Be here

Many days later.

"Dom needs these documents signed by the required parties, and he needs them returned to him before lunch time" said Nine as he handed the secretary some files.

"Alright Mr. White, I will get this done quickly" said the Secretary as she nodded.

"Thank you" said Nine as he walked away when he suddenly heard someone calling his name.

"Nine, Nine, wait up" called Lia as Nine heard her voice and sighed internally as he turned to face her.

"What are you doing here Lia?" asked Nine as he looked at her.

"Um Hi, a good morning to you too Nine" said Lia as she laughed.

"Lia, I'm serious, what are you doing here?" asked Nine as he did not look like he was in the mood for this right now.

"Well my team is here to install the new security cameras, I came to supervise them" said Lia with a smile as Nine did not like the sound of that, supervising for Lia meant that she would be here for a long time.

"And you just have to be here?" asked Nine.

"Not for what you think Nine, yes I have to be here, this is my company's deal, and I don't trust just anyone with my super expensive security cameras, so yes, I have to be here" said Lia.

"Alright then, good luck with setting up everything" said Nine as he walked away and Lia followed after him.

"Oh Nine, come on, don't be like that, don't tell me that you are still angry with me" said Lia as Nine said nothing, which meant that he was.

"You know, it's unfair for you to remain upset with me, I did nothing wrong" said Lia as Nine entered his office and he scoffed as he sat down at his desk.

"Go find someone else to talk to Lia, I'm not in the mood to become your venting dummy" said Nine as he knew the reason she was here, she just wanted to talk to him and rant about how Dom doesn't love her and all that nonsense, and honestly Nine was over It, he was done, it was not worth it at all.

"You are not my venting dummy Nine, you know I love you" said Lia.

"Not in the way I want though" said Nine as he scoffed in an inaudible tone.

"I am not going to do anything illegal for you Lia" said Nine.

"Not again" said Nine.

"Nine, the fact you think so little of me, I am not going to ask you do to anything illegal for me, I am done with that honestly" said Lia as Nine scoffed.

"Are you sure about that Lia? Are you sure that you are saying that because you mean it, or you want me to forgive you?" asked Nine as he knew Lia well, she never did anything just because, she always did something because of something else, and she was very particular with her words.

She never said anything on a whim, what she did say had already been planned, she was that dubious and he knew it but failed to stop her, he knew what she was truly capable of.

"A little bit of both" said Lia as Nine scoffed.

"You know I can't lie to you Nine, you know me better than anyone else, and that's why I'm being honest" said Lia.

"Then tell me, is your decision to stop this nonsense because your plans didn't work, or because you almost got killed in the process?" asked Nine.

"A bit of both" said Lia.

"Are you genuinely sorry for what you tried to do?" asked Nine as Lia kept quiet.

"I prefer not to answer that" said Lia.

"Then I prefer not to move past this" said Nine as he knew the answer to the question he had asked her, and it honestly scared him to death.

"Nine please don't say that, you have to understand" said Lia.

"Oh I understand Lia, I understand perfectly, because I have always been there, I have always been there for you no matter what" said Nine.

"I always support you and indulge you even when I shouldn't, and because of that when you get yourself in messy situations who do you call? Me" said Nine.

"I am tired of being the person you call when you get yourself into trouble, go find someone else to just be your henchman, because I am done" said Nine.

"What's up with you Nine? What's with this sudden change? Why are you talking to me like this?" asked Lia as she was surprised.

"Cecilia, I am talking to you like this because I know the truth, and the truth is you will hurt yourself, and I don't want to be guilty of not warning you when I should have" said Nine.

"No Nine, that's not it, you are talking to me with a hint of anger, what did I ever do to make you be angry with me? What did I ever do to deserve you speaking so coldly to me?" asked Lia as she was hurt.

"You really are selfish Lia, I am not going to tell you what, because surely you know why" said Nine as he scoffed, he didn't know if he was talking because he was fed up, or if it was because he was angry at her, and especially at himself for pursing a relationship that could never work, for loving someone who didn't love him, who loved someone else, by harbouring false hope.

"Nine this isn't you, something is wrong, someone hurt you, who hurt you?" asked Lia as she was surprised by the way Nine was behaving, this wasn't like him at all.

"You hurt me Lia, you did" said Nine.

"How??" asked Lia in confusion as Nine groaned, he wasn't going to say it.

"Get Dom out of your head and out of your heart because he can never love you, and I will do the same" said Nine as he kept that last part to himself.

"I know that… but he doesn't love Natasha" said Lia.

"And neither does he love you, just leave him alone" said Nine.

"And leave me alone too" said Nine as Lia looked at him in hurt, and it killed him to see her like that, but he knew that this had to be the one to tell her the truth, or else, no one will.

"So you really want me to leave you alone?" asked Lia in a hurt voice as Nine screamed internally that no, he didn't want that, he just wanted her to love him like he loved her, but he had come to terms that she could never.

"Nine answer me, do you want me to leave you alone?" asked Lia as she looked like she was on the verge of tears but Nine said nothing at all.

"Nine you know I love you, I really do, you are my friend above everyone else, and I'm sorry, I'm sorry that I shared my deepest darkest secrets with you, I'm sorry that I trusted you too much to put a burden on you, I'm sorry that I told you all my thoughts and feelings" said Lia.

"You are doing It again Lia, you are trying to blackmail me" said Nine as he sighed.

"No Nine, I am not, and I am sorry if it came out that way I… I *sigh* I just don't want to ruin the friendship we have" said Lia.

"Our friendship will never be ruined Lia, never" said Nine.

"You mean it?" asked Lia as Nine nodded.

"I really do, I will always be here for you, you know that, I just want you to change that's all" said Nine.

"Alright, I will try to change then I promise you" said Lia as she smiled and she nodded, if there was someone she absolutely respected and listened to, it would be Nine.

"Don't change for me Lia, change for you, change because it's what is best for you" said Nine as he smiled and Lia smiled as she nodded.

"Helloooo Nine!!" came Lulu's loud voice as she opened the door to Nine's office and she walked in without knocking.

"Hi Lulu" said Nine.

"Hi Lulu" said Lia with a smile as she looked at Lulu.

"Hi…" said Lulu as she did not like seeing Lia here.

"Nine is she bugging you?" asked Lulu as she looked at Nine who shook his head.

"Good" said Lulu.

"I was just about to leave, see you later Lulu, and thank you Nine" said Lia as she looked at Nine and she smiled as he smiled at her.

"Lulu you want to go out shopping later?" asked Lia with a smile as she looked at Lulu.

"Sure" said Lulu as she never passed up an opportunity to go shopping.

"I will text you, see you" said Lia with a smile as she walked out of Nine office as Lulu turned to look at Nine.

"What's going on here? There is something I am missing" said Lulu in confusion.

"It's nothing Lulu, Lia and I were just talking" said Nine.

"You sure?" asked Lulu as Nine nodded.

"Well okay, what do you want me to get you for lunch? I am on lunch duty today" said Lulu with a smile.

"I'm fine Lulu, thank you" said Nine with a smile.

"Oh okay then, see you later Nine" said Lulu with a smile.

"See you" replied Nine with a smile as Lulu left his office and he sighed internally.