Ashley knocked before entering her boss's office. She swallowed hard, knowing how strict her boss was. The atmosphere that was supposed to be cold and receptive suddenly felt chilly and stiff to Ashley. The woman looked up from her table after five minutes and pointed at the chair for her to sit. "Thank you, ma'am," Ashley whispered and took her seat carefully staring at the desk. The woman adjusted her pair of glasses and focused on the young girl in front of her whose head was bowed. She cleared her throat and tapped on the desk before speaking. "Miss Ashley, I believe that you know why you are here." She started.Ashley slowly nodded, "Yes ma'am." "Although you are the most hardworking and distinguished worker in our midst I need you to realize that I don't take nonchalance as an attitude. This is your fifth time getting late to work which shouldn't have been so. If it had been anyone else, they would have gotten a one-time warning or suspension but you are who y
Ashley sighed for what seemed to be the thousandth time in three minutes. She was getting tired of being stood up for twenty minutes with Philip beside her. This early morning, some anonymous people had called their office to report a robbery attack on one of the biggest banks in the City. It was something terrific and unexpected, knowing how tight security was in such a place.So how did it happen? Ashley was sent with Philip to the scene but as soon as they got there, they and other reporters were prevented from taking any further action even though the press claimed that it was their right. "Something seems fishy in this whole scene," Ashley whispered as she removed her right hand from her waist and placed it next to her forehead to shade her view from meeting with the sun's direction. It was freaking hot! It was hot and here she was, trying to get a piece of solid information. When she looked around her, she couldn't find Philip. Where could he have gone to? Ashley clicke
Ashley could hardly sleep - well, she didn't want to in the first place at least not after discovering the truth and the past that had been haunting her for the past ten years. But could that have been real?She stood up and pushed her chair backward, taking slow and distracted steps towards the wall where she could see the big buildings of the City. Would it be logical for her to go back and ask him questions? She hated whenever she was kept in the dark regarding an issue that concerns her life. She just wanted to ask him why he left, what happened. Some things were uncleared. She had once concluded that no matter what, she wasn't going to deep into the past but here she was... feeling out of the world.A knock interrupted her thoughts and the door was slowly opened, causing her to turn around. Philip pulled a warm smile and Ashley had to do the same reluctantly. She walked around her desk, her heels clicking against the tiled floor as her right hand randomly picked a file and h
"Hey bro, how are you?" Simeon, Philip's friends shook hands with the latter after he put down the dinner he dished. Simeon licked his teeth with his tongue and then clicked it as well. His eyes were shining brightly, all thanks to the meal that they had. "I know that you just wouldn't come here on your own without having a particular reason so confess before you eat. "Simeon locked eyes with Philip for a while and then smiled sheepishly. "I ran out of money." He confessed and Philip gasped. He pulled out the chair and took his seat. "Do you think I don't know how much our parents send to your account every month? What did you do with the money? Aside from that, I always send you money every week. What did you do with it? Are you involved in betting now??" Philip scolded loudly and Simeon waves his hands to show his negative answer "No. I am not involved in betting...I just..." Simeon looked at his brother and then threw his hands in the air. He gave up. "Fine.
"Good morning." Ashley returned a worker's greeting as she walked to get her snacks for the day. It had been tiring for her and worst still, Philip was sick so he took a day's leave from the office. Ashley really missed his presence and only came to realize how much she was attached to him in terms of work. As a company that was trying its best to outgrow other information companies, things were not easy for them. For some years, Mrs. Peters and the rest of the crew had managed to keep the company at the highest ranking for the first to bring out entertaining news or secrets with valid evidence to back it out. So most of the public relied on them so much that if they hadn't brought out any information on their site, whatever news was out there was probably fake.It was two ways. They had the national platform and the 'illegal' site. The term 'illegal' was just to bring out some stuff. However, they didn't invade the privacies of others as that wasn't part of their work. They we
"And this counts as the end of your story, Alyssa," Loius said and kisses his daughter's forehead. Jennie glanced back at them and smiled. She had also been listening to the father-daughter discussion while preparing Alyssa's things for school. Louis was a good reader and his voice was smooth which could make the listener not get tired of listening to him speak multiple times. That was the major score he used in winning her over finally. "Thank you, Daddy." Alyssa chuckled after Louis shook her head playfully. "Get to sleep. You don't want to go to school very late."Alyssa then closed her eyes and Louis stood up. He approached his wife and hugged her from the back. "You got a free concert." "I didn't know reading was now some form of concert." Jennie teased back and Louis bit her earlobe. "Ouch... Louis, stop it." "Should I?" Louis asked, proving to be stubborn. Before Jennie could answer, Alyssa did her the favor. "This is still my room." She mumble
"Are you sure it's not something that you need my help with?" Philip asked as he looked at the cafe and turned off the car's engine. This was the third time he had brought Ashley over to this place. Was she now obsessed with it that she wouldn't stop coming or there was just another reason for it? "No, thank you. I am fine. You can go home now. We will discuss it tomorrow." Ashley answered with a brief smile and came out of the car with her things. She stood to watch Philip leave first before proceeding.The latter quickly reversed and took the other route. The hand Ashley was waving vigorously halted and her smile was wiped off. She exhaled silently as her eyes ran across the surroundings. She turned to face the cafe.Yeah, she had been coming here for a while with the hope of having a proper conversation with Alex regarding her pending questions. She was so much curious and there was no way she would let this slide but her first attempt in speaking with him landed in failur
Ashley closed the door of the sitting room, looking soaked up and terrible at the same time. Her face was pale and at that point, even though it was deadly cold, it felt as if she was immune to the weather: 's circumstances. She leaned against the door and slid down to the ground which she sat upon, bawling her eyes out. Jenny who woke up due to the sound of the door being unlocked appeared with a knife and her husband behind her as well. She was scared that it was probably a thief or an attacker. Their minds didn't go through to the thought of it being Ashley because she would have called. But they were both stunned at the situation in front of them. "Ashley?" Jenny called in surprise and then looked at her husband. She gave him the knife and quickly approached her sister. When she got to her side, she knelt and touched her wet hair with a little bit of confusion. Her hands kept moving from one part of her body to another, purposely checking for any physical injuries while being