EXTRA 1

Mr. Black silently watched in a corner, Liana who was having a chat with another woman. They seemed close.
He was happy for Liana. The caregiver he met had told him about his sister's recovery, a few months from now and Liana would be free to go. He didn't want to get noticed by his sister from the fear of her seeing him for the first time in years, he wasn't ready to receive a reaction from her.
Sometimes he wondered if she missed him, if she thought about him. Liana used to be so attached to him. she was almost fully recovered and he didn't want to alter her recovery by suddenly showing up out of nowhere. So he always kept a low profile every time he came to visit her.
Convinced he had stayed long enough he decided to leave.
A few minutes later, a little figure bumped into him and fell back. It was a little girl.
"Ouch," The girl muttered.
"Sorry, I didn't see you there," Gideon said and helped the girl up. His eyes narrowed at her face, it was too familiar to ignore.
"Thank you, sir," The little girl said.
"What are you doing here alone?" Gideon asked eyeing her uniform.
"I was chasing a little kitty," The girl said.
" Where are your parents?"
" My mum and brother are in the donut shop," The girl said pointing towards the little kiosk.
"I'm sure she must be looking for you. Come here, I will take you to her"
The girl obediently followed Gideon.
" Mummy" she called out and ran to hug her mother.
Gideon turned around to see who her mother was and it was just as he expected, Mrs. King.
"Still careless" He muttered.
Lia finally noticed the man who was standing in front of her, and she gasped.
"Mr. Black?"
"Glad, you remember me"
"You, you are alive"
"I didn't know you wanted me dead," Gideon said faking hurt.
"Leo told me th..."
"That I'm dead," Gideon said and Lia nodded.
" Mummy, who is he?" Layla said tugging on her mother's dress.
" My friend, Sweetie. Please go and join your brother inside and don't go out again" Lia warned her. Layla took to her mother's instructions and left the scene.
"You should probably tell her not to talk to strangers for her own good" Gideon suggested.
"I'm just so glad that you are here and alive. Leo would be so happy to hear this" Lia said as she took out her phone.
" If you want me to stay alive, I suggest that you refrain from saying anything about me to Mr. King"
Lia frowned " What do you mean by that?"
" I'm saying Mr. King doesn't need to know"
"Why not? Don't you want to get your job back?"
"It's been seven years Lia, I trust that Mr. King can do without me and I am not here to get back into your lives. I came back for my sister and..." Gideon said and smiled.
"Ellie?"
...
"Achew" Ellie sneezed.
She had already gotten dressed for work and was now munching on her breakfast. She grabbed her mug and drank the remaining coffee in it.
Satisfied with her meal she took the dishes and washed them before placing them in their various cabinets.
Ellie grabbed her things and left for work.
"Boss" one of her inferiors called out to her. Ellie was appointed the new head of the financial department about three years ago and she loves every bit of her position.
"Good morning to you too," Ellie said.
"Hmm, sorry" The man apologized for not greeting. " The meeting is starting soon and we still don't have the vital documents," The man said again.
"What meeting?" She asked.
"The One with the chairman"
"That's today?" She asked and the man nodded.
"Shit. How long before the meeting starts?"
"We still have an hour"
"Okay. That's enough time, please excuse me" Ellie dismissed him.
Without wasting any time she got on her computer and began punching numbers on the monitor. Thankfully, she was able to get by real fast and now all that was left for her is to make a solid copy with ten minutes left before the meeting would start.
Ellie dashed from her office into an elevator. She was going to the photocopy room which was the nearest to the conference room where the meeting would be held.
On her way, she bumped into Mike, her boyfriend.
"Hello, babe" Mike smiled and gave her a peck on her cheek.
"Hey stop that. You know we can't do that here, this is a place of work. If we get caught we will definitely get fired" Ellie said as he rolled his eyes.
"No one is going to see us and even if they do so what?"
" We could lose our jobs," Ellie said for the second time that morning.
" Whatever. I missed you, babe"
" We saw each other yesterday, please excuse me I have something really important to do," Ellie said as she walked further into the room.
" Do you need help?" Mike asked.
" Not really, I just need to get this printed and I'm good to go," Ellie said.
" Please, let me help you"
" I already told..."
" It's the least I could do for my girlfriend. You never need my help"
" Sigh" Feeling guilty, Ellie agreed.
" Fine," she said stepping away from the printing machine.
Mike gave her a small smile and began to work on the printer. After a few minutes Mike was done and the documents were ready.
"Thanks," Ellie said to him as he gave her the pile of paper.
"You are welcome, love. See you after work?"
"Sure"
Ellie said and scurried away. Entering the conference room, everyone was seated including the chairman. At least she wouldn't lose her job for being only a minute early.
As soon as she sat down the meeting began and once it was her turn to present on the behalf of her department, she stood up and did it excellently.
"You are all dismissed," The chairman said.
As Ellie was about to walk past the chairman he stopped her. He waited for every other person to leave before finally speaking.
"You were late"
"I was still a minute early," Ellie said to defend herself.
" I was seated before you came in, that is considered as late"
" Sorry sir, it wouldn't happen again," Ellie said and bowed her head.
She soon noticed a red stain on the collar of his shirt. It had an irregular shape.
" Are you okay sir? There is blood on your shirt"
The chairman ignored her words and said,
" My wife's birthday is coming up soon"
" I am well aware, sir"
" Did she say anything to you about what she wanted?" He asked.
" No sir"
" If she does, report to me"
" I understand"
" You are dismissed"
As Ellie left the conference room, she let out a deep breath that she didn't even realize she was holding. Talking to Mr. King was scary. Even though she had exchanged words with him more than a few times, she still wasn't used to it.
"Ellie," Someone said from behind her which gave her a shock. She put her hand on her chest to feel her racing heart.
"Mike don't do that" Ellie said and turned around to face him.
"I was waiting for you," Mike said and smiled.
"Why? I thought we agreed to meet with each other at the end of the day"
"True but won't it be nice to go on a date, like right now?" Mike asked.
" Don't you have work to do?"
"Yeah, but it's lunchtime"
"Wait, already?" Ellie asked shocked. She took a glance at her watch and saw that they were already ten minutes into lunchtime.
" Yeah, you guys took like forever to finish that meeting"
" Well, I'm sorry to say this but I have work to do"
" Can't you just give it to your underlings or something?"
" No I can't and they aren't my underlings they are co-workers"
" It's been a long time since we went on a date together, it's almost as if you don't want to be with me anymore. Did I do something wrong? If I did please tell me, I promise to fix it" Mike pleaded.
" No you didn't and you are right, I guess we haven't done anything to make our relationship grow. You know what let's go on that date" Ellie said.
" Thank you so much. I...I promise you wouldn't regret it. Please wait here for me, I will go and grab my wallet" Mike said excitedly and left.
Ellie didn't get to wait too long before he came back.
"Let's go," he said and they both left together.
Mike drove to a nearby restaurant, It looked as if it was still new. There weren't many customers in it.
He led her to a table for two and they sat side by side to each other. The menu was already placed on the table, all they had to do now was to pick a dish.
"Waiter" Mike called.
"Are you ready to place an order?" The waiter asked.
"Yes, we are. I will have number four while my girlfriend will take..."
"Six please," Ellie said.
The waiter nodded and wrote down their orders on a little sketch pad.
" Anything else?" The waiter asked and they both shook their head.
" I will be back very soon with your orders, please be patient," The waiter said and scurried away.
" Isn't this nice? Me and you together" Mike said.
" I guess it is"
" So how have you been doing?" Mike asked.
" That's a very odd question to ask someone you see almost every day" Ellie stated.
" You are probably right, I shouldn't have asked that"
" I'm good" Ellie gave a reply to his question anyway.
The waiter came back with their food and they immediately dug in. As Ellie put the first spoon of food in her mouth her face dropped. The food tasted horrible, but she managed to swallow it.
She looked at Mike and saw that he looked as though he was enjoying it. She thought maybe it was just her order.
She didn't want to complain about it and sound ungrateful, so she continued eating it but her bites were small. The more she ate, the more she had the urge to puke.
"Are you okay?" Mike asked.
"Yeah, Why do you ask?"
" You have barely touched your food and I am already done with mine"
" Well I guess I'm not hungry," Ellie said.
" Can I ?" Mike asked for permission to help her with the food and she willingly gave it to him in hopes that he would also find fault in the food, but to her horror, he ate it as if it tasted delicious.
Ellie couldn't hold herself anymore and asked " Do you like the food?"
" Oh, that's probably why you aren't eating" Mike suddenly said as if he had just realized something.
" Well?" Ellie said.
" It tastes weird, doesn't it?"
"Yes," Ellie said.
"Don't worry about it, you would get used to it. The first time I came here the food also tasted funny and after that, I had a blast In the toilet, but here I am now eating it without a problem"
"Used to it? No, Mike, I am never coming here again" Ellie said.
"Why not? I already assured you that you will get used to it."
" Uhm Mike, do you have... Maybe a problem or an issue that you need money for"
As Ellie asked that question Mike choked on his food and began to cough vigorously.
" Why...***cough***...would you...***cough***...ask that?"
" I can't help but notice that the food here is super cheap and you seem to eat here a lot despite the food being... disgusting"
" Ok...***cough***... I wouldn't hide it anymore, I am short of money"
" But why? I mean you have been working in kings corp for a while now, your salary should be enough" Ellie said.
" yes, but my mum is battling for her life so I need all the money I can get to help with her treatment"
" Oh, how come you never told me that?"
" I didn't want to disturb you with such trivial matters"
" Do you need help? I can lend you some money if you want?" Ellie offered him.
" No thanks, I will take care of it myself"
" Are you sure?" Ellie asked.
" I am"
" Okay then, finish your meal, and let's get out of this place"
"I have something for you"
" What is it?"
" Wait it's in my pocket, let me get it out real quick," Mike said as he put his hand into his pockets in search for a little box.
" Ah, here it is," he said as he brought out a small box. It was blue and it looked fancy.
Ellie took it from his hand and opened it. She was in awe of what she saw. There was a pearly white necklace in it. It was beautiful.
" For someone who needs to save his money, isn't this a little too much?"
" Anything for you," Mike said.
" No, I can't accept this" Ellie said and Mike frowned.
" Why not?"
" You shouldn't be doing things like this"
" Like what?"
" Spending money. It just doesn't feel right"
" El, we are a couple. Of course, I have to"
" Fine then. I will accept the gift, but only this one. If you buy another one, I will throw it at your face" Ellie threatened and Mike laughed.
" Can I put it on you?" Mike asked.
" Sure," Ellie said and turned around. She used her hands to remove her hair from her neck giving him access to wear the necklace on her.
Once Mike was done with hooking the necklace he kissed her nape and Ellie moved away from him awkwardly.
"Thank you," She said.
"It fits you perfectly," Mike said and smiled.
"Let's go," Mike said again.
"Aren't you going to finish the food?"
"Nah, I think I have had enough for one afternoon"
...
Mike and Ellie had returned to the company and parted ways.
Ellie walked into her department and saw that a lot of people were slacking off, especially the ones that hadn't noticed her presence yet.
"Okay people, back to work. The fun is over" She yelled and with loud murmurs, everyone went back to their assigned desks.
Time went by fast and just like that working hours were over.
Ellie called Mike to tell him that she was ready to leave and in return, he told her to wait in the parking lot for him.
Ellie said goodbye to all her friends and went to wait for Mike by her car. She then took out her phone and scrolled through her forum page to entertain herself while she waited.
A few minutes in Ellie began to feel paranoid. It was as if she was being watched by someone.
She put her phone off and put it in her bag. She got her keys and got into her car for safety. Just as she looked up she saw a dark figure lurking around in the shadows.
She couldn't make it out because the lights didn't affect that area. Ellie decided it would be best to leave instead of staying.
She texted Mike that she wasn't feeling well before starting her car. As she drove past the figure, it came into the light a little.
Ellie looked through her side mirror and she got a glimpse of the person's face. Her breath hitched.
"Mr. Black" she gulped.