“Congratulations, darling. Sincerely, I wouldn’t have asked for another lady in my life… you are everything a man could need.”

Emily smiled as she and her boyfriend toasted her success. She knew she deserved this major success at her place of work, she had worked her ass off.

Liam put his glass on the stool beside the bed and moved closer to her, kissing her on the side of the neck while she giggled uncontrollably. They were in a suite at Beacon, in Washington DC, to celebrate her grand breakthrough at work.

Emily knew she was lucky to have a man like Liam. Even though they both worked at the same law firm and she had achieved this huge success, he had been incredibly supportive. She was indeed lucky to have him, other men would have been jealous of her success but not Liam, he was her rock.

Liam stood up and took up the glass, half-smiling.

“Close your eyes baby.”

Emily eyed him suspiciously. “Why?”

Liam scoffed, shook his head. “Seriously, you want to ruin the whole surprise by being stubborn?”

Emily smiled. “Come on Liam, you know surprises always make me sweaty!”

He smiled and brought out a parcel, laying it on the table.

Emily was confused. When did the parcel get into his hands, when did he bring it in? She hadn’t seen it with him when they were kissing earlier.

“Liam, what’s in that parcel?” she asked excitedly.

“Well, you’ll have to find out,” he replied, smiling.

Emily tore open the parcel and gasped as she brought out a pair of red heels. “Jimmy Choo...” she breathed excitedly, flinging the shoes she was wearing off her feet and bent down to wear the new shoes.

She sat on the table and Liam helped her adjust the heels as she flung her hands in the air excitedly.

“Oh my God!” she screamed, caressing the shoes on her legs, “these are beautiful... so beautiful.” Then she stood up carefully to maintain her balance and threw herself on Liam.

“Darling, you are the best in this whole wide world. I don’t know what I would have done without you,” she cried as she clung to him.

Liam laughed. He knew exactly what would thrill her. Emily wasn’t someone that would be impressed by a diamond ring or, a car, or most clothes. The only thing that would impress her is shoes - and not only shoes - designer heels!

Though they worked together they had different disposition about things. While Emily loved everything that had to do with fashion, especially shoes, he was not the fashion type. He would spend all his money on books or technology if he could.

Emily put the shoes back in the box and sat beside him, still excited about her latest additions.

“Thank you so much, Liam,” she started, placing a hand on his shoulder. “You’ve been with me every step of the way. There is absolutely no way I could have done this without you. You are my rock Liam and I bless the day I met you.”

Liam smiled, caressing her cheek.

“You are the most industrious lady I have ever known, and winning that case just crowned all the effort you’ve put in. So you don’t need to thank me at all.”

“No, no, Liam, baby, I need to thank you. Do you know how many times I canceled our dinners? Do you remember how often I had to come home late? Yet, here you are, still with me, by my side.”

Liam smiled. Of course he remembered, but they both did such.

“Baby, I’ve done the same occasionally. We’ve both had to put in extra hours or stay late at work... so, it’s just something that we have come to understand about the nature of our jobs.”

Emily sighed and nodded. He was right, they both understood the nature of their work, so there was no problem when one of them had to cancel dinner or either of them had to cancel at the same time or get home late. But Emily knew, even though this was quite common between them, she had usually been the one who always had to bail. But thankfully, all the efforts paid off and now, here she was.

“What are you thinking?” Liam asked, sipping his drink.

“Just how lucky I am to have you,” Emily replied, leaning closer to bring her lips to his. It was a soft and passionate kiss, but it ended quickly as their phones beeped at the same time and they had to part.

“It must be work,” Liam said, reaching for his cell, which was on the other couch. The only time their phones would ring or beep at the same time was calls or messages from work.

While Emily searched for her phone, he was already scrolling through the text. His expression changed quickly as he read through the text. He looked disappointed.

“What is it?” Emily asked as she saw Liam’s face fall, still searching for her phone.

“I’m not up for the partnership,” Liam said, throwing his phone onto the bed.

“I’m so sorry baby.”

“Yea. It’s okay.”

Emily was frustrated. Where did she put her phone? Baby, please can you call me? I can’t find my phone.”

“Sure,” he replied, taking his phone and going to recent contacts. Her phone vibrated somewhere under the stool and Emily found it on the floor, it had dropped when she was getting excited about her new shoes.

Liam sighed. He had wanted that partnership and now, it had gone. He studied Emily, whose face brightened up immediately.

“Oh my God! I got it! I got it!” she shouted, dancing and jumping.

Liam was confused. “What?”

“I’ve been nominated for the partnership!” she shouted.

Liam's heart did a double flip. “You?”

She nodded excitedly. “Yes...”