Heartstrings on Fire novel Chapter 1

Agnes Pritchard was just five minutes late, but she was summoned to the boss’s office for a one-hour lecture.

When she emerged from the CEO's office, Agnes looked like a ghost. Her face and eyes red and swollen. Clearly, she had been crying.

Everyone in the secretarial office felt bad for her.

Agnes was a new intern assigned to the secretarial office. Her job typically involved writing drafts and sorting out files.

For some reason, the CEO always seemed to have a bone to pick with her. He could always find a reason to summon her to his office for a dressing-down. And every time Agnes came out of the office, she looked like she had seen a ghost.

Agnes finally managed to slump back into her chair.

Anita, another intern, rolled her chair over and voiced her indignation, "The CEO is so mean to you just because you look like an easy target."

She sighed, "Agnes, what on earth did you do to piss off the CEO? Why's he got it in for you? The first thing he does when he returns from a business trip is chew you out?"

Agnes hadn’t quite pulled herself together yet, her mind still reeling from what had just happened in the office.

He'd been away on a business trip for two days, but his energy seemed to have doubled. She might have been stuck in there for another hour if she hadn’t been crying and begging for mercy.

Anita looked at Agnes and felt terrible, but there was nothing she could do.

So, she just patted Agnes on the shoulder, "Agnes, take it easy. The internship is almost over. Just hang in there."

Agnes was a junior majoring in news management at Lakeside College; she was just here for a month-long winter internship.