A week which she had been dreading had finally arrived. Although it was soon after George's death, it was Elena's stubbornness partly and the threat of eviction looming over if bills weren't paid on time and in full that prompted Elena's return to work. 

As she sat in silence eating her breakfast, she wondered how everyone would act around her. She was clearly not in the right frame of mind. She knew that others would pick up on that.

'How?' she thought, 'How will I cope?'

The pain that she felt was deep, so deep that her stomach lurched at the sight of waving goodbye from the comforts of home and into the big wide world. 

She left the house early and drove in her red small car to work. The drive was often quite pleasant considering to get to work, Elena had to drive down the coastal road meaning that she had views out to sea. But when she was alone in the small car, she never quite felt secure.

Normally, she would tune into a radio station in the car but she didn't have the mind to switch it on. The only noises that she heard were the seagulls and the loud beeping of car horns. The sun was out. Considering that Elena was far from happy. At least it was a change from the grey clouds which had made the view look so dull.

Elena worked in an office in a small office building in the coastal town where she lived. The office employed just forty members of staff. The majority were women and the dress code was smart and formal.

It had taken Elena just twenty minutes to get everything ready. She had skipped half of the things that she normally did because she just wasn't able to.

As Elena approached the office, she felt a small pain in her head, 'Should have taken some medicine. I believe that a headache is coming on. Oh great.'

What do you think?' asked Elena as she modeled her new work outfit.

George looked up in approval,'You look SO sexy.'

Elena scoffed, 'Yeah right.'

'Honesty is the best policy,' replied George with a smile, 'You look so beautiful.'

The grey skirt and the white blouse fitted Elena like a glove. The perfect fit.

Elena shook her head in a daze, 'I swear I always go off in a daydream if a headache strikes!'

The office was a hive of activity with tall women doing jobs and typing loudly on the computers. That was until Elena opened the door. In a instant, the room fell into a deadly silence. There was no noise, no walking. Nothing.

Elena shut the door, her face blushing like a rose and sat down at her desk. She knew that a few of her work colleagues had gone to the funeral.

'Elena, I am so sorry.' said the new intern Sophie, 'I hope you are OK.'

Elena gave a small smile but her mind talked back in response, 'She means well but I am far from OK.'

Throughout the day, other work colleagues carefully walked up to Elena's desk and offered their greatest sympathies. Deep down, they all meant well but for everything to be so on top of the world one moment and flipped upside down the next? Elena found herself to lose a lot of focus remembering the time she and George went to their favourite place in the whole wide world. Jackson Bay. A gorgeous but almost secret beach just a half hour drive away from their house. 

'It is so nice to come back here,' said Elena as she held George's hand, 'On a beautiful day like this.'

'Actually,' replied George, 'I brought you here for a reason.'

Elena looked puzzled. 'And what reason is that?'

'To ask you something.' said George with a tear in his eye.

Elena turned towards him, 'You aren't!'

'I most certainly am.' declared George.

Slowly, George got down on one knee, 'Elena, will you marry me?'  

Tears trickled down Elena's face. They were tears of joy and pure radiance. 'Yes.'

George took Elena's smooth hand and on her finger placed a beautiful engagement ring. Elena smiled through her tears as she and George embraced one another.

'And to propose here at Jackson Bay, the most romantic location in the whole world is mind-blowing.' declared Elena, 'I love you George so much.'

Both of them kissed each other before turning to walk back towards the main car park for what would hopefully be a thrilling drive home.

'Elena? Elena?' a voice broke Elena away from the daydream that she had just had, 'Are you OK?'

Elena opened up her eyes to meet Reanna who was standing by her desk, her face written in concern. 'Yeah, just tired, I didn't realise I fell asleep.

'I suggest you go home and take a break, seriously.' recommended Reanna.

'No no.' replied Elena, 'I will be fine.'

Reanna stroked her long brown hair, 'Well, everyone is concerned about you.'

'I just lost my husband you cow.' thought Elena, 'Of course I am an outsider.'

Elena watched as Reanna stumbled back to her desk. With a small sigh, Elena turned back to face the computer screen. But her ears prickled at the chatting noises coming from some desks close to hers and on hearing her name being mentioned woke her up with a jolt.

'Seriously...'

'What?'

'Shouldn't Elena have gotten over George by now? I mean, he's been gone three weeks.'

'Ssssh! She will hear you! And besides, bereavement does take time.'

'Just an attention seeker if you ask me.'

Deep down inside, Elena was fuming. What she had heard was totally unacceptable from a work colleague, 'How is losing a loved one making me an attention seeker? I didn't come to work and earn money to have someone say something so offensive towards me!'

By the early afternoon, she had had enough. She didn't want to spend the next few hours in the company of her work colleagues who all thought she was crazy to come into work and accused her of being an attention seeker. Slowly, she logged off her computer, gathered her things and went to the car. She was so out of here.

As Elena prepared to drive off towards the warmth of her home, Reanna looked out of the window to see one of her most hardworking colleagues jump into her car and speed away down the now not so busy road. 

'There she goes! No more Miss Attention-Seeker!'

Reanna jumped up in fury, 'Who just said that?'

An eerie silence had filled the room as everyone looked at each other. The atmosphere growing tense by the minute.

'That was totally unacceptable. How would you feel if someone close to you died? If anyone here says one more nasty comment about Elena! My word, you are most definitely getting the sack. Understood?'

As the office colleagues looked at one another uncomfortably, Elena drove home as quickly as she could without breaking the speed limit, unaware of the outburst in the office regarding her personal situation. Blinking back tears from the scars of the past as she weaved her way past slow moving traffic, the new thought of looking forward to retirement where no one could boss her around forced a small smile to display on her face.

When she reached home, she ran upstairs after dumping her work things in the living room and raced to her bedroom. There, she flung herself into George's side of the bed and wept.

'Oh George!' wailed Elena, 'Being here without you, everything is ruined.'