sigh and he stares at me, but I don't know what to say.

"I'm sorry, dad. It just happened. I can't leave her now because of that. She even told me she would be willing to look for other jobs if necessary," I confess him. However, I hope we don't need to do that. I'd even be willing to do the same, although I'm the boss' daughter.

"Do you know why I don't want you to date someone from work? I think I already told you. You know how people are, we're cruel by nature. They will always say she's working for me because who she is. The same happened with Jason. I thought you understood that."

"Of course I get it. It's just I didn't expect this would happen. I don't know what to do, dad."

He stares at me and smiles. "I don't want to lose her either, even though it's for different reasons." He winks at me and I grin at him. "She's the best engineer we have had, she's hard-working, nice… I mean, the presentation she made the other day, that was one of the reasons they gave us the project, I'm sure of it. She's just perfect for the job."

"I know she is," I admit, raising my eyebrows and making him smile.

"I like her, so I'm going to make an exception." My eyes are wide open. "However, I'd like if you were discreet. When you're at work, you're just workmates, got it?" I nod at him.

"Thank you, dad, you're the best." I eat the last piece of brioche and stare at him. "You didn't like Jason, am I right?" I grin at him.

"He's a nice guy, but he's also way too competitive. I didn't like you dating him because I had the feeling he'd make you suffer. I guess I was wrong." I laugh.

My phone vibrates and I look at the text.

"Wanna have breakfast? I'm starving."

"I'm having breakfast with my dad. We'll talk later, okay?"

I press the send button. I prefer to tell her on person or at least not by text.

"I won't ask who was that. I can imagine just by looking at your dumb smile." I shake my head and smile at him. He laughs.

"Don't tell mom, okay? I just need more time to be emotionally ready to deal with that." He nods at me. We leave the café and walk in silence until we get to the hall.

"I need to make a call. I'll see you later at the meeting."

"Okay."

"Thank you so much, dad." I grab his hand and squeeze it.

"I don't remember you being so touchy," he teases me. I laugh and wave at him.

I go outside, take my phone and call her. I need to tell her everything. This day couldn't have begun in a better way and I need to share this happiness I'm feeling. I dial her number, but she doesn't pick up.

"Come on, Em," I say. She doesn't answer, I exhausted all my good luck.

I leave the room and walk towards the elevator that's at the end of the corridor, ready to fill up my stomach. I push the button and wait. When the door opens and I see him, I automatically smile. He's always been nice to me, but he's my boss, so I can't help but get nervous every time I see him.

"Good morning, Emily. How are you?"

"I'm good. Thank you. How about you, Mr. McCullers?" He has a strange smile on his face, I don't get it.

"I'm good. You can call me Nick, we're practically family, Emily." I frown at him, I don't know what the hell is going on with him.

"I see my workmates more than family, so you may be right," I add. His smile doesn't fade away.

"You didn't understand what I said." This is really odd. "Did you talk to my daughter?" The change of subject catches me by surprise.

"No, I didn't. Why? Did something happen?" I know I was very direct, but I want to know what is going on.

"I was just curious, that's all. Anyway, enjoy your breakfast. See you later, Emily."

"See you later, Mr. Mc…" He interrupts me.

"Nick."

"See you later, Nick." He smiles when he realizes the effort I had to make to use his name. "That was harder than it looked like," I joke.

"You'll have to get used to it. Things have changed, am I right?" His grin leaves me speechless. I don't know what to say, so I just smile at him. And with that weird comment he waves at me and I enter the elevator. I think this is the weirdest moment I'd shared with him. He was like teasing me, and I don't get why. I need to call Paige. I put my hand on the pocket, trying to reach my phone, but I don't have it. I guess I left it at the room. That call will have to wait, I don't want to bump into him again. I just need to eat something and then I will find out what happened.

To be continued…

Stay tuned! ;)