The voice sounded louder as I kept hearing footsteps approaching me. I turned to see who was coming behind me, and it was my staff member, Mary. "What’s up?" I wondered to myself as I stood waiting for her to reach me. She finally did, and we began walking side by side.
"What's up, M?" I asked, a habit of mine to shorten names for my close acquaintances. Mary's nickname, "M," felt endearing and familiar.
"Nothing much," she said, a blushy smile brightening her face. The lit-up evening made her mischievous grin even more pronounced, and I couldn’t help but smile back.
I chuckled. "You know you can let the cat out of the bag, right?" I urged, genuinely curious about what was going on in her mind.
"Oh, it's really nothing, you know," Mary replied, keeping her gaze focused ahead. "But I wa
