{Toby}

"So what are you going to do at the movie with Emily?" Jason asked. We were sitting in the backseat of a car headed to Emily's apartment. It's a good thing the car had a privacy screen so that the driver couldn't hear what we were saying.

I shrugged. "I don't know. I'm going to sit by her of course."

"And then?" Jason said.

"Like I said I don't know," I said. We finally pulled up to Emily's apartment complex and I opened the door and got out of the car. I looked at Jason. "Wait here please."

Jason nodded and rolled his eyes. "Yes dad! I'll wait here and be a good boy."

I snorted. I didn't say anything but I did close the door and walk up to Emily's apartment. When I rang the doorbell I heard her dog named Red barking.

"Alright, alright, I'm coming!" Emily said.

"Don't worry Emily," said Anna, "I got it."

When Emily opened the door she smiled. "Hello Mr. Ana-"

"No need for formalities Emily," I said. "We're not on the clock so just call me Toby okay?"

Emily nodded slowly. "Okay then… Toby and since we're not on the clock just call me Emily."

"Sure," I said.

Emily and I stood there staring at each other awkwardly until Anna cleared her throat, "Aww that's cute! You two must really like each other!"

I felt my face turn red and I looked away.

Anna laughed, "That is totally cute Emily, you should see how red your face is!"

"That's because you're not making this awkwardness any easier!" Emily snapped.

When I looked back at Emily I snorted because Emily was glaring at Anna. Anna didn't seem fazed by it because she stood there with a huge grin on her face.

I cleared my throat. "So Anna, are you coming with us? My friend Jason is coming so-"

"No I'm not going, first of all I'm engaged so that's a no to dating your friend," said Anna. "Second, I'm Emily's dog sitter so I can't go. But you guys have fun and Mr. Anakin, don't go running out of the theater if you're scared."

Emily smirked. "Yeah I bet he only picked that movie because he expected me to jump into his lap if I got scared."

Anna nodded and then she looked over at a nearby clock. "Well it looks like it's time for you two to go. Have fun at the movies!"

Emily's dog Red whimpered and she bent down and scratched him behind the ear. "It's okay Red I'll be back. Have fun with Anna while I'm gone."

Anna grabbed Red and took him into another room. I held out my hand to Emily and she took it. "Well Emily, let's go before we're late."

Emily nodded. We went down to the car and I opened the back seat door for her and helped her get in. She looked at Jason when he said hi she said hello. After that we didn't really talk much for most of the ride to the theater.

Once we got to the theater and got our tickets we were actually really early and the theater was empty for the most part. We did get popcorn and a soda to munch on while we watched the movie but before the previews Jason decided to at least try to make some small talk.

"So Emily, what do you like to do for fun, other than going to the movies?" Jason asked.

"Oh I go to a gun range and play with guns there," Emily answered.

"Anything else?" Jason said.

Emily shook her head. "Nope nothing else."

I had a feeling that she might be lying just by the look on her face but since I didn't have any proof that she was lying so I didn't question it. Once the movie started we stopped talking again. I must say the movie we saw even though it was a horror movie, it sucked. I could tell how much it sucked because towards the end of the movie Emily was nodding off a bit. I put my hand around her waist and had her lay her head on my shoulder.

I rolled my eyes when I saw Jason smirking at me and giving me a look as to say smooth move Romeo. This wasn't a flirting move, it was a move to make her comfortable because nodding off while sitting in a seat like a movie theater seat isn't comfortable. After the movie ended I woke Emily up. She gave a look that looked like she was embarrassed about something. "Sorry about falling asleep Toby. The movie was just so-"

"Boring?" I said, "Yeah I know I'm surprised I paid attention to it at all."

"Yeah why pay attention to a sucky movie when you have something much better to pay attention to sitting right next to you. Right Toby?" Jason teased.

I blinked. "Excuse me?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Seriously? Do I really have to spell things out for you?"

Emily seemed to catch onto what Jason was saying and said, "You know Toby doesn't have to focus on me if he doesn't want to right?"

"I'm teasing Emily," Jason said. "Of course I know he doesn't need to do that. We're just hanging out. What Toby decides to do is up to him and the same thing goes for you."

Emily looked at me and snorted when I felt my face turn red.

"You're cute when your face turns red like that," Emily said.

I paused. "Ah…. Okay?"

I saw Emily blush and I smiled at it. "And you look cute when you blush like that."

Jason cleared his throat, "Uh guys, while this love fest is cute and all I think we should go considering the movies over. If you guys want to start making out you could-"

I covered his mouth with my hand. "Don't finish that thought you're making her uncomfortable."

"Uh yeah let's go before Jason says anything else that's weird," Emily said.

Jason laughed after I uncovered his mouth, "Alright then I'm keeping my mouth shut for now…"

We went to the car and the car ride back was quiet. When we got back to Emily's apartment I walked with her up to her front door.

"I had fun today even though the movie was boring," said Emily. "Honestly, that's the first time ever that I've seen a horror movie that was boring."

I nodded. "Yeah the same thing goes for me."

Without thinking I reached over and gave her a kiss on the cheek. After the kiss I once again felt my face turn red. "Sorry about I uh-"

Emily giggled. "It's okay Toby. I'll um see you at work."

I nodded. "Sure."

After that, I parted ways with Emily.

***

{Emily}

"I saw that," Anna said.

I looked at her. "Saw what?"

"He kissed you on the cheek," Anna responded. "Oh sure he apologized for it later but you liked it didn't you?"

"Uh…" I said. I didn't have an answer and even if I did like him I wasn't sure if it would be a good idea to get involved with him. Not when Dominic is looking for me again.

Anna raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Uh-huh, that's what I thought. I know that you're hesitant about this because of Dominic. But I think Mr. Anakin's also worried about you."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well I'll just let Mr. Anakin answer that question for you," Anna replied.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" I said, "I don't know…"

"Just think about it at least," Anna said.

I nodded. Anna let me know that Red was asleep in the living room and she then left.

***

{Toby}

The following Monday Emily showed up for work and thankfully that kiss on cheek that I gave her Saturday didn't affect her work performance

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It did seem that she was happier to come to work and even more happier when she saw me. I started making up more excuses to have her in my office. I couldn't help it, I just wanted to be around her and talk to her more.

I even asked her to stay in my office while we ate lunch. After lunch we wound up having a staring contest for whatever the reason. I broke the staring contest by saying, "So Ms. Key, you said you like to go to a gun range and play with guns for fun?"

She nodded. "Yes I do, why?"

"Do you want to go with me to one?" I asked.

"Okay then sure," Emily responded.

I blinked because I was so sure she might say no to that considering how she 'plays with guns'. "So let's go Friday after work, is that okay?"

She nodded. "Sure that's fine. Is there anything else you need me to do other than clean things up after lunch?"

I smirked. "Yes there is something I need you to do."

"Huh?" She said.

"Please come here," I said. She came towards me and without thinking I pulled her into my arms. She didn't fight me or try to back away. "Do you trust me?"

I couldn't stop thinking about how cute she is when she blushes. She squeaked, "Yes, I do trust you."

"Okay then," I said. "Close your eyes…"

I reached over and kissed her and not on the cheek this time. I kissed on the mouth and the best part about that was she kissed me back. I wanted to go further with her but I had to keep in mind that we're still at work, so I let go of her. She smiled at me and then looked away. "I, uh…"

"It's okay I was the one that kissed so if you didn't like-" I started.

She shook her head. "No, it's fine. I actually did like it. It's just I haven't really had a relationship in five years and I definitely haven't had an office romance relationship before."

"This is awkward for you isn't it?" I said, "I totally understand, if it makes you feel better we don't have to do anything at work. We just do things together outside of work and keep things on the downlow."

"Can I make a request?" Emily asked.

"What?" I said.

"Can we stay like this for a little bit?" Emily said, "This feels nice."

I smiled. "Sure."

Unfortunately we couldn't keep holding each other for very long because my phone on my desk beeped. I went over to my desk and answered it. "Yes?"

"Mr. Anakin, there's someone who wants to make an appointment with you on line two," My secretary said.

I covered the mouthpiece and told Emily she was free to go. She nodded and left the room. I continued my conversation, "Okay transfer the call."

"Yes sir," My secretary said.

I heard a click and another person's voice came on the other line, "Hello there Mr. Anakin. I'm a representative from A-Circle Labs and I have some important information in regards to one of your coworkers who goes by the name Emily Key."

"Oh? What kind of information?" I asked.

"Well first of all, let me introduce myself," the person said. "My name is Mr. Forty-Two! I would like to deliver this information to you in person. When is the next available appointment?"

I pulled out my planner and looked to see what the next appointment was. "It's Thursday at 4pm."

"Wonderful!" Mr. Forty-Two said, "I will see you then!"

The line went dead after Mr. Forty-Two hung up the phone. I sat down at my desk feeling confused and worried for Emily. I wondered if the information could provide me with a clue as to why Emily was being threatened.

***

Thursday at 4pm rolled around fast or it seemed like it. I made sure to keep Emily out of my office around the time Mr. Forty-Two was supposed to show up. That's because I didn't want to have an unnecessary confrontation. For extra assurance that there wouldn't be a confrontation I asked Emily to take care of some things in another area of the company's building.

Once Mr. Forty-Two arrived, he was escorted to my office. I greeted him and motioned him to take a seat across from my desk.

Mr. Forty- Two smiled at me. "Mr. Anakin, pleased to meet you in person. By the way, where is Emily? It's been ages since I've seen her!"

"Huh?" I said.

"She used to work for me," Mr. Forty-Two said. He pulled a vanilla envelope and handed it to me. "This is the information I have on her. If you look at it I'm sure you'll agree that she needs to be fired for being a threat to society. And if you agree with me on this you'll direct her back to A-Circle Labs."

I narrowed my eyes. "If Ms. Key is a threat to society don't you think you should be calling the police and not contacting her boss?"

"Good point," said Mr. Forty-Two. "But do you really think the police can handle this situation? Emily's real name isn't even Emily as a matter of fact. Her name is written in this file."

"Why do you want Emily back so much?" I asked.

"It's simple, she is property of A-Circle Labs," Mr. Forty-Two said.

"Excuse me? Since when is a human property of a Lab?" I growled.

"She came to us as a child and we paid her mother to give us parental rights over her," Mr. Forty-Two answered. "We raised her! A-Circle Labs raised her!"

"So you're saying that since you guys raised her from childhood that she's your property?" I said. At this point I was trying to keep my cool because even if someone raises someone that doesn't mean that that child is property.

Mr. Forty-Two smirked. "Am I getting under your skin Mr. Anakin? I take it back, whether or not you agree with me, you'll return her to A-Circle Labs if you know what's good for you."

I narrowed my eyes again. "Are you threatening me?"

Mr. Forty-Two kept his smirk and shrugged. "What do you think? Let me put it this way, you send Emily back to A-Circle Labs and no harm will come to you or your company. If you don't, boy I'd hate to think of what might happen, don't you?"

"You know what? I think we're done talking here," I snarled. I dialed the number to my secretary. She answered, "Yes Mr. Anakin?"

"Please send up security to escort Mr. Forty-Two out of my office and out of the building," I said.

"May I ask why?" My secretary asked.

"No," I replied.

"Aww," Mr. Forty-Two pouted after I hung the phone. "Did I press your buttons Mr. Anakin? That's so cute you're trying to protect Emily by the way. If you don't direct my property back to me, I'll have to find another way to get her back. But I will also be going after you."

There was a knock on the door. "Come in!"

Two big guys who looked like bodybuilders in security guard uniforms were standing in the doorway.

"Mr. Anakin?" One of the security guard's said, "You wanted us to escort someone out?"

I nodded and pointed to Mr. Forty-Two. "Yes, please take him out of here."

The security officers nodded and Mr. Forty-Two stood up and he was escorted out of the office.

When Mr. Forty-Two left, I opened the envelope he gave me and I gasped when I saw what was inside. There were several pictures that I'm going to assume were of Emily when she was a child. I looked at the file and saw that her birth name was Amelia Draften but then her name was changed to 32401. After I saw that I was seething with rage. No wonder why Mr. Forty-Two claimed Emily was his property! He changed her birth name to a fucking number!

I noticed that there were a couple of USB sticks in the envelope and I took one of them out and after making sure the door to my office was locked, I plugged it into my computer. What popped on the screen was a video of Emily as a child sitting in a room that had nothing in it except the chair she was sitting on. She did not look happy and I don't blame her. I wouldn't be too happy if I was sitting in a room like that.

"Now, now 32401, are you going to cooperate with me today?" Someone asked over the intercom.

Emily crossed her arms and snapped, "No! And why should I? I don't want to turn into a lizard so Sergeant 22 can try to eat me again Dominic!"

I heard laughter coming from the intercom, "I'm serious 32401! That was a prank, do you really think she would eat you?"

"Well she looked dead serious when she turned a snake before she said it!" Emily growled.

"Don't worry, I talked to her and she said she wasn't going to eat you," Dominic said. "Trust me, if she was going to do it she would've done it already. She was just messing with you, that's all. How about this, if you cooperate with me you can go play at the gun range for the rest of the day, okay?"

Emily's face brightened. "Really you'll let me do that? I haven't been able to do it in a while!"

"That's because you can't seem to keep yourself out of trouble," Dominic snapped. "Not to mention you've been refusing to cooperate with the tests lately. Work with me on this and you can do that, if not you're going to be locked in the ugly pink room for the rest of week!"

"Not the ugly pink room! I know it's my bedroom can you at least consider-" Emily started.

"No 32401," Dominic said, "I'm not changing anything in your room. It's not happening!"

Emily whined and then sighed, "Alright fine, I'll do it but if you say one thing about it being cute, I'm not helping with any more test's!"

"Alright I won't say anything about you being cute, you have my word on that," Dominic said.

Emily nodded. The next thing that happened was amazing, Emily's skin started to change from a normal human's skin to a reptile's skin. Her skin started to become scaly and she shrank down to a really small size. She was small enough that you couldn't see her underneath a pile of her clothing. She crawled out from underneath her shirt and she had changed into a black spotted Gecko.

Awww that's so cute! I wonder if she can still do that? I thought.

"Excellent!" Dominic said, "The test is a success again! You can transform back to human now."

Emily did as she was told and after she did that Dominic said, "Can you try and change into a loin again?"

She shook her head. "I can't! I've tried time and time again, I just can't do it!"

The door to the room opened and a young guy who looked like he was a teenager like Emily was standing in the doorway. He had brown hair and blue eyes and he wore black jeans and a white t-shirt. He narrowed his eyes. "Don't say you can't 32401! At least try again."

Emily bit her bottom lip. "Um…"

"Come on," said Dominic. "Don't you want to be like your big brother?"

I watched the video in awe as Dominic started to change by growing fur on his skin and his hands and feet turned into paws and he was on all fours. After that he took on the form of a loin! He changed into an actual loin!

Emily flinched when she saw this because after he changed into a loin he roared. "Honestly, big brother I don't want to be like you."

"What was that?" Dominic growled while still being in the form of a loin.

I blinked when I saw that. Did he just talk while still being a loin?

"I don't want to be like you," Emily stated. "Because lions are scary, I don't want to be scared when I look in the mirror when I'm transformed into a loin!"

Dominic burst into and was rolling on the ground laughing. He composed himself, "Seriously 32401? You know that's about as bad as being afraid of your own shadow right?"

"But shadows aren't scary!" Emily said, "Loins are scary! That's different!"

"No it's not!" Dominic said.

"Yes it is!" Emily insisted.

He sighed, "Alright, alright fine if you say so. Just try at least for me, please?"

Emily finally agreed and tried to do as she was told. But she didn't turn into a loin, she turned into a Gecko when she changed back into human she frowned. "Sorry I told you-"

"Yeah, yeah I know," Dominic said. "It's okay 32401, at least you tried. But I still think you're-"

She narrowed her eyes and hissed, "Don't say it! I told you won't help with any more tests if you do!"

Dominic rolled his eyes. "Sure that's fine…"

After that the video ended. I saw another USB stick in the envelope and this one showed Emily doing a test that made her fast enough to dodge bullets and fire back hitting them on target with precise direct hits.

Even after watching all of this, I disagreed with Mr. Forty-Two about Emily being a threat to society. If anything from what I can see is that Emily is a scared woman who wants to protect herself from going back to A-Circle Labs and I don't blame her. If I had been through what Emily went through I wouldn't want to go back there either.

I figured if I was going to pursue a relationship with Emily I shouldn't keep secrets like this from her. I sighed and asked my secretary to have Emily come into my office after I was certain Mr. Forty-Two was gone. She came to the office and I motioned for her to sit down. I kept the information that Mr. Forty-Two gave me about her out on my desk. I took a deep breath and let it out. "Emily, we need to talk…"