“Oh *****! *****, *****, *****…” with that Della began to hurry out of the office, straightening her hair and fixing her dress as she hurried out of the building. She paused by the door to collect herself and try to calm her racing heart. She succeeded in her first attempt but not in the second. Though she looked composed as she walked across the parking lot, her breathing was shallow, the beating of her heart filled her ears and she felt dizzy.

This time it was Bette’s turn to fail to cover a smile. Though she tried to keep her head up, Della couldn’t help it, she sheepishly bent her head as she took the last few steps toward the car. When she looked up she saw that Bette’s eyes were sparkling mischievously and the corners of her mouth were turned up in poorly concealed amusement. Seeing the look on Bette’s face Della began to relax. Perhaps the Cinderella incident was not such a catastrophe.

“I thought you might be missing these.” said Bette, finally giving up the fight to keep a straight face. She held the shoes out for Della to take back. As she slipped her shoes on Della thanked Bette for returning them to her and said that she hoped that she had not inconvenienced her too much.

Not at all, replied Bette, Its nice to have such a pleasant excuse to get outside for a while. And also, I had planned on spending the most rest of the day trying to figure out what to do about the artist that is attempting a contract breach, so, thanks to you, my workload for the day has been lessened considerably. Returning them in person was no inconvenience at all. Even if I had been hectically busy, spending a few moments outside would have still been an interesting change of pace; Im usually completely oblivious to all things outside the gallery.

Della laughed slightly, I know the feeling. I forgot to buy a clock for my new office and I left on my first day thinking that it was about 7 or 8 at night, only to learn when I got home that it was 3 in the morning. I can never quite decide if I love it or I hate it, getting so involved with something that I am oblivious to so much else going on around me.