When Mr. Allen awoke, I was just organizing the files that were scattered all over his desk. They were overdue for a cleanup, even though I've only been gone for only a day or less.
He groaned and rubbed his temple, "Another seizure?" he stood up and observed the room.
Not pausing in my work, I replied, "Yes, sir." after placing the papers in proper order, I turned with a guilty expression on my face, "My apologies, sir. I was the one who triggered it and I have no---"
Mr. Allen stopped me from continuing any further with just a wave of his hand, "There is absolutely nothing to worry about, secretary. This is not your fault and I have no intention to fire you." he brushed the small bits of dirt off of his clothing, "Perhaps I will take your advice and retire to my home... I haven't had a moment of peace for a while now."
I hurried over to where I hung his expensive coat and slid it onto his arms, "There you go sir."
"What about my suitcase?" He asked.
"No need to worry sir. You must consider your rest as the top priority for now. I will take care of all the business you have to do." I patted the leather suitcase that was placed on top of his desk.
Mr. Allen smirked, "Are you sure you can handle it?"
I stood up straight and smiled, "Yes sir! You are already aware of my educational background."
Turning, he chuckled and left the room waving his hand, "Then I leave everything in your hands."
Scurrying over to his side, I asked him, "Do I need to call in a driver for you, sir?"
The keys jingled in his hands, "Nope. I think I can manage." with those words he left. I hoped that he would not get into an accident.
Sighing, I sat on his chair and faced his computer. There were a lot of things that I had to do. Staying overnight was a must. Sure it meant that she wouldn't be able to sleep for a while, but her dreams can wait. I made a mental apology for White. Sorry, but it can't be helped.
As I zoomed through the work that Mr. Allen wasn't able to accomplish in time, I thought about him.
We had a lot things in common. First off, we were both orphans. We know what it was like to be alone and scared. He worked hard in order to get to where he was now and that was what made me admire him the most. Another is that we were close in age. Perhaps not so close, but a five year gap isn't that much of a difference.
At least for me, and also I am not telling you my age any time soon.
Mr. Allen was quite the handsome fellow. Speaking of handsome, I remember Second. I made a small smile when the sound of his voice and the wink he made flashed in my head. Cute.
Don't misunderstand. I do not intend to get into any romantic relations with my boss. It is undignified and unprofessional. Our relationship is basic employee and employer.
Even though I thought this way, I can't help but imagine what it would be life if he and I did enter a relationship. I never had the time to become interested in love, after all, I spent almost all of my time working hard in order to reach the top. If I did have a choice in who would be my lover, it would be Mr. Allen.
Still though, I am not going to date him. Never.
I spent the rest of the time I had working on the business that Mr. Allen was unable to do, and because of this, my sleep deprivation may be becoming worse than before. I have to help him, so this was nothing. A few days of no rest isn't enough to bring me down.
What time was it? I looked down onto my watch and realized that it was already four AM in the morning. Since I had to go to work at 6 Am sharp I had no time to go home and sleep.
I sighed. Might as well sleep in the office. I walked over to the couch that Mr. Allen previously slept on and lied down. Two hours isn't enough sleep time for a normal human being, but it was all that I had. Might as well spend it.
The moment that I closed my eyes and breathed out in exhaustion, I fell asleep. It was time to say hello to those seven children again. Perhaps I was getting too used to the unnatural fact that I was having repeated vivid dreams.
Once again I awoke on top of the hay in the small room. Johnny wasn't with me, and so I walked out and went into the lobby. There I saw Silent. He was sitting on the carpet and staring into space. Strange.
I tapped his shoulder, and he didn't flinch or jump in surprise like I thought he would, and instead he just calmly turned his head as if he already knew that I was there. I was walking very slowly and yet he was able to detect my presence.
With a smile and a tilt of my head, I asked him, "Where are the others?"
He did not reply and instead just pointed to the exit of the run down cottage. Well, it wasn't as if I didn't expect silence.
"Outside, eh? What are they doing?" was he going to be able to give me a proper reply?
Guess he wasn't able to since he just stared at me. It wasn't exactly a comfortable feeling. His gaze felt as if he was staring into my very soul and judging all of the sins that I had committed.
I sat down right next to him, "Well, we might as well wait for them to come back." he scooted over too close though, close enough to be able to sit on my lap and lie down on my chest,”Oh, well. I guess you can." he looked at me, "No, no, no, no I don't mind at all! You can lie down if you want. I'll keep you warm."
Adorable. I guess silence was a nice change when it came to children. I have often remembered many women around the workplace gossiping about their children to the others, saying that they weren't able to get any sleep because of the noise that they made.
"Orphan!" that was White's voice. He was grinning and waving to her from the broken window, "Wanna come to the village with us?" village? Was she allowed to?
"I guess so... but what about Silent? Should we just leave him here?" Silent was younger than Johnny, and I didn't feel right about leaving him be alone in the cottage.
"You can carry him on your back, maybe. Big brother Second does it for me all the time!" jumping up and down, White couldn't hold in his excitement, "Now hurry! There are so many things that I want to show you!"
Silent was a little grumpy since White interrupted his supposedly peaceful nap time on me, "Don't worry, you can continue your sleep while you're on my back." he looked at me with a blank stare. I didn't really know what it meant. Nonetheless I brought him on my back. He was light for his age.
It was cold. Very, very cold. How was White able to run through the snow without any shoes? His feet should be covered in frost bites. Silent must have noticed that I was starting to shake, because he jumped off my back.
"No, it's okay. You can get on my back, I can handle this." he hit me with the 'uhh I don't think so' face expression and calmly walked over the freezing ice. It's not my fault that I don't have indestructible skin.
Ignore the pain, Orphan. Ignore the freezing pain. I huffed and tried to catch up with the two boys.
It didn't seem like the cottage was far away from the village, because after only ten minutes of walking we arrived. It was only the thick woods that made it look like there was nothing for miles.
It was a humble village, but it seemed big enough to be called a town. Normal people bustled through the streets living their lives. They were not easy lives, but they were satisfied to be able to make it this far. People in the past had quite the hard time going through life.
"What are we doing here, White?" I asked.
Skipping in his steps, he answered with the grin still on his face, "Everyone is scattered all over the village to beg for money and food."
"Oh..." this was sad and pitiful. Why do these children have to go through such hardships?
White pointed at something and said, "Look! There's Second and Oldest!" he started to run, "Hey---!"
"Get out of the way you leech!" a scruffy man kicked Oldest onto the floor.
"That's no way to treat a lady!" Second helped her up glared at him with utmost hate.
The abuser didn't seem like he was in a good mood, "You little brats run around the village without a care in the world begging for money. You think you can get through lives looking all pathetic and leeching cash of people who are scrounging as much as they can!?"
"You wanna go at it, old man!?" Oldest fought against her younger brother's hold and attempted to hit the other.
She would've gotten a hit too if it were not for my interruption, "Excuse me, sir..."
He was shocked that a beautiful woman suddenly appeared, "Huh?"
There were ways to settle things without violence, "We don't have jobs and we've run out of food... we can't help that begging is our last effort. Please forgive us." I tried to look pitiful.
An embarrassed blush came onto his face, "U-uh... alright." with that he left quickly.
I gave out a relieved sigh and placed my hand onto my heart. That was a close one.
"Who do you think you are, butting into our business like that!?" it was Lucy, or Oldest. Even though she doesn't know it yet, I am going to start calling her that in my head.
"That's not how you say 'thank you', Oldest. She just saved you from getting beaten up!" Second is quite the reasonable one. Other than beauty he does have brains.
Lucy tried to calm down, because she knew fully well the Second was correct. She looked at me in the eyes and crossed her arms, "What are you even doing out of the cottage?"
White raised his hand, "I brought her here because I thought that she could help us! I was right!" he laughed and jumped around me.
Lucy ignored him and continued to beg. Second rubbed the back of his neck and smiled sheepishly, "You know how she is." Silent, was right next to him. So that's where he was.
Everyone was trying their best to gain money in order to survive, I needed to do something in order to help some more.
"I'm going to see if I can bring you guys some profit in allowing me to stay with you." I gave them a soft smile and left. I didn't give them time to reply. I needed to repay them in some way.
I silently laughed at myself. Why was I even trying to do this? They were only children made from my imagination, they have no life and no real breath. These thoughts didn't stop me though. It was only in my human nature that I wanted to help them. Dream or not I wanted to.
I haven't wanted something in a long time.
I went from store to store, vendor to vendor, seeing if they would want to employ someone like me. Every single time I asked I was rejected. Why? Trust. I was an unfamiliar face that suddenly decided to show up and ask for employment. They couldn't risk giving me a job, for they feared that I would betray them and steal some of their belongings.
I understood their fear. It was natural to think that way when you are running a business under such circumstances.
Leaning against a tree with my feet buried under snow, I've gotten tired. Running around this place wasn't exactly what I would call enjoyable. I've become numb from my knees to my toes. I couldn't feel anything there.
From the corner of my eye, I was able to spot Lucy's figure sneaking around one of the small houses. What was she up to? I decided to follow her just in case she was about to get involved in some dangerous things. I can just imagine her threatening the villagers with the knife she tried to use on me.
Getting closer, I realized that she was looking at someone. Who? It was a boy that looked around her age. Handsome and fit. Judging by how he was chopping wood, he was the woodcutter's son or something like that.
I giggled, it was natural for a girl her age to have interest in boys. It was enjoyable for me because it was nice to see that a tough girl like her can be normal. It gave me a bit of peace in my mind.
My giggle seemed to have alerted her attention though, and so my cover was blown. With a whisper she said, "What are you doing?!" blushing I see.
"Nothing much." I smiled and looked over to the boy chopping wood, "Do you like him?"
Her blushing intensified, "Th-that's none of your business! Stop butting into my life!" quite the typical words of a teenage girl.
I placed my hand on her shoulder and smiled, "You're very beautiful. I’m sure that he would accept you if you asked. If luck favors you then he would be the first one to ask you into love." love. I was never able to experience it for myself, and I'm not even sure if it really exists, but even a crush is nice in its own way.
A youth I never had.
She slapped my hand away, "Ugh don't touch me! Besides, I've already decided that I would get married when I'm sixteen." it seems that she started to soften with me. Thank you very much, woodcutter boy.
I held my slightly injured hand, and her words finally processed in my mind. What?! Sixteen!? Oh yes, I've forgotten that in the past, the marrying age was younger.
Lucy stopped blushing, "Let's get out of here." and so we left. Deep down, she was just like any other normal girl, "So? How was your search in order to profit us?"
Well, I didn't get a job, "It didn't go really well. Nobody wanted to accept me into their trade."
With a scoff, she said in her usual annoying tone, "Well of course. Who would want to hire someone like you?"
Best that I ignored that.
"Excuse me." who was that? It was unfamiliar voice.
I turned and saw a man perhaps in his twenties, "Yes?"
His voice was husky and a bit attractive, "Are you the woman going around asking for employment?"
Was he going to offer a job? Excitedly, I said, "Yes, I am!"
A relieved look came upon his face, "Well, I am an herbalist, but I am not very good at organizing my things. I need an assistant to help me in my work. Daily payment is also assured. Will you accept the job?"
"I accept!" now I would be able to repay the kids and Lucy won't be able to complain about me as much as before.
"Thank you very much. I live in that house over there," He pointed at the mountains where you can see a small brown cabin in a clear field if you just squinted your eyes enough, “Come by tomorrow morning and you can get to work immediately." with a tired smile he waved me goodbye, "Well, I'll be expecting you, goodbye."
"Goodbye." I returned his wave then turned to Lucy, "At least one person was generous enough to hire someone like me." I was able to show her up. A grown woman was itching to show up a teenage girl. I was a bit pathetic in that part.
"Well, good for you. You got a job. That guy looks suspicious though so you mustn't be too eager to start working." she was right in that part.
I shouldn't be so trustworthy. For the first two weeks I should be cautious around that man. Ah. I forgot to ask his name.
I shrugged, and replied to her, "I know." be alert.
It was cold. Very cold, but for some reason I was also feeling very hot. Things started to become hazy, and my mind was not thinking straight.
Lucy looked at me with a slight bit of concern, so she does care, "You look worse than you usually do." do I?
I think I should rest. I wasn't feeling well. My legs wavered and I collapsed onto the snow, "It's... a bit hot, don't you think?" I said tiredly.
"Are you okay!?" Lucy knelt in front of me and touched my forehead, "You have a fever!" a fever? Well I guess it is natural to have one after running around the village wearing rags for clothes and in the freezing snow.
This was only a dream, though. It shouldn't affect her this much. Slowly, I started to drift away into sleep. There it was again. I was going to go to sleep while already sleeping. It was still a hard fact for me to process.
Darkness.
"Um, miss?" it was a feminine voice. I woke up to see one of the other workers in front of me, "It's 7 AM... how long have you been in here?"
Groggily, I replied, "Since yesterday... I was working overnight." I was still hot. I touched my neck, "I think I have a fever..."
"If you have one I think it's best that you go back home." said the kind woman.
I waved her off, "No, it's alright I can continue." she tried to convince me to go home, but I had to do my daily work and also continue the business that Mr. Allen has to do.
It feels as if that I haven't even gotten one wink of sleep. I still need to work. Keep moving. Reality is more important than your dreams.
Continue... Continue fighting the urge to...
I fell onto the floor unconscious. I was able to hear that kind woman scream in panic before so, though.
ns 15.158.61.12da2
