Catching Charlie

11

Leo sighed tiredly, looking at the painfully long contracts that sat on his desk in front of him.

Running his hand through his dark in defeat, he called his assistant and handed over the completed documents.

"Thank you, Jeremy," Leo mumbled, moving on to the next thick set of documents.

"Will that be all, Mr. Deluca?" The young assistant gulped anxiously.

Leo gave the assistant a brief nod without looking up from his document and waved him off, hearing the shy assistant scurry out of the large office.

The twenty-five-year-old loosened his tie, moving onto the next stack of papers.

Before Leo knew it, hours had passed as he got more and more work done.

The sudden ringing of his phone broke him out of his concentrated haze.

"Hello?" Leo growled in slight irritation at the sudden interruption.

"Mr. Deluca?" An older woman's voice squeaked across the line, causing Leo to wince a little, pulling the phone slightly away from his ear.

"Yes, speaking?"

"I am calling from St. Andrew's Kindergarten. I'm afraid you're half an hour late to pick up young Charlie."

Leo stood up straight away, cursing himself mentally.

"I am sorry I'll be there in twenty minutes. Please tell Charlie I am on my way."

The lady on the phone let out an unimpressed grumble, hanging up on the young man.

Leo rushed down to his car, immediately telling the driver the address of the school.

The whole ride, Leo sat uncomfortably, guilt taking over him for being late to pick up his little sister on her first day of school.

"We're here, sir." The driver informed as they pulled to a stop in front of the posh school.

Leo rushed out of the car, quickly walking into the building.

The tall man looked around frantically in search of his baby sister.

"Leo," Her tiny voice echoed, causing Leo to turn around to find the small thing finally.

His soft smile soon turned into a frown as he noticed the dry paint that was smeared across her rosy cheeks and uniform.

"H-hey, baby girl." Leo cooed, kneeling as he opened his arms.