**I want to thank LadyLizaElliott for her help with some dialogue in this chapter**

It was a typical morning in Hell Hall. Cruella was awakened by Marco at 7AM, he brought her her morning tea and the newspaper before he found an outfit for her to wear for the day.

Marco dressed her in a deep blue vintage Chanel-esque suit. The shoulders was pointy so as to support a huge wine red fur stole. It was encrusted with small rubies all the way around the hems.

Under she wore a wine red silk blouse with a big ruffled collar and sleeves.

She put on sheer pantyhose and a pair of deep blue suede pumps.

A pair of black gloves, a veiled deep blue sailor's hat, a tiger teeth necklace, charmless bracelet and earrings later she was ready to stomp to work.

She arrived at House of DeVil at 8AM sharp.

"Good morning ma'am" the receptionist said.

She walked right past her, leaving her in the dust of her own selflessness.

Cruella thrived on making other people feel bad about themselves, so to speak.

Cruella was greeted in her office by a familiar face.

"Alonzo! Darling, what are you doing here?" she asked as she threw her fur stole on the floor.

She sat down at her desk and gestured for Alonzo to sit.

"I have been thinking.. I was just thinking that.. Well, you see I've been thinking.."

"So, you've been thinking?" Cruella asked as she tapped her long black fingernails onto the glass desk.

Alonzo smiled nervously "Well, you see, I am out of a job at the moment, and I was just thinking-"

"That you would come back to work for me?" Cruella asked.

"Well, yes!" he said, a bit stammering.

Cruella stared Alonzo straight in his eyes. "There's never been another human being I have trusted more than you, Alonzo. I want you to know that." She said. "I am rude, and I might be borderline evil. But I still want you to know that you, YOU are the one" she closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths "you are the one! It's that simple, you are the one.." she said and pointed her finger at him.

Alonzo smiled at that. "I may be crazy, but you're the one as well!" he said with self-discovering confidence.

"Try not to ravish me, it would be inappropriate." she said and snickered.

"On a more serious note, we do have our disagreements, but deep down we really do love each other as individuals. Everyone thinks you are this monster, but very few people have ever had you alone intimately." he said. Cruella's face tightened and he could see she was biting the insides of her lips. "You never let anyone that close, not as close as I have been." Alonzo said as he looked into Cruella's eyes.

Cruella mumbled and nodded in agreement.

"I have issues Alonzo, I really do, I know I do, but there's nothing I can do about them, it's how I've always been! I'm aware of myself, you know! I'm not oblivious as to how I act and what I say, it's a defense mechanism not to let anyone get close. But you have managed to snake your way in, you have amazing tolerance and patience. I guess subconsciously I test the ones I'm closest to to make sure they are people I really want in my life. I have always kept people at an arm's length so to not get hurt."

Alonzo didn't know what to say. He was flabbergasted at the humbling words he was hearing from someone he had once called a 'insensitive barracuda'.

At the loss of words he didn't know what else to do other than to take her hand in his own, look her deep in the eyes and say "I think you are great!" he said, stammering again. His body was trembling. He didn't know what to feel. Was this real?

Cruella got up from her chair and walked over to the liquor cabinet. "I know I'm great!" she said as she poured herself a dry martini. "You know where your old desk is, you can start today." she said.

"Are you su-" Alonzo said when he was interrupted by Cruella's hand, which she had put in the air to signal him to stop talking. She then proceeded to wave him away as she took a sip from her martini. "Go make yourself useful." she said.

Alonzo got up from his chair and left for his desk.

Cruella sat down and looked at herself in the mirror. "The greatest.." she said.