Suzzanah's POV My heart hurt and my eyes burned with unshed tears. I had sworn to myself that I would never let myself become that poor little helpless child who was burdened by her powerlessness and inabilities and despite that, I had ended up right there in that hopeless corner again, and it hurt so much! I grimaced and looked at the ground wishing it would swallow me up as I waited for Mr. Penson to fire me and tell me to get out, just like the CEO had done. "Your apology serves no purpose Ms. Winters," he said and I flinched, "Especially not when you haven't done anything wrong" My head shot up so fast that it took my eyes a few seconds to fixate on Mr. Penson's frame. Mr. Talon, who had been looking extremely pale and even a little bit constipated all this time suddenly, looked astounded, his eyes widening in anticipation and something else, which looked a lot like hope. "What happened today was but a mere slip", Mr. Penson continued as I found it hard to believe the words he was saying, "It had nothing whatsoever to do with your work ethic, your efficiency or your capabilities." A slow smile brimming with hope and gratitude started stretching across my face as he continued. "All it told me is that I must remember to keep you sufficiently hydrated at all times" Immediately a heavy blush painted my cheeks like a wine stain, but it didn't keep my smile from getting bigger and more genuine. "I have high expectations of you Ms. Winters", Mr. Penson said smiling at me, "now you can either stand there apologizing to me about 'could have beens' or you can prove yourself by doing your best at work here from here on forward, to me as well as the CEO" At the mention of the CEO my heart fluttered but that feeling was over powered by the over whelming sense of gratefulness that I was feeling for the two people with me in this room. "Can I count on you to do that Ms. Winters?" Mr. Penson asked with a warm smile. I couldn't believe it! He was giving me another chance! My heart swelled and elation flowed interlaced with my blood through my entire body. I felt like I was soaring above the white clouds ready to grace the seventh heaven! I pushed back the tears of gratitude and nodded vigorously, "Yes sir!" "Good", Mr. Penson smiled warmly at me and I felt my respect and adoration for this man grow tenfold, "With that having been said, you can take the rest of the day off" My eyes widened and confusion replaced my euphoria, but before I could protest he added, "That's an order by the way. Go change into something dry and rest up. From tomorrow you'll be working very hard. Here", he handed me a pen drive, "I have saved some important files in this drive. Have a look at them in your room. They have details regarding the paperwork we will be doing with our current clients. I'm assuming you have a laptop?" Still feeling bad about leaving early on my first day, I replied to him by nodding at first but promptly added, "Yes Sir", when from the corner of my eye I saw Mr. Talon giving me his classic mentor-like glare. Mr. Penson smiled at me before looking towards Mr. Talon, "Talon, the Vice president wanted to have a word with you" Mr. Talon visibly stiffened and I immediately felt guilty that he would probably be yelled at because of me. I opened my mouth to speak on his behalf but Mr. Penson cut me off, "Not to worry, he just wants to talk about work. Nothing that happened within the CEO's office will be mentioned again. That applies to the both of you as well. Go on Mr. Talon" "Ah! Yes sir!" he said before briefly glancing at me. I smiled at him whole heartedly and he gave me his own narrow eyed, crinkly nosed and tight lipped smile. I immediately decided that it was his best look- absolutely adorable! "You do know your way back to the staff quarters don't you?" Mr. Penson asked me once Mr. Talon had left. Oh? So I'm going to be walking back?! "Uh, I think so", I said trying very hard to remember. I had come in the staff bus this morning but I had paid close attention to the route through the trees. The staff quarters were a bit far away from the office, but it was still a walkable distance. "I'll manage" "If you take the route through the forest it's much closer" He walked to the window and pointed to a barely visible stony route that led into the forest. "No need to worry. It's safe" What if I get lost? "It's an easy enough path. Just go straight", he told me. And where exactly is straight? I wondered as I stared warily at the haphazard path that was leading into the trees. "See you tomorrow Ms. Winters", Mr. Penson said and was about to walk out when I stopped him. "Thank you so much for everything Sir", I told him, "I'll work very hard. I won't let you down again" A strange amused smile crossed his face and he replied softly, "Again? Oh but you haven't let me down at all Ms. Winters; on the contrary, I'm quite pleased with how things turned out" What? "Be safe", he said before briskly turning and walking out the door, the mysterious smile never leaving his face. I stared after him for a while before shaking my head. This place is just so weird; I don't get it at all. But I do like it! I smiled and quickly gathered my things. That's when I noticed that all this time I had still been wearing the CEO's jacket. It was so comfortable I forgot all about it. I blushed when I remembered how the CEO had put it on me himself and blushed even more when I remembered how he had told me to get out immediately after. I shrugged off the jacket and immediately felt a sense of loss when the cool air assaulted my moist dress shirt making me shiver. I draped the expensive jacket on my forearm, took my handbag and left my room deciding to give the jacket to Mr. Talon tomorrow. For now I wanted to get out of these wet clothes. I reached the elevator and stepped into it still staring at the jacket. So much had happened today. That entire conversation inside the CEO's office had seemed so bizarre. What had Master Cole meant when he had said she is important and that the kingdom needs her? Who was she? It had seemed like they had all been referring to me when they spoke about that mystery girl whom the CEO needed, I blushed, and yet it couldn't have been about me, there was no way! After all, I had only met them all today and they spoke about that girl as though they had been expecting her for a while! I, Zuerien Kai Royale, the Alpha Supreme, reject you, Suzzanah Winters as my- What was it he was going to say? And why did it pain me so much that I couldn't bear to hear it through to the end? And what does Alpha Supreme mean? So many unanswered questions, it was giving me a headache especially since I was naturally a curious person, and these didn't seem like questions I would be getting answers to anytime soon. I was so preoccupied with my thoughts about the day that I didn't even realize when the elevator reached the ground floor. I walked out and immediately found Cindy, the receptionist, standing at the reception area. I smiled at her and she smiled back, and even though it looked forced I was still happy that she returned the gesture. I walked out of the building. The weather was pleasant, cool and cloudy. I was looking forward to the walk. I took my time strolling towards the hardly visible path through the woods that Mr. Penson had pointed out to me. Once I reached it I stared at the poorly demarcated stone studded path leading into the trees wondering whether to go that way or the long way that we had come by in the bus this morning. "Two roads diverged in a yellow wood And sorry I could not travel both" Lines from the poem 'The Road Not Taken' by Robert Frost flashed in my mind as I stood there wondering which route to take. "And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth" As the lines from the beautiful poem came back to me, I smiled enthusiastically and having made my decision, I walked onto the narrow, grassy path leading into the forest; it was what I felt like doing after all.