Leo woke up the next morning feeling refreshed as he stretched and yawned. As he got up, he hummed a song and got ready for his day. Since, he was a personal assistant, Leo's only day off was Sundays so he had to work, even on Saturdays. He got out of bed and did his morning routine.
He gathered all his things and placed them into his bag. As he made himself breakfast, he noticed the pile of dishes in his sink. He laughed at himself, 'I remember when grandpa always got mad at me when I didn't do my chores.' he thought, but that smile faded to a frown.
He shook his head and gave himself a light slap on his cheek. He scolded himself, 'Leo this isn't the time to be sad, you need to go to work and focus.'
Leo took a deep breath, before leaving his apartment. As he walked, he noticed that something wasn't right, 'It feels like eyes are following me everywhere.'
As he looked around, he noticed something peculiar. All the animals, birds, cats, mice, everything stared at him as he walked past. 'I hate this. It feels so awkward!' Leo thought. He tried to ignore all the stares and eventually made it to his job.
Once he entered the building, he sighed with relief. He heard a chuckled behind him and when he turned he saw Ms.Amber standing their with her bag on her shoulder and looking at him. She said, "Rough morning?"
Leo laughed nervously, he rubbed the back of his neck and said, "...Something like that..."
She pat his head, "Don't worry it'll get better as the day goes on."
"I hope so," Leo said with a doubtful smile.
The two parted ways and Leo walked to the elevator to go the Mr.Coleman's office. He entered the room and greeted, "Good morning Mr.Coleman."
"Morning," he said while concentrating on his work.
Leo sat down at his table and pulled out his laptop.
Mr.Coleman took many glances towards Leo. He wondered about Leo's past. 'What happened in the past? What was to tragic?' he thought while looking at Leo in confusion.
Leo yawned a bit and rubbed his eyes. 'Why does he seem like everything is fine? I know that I saw him crying?'
Leo noticed an odd gaze and turned his head. He saw Mr.Coleman looking towards him and turned his head to meet his gaze, though not threatening, Leo's big green eyes, struck through Coleman and he looked down back to his papers.
Leo was dumbfounded on two things. Why was he looking at him? And why did he suddenly look down? Leo pondered for a minute on why this must be, but decided to drop it and not pry.
The two both did their work in silence for a while before Mr.Coleman asked, "Can you get me a bottle of water?"
Leo looked up at him, "Of course."
He walked out of the room, leaving Coleman alone with his thoughts. 'Is there something I'm missing?' He pulled up Leo's file from before and read through it again and again, but it was all in vain. No matter how many times or how hard he read it, there was nothing new. No new information, nothing he missed, and he was stumped. His brow furrowed as he held his head in his hand. "Dammit, why is it a blank?" he muttered.
As Leo walked out of the office and walked over to the break room, he gently hummed a song to himself. He made the coffee and walked back to the room. He entered and gently placed the coffee on Mr.Coleman's desk, then went back to his own.
He sat down and they both went back to working in silence. They both were typing on their computer when Mr.Coleman said, "Hey, Leo?"
Leo looked up and said kindly, "What is it?"
Mr.Coleman took a glance at his computer, "You said you had a minor in management, correct?
Leo stammered, "Uh yes, I did."
"I have a favor to ask of you," he said while stacking some papers.
"Okay, what is it?"
"I need you to go down to floor four and teach the recorders how to organize and input the information. The guide you made was helpful, but some still have some questions considering curtain circumstances."
Leo put his finger on his chin and thought for moment before saying, "Yeah, I'll go and help out."
He got out of his chair and left the office. He took the elevator down to the third floor and went to a table with what looked like about twelve people sitting down. He walked over, stood in front of them. He smiled and began, "I heard that some of you had some questions or just need some clarifications of things."
With that simple introduction, the tense and embarrassed atmosphere was lifted and by the end, everyone's questions and confusions were fixed and everyone had an equal understanding.
They all thanked Leo and shook his hand with smiles plastered on their faces. Everyone left and Leo headed back to Mr.Coleman's office.
Once he entered, he sat down on his table and took a deep breath while closing his eyes and leaning back in his chair. Mr.Coleman chuckled a bit and said, "Was it that bad?"
Leo laughed nervously nervously and said, "N-no it wasn't the task or anything, it was just because there was many people interacting at the same time."
Mr.Coleman looked at him with curiosity, "Do you not like people?"
"N-no, it's not that I don't like them, I just feel more comfortable around plants and animals than around humans," he said. Leo looked down in sadness as he said this, which pulled on Coleman's heart.
"Well, that's alright. You just get overwhelmed when there's to many people around you then?"
"Yeah, I guess that would be the best explanation."
They both conversed about some simple things, until Leo asked, "I don't mean to be nosy when I say this, but what about you? What are somethings about you?"
"Hmmmm, well there really isn't anything special in particular. My parents had a terrible relationship, then once I came of age, I took over the company. That's really it." he replied gloomily.
Leo looked at Mr.Coleman's face. Though it looked like his natural expression, he saw that his eyes looked to be full of pain. He apologized, "I'm sorry if I accidently brought up some bad memories."
"Don't worry about it. It's not your fault for my parents mistakes."
Leo looked down sadly and clenched his fists under the table. His eyes were moist and tears where threatening to fall, he thought to himself, 'Come on Leo! Pull it together! You're twenty-three, you can't cry so easily, especially at work.'
Coleman smiled bitterly as he remembered the days when he was younger. But once he saw Leo, his smile and eyes softened. 'He looks like he's about to cry.'
He walked over to Leo put his finger under his chin to tilt his face up and make him look at him. He handed Leo his handkerchief and said, "You don't have to cry, wipe your tears. Don't worry about returning it."
The tears in Leo's eyes finally fell onto his skin and down his face. He gladly took the handkerchief and wiped his face.
Mr.Coleman looked at his watch, "It's getting late, you can go home if you like."
"A-alright, bye and thank you for the handkerchief."
"Have a nice night Leo."
Leo gathered all his things and left the office to go home.
Coleman sat back down at his desk. He said quietly while looking out the window, "You don't have to cry."
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