I got up and went to Alanna's office, opened her office door, but knocked on the door frame. "Well, it's about time you got here!" I teased.

She laughed as she motioned me in. "Yeah, well, not all of us come in before the crack of dawn!" she joked as she shuffled the contract in front of her and slid it into a file folder. "So, what's up?"

I sat down in the chair in front of her desk and let out a deep breath.

"Don't tell me that you're leaving me," she said, ...