“She is my friend, my best friend, Luke,” Ellen shouted at him.
“I love her, Ellen; I know it’s hard to accept that right now,” Luke told her.
“Accept that you betrayed me and kept stringing me along like a fool for the past one year?” She asked him as tears pooled in her eyes.
“You were dating my best friend for a year, and then you broke up with me two weeks ago,” she shouted at him.
“What were you expecting that I wouldn’t know?” Ellen said, pointing at his chest.
“We were going to tell you; I knew you’d react this way, and that's why I didn’t tell you,” Luke said in his defense.
“I’ll do whatever you want, okay, anything to help you adjust to this,” he told her.
“Could this night get any funny?” Ellen said, tears rolling down her face as she laughed at his statement.
“All you care about is your reputation and what people think about you. I should have realized what a bloody liar you were all this time,” she said as she pressed the elevator button.
Ellen, don’t go doing anything funny; you just need to go home right now,” he said to her.
Looking at him one last time as Ellen stepped into the elevator, she said, “Everything is already upside down; what else could go wrong?” as the doors slid closed.
She got to the lobby of the hotel and headed to the doors, wiping tears from her eyes. Halting at the door, she said to herself “Well, what could go wrong”.
Throwing caution to the wind, she headed in the direction of the club, which was located to the far right of the hotel lobby.
“I might as well get drunk and forget all this happened,” she told herself.
Entering the club, the loud sound of music and the gyrating bodies on the dance floor were a welcome distraction for her. She walked to the bar with one purpose in mind: to get drunk and wasted.
A male bartender walked to where she was sitting and asked, “What would you like to have?”
Tilting her head to the right with a domineering smile on her face, she said, “Give me your strongest drink, and keep it coming.”
"Coming right up," the bartender replied, a quirky smile on his face as he turned to do her bidding.
There were a couple of people sitting at the bar, while others were sitting at the private tables at the back of the club. You could hardly make out the faces of anyone around you except you were up close.
Ellen kept drinking and barely left the bar as she focused on gulping down as many glasses as she could.
After her sixth glass, she stood up and joined the dance floor. She danced, raising her hands and just letting herself go to the music.
I’m going to show them who the boss is; they think they can just go free after doing this, but of course not. Ellen thought to herself as she danced with anyone who cared to join her.
“Why the hell am I still thinking about them? I need to get more drinks,” Ellen said to herself as she staggered to the bar.
“More drinks, please,” she said to the bar tender. She had another glass, and after her third glass, she could barely stand.
Ellen tried to stand but couldn’t; grabbing her bag, she held onto the bar and tried to raise herself. She slipped, and as she fell, a strong arm grabbed her by the waist and held her against a hard chest.
"oh…boy… Wheew, that was close!” Ellen giggled as she raised her eye to see who the knight in shining armor was.
She stared into the deepest blue eyes she had ever seen.
“Oh, man, you look so good,” Ellen drawled, smiling at the handsome face before her.
“I’ll escort you to the door,” the handsome man said.
“Oh, I could follow you anywhere, handsome,” she said, giggling like a schoolgirl.
Covering her mouth with one hand, she continued giggling. Why can’t I stop giggling? she wondered.
The handsome man gave her purse to someone behind him as he assisted her out of the club.
He helped her to the door, where a bodyguard would help her get into a cab.
“Thank you!” Ellen giggled again at the stranger who had helped her as he left her and walked towards the hotel reception desk.
Ellen," she heard her name. Turning towards the voice, she realized it was Luke.
“What are you still doing here?” Luke continued to say:
They had just finished with their party and were heading out of the hotel too.
Hey...yy,” Ellen drawled.
“I don’t need your permission to be here." Ellen said to them, looking at them with disdain.
“You’re drunk, Ellen,” Luke said, stepping forward to take her.
“Don’t you dare touch me,” Ellen told him.
“I’m waiting for my new boyfriend,” she said to them.
“Don’t be silly, Ellen; we both know you don’t have one.” Emily scoffed at her statement.
Oh, really, watch me,” Ellen replied, and she walked towards the handsome stranger who had helped her earlier. She had no idea how she was able to walk without falling on her face, but she was most grateful that the handsome man was still at the reception desk.
“Where the hell do you think you’re going? Ellen!” Luke shouted as he followed her into the hotel lobby, with Emily right behind him.
Tapping him on the shoulder, Ellen said, trying to keep a fake smile in place, “Help me one last time, will you?”
Without waiting for a response, she moved closer to him and kissed him!
To convince the audience behind her, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kept kissing him till she heard Emily say “Let's go, Luke”.
A few heartbeats later, she stepped away from him and realized that her audience had left.
“That wasn’t so bad after all,” Ellen said, turning back to face the handsome stranger in front of her. The events of the last few minutes had sobered her up a bit. The handsome stranger looked stunned as he stared at her. His face was hardened in anger, and stepping towards her, he raised up his right hand.
He advanced towards her and touched her face as he bent his head and whispered, “Quite the audacious move; never let me see you anywhere around me ever, or you won't like what I'll do to you,” the handsome stranger said to her. Ellen watched him walk away, wishing the ground would open and swallow her.*******“Have you seen her?” Alex Gilbert asked Mary, the caretaker of Mrs. Warner, wife of the late Paul Warner, founder of Warner Haven Corporation.Yes, I have; she is in her room now; a young lady assisted her,” Mary informed Alex.“Come with me; Mr. Warner is at the club; he’d like to hear it from you himself,” Alex said to her as they walked towards the club.*******Leo Warner is the CEO of Warner Haven Corporation, the fastest-growing hotel chain in the country.He was the only grandchild of the Warner family, and at thirty years old, he was in charge of the company.Today was a memorable day for him as he was finally made CEO and was now in total charge of the company. He has f
The next morning, Ellen had a hangover as she rolled out of bed. “Oh my god! Fuck,” she cursed under her breath.Ellen could hear the hustle and bustle of the city below; her apartment was situated on the third floor of the building. The sound of cars from the street below flowed in easily with the wind through her open window. She held her head with both hands as she stood to go use the restroom.Her phone vibrated on the bedside table, and without looking at the screen, she picked it up.Ellen, what was that about last night?” Luke said as soon as she picked up the call.“Why in hell are you calling me?” Ellen groaned, holding her head as she made her way to the bathroom.“You barged into a party you were not invited to and embarrassed me,” Luke said almost in anger.“You should have thought of that in the first place; you’re the one who broke up with me and proposed to my best friend,” Ellen told him.“This is probably why you have always wanted to keep our relationship secret,” El
Looking through her email for the hundredth time, Ellen sighed and flung herself onto the bed.“One, two, three,” Ellen murmured as she mentally counted the number of applications she had submitted. Staring at the ceiling of her apartment, she screamed, raising both hands and legs in the air to let out her frustration.“I need a job, anything,” she screamed into her pillow.Most of the applications she’d submitted were long overdue and had received no response. Her rent was almost due, and to top it off, her mom had another therapy session coming up.Ellen had worked at the Titan Consult in Manhattan for three years; that was where she had met Luke.“The one you had least expected had resulted in an interview,” her mom told her at dinner later that day. The last application she had made was for the position of secretary; at least she’d had a virtual interview for that already.“I know, mom, I just wish others would move as fast as that was,” Ellen said to her mom, frustration etched o
Oh my God! Ellen hissed under her breath, bowing her head and trying to shield her face."My new secretary?" Leo asked Alex to be sure he had heard him right. His voice resonated with anger mixed with amazement."Yes, Mr. Warner," Alex stuttered as he answered. He wondered what was going on.Ellen stared at her feet. She had no idea what she was supposed to do or say."You mean her?" Leo asked, pointing at her, "You’re joking, right?" Leo said he was facing Alex."There seems to be a little confusion, sir. If you could tell me what's wrong..." Alex trailed off, not sure how he was supposed to phrase his confusion about what was going on.Ellen raised her head to look at him. He stared straight at her, and his deep blue eyes had her transfixed. He looked really pissed.Leo stood up from his desk and walked to stand right in front of it, his hands in his pockets. Turning deep blue, angry eyes at her, he silently, under his breath, said, "Get out!"Ellen panicked. Glancing between Alex a
The universe was at a standstill as Ellen watched Leo, holding her breath as she listened. The table had turned in a way she had not expected. How was he even the CEO of the only company that had called her back and offered her employment? "Very well then, the first would be..." Leo said, trailing off at the last word. He smiled and stopped mid sentence, making her nervous as to what exactly he had in mind. "I can’t really read them off to you now; you are going to wait outside while I have it drawn up." Leo said, taunting her. He knew she would never agree to sign what he had in mind, and he was ready to watch her give up. "Okay sir." Ellen agreed; her earlier confidence not so evident now. "Yes, and be ready to sign whatever it is; as you said, you’ll do anything," Leo reminded her. She looked determined to see this through. She must really need the job; we’ll see about that, Leo thought. "If you’ll excuse me," Leo said, pointing towards the door. "Yes, of course, thank you, M
Her hands clenched in fists, her brow raised, and her voice seethed with anger as she said "Get out!". Too angry to move from the door of the bathroom, water dripped from her skin and pooled on the floor. Standing at her door was Emily, the betrayer and backstabbing friend. "I won’t repeat myself," Ellen said again, struggling to calm herself. "I would gladly do that, Ellen, except your mom asked me to drop by," Emily said, not the least bothered. Taking a deep breath, Ellen moved towards her wardrobe, not facing Emily. She said "Then you should have told her we weren't friends anymore". Emily turned towards the door and placed a hand on the handle as she said, "I guess you haven’t told her." "Leave Emily and never come back here, ever," Ellen replied with a hard voice, her shoulders rigid as she tried to control herself. The silent click of her bedroom door closing was the response she got. Later that night, Ellen barely ate her food; she had lost her appetite. The visit from E
"Ellen, come to my office now!" came Leo’s voice from the other end. His hard tone didn’t help. She could feel her heart about to burst out of her chest. On trembling legs, Ellen walked into Leo’s office. Alex was seated with Leo at the lounge on the left side of the office. "Ms. Grater, come sit here," came Alex’s voice, shaking Ellen out of her frozen state. Oh no, what am I going to say? I totally forgot to go through the document yesterday, Ellen thought to herself as she sat beside Alex. Leo turned to her, his face rigid and void of emotion as he said, "Ellen, we will be making some important changes to the plan for the forth coming meeting with the board." With a trembling voice, Ellen managed to answer, Okay, sir." Glancing in Alex's direction, she saw he was not paying them any attention but was instead engrossed with something on his laptop. "The meeting has been moved; it would be taking place here on Monday, so I need you to make arrangements with other departments,"
Leo had gotten into the elevator before he remembered what he was putting on. "It’s not like anyone would come into my office at this time." He said to himself as he shook his head and added, "Why do I have to always forget that damn phone anyway?" The elevator door opened, and he stepped into his office. He had grown so familiar with the office that he didn’t bother to turn on the lights. "It’s not on the tables, nor is it in the drawers; where else could I have dropped it?" He muttered as he searched. Leo stood for a second and mentally replayed the day's activities in his mind to pinpoint the last place he had used the phone. A broad smile took over his face as he snapped his finger. "Bingo, the lounge; it should be on one of those seats, he muttered as he moved to check. As he bent to check the chair he had sat on, he heard his office door open. "Who’s there?" he heard Ellen’s voice say. Why was she still around? He thought. Just as he tried to call her attention, she turn