Chapter 11 paper trouble

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Rachael paused for a second to think about what she did with the papers and it finally occurred to her.

" Oh I handed them over to a cleaner to help me take them to the 12th floor," she said to Jerry. His facial expression changed immediately, staring at her in profound disbelief.

"You what?"

"I had to deliver coffee to Xavier... I mean the boss. Didn't have much time so I....."

"You gave the document to a cleaner?"

"Yes, is that a problem?" She shrugged at him

"Anything given to them is meant for disposal"

"No no, I made it clear that she was supposed to take it to the 12th floor"

Jerry sighed as he ran his hands through his brunette hair in frustration. His grey eyes had so much worry in them which made Rachael wonder what the big deal was.

"Which of the cleaners?"

"Uhm the fat one with blue eyes. She's got a mole right on the....."

"You mean Marina?"

"I think so. I'm not very good with names"

"Marina can't speak English"

"What?" Her voice came out in a whisper. If Marina couldn't speak English. That meant she couldn't it understand too. Oh, God! Rachael exclaimed inwardly. No wonder all Marina did was nod while she blabbed in English.

"Well?" He snapped at her.

"I have to go now," she yelled, running off, hoping and praying the papers were in the Warehouse because, with the way Jerry was desperate for it, it was obvious that the document was useful.

Rachael ran around while people stared at her like an insane person. Well, they weren't to blame.

The elevator was crowded so she didn't take it. Instead, she took the stair, jogging on them at the same time panting. Just when she was about to make a turn, she stumbled upon Marina, who was busy cleaning the stairs whilst singing a Spanish song.

"Marina!" She called out, forcing a smile while trying to suppress her excess breathing.

"Uh, the paper I gave you this morning. where did you keep them?"

"¿Que? (What?)" Marina asked with squinted confused eyes

Oh, dear!

Rachael tried demonstrating instead. "Did you ...... Take .... Them to the ...... 12th floor" she said using hand gestures for every single word the best way she could, but it didn't help. Marina still had a look of confusion which caused Rachael to groan in frustration.

Rachael tried using Spanish instead. She took online classes last year for a short while "La paper uh et....."

"That's french, not Spanish" Rachael heard from behind. A tall black-haired lady approached them. Her downturn lip curved into a smile, but Rachael didn't do the same. She was too tensed up for that.

"Ella preguntó dónde guardaste Los papeles" ( she asked where you kept the papers) the brunette lady inquired from Marina.

"lo llevé a la basura" (I took it to the trash)

She turned to look at Rachael. "are the papers important?"

"Yes, they are. Boss gave them to me Now Jerry wants it"

"Then I think you have a little problem. She trashed it"

Rachael's eyes widened in shock. This was extremely surreal. How could she be so clumsy enough to hand the papers over to a non-English speaking cleaner?

"Oh, dear!" Rachael hit her palm against her forehead as she ran down the stairs, hoping and praying inwardly that the papers don't get soiled with garbage juice before she got it.

"You didn't ask what trash?" the lady called out behind her.

"Yeah right which is it?"

"cual de la gabaza?" (which of the garbage cans)

"El Que está Fuera del Edificio" (the one outside the building)

"You can check the trash outside the main entrance"

Rachael tutted. Now she would look like a freak, rummaging through the garbage can right in front of Jexs. Why did she get herself into this?

"Thank you," she voice out and ran off immediately.

"I'm Cecelia by the way, you can call me Cece" the lady shouted behind her. All Rachael could do was give her a thumbs up. Her mouth was too dry to bring forth words.

She was already on the 8th floor. Now she had to run down to the first. She couldn't risk it. The elevation would be a safer option. She scrambled to the nearest one and pressed the button *out of service* could be seen just right after she pushed it.

"Damn it!" She kicked the door which dragged the attention of people around.

Without showing any remorse, she headed for the stairs instead. If she ran fast enough, she could get to the paper before someone spilled coffee on them. It was a tedious one, running down 8 stairs, but she eventually made it to the 1st floor. Still not slacking, she ran until she got to the main entrance and heaved a sigh of relief when she saw the trashed can in front of the building.

This was the most disgusting thing she had ever thought of doing. She opened the trash can, using a stick to push the dirt aside. The company sure had a lot of food freaks.

"Yes!" She exclaimed when she saw a blue binding cover. Out of excitement, she flung the stick, using her hand to take the document out of the trash.

"Oh God" she groaned as she rested her back on the wall, clutched the paper to her chest with a smile visible on her face.

"Ahem" someone faked a cough beside her. She flung her eyes open, turning to her side. Her mouth dropped. It was Xavier, hands in his pocket and a look of Astonishment on his face. There she was, standing near a garbage can, a paper clutched to her chest and smiling despite the stench that came from the trash. Maybe she was going insane

"Uh... It's not what it looks like" she explained "I uh was looking for this document"

"In the garbage can?"

"Yes technically, I told Marina to deliver the papers to the warehouse"

"Marina doesn't speak English"

"Well, I learned that the hard way" she breathed in sharply. "Anyway, she threw it into the garbage can instead"

"What papers are those?" he pointed at it.

"It says, board members assignment" she read out from the blue covers.

"That" he chuckled at her stupidity."The one I gave you?" She nodded. "There are tones of that copy inside the office"

Rachael's mouth dropped. "What? But Jerry said"

"Jerry is just too lazy to check the warehouse for them"

"Fuck!" Rachael cursed, resting her head on the wall again. She threw the paper back into the trash angrily.

"I ran down the stairs from the 8th floor for nothing" she muttered.

"Why didn't you use the elevator? "

"It's out of service"

"It was just down for 30 seconds. It's back on now"

At this point, Rachael knew for sure that the universe was against her. She watched as Xavier walked inside the building while she stayed there, not able to lift a finger.

"Fuck you Jerry" she whispered underneath her breath.

Whilst she was still standing there, the main entrance door opened. It was Claudette, walking majestically out of the office with her bag by her side. She caught a glimpse of Rachael and was stunned.

"Oh dear" she called out. The only thing Rachael could do was turn to look at her.

"Are you okay?"

"You are leaving?" Rachael asked instead, without any paid attention to her previous question.

"Yes I am"

"So soon?"

"I work for only 4 hours. They don't need me so much in the afternoon"

"I'm not needed too, but I stay here for 8 hours"

"Oh, honey" Claudette pouted. " I have to be home now. My fiance just got back from Chicago. And It's his birthday today" she added with a grin on her face.

"That's great. Trust me, he must be a lucky man" Rachael spoke in a teasing tone.

"Oh stop it," Claudette said amidst a chuckle. "anyway I have to go now. Bye love"

"Bye," Rachael said as she pressed her lips together. If only Xavier could let her work for only 4 hours just like Claudette