CHAPTER FORTY

Lia searched everywhere in the storage room for the files, she couldn't even find the drawer. It didn't exist.
Lia feared that she was going to fail the woman, who had put so much faith in her.
There was still a little time left before the meeting would start, so Lia decided to go back to the lady's room, so she could ask for the drawer number again.
Lia tried to open the door but it didn't budge. She tried again, this time using all her strength, but nothing.
Lia banged on the door but no one could hear her. The storage room was in an empty area in the company, people hardly ever came there.
After some time, Lia could hear footsteps heading closer to the storage room.
"Hello," Lia said in an attempt to grab the person's attention.
"Hello, can you hear me? The door is stuck and I can't get it to open. if there is anyone there please get some help"
The lights suddenly turned off.
***bang bang***
"Hello, please help me" Lia screamed as the temperature of the room suddenly dropped.
"My phone, where is my phone?" Lia said as she had just remembered the device.
She searched her pockets, but it was nowhere to be seen. she faced palmed herself after realizing that she must have left it in the restroom.
Lia sat down on the floor with her back resting against the wall, feeling exhausted from hunger, and to make matters worse the room was unbearably cold. she crossed her arms against her chest and silently prayed that someone would come soon.
...
It was already the end of the working hours, but Ellie who had been sitting patiently, waiting for Lia to show up hadn't seen any signs of her.
Ellie believed that Lia couldn't have already left for the day, because her things were still here and she hadn't seen her since she woke up.
She also asked the people in her department earlier, if they had seen Lia but they all said they hadn't. She went to look for Lia but she still couldn't find her. It was when, she came up with the idea that Lia was probably with Mr. king, that she decided to wait in their office until Lia came back.
Too many hours had already gone by for her to continue sitting around and waiting for Lia's arrival.
She mustered up some courage and decided to check if Lia was actually with Mr. King.
Soon enough the elevator door finally opened and now Ellie was about to make the riskiest decision of her life.
She had two choices, to turn back now or to enter into the Lion's den.
Ellie sucked in a deep breath and brought her leg forward, but before she could feel the floor under her foot Leo appeared. As soon as she saw him she withdrew back her leg.
"Who are you and what are you doing here?" Leo asked sternly.
Ellie was undeniably intimidated by him. A shiver ran down her spine. She tried her best not to make eye contact with Mr. King.
"M...Mr. king" Ellie stuttered a bit.
Leo stood patiently waiting for the intruder to explain herself.
"I'm a friend of Lia. We work in the same department. I haven't seen Lia for some time now, so I came here to find out if she was with you"
"She isn't. Perhaps she has already left"
"I don't think so, sir. Her things are still at the office" Leo clenched his fist.
"When was the last time you saw her?" Leo asked.
"Before lunchtime"
"Shit," Leo said with gritted teeth, he took out his phone to call Lia.
"I have already tried that sir, her phone is switched off," Ellie said.
Leo ignored her words and dialed the number and just as Ellie had said, the line was switched off.
"Follow me," Leo said to Ellie.
For a moment Ellie was filled with excitement. She was going to step foot on Mr. King's floor. The same floor that was completely off-limits to everyone. The moment was short-lived because she remembered her missing friend.
Ellie followed behind Leo obediently. She wondered why they were lurking around here when they should be out looking for Lia. She gathered another ball of courage to ask Leo.
"Shouldn't we go and look for Lia, Mr. King?"
Leo gave no reply to her question.
Ellie decided that it would be best for her to keep quiet and not utter another word until she was spoken to.
They had finally reached their destination. Leo flipped on the light switch to bring light to the contents of the room.
The four walls of the room were covered with different monitors. Leo flipped a single switch and every monitor in the room turned on displaying different locations of the building.
Leo stood at the front of the monitor which displayed the main exit and entrance. He rebounded the footage till earlier in the morning when Lia came in but there was no footage of her leaving.
He did the same for some other monitors, which also displayed the other Entrances.
It was then that Ellie had finally understood what Leo was doing. Instead of him going out to aimlessly look for Lia, he had to make sure she had really left.
After some time there wasn't any sign of Lia leaving the building. Leo began checking the monitors incharge of hallway monitoring.
Ellie looked around the room, her eyes scanning each monitor until it landed on one which only displayed the color white. It looked as if someone had put a piece of cloth over the camera.
Something smelt fishy, Ellie thought.
"Mr. King" Ellie called out from behind Leo.
"Speak" Leo finally said after some time, still focused on the monitor he was staring at.
"There is a monitor over there, it is blank," Ellie said and Leo turned around to see which one Ellie was pointing at.
It was the camera facing the storage room. Leo then set the monitor to rewind and took it a little backward from the point when the camera was covered.
It showed Lia entering the storage room. Without a second wasted, Leo dashed out of the room leaving Ellie alone.
Ellie was about to follow behind him, but she stopped right in her tracks. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and she had to use it.
She can't possibly miss this chance to finally explore the inside of Mr. Black's office.
"Sorry, Lia. I'm sure you would understand and not blame me" Ellie said a quick apology.
She ventured around for a while before she finally came across a door with the word 'ASSISTANT' engraved on it.
She held the handle of the door, memorizing the details of the handle. She felt as if it was Mr. Black's hand itself, that she was holding.
She sucked in a deep breath, ready to turn the knob and open the door to a part of her heaven.
She turned the door handle completely only to find out it was locked. She struggled with the handle a bit to make sure.
"Stupid door," she said and kicked the door out of frustration.
A shiny object fell from above and hit her head before landing on the floor.
"Ouch," she said and rubbed the spot on her head.
She crouched down to pick up the object and saw that it was a key. She squealed in excitement.
She put the key into the keyhole and it was the right fit.
"How lucky I must be" Ellie said and spun around.
She opened the door and went inside. The fragrance of Mr. Black's cologne instantly hit her nose, causing her knees to buckle and make her fall flat on the floor.