Chapter 49: A Friend in the Forest-4

I turned around to run back but immediately my path was blocked by the wolf. "Did you see him?" I asked frantically as panic filled my body, "he is about this tall, he's wearing a suit and tie and he has glasses", I said quickly, then groaned and held my head in my hands. Of course a wild animal won't understand any of that, no matter how smart he is. How had I forgotten about him? Who knows where he was now. Poor thing was probably worried sick about me, or maybe he too was lost? What if he had encountered a wolf too, a not so friendly one?! What if he was in trouble? I started to hyperventilate and my heart beat sped up. "Oh God, Mr. Talon", I whispered as my eyes started tearing up. Immediately the wolf was beside me, his head bent, his inquisitive eyes boring into mine. I looked at him through my teary eyes, "I lost my friend somewhere in the woods", I whispered feeling my heart constrict in worry, "I don't know what to do?" The wolf's eyes softened and my lips trembled, "What if he's hurt? What if something happened to him?" A strange resolve crossed his eyes and he raised his head. I was still breathing heavily when I suddenly felt a soft nudge on my shoulder. The wolf wanted me to follow him again. "But...but..." he just softly nudged me again and waited for me to follow. My eyes widened. "Do you know where he is?" I asked quickly and he bent his head before he started walking again. I sighed in relief and smiled happily before wiping my eyes and quickly following after him. He had started walking faster and I was jogging to keep up with him. We took a few more twists and turns and soon the woods started to thin, the trees became scarcer and I started to recognize where we were. As if on cue, the Royale Industries office building came into view and a joyous squeal escaped my lips. I could see the end of the woods now, but what elated me even more was the person standing there. Mr. Talon was walking up and down, wringing his fingers, and then fisting his hair. A laugh escaped my lips and my gaze returned to the large wolf which now stared at me with soft eyes. I smiled widely at him before running and throwing my arms around his wide neck. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" I cried hugging his neck tightly. His muscles tensed under my touch but soon relaxed and he buried his muzzle in my hair. "You're always looking out for me", I whispered softly into its fur, "I'm so glad we met again, minus the skirt ripping part", I added with a laugh. When I pulled away, the large kind wolf looked into my eyes with his beautiful brown ones and I smiled warmly at him. "You need to go now, if anyone sees you, I don't know what they'll do", I whispered but his eyes didn't leave my face. "Thank you for everything", I said wholeheartedly and ran my fingers through the soft fur on his head. He pressed his head further into my hand and my heart warmed at the gesture. I bent down and pressed a kiss on the top of his head and a string of tingles erupted through my body. When I raised my head, the wolf's eyes were wide and an emotion very akin to affection swirled within their warm depths. I smiled softly at the dear animal, "Let's meet again, friend", I said before slowly walking away from him, "Goodbye!" I called out before turning and running towards where Mr. Talon stood. "Mr. Talon!" I called out making his gaze immediately zero in on me and I saw his eyes go wide as he released a loud breath. When I reached him, I immediately threw my arms around him and hugged him. "I'm so glad you're alright!" I told him. He tensed but then patted my head comfortingly before pulling away. "Likewise child", he told me sincerely and I smiled at the sound of his familiar voice, "I was so worried about you! Are you alright? Are you hurt?" he asked frantically looking over me to check if I was alright, "AAAH! Your skirt again!" he cried out and I blushed. "Yeah, it sort of...tore, again. But its okay, I'm okay", I told him honestly, "I got lost, but...managed to find my way out again, with some help." I whispered the last part while trying to glance behind me see if the wolf had left. "Hmm?" "Uh, don't worry Mr. Talon", I said quickly, "but I didn't find the jacket!" "Well, at least you're safe and back here now, so let's just forget about that godforsaken jacket and put this whole kerfuffle behind us", he said smiling at me while adjusting his glasses, "and you do realize that we are late! Lunch hour ended 15 minutes ago!" I gasped and he nodded, "that's right, let's go. Later today I want to hear about everything that happened but for now we need to get back to work" I nodded and he started to lead me away. I quickly turned and gave the woods one last look, my eyes searching for one thing in particular, but they didn't find it, and I was both relieved and saddened by that. The large, kind brown eyed wolf was gone. **** The few tormenting moments in the elevator were spent with me closing my eyes tightly and Mr. Talon instructing me to imagine open gardens and lakes and the statue of liberty. Once out we rushed to our respective rooms. I dusted myself off and quickly cut the tattered ends of the torn slit in my skirt till it looked somewhat like a bad fashion statement. Sighing I grabbed the necessary paperwork and ran to Mr. Penson's room. Once there, I knocked and was surprised when instead of a 'come in' I heard footsteps and immediately after, Mr. Penson yanked the door open. When his eyes fell on me he seemed to release a breath before he smiled at me, "Come, come Ms. Winters", he said all too welcomingly. "I'm terribly sorry I'm late sir!" I said quickly before walking into his room. "That's alright", he said walking to his desk, "Are you okay?" I was caught off guard by his question and wondered if he meant it in regard to my skirt, but when I saw his genuine expression, the whole paranormal scenario from the forest ran through my mind making me hesitate in replying. "Ms. Winters?" "Oh! Y-yes", I replied quickly before handing him the papers that needed his signatures. He took them from me started going through them. While I stood waiting for him to finish, my eyes fell on a brown paper lying on his desk underneath some neatly stacked files. It looked old, but had a really beautiful intricate golden design all around the borders. "This seems fine" Mr. Penson's voice drew my attention back to him as he signed the documents, "Here, you can file these and have them sent to the CEO's office", he said and I nodded, bending forward to take them from him, but when I did, my eyes landed on a word on the brown manuscript underneath the files that made my heart stop for a second.