Metanoia: A Sequel

Chapter 6: The World Is Spinning Too Fast

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Rory was still fretting over the collision between Ashton and Logan. She tried not to show it openly, but she couldn't help it. Every now and then, Ms. Touchard threw glances her way. Rory, each time, pretended as though she was working, just like the writer and editor-in-chief she was supposed to be. But she couldn't concentrate. With each passing hour, she panicked. What if Ashton found out? She couldn't bear to face his disappointed state. She just couldn't.

When it came time for Rory to switch offices, she gladly gathered her laptop and clipboard to escape from the ordinary coworkers' office, the center of what seemed like the agony. Not in her relaxed mind, she was scurrying towards her new office when she tripped. Tripped for the first time, in several years, of working at the Chicago Tribune. Since she was wearing skinny platform heels (work appropriate, of course), the fall had been nasty. Is this what I think it is? Quick, examine the shoes!

What her mind was telling her was creepily accurate. The heel of her right shoe had snapped off. Her right platform shoe was useless. She couldn't walk in it without the heel attached to it. She would either have to request help or lurk around at work wearing one shoe. Still recovering from the agony, she winced as the first major source of pain throbbed in her foot-the foot that had trusted the heel it was wearing to support it. Rory admonished herself for not bringing an extra pair of flats. She was too much of a hurry this morning to transfer supplies to care.

"Need help?" a soft voice traveled from behind Rory. Rory, in response, spun around to face Ella McCord, the coworker who sat next to her. She wondered why Ella, out of all people, would help her. She was the attractive and aloof coworker. Or she seemed to be, anyway.

"Oh, hey, Ella," Rory tried to greet her, struggling to stand up. "What brings you here?"

"I had to make a couple of copies for Ms. Touchard's next meeting with...I think she said the Huntzbergers? We're partnering up with them," she explained, confirming what Logan said about the newspaper companies meeting. "So I was just at the printing room to produce some packets that feature our work, you know, our articles. Apparently, Ms. Touchard consulted her editing committee to select the best articles to represent our newspaper last week. So these are just collections of the well-written articles."

Rory secretly thanked Ella for the more-than-enough information. "So do you mean that Ms. Touchard is bringing the best articles to the meeting to display that we're worth the partnership?"

Ella nodded. "Apparently."

"Oh, okay. That makes sense," Rory agreed, clandestinely pondering if some of her articles had been included.

Ella once again became aware of Rory's predicament the way she scanned the broken shoe. "I should help you," she said. I have a spare pair of shoes in my desk. I'll bring them to you." She set off for her desk, then returned with Jessica Simpson gold sandals in a box. "I know it's wintertime, but these were the only ones I had on hand. Sorry."

Rory gratefully accepted them. "These are more than enough. Thanks." She slipped her feet through the sandals as Ella went the extra step, gathering her platform heels and inserting them in the shoebox. "I'll make sure to bring these back to you by tomorrow," Rory promised.

"No, it's fine. Keep them. I have plenty," Ella assured Rory, patting her on the shoulder. She handed the shoebox to Rory, who watched as she confidently hiked away in her True Religion jeans. She was speechless as to what just happened. Ella? Helping her? It didn't make sense. Something didn't add up.

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Rory discovered throughout the rest of the working day that when she put weight on her right foot, it would hurt robustly. She cringed when walking every other second. Ms. Touchard had been informed of Rory's fall, and Ella periodically inquired her to ensure she was okay, and Rory feigned as a result, asserting that she was fine. But she could devise a million different ways how painful it was. But I've been through worse, she consoled herself. Remember that car crash with Jess?