It was the end of week nine of her twelve-week stint as Nathan Wright's assistant, and so far, Shay had loved every minute of it. They had taken off the week following their return, but Shay had still gone into the office at least once every day to ensure that everything was up to date for Nate when he returned.

When they returned the following Monday, it was business as usual, and it was as if the problems they had endured during their trip and the journey itself had never taken place. The notes had been filed away, and the next big merger was on the table.

Now, it was Friday, the end of her ninth week. That meant that she had only three more weeks left as Nate's assistant before Ellen returned. With time going as fast as it was, she would be sent back to The Dragon and her humdrum life before she knew it.

Boston and Corey had welcomed her back with open arms. Corey was pleased to be able to leave Boston with Shay, and Boston was pleased to have her mother leave, period.

Shay looked at the clock on the wall across from her desk and breathed a sigh of relief that it was time to go home. Nate had taken a personal day, so there had been less to do than usual, which made the day full of paperwork, boring. It was good to get caught up, but the day lacked its usual spark without Nathan's energy keeping her on her toes.

She was about to leave the office when the phone rang, and her conscience wouldn't let her not answer it.

"Hello, Nathan Wright's office," Shay said into the phone as she grabbed a post-it note and a pen, ready to take a message.

"Oh, good! I thought I might have missed you. Is Nate there?" Ellen's hurried voice said into the phone.

"No, he took the day off," Shay said, doing away with formalities since Ellen seemed harassed.

"That explains why his phone has been off! Can you get a message to him? I would go, but the baby...." Ellen trailed off helplessly.

"If he's not answering his phone, there's not much that I can do." Shay frowned as she tried to think of a way to get in touch with Nate, and short of the Bat-Signal, there was nothing she could come up with to get the job done.

"I can give you his address, and you can hand-deliver the message." Ellen's voice sounded hopeful.

"I guess, but I don't think he will like it." Shay knew he wouldn't like her in his personal space even though she was quite pleased with the turn of events.

"It's imperative. Otherwise, I wouldn't ask," Ellen pleaded.

"Fine, give me the address." Shay did her best to keep her voice calm and professional even though she was a little bit giddy inside.

"And the message?" Shay asked as she wrote down the street and number.

"Check your email," Ellen said.

"Will the message be there?" Shay asked, confused.

"No, tell Nate to check his email. That's the message." The baby started crying. "I have to go."

Shay sighed as she wrote the message. She hoped it was important. Otherwise, Nate would be angry at the waste of time no matter what he was doing.

It only took Shay a short cab ride to reach the destination, which was a five-story brick apartment block. It didn't look like much from the outside and definitely not where a billionaire would live. Shay looked down at the address, double-checking it. Noting it was correct, her next question was how in the heck what she supposed to find Nate in a five-story apartment block.

Maybe there were names over the doorbell.

Shay climbed the stone steps and stopped at the top. There were no names, and there was no doorbell either. She was about to start banging on the door, hoping someone would answer it, when a little old lady, wheeling a shopping dollie behind her, stopped and looked up at Shay.

"Can I help you, young lady," the white-haired grandma asked in a firm voice.

"Maybe. Do you live here?" Shay looked up at the tall building.

"I do. What's it to you?" The old woman automatically went on the defensive.

"I'm looking for Nathan Wright." Shay watched the woman take stock of her without answering.

"I'm his assistant while Ellen is on maternity leave, and he turned off his phone, so she asked me to deliver a message to him. Ellen said it was imperative." As her brother would say, in for a penny in for a pound, the more back story you give, the more natural it sounds.

"Why didn't you say so!" the old woman all but shouted as if Shay had been keeping crucial information from her. "He's on the third-floor dear, just follow the noise."

"How do I get in?" Shay asked, perplexed.

"You turn the doorknob, dear." The old lady reached for her dollie and started to pull it up the steps.

"There's no alarm or security code to enter?" Shay was stunned that Nate would live in a building that had no security. She quickly descended the stairs and took the dollie from the little older woman. "I'm Shay Richards, by the way."

"Reyna Richards' daughter!" the woman asked excitedly.

"Yes," Shay replied with hesitation. She had never been recognized quite so quickly before based just on her name.

"I'm LouLou Sheets," she replied as she led the way back of the steps and opened the door. She did indeed simply turn the knob.

"Do you know my mother, LouLou?" Shay asked. She had learned long ago never to underestimate her mother and the friends she made.

"Oh no, how would I? But I love her work." A twenty-minute one-sided conversation followed this comment as LouLou rehashed all her favorite Reyna Richards movies while they climbed to her apartment, entered, and put up her groceries.

Shay just couldn't make herself walk away from the kind-hearted lady.

"Listen, Ms. Sheets-"

"Call me LouLou, please. You look so much like your mother." The woman eyed Shay fondly. Shay knew crazy fans, and this wasn't one of them. She was just a sweet old lady who was a little lonely.

"LouLou, can I come back later? I really need to get this message to Mr. Wright." Shay started to move toward the door.

"Oh my, I got so excited I forgot! Yes, go and come back any time. Maybe dinner Sunday?" The woman asked shyly, expecting to be turned down. "I know you young people always have so much to do," she said, offering Shay an out if she wanted one. It automatically endeared her to Shay.

"I would love to!" Shay agreed. "Do you want me to pick up something to go?"

"No!" LouLou looked horrified at the thought. "I'll cook us something."

"Sounds great! About seven? I have to work the next day, and Mr. Wright is a hard taskmaster."

"Perfect!" LouLou grinned, her wrinkled face glowing.

"You said the third floor?" Shay hinted. It was the floor above LouLou, and Shay could hear what sounded like a buzz saw, and she had smelled fresh wood when she had entered.

"Yes, Nathan is fixing up the apartment to rent," LouLou explained as she walked Shay to the door.

"Thanks, LouLou. I'll see you on Sunday." Shay waved as she headed to the stairs and climbed them quickly. She followed the noise to an open door and stopped in her tracks when she saw what was happening inside.

There was a crew of men working, and in the middle of them was Nate. He was wearing a pair of well-worn blue jeans that hung low on his hips because of his tool belt, a grey t-shirt covered in sawdust, work boots, and safety glasses. He was bent over a pair of sawhorses, measuring something and marking it off. When he automatically placed the pencil behind his ear, Shay felt something in her chest turn over.

Here was the artist. He looked at home as he laughed at something one of the men had said over their shoulder.

The man who had spoken froze when he saw Shay, which caused Nate to turn and look in her direction.

Shay wasn't surprised at the frown of displeasure on Nate's face when he saw her, but it still hurt. He took off his safety glasses and walked toward her.

"What is it, Shay?" his voice was impatient. At least it sounded that way to her. Despite his displeasure at seeing her, Shay couldn't help but admire how his lean body looked in his relaxed work clothes. The look fit him way better than a suit.

"Ellen had a message for you," Shay rushed, suddenly in a hurry to get away from this new Nate who was making her feel new things she would rather not analyze.

"Ellen?" he asked, confused.

"I don't know. All Ellen said was that you weren't answering your phone, and you needed to check your email." Shay shrugged the turned to leave.

His hand reached out to stop her. "Why Ellen?"

"I don't know. Maybe the email will have more details. Ellen didn't want to give me any more information, so I didn't ask." His hand on her shoulder was doing funny things to her insides.

"I must go. I have dinner with the family." Shay said as she pulled herself away and made a break for it while she still could.

She had a million questions that she wanted to ask him, but she knew he would never answer.