Thanks for all of the reviews, and to everyone who read the first chapter! I really really appreciate it! I haven't had much time to update, but here is the second chapter!

Chapter 2

"And if we could float away
Fly up to the surface and just start again
And lift off before trouble
Just erodes us in the rain"

"Us Against the World" – Coldplay

Previously:

"I am sorry, it looks like the publisher I partnered you up with is running a little late today." Steve informed me.

"Steve! I am so sorry I am late! Traffic was awful getting here—"

"It's ok Ezra, this is your intern, Aria" Steve interrupted.

"Aria."

"Ezra."

"You two know each other?" Steve asked with a confused look on his face.

"Uh…." I searched my mind for the appropriate thing to say, yes we dated, or he was my teacher, or we dated while he was my teacher, maybe I could just we were friends.

"Aria and I, our families are friends. It has been 5 years since we last saw each other." Ezra quickly jumped in.

"Well, that is excellent! I did a good job pairing you two up! Now, why don't you take her to your office Ezra, and don't forget the group office tour is this afternoon!" Steve said as he walked out of the conference room.

"Aria," Ezra said as he approached me, "I had no idea any of this was going on. I am just as shocked as you are right now."

"Shocked barely describes my emotions at the moment." I said as I stood up and walked over to the door where he was now standing as well.

"Maybe I should show you where our offices are." He responded as he walked out the door.

"That would be nice." I replied. I followed him out, down the hall and into a nice sized office, which had two desks in it. One was larger than the other, and towards the back, and the smaller one was towards the front.

"So your desk is the smaller one, and mine is over here." He informed me.

"Thanks. This is a really nice office." I remarked. There were bookshelves lining the walls, with books all over them. He had some old movie posters on his walls too, To Kill a Mockingbird, and It Happened One Night both caught my eye.

"I really like your posters." I said aloud.

"Thanks, I got them at a yard sale when I first moved here." He responded. "I was driving around town the day after I interviewed for this job, and I saw a sign for a yard sale. I left most of my stuff behind when I came here, and I needed some new furniture and such, so I figured I would check it out. Didn't find anything else that was good, but the posters really caught my eye, and for $5 each, I couldn't pass them up."

"So, when you left Rosewood you left everything?" I curiously asked, hoping he would tell me why he left and didn't stay, a question that had haunted me for years.

"Yeah, I left all of my furniture, and stayed with a friend from college for a week until I found a place to live." He answered.

"Oh. Is there any work you want me to get started on?" I asked, realizing that I needed to stop pestering him with questions before the situation became even more awkward than it already was.

"Not yet. To be honest I had completely forgotten about the interns coming today, until I got here." He honestly answered.

"Oh. I think I left the book I am reading in my car, so I think I am just going to run over to the parking garage and grab it then." I suggested, needing to be away from him for a moment to sort out my emotions.

"Sure." He said, clearly sensing we needed a moment alone to process everything. I grabbed my purse, and walked out to the elevators, rode it to the lobby and made my way outside. I immediately called Spencer, hoping she might have some helpful advice.

"Spence, I need to talk to you." I said.

"Ok, how is your first day at the new office going?" She asked, still back at the apartment because her classes wouldn't start back up again for another week.

"About that. Funny story actually…."

"Aria, cut to the chase."

"Well, the publisher I am partnered up with is, um, Ezra."

"Ezra, as in Ezra Fitz?" she now had a concerned tone to her voice.

"Yeah, that Ezra."

"Oh wow!" she paused a moment "That must be awkward. How do you feel about it?"

"I don't know. I mean, he promised me he would always love me. But the fact that he left instead of fighting for us, he broke my heart Spencer. He left me, and it has haunted me for years. I don't know if I am ready to be with him again so quickly, and have all those old feelings come back, when I seem to have finally have moved on from them. Plus, I can't forget about Owen, it could crush him if he finds out." I poured my heart out suddenly to her.

"So there is your answer. Don't make any moves quite yet. Stick with just being friends/coworkers for now. If those old feelings start to resurface, or you can't do it anymore, you can figure things out then. Don't take this too seriously, he may have a girlfriend or fiancé and you don't even know it yet."

"You know what, you're right Spencer. Just take it a day at a time." I replied "Well I have to go now, I am almost back to my our office, see you later."

"Bye Aria." She said, and I hung up. Spencer was right, I couldn't jump to any conclusions, I mean I had only known he was in the same building for all of 30 minutes, it wasn't like we were going to get back together today or anything. I just had to see how things worked while we were friends/coworkers. He may not feel the same way, and to be honest, I may not be ready for us to be together again.

When he left, I was so heartbroken, I knew it was what we both had to do, but it still hurt. He could have stayed, quit his job, and fought for us to be together, and then who knows where we could be.

I was not going to dwell on the past though, I was going to march right into that office, and we work going to work together like normal co-workers. Who knows? Maybe we could even put our past behind us and be friends.

I walked back into the office, and saw Ezra sitting at his desk on the phone.

"Yeah, that sounds good. I will see you tonight. Love you, bye." He said into the receiver.

"There's another girl." I thought to myself