EXTRA 3

Ellie heard a knock on her office door.
"Come in," Ellie said and she heard the door opening.
Without seeing who it was, she said,
"I am not in the mood to see you right now"
"I guess you meant to say that to Mike"
"Lia" Ellie gasped.
" Hello friend," Lia said and smiled.
"It's been so long, when were you planning to see me?"
"Sorry, I have been busy lately. Especially with the kids, and since I came by to see Leo, I was like ' Hey, why don't I visit you too' "
"So what's up?" Ellie asked.
"Nothing new"
"You?"
"Same here"
"So..o, what's up with the roses?" Lia asked.
" I think it's Mike's way of expressing his feelings"
"Speaking of Mike, how is your relationship with him?" Lisa asked.
Ellie let out a sigh.
"Honestly, our relationship isn't going anywhere. Sometimes I just want to end it, but then I see how happy he looks, so I..."
"Do you still have feelings for Mr. Black?"
"Honestly, I don't know anymore. At first, when Mike started hitting on me, I believed I had no more feelings for him, So I accepted Mike just so I could prove to myself that I didn't. I feel so bad about what I am doing to him. It feels like I am cheating on him"
" Don't push yourself too much"
" Maybe I am just going to remain single for the rest of my miserable life"
" Probably not. You should talk to Mike about it, he is a nice guy, I'm sure he would understand"
" I guess you are right. The earlier I do so, the earlier I get it off my chest"
" So...o, my birthday is coming up," Lia said.
" I am fully aware. What would you like to have for your birthday this year?"
" For you to be happy"
" How cute. Seriously though, what do you want?" Ellie wanted to know so she could report it to her boss and get a reward.
She was already smiling and imagining what Mr. King was going to reward her with.
" Ellie... are you listening?" Lia said, snapping Ellie out of her trance.
" I am. Please continue"
"I just feel like Leo hasn't been spending much time with me lately. The best gift I could get right now is my husband's presence" Lia said.
"So what's the physical thing?"
"No physical object, just him" Lia said while laughing.
"Come on, that can't be it. He is your husband you can have him any time. Your birthday only takes place once a year. Don't you want to go to Rome?"
"Not really"
"How about Paris? ...or huwaíi?"
" No"
" I got it, you want a new car"
" I can't even drive," Lia said.
" What? You still can't drive" Ellie was shocked.
" You act as if it weren't normal to not know how to drive"
"What makes you think it's normal?"
"I..."
***Knock***
"It looks like someone is at the door," Lia said.
"Come in," Ellie said.
Mike partially opened the door and stuck his head out to see who was with Ellie.
"Boss lady" Mike smiled at Lia.
"Hey you...u, how are you doing?"
"Great. I u..uh, I hope I wasn't interrupting anything"
" No. I was just about to leave" Lia said and stood up.
" Goodbye friend," Ellie told her.
"Bye"
"How many times have I told you to stop coming to my office during working hours?"
"I know, I know. I just wanted to make sure you have forgiven me for yesterday"
"You didn't do anything wrong," Ellie said.
"I never knew you loved roses, if I did I would have gotten you tons of that" Mike said looking at the bouquet.
Ellie frowned.
"What do you mean, Aren't you the one who sent these?"
"No, I didn't," Mike said.
"Then who could have s..."
"Do you have an admirer that I do not know about?" Mike asked with a serious tone.
"Not that I know of"
"Then why..."
"Listen, Mike, I think you are going to have to come back later"
"Why? I mean, I am here now"
"First of all, you are supposed to be in your office, working. And also these flowers are my business"
"How can you even say that, we.."
"We nothing Mike. I will find whoever it is that sent these, the rest is non of your business"
"Sigh" "You are right, it's not my business" Mike sounded hurt.
"I didn't mean it that w..."
"No, it's okay. I understand you need space, so I will give it to you. See you later" Mike said and left.
"Way to go, Ellie, you sounded like a total bitch" Ellie muttered.
"Roses huh?"
...
Ellie was done with work for the day. She had already gone to report to Mr. King everything Lia had told her.
Mike hadn't spoken to her all day after that incident, he didn't ask her to lunch, like he would normally do.
It made Ellie feel worse for how she had spoken to him. He was trying to be a good partner.
Ellie shivered. It was that feeling again.
Ellie reached for her car keys in her bag but it wasn't there.
"Shit" she cursed.
She must have left it on her desk, and now she was going to have to go back to the almost empty buildings.
Going back into the office was scarier than leaving.
She was aware that Mr. King sometimes spent the night here, and she wondered how he does it.
Another shiver ran down her spine. It was as if she was being followed.
She turned around to see if there was anyone following behind her, but there was none.
Ellie successfully reached her office without encountering any problems, she got her keys and now it was time for her to go back.
She sucked in a deep breath and began the journey.
Thankfully her car was in view, bu...t, there were three men around it. They looked like tugs. They probably wanted to break into the car.
"Hey" Ellie screamed getting their attention.
"What are you doing to my car?"
Seeing her the smallest one began to run, but he was called back by the other two guys.
One of them hit the small one on the head.
"You pussy, why are you running? It's just a woman"
"Oh, I will show you what kind of a woman I am," Ellie said dropping her purse on the ground.
"And what are you going to do?"
"I don't know who you guys are or how you got in here, but this is the property of Mr. King. If he finds out..." Ellie was interrupted.
"He wouldn't find out if you are not around to tell him"
"What?" Ellie suddenly lost all confidence.
"You two, go and hold her down. When we are done with this we can have some fun with her later"
The men stalked closer and closer to Ellie and the only thing she could do was take small shaky steps back.
The men had almost reached her, however before they could lay a finger on her, she was pushed back by someone.
In no time the tugs were on the floor, groaning in pain.
Ellie was too shocked to see who it was that had saved her. Her eyes were on the men who were crying on the floor.
She was too scared to look up, not for fear that the person would hurt her but because she was scared of reality.
The scent was too strong to deny it. It smelt like him.
He didn't say anything. He brought his hand closer to her face and tucked a few strands of hair behind her ears.
Ellie felt suffocated, it was as if all the air had been knocked out of her lungs.
"T...thank y...you" she muttered shakingly.
She still hadn't looked up yet. She searched the ground with her eyes and once she spotted her purse, she went ahead to pick it up.
She walked past him but was stopped by him. He held her back with his strong grip on her wrist.
"Won't you at least say hello" hearing his voice was all she needed to pass out.
Mr.Black held her unconscious body in his arms. It wasn't the time but he couldn't help but admire her up close. He wasn't planning to reveal himself today, but he couldn't stand there and watch her get hurt either.
"My Ellie"
...
"Gasp"
Ellie had just woken up from a nightmare. She had beads of sweat hanging on her forehead.
She checked the time on her alarm clock and saw that she was a little late than usual.
Ellie thanked the heavens that she was only dreaming and Mr. Black hadn't really appeared.
If he was going to someday, she wouldn't want to give that kind of reaction she displayed in her dream. She wanted to be strong and show him that she was unaffected by his presence.
...
Ellie not so happily drove to work. Although she slept through the night she still felt tired.
Just as she was passing the receptionist's desk, The person behind called her.
"Good morning Vivian, how may I help you," Ellie said.
"Not me. The boss wants you in his office"
"What? Why?"
"I don't know"
"Did he look or sound angry?" Ellie asked.
" I couldn't tell. The boss only has one Expression on his face" The receptionist joked.
" When exactly was this?"
" An hour ago"
" Shit" Ellie cursed.
***Why was this happening today of all days? the day I am late.***
"Thank you for informing me" Ellie flashed her a small smile.
Ellie took nervous breaths, this wasn't the first time she would meet Mr. King in person, but this was definitely the first time he called her to meet him in his office.
"Calm down Ellie, it's probably because of Lia's birthday"
Ellie finally reached Mr. King's office and gave a knock.
"Come in" she heard him say and went in after counting to five.
She frowned upon seeing Mr. king holding a duster.
***Is he... Cleaning?***
"Sit" Leo commanded as he dropped the duster and sat on his chair.
"Good morning sir" Ellie cleared her throat before saying.
"You are late," Leo said.
"I know sir it..." Ellie was interrupted.
"I will pardon you for this, seeing as you must still be recovering"
***Recovering?***, Ellie thought.
"You may go home for today and do not tell my wife about what happened yesterday" That sounded like a threat.
"I am sorry sir, what do you mean recovering?" Ellie asked.
"I saw the footage of what happened yesterday, the thugs have already been dealt with ***(killed)***"
Ellie gulped, ***thugs***. Her heart began to race. ***If there were really thugs then does that mean...?***
***Probably not, maybe I fought them off and then hit my head somewhere. Yes, that's why I can't remember what happened after.***
"Thank you, sir, I appreciate your kindness," Ellie said getting up.
"I haven't dismissed you yet," Mr. King said and Ellie sat right back down.
"What is your relationship with that person?"
"Who?" Ellie asked. It took a while before Mr. king answered. Making Ellie anxious. She was worried that he had discovered her and Mike's relationship.
***I am so screwed***
"G...i...d...e...o...n" it was as if Mr. King said the name in slow motion but no, it was all in Ellie's head.
"W...what d...do you mean sir?" Ellie struggled to say.
" Mr. Black"
Of course, Ellie knew who he was talking about, she was asking why he would ask her that.
" I have no relationship with him," Ellie said playing with her fingers.
Mr. King looked as if he was thinking about something.
" Are you sure?"
"Yes, as far as I know. He hasn't come back" Ellie said and Mr. King frowned.
" He was the one who saved you yesterday"
That was exactly what Ellie was afraid to hear.
" Oh," Ellie muttered.
" If you come across him again, report it to me immediately. You may go" Mr. King said and Ellie stood up and left.
Mr. King wondered why Mr. Black would risk it all to save her. Mr. Black knew fully well that Leo wouldn't hesitate once he gets sight of him, yet he came into his territory so carelessly.
Mr. King hadn't kept his word for the first time in almost all his life, he had been searching for Mr. Black up until this morning and now that Mr. Black was this close, he wouldn't let him off.