A/N Hello everyone! Sorry for the delay in updates. We haven't given up it just takes time and life gets in the way. I hope you are all still reading and enjoying the story so far :]

Asami -

"How long have you known her?"

"How old is she?"

"What does she do for a living?"

I swirled the red wine around in the glass I was holding, my feet up on the coffee table. Zhu Li had been incessant with questions about Korra for the past two days and it was both exhausting and disheartening. How was it possible that I knew so little about Korra? I had no idea how old she was, I didn't know where she was from, and up until yesterday I didn't even know what her job was. How could I be so caught-up with someone and not even know her surname? It wasn't normal. And more importantly, it wasn't me.

Leaning forward and leaving the wine glass on the table, I reached for my cigarettes and headed to the window. I really need to stop smoking.

As the tendrils of smoke swirled through the ridiculously humid west coast air, my mind wandered back to the previous morning when I caught Korra in the hallway coming home from work. Well, after first seeing what I assumed was some punk kid trying to break into her apartment. But, as fate would have it, that kid turned out to be the catalyst for me finding out Korra's job. A baker. It suits her. I don't know why, but it does. In between her ramblings and quips about being a potential drug dealer, she said something I'm not sure she intended to say out loud: "God, why am I so bad at talking to pretty girls?"

That apparent slip-up gave me a tingly feeling in my stomach, which soon morphed into an odd feeling of respect and pride when she told me about the homeless youth shelter she volunteers at. Pity it turned back into a more familiar feeling of apprehension when she invited me to her birthday party on the roof. Chances are I would be working late anyway; I wouldn't have to deal with any of it. Although…

I got all those feelings just from finding out what she did for a living. If I got to know even more about her, what else could I feel?

I stubbed my cigarette out harder than necessary against the outside wall, flicked it away and took a steadying breath. Stop thinking about this. You can't think about any of this. I needed to sleep; I had work in the morning. And that was just dealing with Zhu Li.

Xxxxx

With Paris seemingly placated – for now – and the fact that Varrick was in Chicago, my day wasn't turning out too badly. The downside of having an easy day was that my mind had nothing to distract itself, and for once Korra was only second on the list.

I had used the company intranet to pull up contact information for my old boss in the New York office and was staring at the screen, feeling conflicted. Words couldn't express how much I hated working in California and the smart thing to do was to put in a transfer request. To anywhere. Anywhere would be better than here; it had to be. That being said, something was stopping me from lifting that phone, sending that email, and I'm pretty sure I knew what that something was. It was absurd for me to be thinking this way. You never compromise your career. Your career won't break your heart; your career won't ruin your life…

My musings were cut short by Zhu Li bursting through the closed door of my office without warning or invitation. I'm not sure she had used the intercom once since the day we went phone shopping.

"Lunch," she declared, placing a container – which looked like it held soup – and a plastic spoon on my desk.

Quickly minimising the webpage, I glanced towards the clock on the wall. "It's two-forty," I replied plainly.

"I know, and you haven't eaten anything today, so…" She gestured to the food she just brought me and after a sigh I popped the lid open and was instantly hit by a delicious smell.

"You're lucky I like chicken noodle."

My assistant grinned and took the seat in front of my desk, crossing her legs. "Quiet day today. Nothing you need me to do?"

"No, everything is under control," I reassured, stirring my soup. "This place is so different without Varrick around," I added. Zhu Li nodded emphatically.

"I know. He makes everyone's blood pressure rise just by being in the same room as them."

"Tell me about it," I murmured. I must have looked morose as I continued to tease my soup because she paused for a moment before nudging my knee under the desk.

"Hey, that man reduced me to tears on more than one occasion when I first started here. I know it's not the same thing, and you're a lot more important here than I am, but I know how you feel. And I know you're more than a match for him."

I looked up and met Zhu Li's eyes. Maybe she did know how I felt, to some extent at least.

"You're important," I heard myself say, without really meaning to.

"Because I get you twenty percent discount at the Apple store, right?" She said, brightly. Despite the situation I laughed, knowing it was more than that.

We sat in silence for a few moments and I began to actually eat the soup in front of me. It wasn't until I swallowed the first mouthful that I realised how hungry I was. When was the last time I ate?

"I should get back to work," Zhu Li said eventually and I nodded, before suddenly remembering something.

"Oh, can you pull up my schedule for this Friday?"

"Sure." With that, Zhu Li disappeared, only to return a few seconds later with her tablet. "Other than a video call to Paris first thing and a routine meeting with the designers at two o'clock, you have nothing else for Friday."

I stared at her. "Really?" She simply nodded at me. "I thought I had a full schedule on Friday," I mumbled to myself. Or maybe I just wished I did.

"Is something wrong?" She asked, starting to sound slightly afraid that she had forgotten to put something important in my diary.

"No, no," I began, shaking my head. "I just…" I trailed off and exhaled, sagging slightly in my seat, my soup forgotten.

"What is it?" Zhu Li asked, sounding concerned and retaking her seat in front of me. I frowned and debated whether or not to involve my assistant in my life any more than she already was.

"I've been invited to a birthday party," I finally managed to grind out, as if confessing to a murder.

"Oh!" She exclaimed, probably in relief. "Well, that's a good thing. Whose birthday is it?" I involuntarily made a face. "Ah, it's Korra's birthday." Zhu Li's face morphed into a knowing smirk and I glowered at her.

"What are you smirking at?" I demanded.

"You were hoping you were working late so you wouldn't have to go to the party, am I right?" She challenged, completely ignoring my question.

"No," I replied, petulantly.

Her eyebrow quirked and in that moment I hated her, just a tiny bit. "You're going to that party," she stated.

"Oh, am I, indeed?" I questioned, as if challenging a parent. Zhu Li was certainly not one to beat about the bush but this was forward, even for her.

"Yes, you are," she said firmly, folding her arms across her chest. "And I'm going with you."

"Excuse me?" I asked incredulously, leaning forward and resting my elbows on the table.

"I'm going with you," she reiterated. "Otherwise you won't go. And you need to go to that party."

I leaned back in my chair and stared at my assistant. This conversation had become very personal very quickly and if it were anyone else I would have thrown them out of my office and that would be the end of it. Zhu Li was different, though. She didn't interact with me the same way everyone else did. She seemed to know what I was thinking, even when I wasn't sure I was thinking it. "Why do you care if I go to my neighbour's birthday party?"

"Korra's a lot more than your neighbour," she replied, sounding oddly severe. "I've never even met the girl and I know that."

"How?" I questioned, barely above a whisper, getting caught up in the moment.

Zhu Li just smiled at me and leaned forward. "Am I wrong?"

I couldn't keep eye contact for fear of what she would see. My gaze instead fell to my finger nails, which I became fascinated with. She wasn't wrong, but I wasn't going to admit that out loud.

"You need to get her a present," she continued, clearly not expecting me to respond.

"A present…" I muttered, my eyes widening. Of course I needed to get her something. It was her birthday. People give presents on birthdays. My heartrate increased ever so slightly. "Right."

I had received very few gifts in my life, birthday or otherwise. My only experience of having my own party was when I was eleven years old and my mother insisted on throwing an inappropriately lavish event, which none of my classmates came to. Since then, parties of any kind were always very low down on my priority list.

"What does she like?" Zhu Li asked, knowing damn well I had no idea what she liked beyond what I had already told her. "And don't say baseball and bagels."

I huffed and straightened my back, flicking my hair behind my shoulder. "Well, she does like those things."

"Just think about it," she implored. "And if you see her again in the next day or two, try to strike up a conversation about something you haven't talked about before. You might get some inspiration."

Zhu Li said that like it was the easiest thing in the world; like I had suddenly turned into a social butterfly. I was beginning to wish I hadn't told her anything about the party and I'm sure my face reflected that.

"Just try." She reached across the desk and grabbed my hand briefly before getting up and leaving my office, closing the door behind her.

I exhaled audibly and ran both hands through my hair.

What does Korra like?

A/N thanks for reading…next chapter might be the party? What could possibly happen? Let us know your thoughts in a review.