ELLEN "Eight, nine, ten, eleven..." I heard Sophie's voice as I walked into Ms. Maggie's apartment to pick her up. I was knackered from work. I worked tirelessly today, as I was also supposed to run some errands for the HRM department. An important event was coming up next week, and we needed to prepare for it. I did not know what it entailed, but the day was hectic for me. "Mommy!" Sophie squealed and ran to me. I quickly squatted and spread my arms and she flew into them in a fit of giggles. "You are late," she announced. "I am so sorry, baby. How was your day?" "I became the queen of our dance today." "Oh, that's superb." Sophie had always liked dancing and had said she would become a ballet dancer when she grew up. She won the queen of her ballet class back in New York and led the dance. Now, she was pulling weight here in her new school in California too. I have never been happier. "Our annual ballet dance is coming up next week," s
ELLEN That day after work, another man home drove me. This man was stone-faced, just like Oliver, and never spoke to me on our drive back home. For the next couple of days, he picked me up and dropped me back. Sophie's annual ballet dance was fast approaching, and I was getting worried as the day went by. I was scared I would not be able to make it and I did not know how I would her in the eyes and explain that I had to work and forfeit her dance. I do not want to be a terrible mom at all. The intercom rang, jerking me out of my thoughts. I looked through Oliver's office, he was looking down at a file. I stood and went over to the door, knocked, and went in. He did not look up when I got in. I was used to him not giving me attention. I do not feel anything else for him now except resentment and I kept wondering what I saw in him. He was not wearing a tie as usual, and his first two buttons were left unbuttoned. I do not know why he always dressed like that. He did not
OLIIVER I walked out of my office, it was late and every person had left including my assistant. I stood in front of her desk for a while with my hands stucked into my pockets, watching her desk. So far, she had been the only asistant that had survived me since I came. The first two girls were colossial disappointments. The first one kept making passes at me, hinting that she wanted me to fuck her and had grabbed my erection one day in my office. I had to expose her in the office and she packed up and quitted the next day. The second always ogled at me, although she did not make passes at me. She alsways made mistakes and expected me to rub her furs. But I did not add anyone to my payroll to pet them, they worked for me and should know what they should do. She packed up and left too and I found Miss Knight. When I called for an interview, I made sure to know the women's perspectives about falling helplessly in love and her answer impressed me the most. While other women fant
ELLEN I stood there helplessly with my cell phone in my ear. How was I going to tell Kennedy that I needed to go to work? Everything Oliver Monero said replayed in my head. Kennedy had flown in from New York to visit Sophie and me for the weekend and we decided to have the best weekend of our lives. Kennedy was a lover of steak and I decided to treat him to it that night. Sophie and Lily were on their own little date, and we were all having fun on that Friday night until my phone went off and Oliver flashed on it. I was surprised at first and stared at my phone like it was something foreign to me, wondering why Oliver Monero was calling my line. He has never called my phone and always reached me through Dante. It was that curiosity that made me answer the phone and I regretted it immediately. The first thing he asked was where I was, I told him I went out and was not in the house, but that did not stop his wicked heart from requesting my presence. "I need you at
ELLEN My heart hammered against my chest. I was so engrossed in the thought of Oliver's death that I forgot the symptoms of an asthma attack. My mother had asthma and Sophie has it too, but at that moment, I forgot the severe shortness of breath, chest pain, coughing, and wheezing. Tears were now streaming down my eyes as I was oblivious about what to do. I had to gently stand and search for his phone to look for help, but it was locked and there were no numbers in his emergency contact except for one saved with a heart emoji. I was not interested in what it meant at that moment, so I dialed it. It rang and I heard the sound upstairs. I looked up toward the stairs and looked at the man wheezing on the floor and that was when it hit me. He was asthmatic. With the phone still in my hand, I ran back to him and searched his pockets, but his reliever inhaler was not there. I quickly dropped the phone on the table and went to help him sit up. He was a heavy man, but I tried to
ELLEN I went down the stairs, grabbed my purse from the kitchen, and stomped away from the mansion. I refused to let the tears that stung my eyes fall. I would not cry for whatever he did. I should know by now that he was a bloody, God-forsaken ingrate. I bumped into someone by the living room door because I did not pay attention to where I was going. Looking up, I saw Dante looking at me with a slight frown. I blinked and made to walk past him, but he grabbed my arm and drew me back. "Hey, Ellen, are you alright? " "Yeah, I am fine. I need to go." "I can drop you. Oliver asked me to pick some files and I will be heading to the office from here." "I am not going to the office," I said in a hoarse voice. I did not want to speak to anyone at that moment and wished Dante would understand, but he was not giving up. "Did you not come to make coffee for Oliver? I did not see your driver around." "Dante, I did not come from home, I slept
ELLEN "Mommy!" Sophie yelled as I came into the door. She was seated with Kennedy at the dining table going through her assignment. She threw her hands around my neck, and I hugged her back, kissing her cheek and she giggled. I loved my daughter so much that only her laughter brightened me. I was happy that she was happy, but I knew a time would come when she would get tired of not seeing me in her life, especially at the most important moments of her life, starting with her annual ballet dance. I took her to the seat and kissed Kennedy's cheeks. We exchanged pleasantries and I went up to my room to change. Lily was in the kitchen, and she followed me to my room once she saw me. "Hey," she said, closing the door gently behind her. I was on the bed, taking off my shoes. I smiled at her. "Hey, Lily." I knew why she was in my room, but I do not want to bring up anything from work right now. "How do you feel?" "Tired." She came to my bed and sat besid
ELLEN A few days passed in the office, and nothing happened. I avoided Oliver in the best way I could. After he left me in San Francisco and returned to Los Angeles, I called Kennedy to book me a flight back home, because I realized that I also forgot my debit card along with the flash drive. I went to work the next day by myself, evading his driver and drove with my little scrap car which Lily gave to me and he did not act as if something happened. I did not react because it was my fault. But I avoided him more after that day. Today, I was standing by the entrance of the company's event hall, looking at what was going on. My place was supposed to be by my boss' side, but I wanted the slightest opportunity to sneak out from the hall and attend my daughter's ball. I had promised Sophie that I would be there, and Kennedy had called my phone for the one-thousandth time. I told Oliver that I wanted the day off, but he did not agree to let me take the day off. I knew I wo