They hated you so much that- STOP IT! -they left you all alone! NO! They chose Death over You! NOOO! "Honestly child!" My eyes shot open, unshed tears still pushing at their barriers, as I found Mr. Talon standing by my desk with a towel in his hand. Before I could say anything he brought the towel down on my head moving his hands robustly over my wet hair. "You are shivering like you're being electrocuted. At least turn off your air conditioning!" he scolded before promptly turning it off and returning to drying my hair vigorously. My thoughts were still too muddled up for me to answer, so I just sat there letting him shake my head in all directions hoping he wouldn't dislocate anything while also wondering if doing this kind of thing was normal in offices. "The CEO left a few minutes ago", he told me as he continued to dry my hair and I nodded as best as I could. I felt a strange feeling of disappointment rush through me and I told myself it was disappointment that I couldn't live up to anyone's expectations today. After a few minutes of silence when Mr. Talon was satisfied with his work he removed the towel but his huff of approval turned into a shriek of horror as he looked at me. "Oh no! Your hair! Please tell me you have a hairbrush with you!" When I continued to stare at him without replying, unable to find my voice, he bent forward towards me with a questioning look. "You don't look too well. Oooh I should have brought that apple which was mocking me from the fruit basket with its suspiciously bright redness as I refused to pick it up on my way out of the room. I'll be right back!" He turned to leave but I having finally found my voice I called out to him, "Wait! Mr. Talon!" He stopped mid stride and turned towards me. I gulped and stood up guiltily, "I-I...I just, I" I couldn't form any coherent sentence and Mr. Talon's expression turned more and more inquisitive. "I'm...so so sorry!" I finally blurted out, "I completely messed up. I don't know what came over me, and I have no excuse for my behavior. I just wish I that I didn't drag you down with me. I'm terribly sorry for everything and if they give me a chance I'll be sure to let them know that none of this was your fault. I'm just...such a mess!" "Yes you are!" he agreed all too enthusiastically making me flinch. "-which is why I asked you if you had a hairbrush with you so that you could tame your wild tresses! Or attempt to at least. But you didn't answer me remember" My expression immediately turned puzzled, "but I didn't- I mean- I meant-" Mr. Talon sighed heavily cutting me off, "I know what you meant, and thank you for that but I doubt your saying anything to them would mean much after what happened already" My shoulders slumped as I bowed my head in disappointment but he continued, "that being said, you need to stop being so hard on yourself" My head shot up to look at him, "I mean your- what shall we call it- performance was exactly what I expected after all. Why do you think I was so freaked out when I saw you getting into that elevator in the first place? Because I knew this would happen!" I continued to stare at him, unsure if I should be ashamed that he thought so lowly of me or wonder why he seemed so positive about saying it like that. So I just let him continue. "Do you know why?" he asked and I hesitantly shook my head, "Because that's exactly how most people return from the CEO's office! Heck I would have probably messed up just as bad as you, if not worse!" My eyes widened involuntarily and my mouth fell open. "Honestly, you can't blame yourself for everything that happened in there. It's CEO Royale for crying out loud. He is known for eliciting the most freaked out reactions from people! He can't help but intimidate them into senselessness and I speak from personal experience! I dare not say if it had been me in your place I would have probably flung the water at him and not myself. And then I would be dead faster than you can say Duck!" I felt my lip tremble as I realized that even after all this Mr. Talon wasn't blaming me. An overwhelming sense of gratitude for this strange man with the nasal voice filled my body as he continued his animated rant. "Oh! Don't you think I'm letting you off the hook! You should have tried to maintain composure, but it is easy to slip when in the presence of the Al- I mean the CEO. So stop beating yourself up about this!" When he was done I ran to him and hugged him tight. "Eeeeeh!" he screeched, "Ms. Winters! Please control yourself. What do you think you are doing?!" "Thank you so much Mr. Talon! You really are so sweet! I feel much better, you completely cheered me up!" I said hugging him harder before letting go. He looked a bit flustered as he readjusted his glasses and cleared his throat, "I'm not sure it's a good idea to be all cheery right now though Ms. Winters", he said gravely. Immediately my enthusiasm fell a few levels as I realized the heavy truth behind his words, "You're right. For all I know Mr. Penson might be on his way to fire me as we speak, and rightly so. There is nothing I can do about it", I sighed heavily. Mr. Talon opened his mouth to reply. "Oh, isn't there?" Both I and Mr. Talon jumped on hearing Mr. Penson's voice as he walked into my room. "Mr. Penson Sir!" Mr. Talon exclaimed and immediately bowed and I followed his lead. Once I raised my head I looked at Mr. Penson with guilty eyes, "Sir, I- I'm terribly sorry about earlier. I know an apology doesn't cut it but it's the least I can do. I doubt it means much" "You are right Ms. Winters", he replied straight faced, "any apologies, regrets and 'I wishes' on your part really don't mean much" Even though I was expecting him to say just that, hearing it directly from him was like a hard punch to my stomach- devastating and extremely painful. And yet again, I found myself looking through the eyes of a poor eight year old orphan girl, who had just had her last hope ripped away from her desperate little arms. And I knew that yet again, I was powerless to do anything about it. Just like all those years ago, yet again, I was unavailing to my circumstances. Yet again, I was forlorn...