“I have something that might work!” The sobbing woman muttered excitedly before she paused and whispered, “I am not going to take this silently any longer. Why do I have to put up with her? I’m going to make her burn her finger, and yet there’s nothing that she can do about it.”
“What do you plan to do about it?”
I could only hear hushed whispers, but not what they were saying clearly. However, I felt oddly amused by their demeanor. No wonder people were looking at me all weird whenever I came into the office recently. It looked like this was the reason.
After hearing nothing for some time, I thought the two women had left. My stomach was still wringing in pain, and there was no rush to leave the bathroom. However, I could hear heels clacking coming from the outside all of a sudden.
Then, someone chimed, “Hi, Ms. Collins!”
Stella? I was stumped.
Suddenly, the air grew still in the bathroom. A text came in on my phone. It was from Hailey. She asked when I would be able to meet her as she was planning to go back to K City.
I replied to her and kept my phone. Then, I heard a scream from my neighboring bathroom stall. “Ahh! Who is that?”
Sounds of water splashing could be heard, and I was stumped for a brief moment. I headed out of my stall, and bumped into two women holding two big buckets.
Are these two women trying to teach Stella a lesson?
“Who is that? Have you lost your mind?” A voice berated from inside the stall. I turned around to the bathroom stall, and noticed that someone had locked it from the outside. The person inside had no means of getting out of there unless someone unlocked the door for her.
The three of us exchanged glances in astonishment. We were still reeling in from the shock. I could have pretended that I didn’t know if I hadn’t seen the culprits, and just treated it as a prank. But now that I’d seen them…
I had no interest in meddling in their business as well. I gestured for them to shush while they were still eyeing me in trepidation. Then, I signaled using my hands that we could all get out of here, quietly.
The two women were dumbfounded at my response. Then, all of three of us tiptoed out of the bathroom in silence.
After we got out of the bathroom, the two women high-fived each other triumphantly and broke into a cackle. Then, they snapped back into their senses and realized that I was actually there too. The two of them ceased smiling in an awkward manner and looked at me. “Mrs. Fuller!”
I smiled back at them and asked, “Who is inside that bathroom stall?”
“It’s… Ms. Collins!” The two women were obviously embarrassed and cast apprehensive looks at me. “Mrs. Fuller, will you…”
“No,” I gave them a grin. “I won’t rat you girls out. But don’t do this again, it’s not um… safe.”
The women grinned from ear to ear and nodded.
It had been some time since I left, and I turned on my heel to head back to Ashton’s office. However, the two women stopped me in my tracks and asked, “Mrs. Fuller, aren’t you going to ask why we’re doing this to Ms. Collins?”
I thought for a brief moment and replied, “It’s none of my business. Alright, get back to work, you two.”
The two of them exchanged glances at my reply and nodded before they left.
Not long after, I noticed that the cleaning lady was heading to the bathroom. I said nothing and made way to Ashton’s office.
Before I could head inside his office, I heard hasty footsteps behind me. Turning around, I noticed that it was Stella. Her clothes were soaking wet, and she looked disheveled with her damp hair and her faded makeup.
I stopped and put on a surprised face. “Ms. Collins, what happened to you?”
The woman seemed taken aback at the sight of me. She forced a smile and replied, “I was attacked by a few crazy people in the bathroom.”
I nodded. “You’d better sort yourself out. Luckily, you’re about to get off work. Take care, or you’re going to get sick from the cold weather.”
She lowered her head and mumbled a response before leaving.
To be frank, I was actually surprised at the way she dealt with her coworkers. She had always given me the impression of a tactful person, and I was confounded by the way other people talked about her.
Back in Ashton’s office, he was still on a conference call. I did not disturb him and waited for him to finish the meeting as I sat on the sofa. He was finally done after half an hour.
He kept his document when it was time to get off work and looked at me. “What would you like to eat? Let’s go have dinner together.”
“We’re going to the hospital tonight. Mom and Dad are worried about Summer. Let’s go to the hospital and visit her later, and just think of a way for her to undergo the bone marrow transplant surgery as soon as possible. She doesn’t have all the time in the world to wait.”
He nodded, took his keys, and held my hands as we exited the office.
In the elevator, he bit on my lip and looked at me, “Don’t meet Armond without me next time. I don’t know what I’m going to do if that happens again.”
I was rendered speechless. He’s still pining over it. Move on… mister.
