"Daddy?” Lorelei placed a finger on her chin as she stared at Leonid, who was already squatting to the height of his daughter, who was hugging his legs. “Is Daddy back?” Leonard asked as he jumped off the chair in which he was sitting and hurried to the door. Amelia froze on the stairs but shrugged it off. “Stop calling the delivery man your father, Iona. Don't you know what your father looks like?” “Mom, it's really Dad.” Leonard muttered as soon as his eyes landed on Leonid. Leonid was now squatting in front of Iona, who touched his nose with her tiny finger. “Daddy is really handsome in person, Mommy; you have a great taste." “What is your name?” Leonid inquired. “Iona Francesca Giada Vanderbilt.” She replied. “Just call me Iona or Iona Vanderbilt.” “I know, right.” He ruffled her hair. He glanced at his other daughter, who was staring at him with curious eyes. As soon as their eyes met, she glanced away. “Are you really my dad?" Lorelei demanded. Leonard walked up to her
DEBT BURDEN "PAY YOUR DEBTS! Assholes, pay your debts." "Stop hiding in there!" "If you can't pay, give us a COLLATERAL!" "OPEN THE DOOR AND PAY YOUR DEBTS!" "PAY YOUR DEBTS!." "PAY YOUR DEBT… The front door was being banged and kicked with men screaming out their lungs. It was 12 am, midnight. He was just trying to sleep, no one was letting him. The banging had been going on for 3 hours, the men did not seem to go away. He covered his ears, pulling the blanket over his head. Tears began streaming down his face, he could not fully understand why the men knocked on their door every single night. "Daddy." He cried out. "Tell them to go away." Where was his Dad? He had not seen his Dad for a very long time. His Dad had promised never to leave him, his Dad had always been the one to tuck him into bed. To read him a story, to teach him how to write songs and play the piano. He missed his Dad. "Nid?" "Nid?" "Nid?" He pushed the cover aside when he heard the voice and glanced
SHIFTS. 20 Years Later. 2pm. The light was flickering on and off, the room was dark and bright at the same time. He wondered what was wrong with the lights, the light went out again before fully turning on. He raised his head to stare at the bulb, waiting for it to turn off again. He was not alone in the building, there were other people staying there with him. "Maybe he fixed it." He muttered, before picking up the laundry basket that had fallen off his hands. He bent, kneeling on the floor with one knee and gathering all the fallen clothes and putting them in the basket. The clothes were all white and he shouldn't have let them drop on the ground. He was glad he had not washed them yet, besides even if they got stained the washing machine was going to do a great job getting the stains off the clothes. He stood up immediately and he was done picking up the clothes. He pushed the basket under his arm and whistled as he walked down the floor. The stairs were dusty like no one was
4:01pm. After working at the laundry he headed to the bakery. He had finished washing the clothes by hand, even though Mr. Thomas felt a little reluctant to give the paycheck to him. He still got it anyway, he had walked out of Mr. Thomas office when he bumped into Millicent. "I have been waiting for you." She had said. "Did you receive your paycheck?" "I sure did." He replied. They had left the laundry together and headed in different directions. He had headed to the bakery for his second shift while she headed to the orphanage. Leonid got to the bakery and pushed open the door. He was greeted by the sight of flour around the floor with the workers scolding the cleaner. The cleaner was on her knees and begging for forgiveness. "Please don't tell the boss about this." She pleaded. 'What's going on?' Leonid thought as he walked into the bakery. He walked towards where the workers were, they gave him a once over glance and went back to what they were doing. Leonid stared at the
6:10pm Leonid held the hose and pointed it at the car he was washing. His partner was not around, so there was no one to talk to. He had been washing the car for five minutes now and was getting tired. He had been working all day without a break, he was glad this was his last shift. He couldn't wait to head home and meet his wife Amelia. "Leo, a car is driving it. It looks expensive, take care of it. I will send someone to continue that one." His boss yelled. Leonid nodded, "Yes sir." His boss was sitting on a chair in the middle of the car wash and was monitoring their every move. Leonid found it weird but what was he going to do? The Mercedes Benz drove in and parked beside the other car Leonid had been washing. He walked over to the car and waited for the driver to get down. Leonid stood aside as the door came open, a well polished shoe came into view. Leonid knew the person in the car was going to be a hell of a rich guy. He silently said his prayers hoping to not be embarras
"I didn't do it! It's so clear that you are trying to frame me, this is not your first time, not your second time." Leonid snarled. Ethan smiled at him, "Getting angry already, even when the proof has not been provided yet." Leonid glared at him, just as Ethan had hoped. Leonid decided to take matters into his own hands. "Here is it, search me and you won't find anything on me." Leonid suggested. Everyone around them agreed to his suggestion, Ethan could not stop smiling, this was what he wanted, Leonid was going to get fired for sure. "Alexander, search Leonid thoroughly for the wristwatch." Leonid's boss Mr. Evan said. Alexander was a co-worker of Leonid, the guy who had replaced Leonid at the job he was doing before he went to attend to Ethan. Alexander never spoke to Leonid because he always found ways to bully Leonid. "Yes sir." Alexander was smiling as he walked up to Leonid, why of all the people to search him did his boss choose Alex. Leonid could not refuse becaus
Leonid brushed the thought away from his head, afterall he still had the time to take up another job at a restaurant as a waiter. He thought about Amelia, it would be better if she never heard about the thing that happened at the car wash. He was not sure she would believe he was telling the truth. Who would, when the watch was found on him. He wanted to get a necklace for her as a gift, he had been saving up for it for a long time and he was hoping Amelia would love it. This was the second expensive gift he was giving her, she was going to love it. He smiled just by thinking about that, soon he was whistling and jogging down the street on the roadside. Leonid pushed the door and walked in, he had asked for the job a few days ago but hadn't had the time to start. He glanced around and walked towards the staff. The restaurant was filled with classy people, you could tell by how expensive they were dressed. He got into the kitchen, staring around the place. A chubby chef was standing
"Darling, I am home." He yelled, pushing the front door open. He heard nothing. He began climbing up the stairs, calling out to Amelia. He reached the door to their room, staring at it. "Darling?" "Took you long enough!" Amelia yelled, slightly opening the door. "I had a late shift." She grabbed his hand and pulled him into the room, she slammed the door and pushed him against it. Leonid glanced at her face only to see her glaring at him, she was all dressed up and was in the process of applying makeup on her face. "Are you going somewhere?" Leonid asked her. She ignored him and buried her head in his chest, hugging him tight. "Why were you late?" "I had a late shift." He repeated. "Really? The slap she gave you was not good enough to make you come home earlier?" "What slap?" Leonid asked. Amelia pulled away from the hug and frowned at him. "The woman who slapped you for a coat that costs less than $500." "Less than $500?" Leonid couldn't believe his ears, he had been