Bella prepared her bag to leave as soon as it was closing time, her mind was still on what had happened earlier and she felt jittery not knowing her fate.
"The boss wants to see you," someone said and she jumped, so this is how she'll get fired all because of a stupid mistake, tears watered her eyes
"Hey Isa, are you okay? Are you in any trouble?" Ollie asked in concern, the boss hardly sends for anyone well except one is in a kind of trouble
Bella's mouth quivered and she bit it hard, "Why is the boss asking for you?" Ollie pressed observing the distressed look on her face
"She's so dumb, of course, she might have done something. I hope she gets fired" Keisha quibbled angrily and a tear fell from Bella's eyes at her harsh words before she angrily dabbed them away
"Don't be so harsh Keisha, Isa was once our classmate and childhood friend, we should treat her with kindness"
"She was my classmate but never my friend. Let's go, her problem is not our problem, remember we have a date"
"But..."
"Please go Ollie, I'm fine, and thank you for your concern," Bella said softly. Although Ollie was not okay with leaving her just like that, he had no choice but to respect her and so he left with Keisha.
Bella swiped the tears from her eyes and hurried to the president's office. Whatever his decision will be, she won't allow it to weigh her down.
"Sit down" he instructed her when she got inside, this was Nikolai Klaus's right-hand man and he must have informed him about her clumsiness and he had asked him to fire her
"Sir, before you say anything let me just say this, once again I am very sorry for what just happened earlier in the day and I understand that you want to fire me but please, I beg of you, do not fire my husband, he has nothing to do with my mistake"
"Calm down, no one is getting fired. Have a seat" Bella calmly sat down as instructed and waited for the verdict of the boss
"I checked through your profile and noticed that you don't have a college degree" Bella's heart pummeled and she wasn't comfortable with where the conversation was heading, "this company does not need someone who does not that a college degree"
Bella shut her eyes tight to keep the tears from falling, once more, she is out of a job
"...but, we'll give you a chance to own a degree while working", Bella's eyes snapped open at what she had just heard, she will be able to get her college degree? "...the company will cover all your college expenses and will deduct it bit by bit from your salary but that's if you'll agree"
"Of course, I agree Sir, this is such a good news"
"Hence, you won't have to come to work every day, you work part-time and when you get your degree, we'll employ you fully. Right now your school should be your priority"
"Wow.... thank you for your generosity Sir" Tears of joy brimmed in Bella's eyes and she unconsciously held his hands in a thankful gesture
"Boss will kill me if he sees this" Aaron thought and quickly removed his hands from her grasp, "you don't need to thank me so much ma'am, just do well in your grades"
Bella thanked him once more and rushed out of the office, Daniel would be so glad to hear this.
*******************************************
He was seated on the couch with his phone to his ear when she got home, he quickly hung up as soon as she arrived, and of course, he was on call with Aaron who was filling him in on what happened in the office while he was away.
Bella rushed to him and without thinking, jumped on him, "I'm so happy" she yelled and Daniel grimaced and feigned ignorant like he didn't know the reason behind her happiness
"I could tell that you weren't fired" Daniel stated as he stared into her blue eyes that were lit from within because of her happiness, he found himself glad that he was the reason behind those smile
"I spoke with my boss today after work, he is the most moral and kindest man I've ever known"
Daniel frowned as she went about praising Aaron for giving her the opportunity to work and also study, "He isn't working on his own you know, his boss must have directed him to do so"
She paused as if just considering the possibility for the first time, "Nikolai Klaus is surely a gentleman" She stared at him meaningfully and he almost forgot that she didn't know that he was Nikolai Klaus
She opened her mouth to say something but Daniel was distracted by faint marks on her face, he grabbed her jaw and turned her face sideways for a better view, it was certainly a handprint which means that someone must have hit her
"What happened to your face?" his expression darkened and she consciously withdrew. She can't tell him that Keisha slapped her because he might confront Keisha and put her in even deeper trouble in the office.
"I...I....hit my face on the door" she stuttered, lying through her teeth
"Don't you dare lie to me, those are marks of fingers on your face, who hit you?"
"No one and I'm fine" she blasted and ran off to her room before he could see through her lies.
Daniel's hands clenched and unclenched and an unholy glint entered his expression, he knew that he wasn't mistaken, that was definitely the marks of fingers on her face, someone must have hit her and he was going to find out who.
*
*
Bella's eyes snapped open and she jumped out of bed, goodness, she had overslept and now she was going to arrive late at the company, she wondered if Daniel had gone to the office. She had slept late yesterday while thinking about the college she would want to go to but ended up more confused because she doesn't know many places in this big city. She would go to Brittany's later to fill her in on the latest.
She quickly showered and dressed up, she could only pray that there's no traffic today otherwise Keisha would throw a fit.
She rushed downstairs and ran smack into Daniel, the force of her weight had them both falling on the floor with him beneath while she landed on him, receiving less of the impact.
"Oh my God! I'm so sorry" she pleaded as she scrambled away from him but he made no reply neither did he make any move. She glanced at him and frowned, he was lying so still
"Daniel?" She called but he made no reply, she shook him hard and her heart beat pounded painfully in fear when she realized that he had slid into unconsciousness.