Leon sat in the study of his penthouse apartment, his eyes on the glittering evening skyline outside of his window. In his hand was a martini –two olives with a splash of vermouth- just how he liked it. Checking his watch, he saw that Jade was running a little behind for their interview.

Damn, she looked good, thought Leon, his mind fully fixed on how that little black dress clung to the curves of Jade's body last night. Seeing that she's just as stunning as she was the last time I saw her was just as much of a shock as her being the person that's writing this damn article.

Rising from his desk, he shook his head at the absurdity of it all.

Of all the people who could be penning this thing, it has to be the one girl that broke my heart, he thought. The universe has a sick, sick sense of humor.

But he knew there was nothing to do but stay professional and get this all taken care of as fast as possible. Once Jade had her material, she could be back out of his life and Leon could be free to devote all of his attention on his work once again.

As he considered the matter, however, Leon couldn't help but wonder if that was really what he wanted. Did he really want to toss the woman he'd once loved out of his life, just like that, after she happened to make her way back into it?

I suppose that's really not my call to make, thought Leon. After all, as far as she's concerned, I was the one who ruined everything. God, I can't believe I'm repaying things in my life from nearly a decade ago. So much for leaving everything in the past.

He couldn't help it; Jade being back in his life brought back in a torrent of memories that he'd thought long-buried. Leon thought about their little adventures out into the woods, that night they skinny dipped and kissed for the first time, the way her body looked the night that they made love and she gave him her virginity.

Fuck, thought Leon, realizing that he was getting a little hard thinking about it. This is so stupid; I'm like a horny kid again.

A low chime sounded through the apartment; someone was in the lobby.

About time, he thought, killing his drink and heading to the front door. As Leon strolled through the apartment, he couldn't help but notice how quiet it was without Oliver running around. Leon had sent him off to a friend's for the evening, thinking that he might distract Leon and Jade from the necessary work.

He opened the door to find Jade standing in the hallway. Leon nearly doubled back as he looked her over. She wasn't wearing anything extraordinary –just a simple white button-up and a pair of well-fitting blue jeans- but something about the way her body looked in those clothes caused him to need a minute to compose himself.

"Hey," said Jade. "Good to see- holy shit!"

Jade pushed past Leon and stepped into the apartment, making a beeline for the floor-to-ceiling windows and pressing her hands against the glass.

"Careful not to smudge the…ah, never mind," said Leon.

"This is where you live?" asked Jade. "This is incredible!"

"Thanks," said Leon, walking over to where Jade stood and taking a place next to her.

He looked out over the city and the glittering skyline, the streets hundreds of feet below a cross-cross of slowly moving traffic. From his apartment, he could see all the way into Queens and Brooklyn and several more miles into Long Island.

"How can you live in a place like this and not be gawking out of the window all day?" asked Jade. "I mean, I can pretty much see where I live from here."

"Well, you live here for a few months and it just becomes part of the background."

Jade turned around and looked over the apartment.

"Damn," she said. "This is like a house; my apartment is like a matchbook compared to this."

"You're still coming up in the world," said Leon.

"Yeah, but I'd have to outsell JK Rowling and Stephen King to even think about a place like this."

Leon chuckled.

"It's not too late to get into the finance game," he said.

A small smile crossed Jade's lips in a manner that made Leon's heart flutter just a bit.

"Nah," she said. "Being a writer's one of those things where you don't really have a say in the matter of whether you want to do it or not. If I got a job in finance they'd fire me as soon as they found I was using downtime to write stories."

"I can understand that," said Leon, stepping away from the window and walking over to the bar. "We're driven by deep-seated urges that we don't really understand."

"Oh, you think so?" asked Jade, raising an eyebrow. "And what sort of ‘urges' are you driven by, Mr. Sebastian?"

Leon chuckled and prepared a pair of gin and tonics.

"Hard to say; maybe just the urge to be independent, to not have to depend on anyone but me."

"I'd say you're doing a hell of a job of it so far," said Jade, her eyes still tracking around the apartment.

Leon walked to her side and handed her a drink.

"Thanks," she said, taking it and sipping. "So – we should probably get to it."

Leon gestured to the dining room table. Jade followed him over and took out from her bag a notepad, a pen, and her recorder.

"So," said Leon, "what's your angle with this piece?"

"My what?"

"You know – your angle," said Leon. "I've read enough New Yorker articles to know that they're not in the business of writing glowing hagiographies; there's got to be some little barb in it about the evils of capitalism or the decadence of wealth or something like that."

"So cynical," said Jade, raising an eyebrow.

"You don't get to where I am by being the trusting sort," said Leon.

"Well, to be honest, I hadn't thought about that. I suppose that I was just planning to get the details down and, um, painting the rest of the picture later."

"Can I make a suggestion?"

"Sure," said Jade.

"And I suppose it's a good place to start," said Leon. "Did you happen to hear about what happened to that gang I worked with back in the day?"

"Vaguely," she said.

"Well, the day before I was set to come to New York and start my new life, Anton, the guy who I worked under, offered me the opportunity to do one last job. And I figured ‘why the hell not,' I mean, I was going to be leaving soon, it was easy money, and then I'd be done with the game forever. However, I got a call from Mr. Delahunt, my future mentor and the man who'd offered me the job, and he told me that he wanted me in New York ASAP to get started with everything. He said the ticket had been bought, and he wanted to see me in a day. And I did it."

"Then, while I'm on the flight, I find out that the drug deal was busted up by the cops, and a goddamn gunfight broke out. Two people died, another few ended up wounded, and just about everyone got hauled into jail. I don't think anyone got out of that bust without being in cuffs or on a stretcher. Or both."

"Jesus," said Jade, her eyes wide open as she leaned in.

"And it's only chance that I'm sitting here right now. I looked up Anton a while back, and he's in for thirty at minimum for shooting a cop. If I were there, I'd be looking at no less than ten years, and that's if I was lucky and didn't get killed."

"That's…incredible," said Jade.

"It's blind, dumb luck – that's all there is to it. I should've gone down with the rest of my crew; lord knows that I'd been doing enough bad shit right along with them. But I didn't; I'm here; I'm in this apartment."

Leon gestured to his surroundings.

"And I want anyone who reads this article to know that. I want them to know what they risk if they get involved in the things I got involved with. When you're that age you think you're invincible, and some of those guys had to learn the hard way that they were mortals like the rest of us."

"This is perfect," said Jade as she scratched down some notes. "I'll have to do some work on it so it doesn't come off too afterschool-special-y, but I think you could do some real good with a message like this."

"That's what I'm hoping," said Leon. "I know that ‘stay away from drugs' isn't exactly the hippest message, but I was hoping that you'd be able to use that writerly talent of yours in order to make it go down a little more smoothly."

"And how would you know about that?" asked Jade. "For all you know, I could be a total hack. I mean, my paychecks sure would back up that argument."

"Because I'm currently reading the first of your two books," said Leon. "And you're good…very good. When they first pitched this idea of doing an article about me, I was a little worried about just who they might pair me with. You know, whether or not I might get some second-string talent. But after checking out the first chapter of your most recent book, all of those concerns were quickly put to rest."

"Oh," said Jade, apparently a little surprised by the compliments. "Thank you."

"I wouldn't be saying it if it weren't true."

"It's just…" started Jade, "…with how things have been going for me these last few years, I've been wondering if it was stupid of me to think that I could make a career out of writing."

"Not stupid at all," said Leon. "You've got the talent for it, without a doubt, and all you need now is the perseverance. And to believe in yourself just a little bit."

Jade chuckled.

"'Don't do drugs;' believe in yourself – you're starting to sound like an after-school special," she said, a wry smile on her face."

"After a while," said Leon, "you start to realize how the advice you hear over and over again tends to be the most repeated advice for a reason."

Jade only smiled in response, her fingertips moving up and down her glass.

"Well," she said. "Enough about me. Let's try and get a little more of your story down on paper."

With that, the two of them went to work. The hours passed by quickly as Jade and Leon spoke, with Jade writing down notes feverishly as Leon told his story. He went through his childhood, his experience with the gang, his move to New York, and his first few tumultuous years at Sanderson Holdings. And when he was done, and after the two of them had finished more than a few drinks, Leon made a suggestion.

"I think that's about all for tonight," he said. "Talking about myself isn't really something that comes naturally."

"No kidding," said Jade. "Even if I weren't writing an article about you this stuff would all be totally fascinating. You were always so coy about personal information when you and I were, you know."

Leon nodded.

"I was a little bit of a different man back then," said Leon. "And between taking care of my family and trying to keep my head above water, I had a lot on my mind."

He looked out towards the balcony.

"Care for a nightcap before I send you packing?"

Jade smiled.

"I'd like that."

"Step on out there; I'll bring the drinks."

Jade flashed another one of her killer smiles as she packed her things and rose from her seat. Once she was gone, Leon stepped over to the bar and began preparing a couple glasses of wine. As he poured the two drinks, he felt the wavering of the alcohol making its way through his system.

Stay focused, Leon, he thought to himself. Don't get distracted.

But he couldn't help it. Jade was…something else. He couldn't get over how she'd managed to somehow stay just as gorgeous as she had been. If anything, she was somehow more beautiful than before. Standing at the bar, he imagined what it would be like to simply stroll out onto the balcony, grab her by the hips, pull her pants down and give her what some raging, animal part of him was really craving.

Professional relationship, he thought. And on top of that, she's probably still raw about the whole incident that caused us to break up in the first place. And I don't blame her.

Leon took a slow breath and headed out onto the balcony. Jade stood in front of the railing, her body outlined by the city lights.

"God, I can't believe this view," she said. "I could live out on a balcony like this."

Leon handed her a glass of wine.

"It's really something," he said. "I wasn't sure how I'd like New York before I moved here, and it was something of a process getting adjusted to the city, but I think it's finally grown on me."

"Help when you're able to live up with the cloud people," she said with a smirk.

"The what?"

"Sorry," said Jade. "That's just my stupid nickname for the super-rich people who run this town; they live up in the clouds like this, while us normal folk toil in the dirt."

"There's that writer's flare," said Leon.

Jade smiled again as she sipped her drink. And as she did, it took all of Leon's restraint not to stare at those gorgeous, full lips of hers.

"I have my moment," she said.

The both of them said nothing for a time as they sipped their wine and looked out onto the city. The sounds of the traffic below drifted up towards them, and a low wind started and stopped.

"This is really nice," said Leon. "You know – seeing you again."

"It is," said Jade. "I mean, my eyes nearly bugged out of my skull when I saw that you were the person I'd be working with, but I think it's going pretty well so far."

"I feel the same way," said Leon. "I think you and I make a pretty good team."

The silence returned, and now the two of them faced one another, their bodies only inches apart. Leon took in a slow draw of air as he looked down at Jade, who stared up at him with willing eyes.

Kissing her would be a terrible idea, thought Leon. Just the worst.

But it was all he could think about.

OK, he thought, maybe if I-

But before he could give the matter too much thought, the front door opened. The two of them jolted into awareness, turning back towards the front door as if they'd been caught doing something that they shouldn't be.

It was only Oliver, however, and relief washed over Leon when he realized that he'd been stopped from doing something that he absolutely shouldn't have. Leon watched as Oliver looked around the apartment for Leon, eventually coming out onto the balcony.

"Hey, Dad," he said.

"Hey, champ," said Leon, feeling like he'd been caught in the act. "You remember Miss Jade?"

"Oh, hi," said Oliver, not seeming too interesting in making his greetings. "Can I have some ice cream?"

"Um, yeah," said Leon. "Go for it."

With that, Oliver hurried back inside and rushed to the refrigerator.

"Kid's back," said Jade, nervously looking away, as though she'd been aware of the same sexual tension that they'd booth been awash in.

"He is," said Leon. "Uh, I hate to admit it, but I'm a little too tipsy to drive you back. And I hate to just send you packing in an Uber; you want to just take a spare bedroom tonight?"

"Are you kidding?" asked Jade. "Any excuse to not have to stay in that ultra-depressing apartment."

"Perfect," said Leon. "Come with me; I'll show you where the bedroom is."

As Leon led Jade through the house, he couldn't help but feel as though his decision to ask her to stay was less rooted in simple convenience and more that he just couldn't bear to send her away. The two of them walked down the narrow hallway leading to the east wing of the apartment, and eventually came to a small, but cozy bedroom with a lovely view that overlooked the city.

"I hope this isn't too cramped for you," said Leon.

Jade flashed him a sly look.

"I don't know how many cracks I can make about my apartment I can make before you get the picture," she said with a smile.

Leon chuckled.

"OK, point taken," he said. "Then go ahead and get settled; I'm gonna see the little monster off to bed."

When he left Jade alone, Leon was immediately gripped by some strange blend of relief and longing. On the one hand, he was glad that the temptation that she represented was no longer present. But on the other, he just wanted to be by her side once again, to plant on her lips the kiss that he couldn't get out of his mind.

Leon returned to the kitchen, where Oliver sat at the bar eating his ice cream.

Just what the hell have I gotten myself into? he wondered, thoughts of the woman he'd once loved, the woman who was now mere feet away, lingered in his mind.