Hello all!

I attend a Writers Group twice a month in the town that I live in. Each time we have a prompt and we have 20 minutes to start and complete a short story. Whether the prompt be someone falling in love, traveling, dying, or celebrating a life event. We give each other criticism on works that we either need help on or want to publish.

This past week, the prompt was to describe a relationship between two people. The catch? The person presenting the prompt gave us random stereotypes for each person. Mine was a Black Knight and a Secretary. Immediately my mind went to Batman and Lois Lane. For those of you who don’t know my personality, I love comic books. Yeah, I know what you’re thinking. “A girl? Likes comic books?” Yeah. Sue me. It’s just where my mind ran to at the time.

This is just a rough edit since it had to be written out in 20 minutes. Let me tell you, it’s tough to get a beginning, setting, time period, description, climax, dialogue, and an ending onto paper in 20 minutes. I was still writing after the timer went off. But here it is.

How do you love someone who doesn’t love you back? I’ve been asking myself this question for, God, who knows how long. She knows. At least, I’m pretty sure she does. The little gestures she makes at her desk in the office just catch my eye no matter what I do to distract myself. She has…had a boyfriend. They dated for about six months. When he broke up with her, I could tell she was a wreck. She didn’t come to work for two days. Yeah, I thought she was really pretty. Gorgeous even. Since they broke up not too long ago, I didn’t want to rush anything, especially since she worked for me.

“Good afternoon, Grant.” I heard her say behind me. Her voice just makes my heart melt.

I smiled. “Good afternoon, Annaleise.”

“I’m about to head out. Do you need anything else?” She asked me like she always does, even though my answer is always no.

She’s been working at my firm for about six months now. I didn’t hire her, but she ended up applying for the position of my secretary after my last one was killed. No one knows what happened, but I’m pretty sure it was an overdose of some sort. No one knew about that but me. I was her boss, after all. Every time she called off, it had to be through me.

I needed some copies made and the papers were in my arms, but by habit, I told her, “No. Have a good night.”

She smiled. “Okay then. Have a good one!” Annaleise turned and walked toward the elevator.

I looked at my papers and thought ‘I can do this tomorrow.’ I had my chance, and by god, I was gonna take it. I grabbed my briefcase off of the chair along with my jacket and locked the door. The elevator was going to take too long. I needed to get downstairs if I was ever going to ask her out to dinner or drinks or something. I just wanted some social time with her. I took the stairs fairly quickly and almost fell by the third flight. Just. My. Luck. I rushed out of the front doors and the cool afternoon air him my face. I looked both ways down the sidewalk and found Annaleise turning down an alley. I chased after her. That’s when I heard a cry for help.

“HELP!” She cried.

“Hey! What do you think you’re doing?”

The guy that seemed to be mugging her had on a black ski mask and looked at me with wide eyes, realizing he’d been caught. “What…What are you gonna do about it?”

Tough guy, huh? I walked up to the guy and everything went red. Next thing I know, my fist is flying in the air and makes contact with his jaw. Down to the ground he went. I kicked his leg and he just laid there, not moving. Nope. He was unconscious.

“Oops.” I said. I turned to Annaleise. “Are you okay?”

A single tear fell from her pale, freckled cheek. “Yeah. I’ll be fine.” She wiped her eye. “Thank you.”

The street lights turned on. Six o’clock. “Hey, let’s go get a drink or something.”

She smiled. “I’ll pay for you.” I don’t know if I should be offended that she offered to pay for me or not.

“No. It’s on me.” I insisted.

“Please. You just saved me from having to replace everything in my purse. It’s the least I can do to thank my knight in shining armor.” Okay, getting better.

I sighed. “Okay, fine. But I believe I’m wearing a black suit instead of a suit of armor.”

She smiled. “My treat.” She took my arm in hers as we left the mugger on the ground in the middle of the alley. Laughs were shared the rest of the night.

So…there you have it! I did rush the ending because…oh my goodness. Let’s just face it…20 minutes is NOWHERE long enough to write a really good story, no matter what the prompt is. Let me know your thoughts! I don’t plan on continuing this story or possibly even touching it. However, there will be more prompts to come!

Thanks for giving me the time of day. No one likes reading long articles or stories anymore and it’s a shame.

Until next time!

Lydia.