The Accidental Star

WORRIED

ANDREW

I whistled as I stepped out of my office and my secretary quickly stood up when she saw me.

" Donald is already downstairs waiting for you sir, " she told me. " Do you need me to do anything else? "

" Thank you, " I nodded my head at her. " Yes, I need you to go home. We had a long day and it's quite late. "

She quickly bowed her head and muttered thank you.

I continued to whistle an old song as I walked my way to the elevator hall.

It was late in the evening but there were a few things that I needed to finish. It had been a very busy day filled with back to back meetings. It was productive nonetheless.

The elevator door opened and I was about to get in when I noticed that the lights on the opposite wing was still open.

Curious, I walked down the hall leading to the west wing and saw Beth still typing furiously on her computer.

" Ms. Abrams, " I greeted when I neared her table.

She lifted her eyes off her computer and when she realized that it was me, she quickly stood up and pushed the eyeglasses that she was wearing up the bridge of her nose.

" Mr. Martinez, good evening, " she greeted and then looked at me curiously. " Do you need something sir? "

" No, no, " I quickly shook my head and then looked at the door which led to Anne's office. " Is my daughter still in there? "

Beth nodded her head. " Yes sir, "

I frowned and glanced at my watch. It was a quarter past ten in the evening.

Without bothering to knock, I quickly strode inside my daughter's office and found Anne in the same state that I caught Beth earlier, typing furiously on her laptop, oblivious to the world around her.

" Dad, " she greeted in surprise when she finally felt my presence. " What are you doing here? Do you need something? "

I shook my head staring down thoughtfully at her as I stood across her table.

I must have zoned out for a bit because I heard her calling me several times before I finally focused my attention back to her.

" Dad? You alright? " She prodded frowning at me. " Dad? "

" Yeah, I just thought of something, " I blinked and then looked at my daughter. Shaking my head again, I said. " The better question would be, why are you still here? "

She shrugged as she made a sweeping gesture of her office table flooded with several documents. " As you can see, I have a lot of things to finish. "

" But it's a Friday night, " I frowned at her. " And I heard Rachel's throwing a party tonight, isn't it? "

" Just because it's Friday doesn't mean the work ends. You're the one who told me that, " she gave me a wry smile. " I'm sure the party can go on without me. I'm just finishing one email and then I'd be on my way. "

" Work is endless, Anne. And things to do won't stop coming, " I told her as I looked at the documents sprawled on her table. " So you should know when you need to stop and take a breather. And it's the weekend for heaven's sake, stop working. Get out of this building and go to Rachel's party. "

She looked at me weirdly as she leaned back against her chair.

" Dad, are you alright? " she asked looking at me with concern in her eyes. " You've been acting differently ever since you came back to the office. "