Chapter 0154
Chapter 0154
+25 BONUS
Digging through the trash looking for a lost datebook wasn’t on my bingo card for this week. And if this moment was any indication of how the rest of the week was going to look, maybe I should have just turned it all in and went home.
As it was, I lifted the semi–clear trash bags from the office one at a time to peer inside. Maintenance had lent me some thick gloves, but I still wasn’t brave enough to actually open the bags. Only God knew what I would find inside.
The bits of my coworkers discarded lunches were bad enough. I could smell rotten fish straight through the plastic. I knew the stench was sticking onto my clothes.
The head of the cleaning department stood nearby, keeping an eye out for the garbage truck as he had promised. He made no effort to help me, and I wouldn’t be caught dead asking him.
This was my mess. I wasn’t about to pull anyone else into it.
I had taken off my blazer before I began and set it off to the side. From its pocket, I heard my phone ringing. I couldn’t answer it with contaminating my clothes. Hopefully, it wasn’t an emergency.
I’d looked through most of the bags by the time the garbage truck arrived. There were only three left and
they looked the most food–stained, the absolute grossest. If the datebook was inside those bags, it would be ruined beyond repair.
The head of cleaning looked at me. “Well?”
It was time to admit defeat. “Thanks, anyway,” I told him.
“Sorry,” he said then turned to help the garbage truck back up to the loading dock.
I returned the gloves to maintenance, and then finally retrieved my phone from my jacket. I had three missed calls.
My stomach dropped when I realized they were all from Logan.
I rushed back to the office, stopping only once on the way to wash my hands and arms, and neck and face, trying to eliminate as much as the disgusting odor as I could.
When I returned to my station, the door to Logan’s office was open. Spotting me, Sabrina popped from her chair and rushed inside.
“She’s here!” she announced brightly. All smiles, she stood to the side as Logan exited. A frown covered
his face.
He took two steps toward me, then stopped and sniffed the air. His nose scrunched in distaste.
“You reek,” Sabrina said as she moved closer to her own desk. She leaned against the side of it and crossed her arms over her chest, her feet at the ankles.
“Where were you?” Logan asked. “I tried calling you.“”
“I apologize.” I lowered my head. “I misplaced… something, and I thought it might have fallen in the trash. I searched everywhere else.”
Chapter 0154
“Did you find it?” Logan asked.
“No,” I replied, a feeling of defeat overtaking me.
Logan looked between Sabrina and me. “Come into my office, both of you.“.
“Shouldn’t she shower first?” Sabrina pinched her nose. “I don’t want to be anywhere near that stench.”
Logan stared at her until she wilted slightly. Without further argument, we both followed Logan into his
office.
There, on his desk, sat the datebook I had been so desperately searching for.
“Had it been here the whole time? How could that be?
Logan touched the edge of his desk with two fingers as he moved to stand behind it. He did not sit.
Sabrina and I stood in front of the desk. Sabrina not–so–subtly took a step away from me, waving her hand
in front of her nose.
Logan picked up the datebook. “Is this what you had been looking for, Hazel?”
“Yes,” I said.
“Why were you searching for it among the weekend’s trash?” Logan placed the book back on the desktop.
“I opened my desk drawer and it wasn’t where I usually kept it,” I explained. “I searched everywhere for it, but I couldn’t find it. The only thing I could think was that it might have fallen into the trash accidentally.”
