My Idiom blogfest entry

(image link: businessenglishebook.com)

This is a fun blogfest but it requires a little explanation first. Idiom is a fun word to mean a type of phrase of saying. The exact definition is "a group of words established by usage as having a meaning not deducible from those of the individual." Common ones are: raining cats and dogs, spill the beans, and the early bird catches the worm.

Sometimes we use these in stories without even knowing it but today, the goal of the blogfest is to write a scene based on an idiom or to use them in some other way that a reader might be able to find.

Web sites:
http://www.businessenglishebook.com/Business-English-Idioms.htm
http://www.idiomsite.com/
http://www.englishdaily626.com/idioms.php


About the Blogfest:
"The idea is to take an idiom and make a short story (or scene from your next novel, whichever you prefer, but please indicate which you did in your entry) out of it. It doesn't matter how you do it. Make the idiom the first line. Make the overall theme of the story fit the idiom. Whatever, just get the idiom in there. Oh, genre doesn't matter, either. I like to read everything."

Go here and check out the host and other entries: procrastinationrehabilitation.blogspot.com

For this one, I am bringing back Jack. Yay! Cinder Story has returned with an entry full of idioms. I hope that I'm doing this right. It was hard picking a spot in the story since I'm sort of doing these scenes at random. This is before the Prince ones but after the almost kiss scene with Alexa. It's not quite finished (the overall scene) but I didn't want people to wait too long or to have to read a really long entry. So, there is more to come after this. I promise.


My Entry:


It was becoming a rare occasion, Mr. Mann being home during the weekend. Most of his time was spent either out of town or away working at the office that Jack had only seen once. When he was home, Daniel Mann was in his home office, working. Made it obvious why he needed an assistant to take care of his family, since he was too busy to do any of the house care on his own but that was something Jack had accepted when he had taken the job. Growing up, Jack's mom had always said not to judge a book by its cover but that was hard to do when seeing the results of ignoring three barely adult aged women in exchange for working to gain money.

This meeting was an unusual one. Ever since the surprise morning visit in his room at the house after a more than awkward night working for Mann's wife they hadn't had a meeting, let alone one in the actual office. The bedroom meeting had ended surprisingly well since the night before, Corinne, his boss' wife, kissed him. Thankfully it was a closed mouth peck on the lips but still, it had him worried. But the meeting had been about something else entirely. Heading up to the house office room this time, Jack wasn't worried.

"Come in," Daniel Mann looked up as Jack knocked on the open door.

"You needed to see me, sir." Jack stepped into the office, speaking the formality even though both knew why he was there.

"Close the door."

The instruction was enough to spark some nerves. Usually Mann was an open book and any comments or job requirements had been given with doors left open. Shutting the office door, Jack couldn't help but wonder if this was an evaluation or something else. Not knowing always made him worry.

"Sit." Mann pointed a pen to one of the chairs across from him as he remained seated at the desk. "Do you know why I asked you to come here today?"

It caught Jack off guard. The question felt like when a cop pulls someone over for speeding or something but like the one time he'd been pulled over, he wasn't sure what he could have done. His worry increased because it was almost obvious with one question that he was in trouble and he had no idea why. As he began to feel a prick of nerves, he responded. "No, sir."

"Well," he put the pen down, leaning both his elbows on the mahogany surface. It wasn't a good stance and the look on his face read tension. "This is a part of my job that isn't easy. It took longer than I expected but I knew this would happen."

A dark cloud seemed to overshadow the room. Was he going to get fired already? That couldn't be it but Jack couldn't think of anything else that could be the tough part of the job that had any reference to him. No matter what, he had to wait and let Mann speak while keeping his composure. There would be time to break down later if it really was as bad as he sensed. For now, he waited for the boss to speak.

Mann finally continued. "After many different outings with my wife and daughters, I've heard a number of rumors. Normally, I can tell what has been taken out of context, what isn't true and what really happened. Like the one with my wife."

"Rumor with your wife?" Jack was confused. No one saw the kiss so what could people be saying. Aside from running errands he'd only gone to a couple of events when his boss couldn't get out of work in time to go.

"Don't worry, I know that you aren't an escort like she has people believing." As Jack blushed, Mann kept speaking. "She likes to have attention and rumors put a spotlight on here. I think she even prefers it to me going to these charity events because then people are talking about her. As long as you don't steal her thunder then she loves it."

Before Jack could say anything else, a surprise came when Mann said, "And I know about the kiss. But don't worry. Corinne told me and I know how affectionate she can be after one too many drinks. Normally I would say it takes two to tango in something like that but she said it was her and not you, so I'm prone to believe her. She loves to have her cake and eat it too, or at least have others think that."

As his face burned from embarrassment, Jack found himself asking a question to avoid discussing the most awkward moment so far on the job; having Corrine kiss him. "Is that the only rumor?"

"No. That is one I know for sure is a rumor but it's not why I asked you in here today." Mann's voice returned to a serious tone. "This has to do with Alexa."

(To Be Continued...)