As Leo got to Ellen’s desk, he placed both hands on his waist, and with a hardened voice, he calmly said to Ellen, "Why did you omit the last document?"Ellen looked from him to Alex; she had no idea what document he spoke of.Choosing her words carefully, Ellen stuttered, "Mr. Warner, I packed all the documents you asked of me."Leo took a deep breath and combed his right hand through his hair, trying to calm himself as he asked her again. "The document about the presentation you were supposed to give?""Oh my god! Mr. Warner, I didn’t know you asked me to include that," Ellen replied, trying to salvage an already complicated situation."The first thing you should learn, Ellen, is that I hate excuses!" Leo said it with the coldest voice Ellen had ever heard as he went to his office.Alex turned to Ellen and asked her, his concern evident on his face, "Are you sure he didn’t ask you for it? Mr. Warner hardly forgets what documents he asks for."Confused and not knowing what to say, El

It was the sound of a dog barking from its crate.Stamping her left leg on the floor, "quiet penny," the lady said forcefully, not moving her eyes away from Ellen."Is that a dog?" Ellen asked, looking at the crate by the lady’s leg."It’s just Penny; she’s harmless," the lady said, unbothered that her dog just attracted more attention to them."Go up and tell your boss I’m the package," the lady continued to say. A few guests had stopped to observe what was going on, and being aware of this, Ellen had to be careful about her choice of words."I’m sorry, Ms., but Mr. Warner..."Frustrated and fed up, the lady picked up her dog and said to Ellen,I'll be back."Watching the lady go, Ellen wondered what in the name of the heavens had just happened.When Ellen got to her desk, she picked up the phone and dialed Leo’s office."Hello sir, there wasn’t any package; it was a young..." Ellen said but was interrupted by Leo, who answered, "Yea, thank you for taking care of it," and ended the ca

A sudden, sizzling sensation went down Ellen’s spine as she looked up at Leo. The change was unexpected, and she had no idea what had caused it.Gone was the jovial and playful attitude; in its place was his usual hard face devoid of emotions."We’re leaving," Leo said, signaling for a waiter.The instructions left no room for argument. His face was set in stone. Ellen was a bit sad about the change. Just when I felt like I had made progress, she thought."Okay, sir," she answered."Could you please get our bill?" Leo asked the waiter."Yes, sir, in a minute," the waiter answered and hurried away to get the bill.Leo’s eyes kept darting towards the entrance behind Ellen. Noticing this, Ellen asked, "Mr. Warner, is everything okay?"The waiter returned with the bill, Leo made payments, and the waiter left.Raising his ice-cold eyes to her, Leo said, "Everything is perfectly fine, Ms. Grater. If you don’t mind, let’s go."Without waiting for her, Leo left the table and headed out the do

The voice halted him in his tracks, causing Alex to almost bump into him.“Mr. Warner,?” Alex called his boss, not sure why Leo looked suddenly pissed and angry.Leo turned slowly around, wishing his eyes not to see her familiar face. Unfortunately, there she was in flesh and blood, as sure as the day. Alex's attention was drawn to Leo’s line of sight as he sought to see what had caused the change in Leo’s mood.“Oh no, no, no, not her,” Alex whispered to himself as he left the two to save himself from the outburst that he knew anyone who attended to Leo after this encounter would suffer."Hello, Leo,” she said again, moving closer to him this time around."Hello, Sandra,” Leo responded, his face set in stone.Leo’s blood boiled. There she was, Sandra Roberts, the lady of his dreams who turned into a nightmare. She had on a black dress, and silver hills peaked from under the gown. Her hair was worn in her usual style, bobbed around her face, to frame her beautiful face.Extending a ha

Standing at the door, Mrs. Grater was holding two bags of groceries.“What the hell is going on?" Ellen said this as she saw her mom. Ellen turned to the table. Bent on one knee was Mama. Anderson, who is struggling to lift a basket.“Mama Anderson, are you alright?” Ellen asked as she bent to help her lift the basket to the table and to check on her."I'm okay, Ellen," Mama Anderson told her.Mrs. Grater walked up to them and dropped the groceries on the kitchen table.“She’ll be fine, Ellen; she just needs to catch her breath." Mrs. Grater said this to Ellen as she got water for Mama Anderson.A few minutes later, Mama Anderson had regained enough strength, and she said, "Ellen, dear, sorry to scare you,” with a kind smile.“It’s fine, Mama Anderson,” Ellen replied, finally relieved that nothing was wrong with the woman.“What happened? One minute you were calling me, and the next you were out,” Ellen asked her mom.Mrs. Grater busied herself with making breakfast as she answered, “