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.”

and handed it to Larry along with a pen, saying, “Fill it out, and I’ll sign it for

the HR department to file

it, placed his thermos on the office desk, and bent over slightly to fill out the

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

that his highest educational level was only junior high school, but his

replied modestly, “It’s nothing. I watched my son write and learned it

the form.

the pen

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