Mr. Kane Got Blacklisted

Larry walked in, closed the door behind him, and called out softly, “Hello, Ms. Hall.”

Stella was taken aback. Then, she asked, “Larry? Is there something you need?”

Larry nodded. “Yes. Ms. Hall, today is my son’s birthday, and I’d like to give him something. Could you please approve my leave? I only need two hours.

Stella smiled. “Of course, but our company has a dedicated person who handles leave requests for drivers. You can look for Mr. Payton on the second floor, but I’ll approve it for you this time. Next time, just go directly to him.”

She paused, then looked at his empty hands and asked, “Where is your leave request form?”

Larry looked somewhat embarrassed as he said softly, “I was afraid that you wouldn’t approve it, so I haven’t filled it out yet.” “You’re not taking leave without reason, and there’s not much for you to do now anyway. A kid only has one childhood, so spend as much time as you can with him.”

her computer and handed it to Larry along with a pen, saying,

department to file it, and

his thermos on the office desk, and bent

Stella was sitting, she could see the words he was writing. She was somewhat surprised as she said,

nothing like his ragged appearance. Stella remembered that his highest educational

watched my son write and learned

just as Larry had filled out the form. Then, he

pen and

the table, he slowly twisted it open. The hot water emitted a faint steam, and through the mist, he watched Stella sign the form