Best In Show

one

"Hey Ella, when you're finished with your lunch break, can you please go price and stack the new shipment of paint we got this morning," Max the fifth, Ella's manager, asks from the break room doorway. "I swore I asked Michelle to do it, but I can't find her."

Max the fifth's head is only visible with his hand that keeps him balance.

He has light brown hair that's pulled back into a man bun and it's shaved on the sides, light brown eyes, and has a goatee that makes him look much older than he really is.

Ella, who's currently reading her British Literature textbook, swings around in the, somewhat broken, chair she's sitting in with a half eaten sandwich in her hands. It's a cold turkey sandwich with wheat bread, fresh lettuce, juicy tomatoes, tangy mustard and creamy mayo.

Instantly, Ella nods. "Sure, of course I will," she assures with a mouth full of food, her free hand covers her mouth to show manners. "I'll get right to it when I'm finished. Also, Michelle is off today, that's why you can't find her."

"Oh, that's right." He shakes his head. "And thanks from for doing the job."

Ella gives him a small smile before turning back to her textbook, immediately picking back up where she left off. She has to read three more chapters before her British Literature class tomorrow that she's taking at the local university. And if she doesn't, then there's absolutely no way she can pass Professor Well's strict and difficult class.

Ugh, why did I decide to take this horrible class? Ella thinks as she begins to take another bite of her sandwich.

"Whatcha reading there, Ella?"

Beside her stands Max the fifth, one of his hands is on the table she's in front of and the other is on her back of her chair. He leans down to where their faces are inches away from each other.

"Agh!" Ella screams before inhaling a chunk of half way chewed sandwich.

Instantly her hands fly up to her throat as she chokes.

Max the fifth's face goes blank. He watches her for a few seconds, lost at her actions.

"Oh, Ella! Are you choking?" he asks.

She turns to him, eyes wide with fear and anger, as her body begins to shake from the lack of air getting through. Ella bangs her fist on the table as she gasps for air, hoping to signal her idiot of a manger that she is indeed choking.

"Oh shit, you are. Here!"

Max the fifth turns Ella away from him before smacking her on the back, hard. He does this four times, and instead of the food flying out of Ella's mouth like she wanted it too, it instead roughly and painfully goes down and she's forced to swallow.

She begins to rub her sore throat as sudden relief flows through her lungs as she takes large gasps of air.

"You okay there, Ella?" Max the fifth asks.

Slowly Ella nods. "I'm okay, I nearly died, but I survived. I'm...-," she takes in a deep breath, "-... alive," she mutters.

"Good." Max the fifth begins to rub Ella's back in large circles as he places himself in the chair beside her. "I didn't mean to startle you like that, you know, to where you choked."

"It's fine, really," Ella assures, waving her hand to diss the topic.

All she needs to do is force on breathing, it's still not back to normal yet.

"It's not, I shouldn't be trying to kill one of my father's best employees," Max the fifth claims.

That's when Ella glances at him, their faces are inches away from each other like they were a moment ago, before she began to choke. She can smell his after shave, and it's a toxic, rustic smell. It's so over powering and off putting that it's actually making him smell bad instead of good.