Shades of Deception

When she heard those words coming from Ebo's mouth, a feeling of exhilaration overtook her. Since she had an on-line bank account, it would be faster and more convenient to do the transaction. He gave her his account number, and she merrily logged on and had one million dollars wired into his account.

The two were so overjoyed that they went back to bed.

If she thought there was going to be extreme lovemaking, it would never take place. After consuming more wine, she was sleeping like a baby. It would take weeks before she came out of her state of confusion.

Two weeks had gone by, and Penny was due back from her seminar. She missed Ebo so much that concentrating during the workshops became unbearable, but she managed to get through the classes and in-group discussions.

Sharing what she learned from the meetings with management was not going to be easy. When she got back to work, longing for him became her preoccupation, so much so, she made several errors when filling prescriptions. Lucky for her, one of the pharmacists caught the blunders.

She decided to take some personal days before she found herself on the unemployment line or worse, a defendant in a negligence suit.

She called Lea, but kept getting her voice mail.

Lea's a busy bee, she sensed.

It was near the holidays and the busiest time of the year, so it was understandable why Lea did not return her calls.

She decided to turn on the TV.

All of a sudden, she heard a noise coming from Ebo's apartment.

He is home early from his trip, she thought.

She rushed over to his place and knocked on the door.

A woman answered.

At first, she thought the woman was the housekeeper who said, "Hello, may I help you?"

Penny replied, "I thought Ebo was back from his trip."

The woman looking perplexed said, "Mr. Ebo left two weeks ago. He signed a one-year rental agreement but ran out on the lease and left the owner hanging."

If Penny was confused, she was about to become more puzzled and asked, "Where did he go?"

The woman could not give her any more information. Her job was to come in and set up the place for the next tenant.

Penny did ask if she could get in touch with the owner of the apartment. The woman gave her a number to call. She thanked the woman, went back to her apartment and made that call.

The owner informed her that Mr. Ebo was to live in the apartment for one year but unexpectedly left, provided no reason and no thirty-day notice.