********************************** "Um...it's from 'Branded', a burger place on Broome Street. They mostly sell burgers and fries," I say, like some redundant nitwit. Because what else would a burger place sell, Emmy? Duh! "Riiight," he drawls, adding to my embarrassment. "So, Emeline..." "You can call me Emmy," I interrupt. (Great, now he thinks you're dumb and rude) "I like the sound of Emmy better anyway," Mr. Branault says. "Emeline makes you sound like a character from 'little house on the prairie'." I should probably be insulted by his observation, but instead, am compelled to laugh because I couldn't agree more. Emeline is totally a 'little house on the prairie' name. I'm just disappointed that I didn't think of it first. ********************************************* 'Old money'(n.) - of, being, or related to people whose families have been rich for a long time 'Straight up broke'(n.) - of, being so poor that you contemplate stealing dollar bills out of a street performer's guitar case Mr. Charles Branault is 'old money'. Emeline Adkins is 'straight up broke'. Hold onto your hats kiddos, cause this office romance is going to be a bumpy ride.

A beautiful young woman was missing. I knew I had a murder. I even had a suspect. But would I ever find the body? Would I ever be able to arrest the suspect without the body? Don't believe all that crap you see on TV shows. Follow me on this true crime story and see what happens in a real murder case.

Ivory Perkins knew too much. She had watched Remus Lupin from afar, wondering about the scars that ran across his face and thinking that they made him beautiful in a strange and mysterious way. He intrigued her in a way that she'd never been intrigued before. He was a paradox, because everything about him was contradictory. He was beautiful, but also damaged almost beyond repair. He appeared battered, but at the same time he held so much strength. Yet Ivory paid too much attention to details, and she noticed more than she ought to. There was something strange about the boy who sat behind her in Transfiguration and his three best friends. They disappeared sometimesーonce a month, to be exact. No one else seemed to notice the pattern: that it was always on the full moon. She was the only one to notice these things, simply because only she cared enough to notice. For some reason, whatever her assumptions were about what Remus was didn't scare her away, whether those assumptions were true or not. She had always wanted a reason to get close to him, but horrible circumstances brought them together when Ivory's entire world crumbled into nothingness. As she got closer to Remus, she realized that he was just as broken as she was. He had a scarred face; she had a scarred heart. Remus and Ivory, Ivory and Remus... they were both fragmented pieces. But maybe two broken pieces could fit together to form a masterpiece. © Copyright 2016 by Lily White. All rights reserved.