TWENTY-ONE

ELLEN

I went to Oliver's house, as usual, the following morning. I knew he had fired me, but I wanted to hear it from him. I brewed the coffee and poured it into his mug, added enough milk and sugar to it, and then I heard him coming down the stairs. It was noisy because of the crutch, and when he cursed, I knew he was not alone. In a few minutes, Dante led him into the kitchen and sat him on a chair. I genuflected and bowed my head.

"Hi, Ellen," Dante said. "I have some work to do quickly at the office. You should take care of the rest." With that, he was gone.

My heart raced after him. I knew I would face Oliver, but I was not ready to face him alone. I was a little relieved when I saw Dante with him. Once Dante was out of the house, I peeked up and his eyes were already pinning me down. I quickly removed my eyes from him and looked at the floor, waiting for him to say I was fired.

"Miss Knight?"

"Huh?" I looked up at him.

"My coffee."

"Oh." I quickly went to the counte