Maddie finished her orange and went to unpack her belongings.
* * * *
Jean-Luc waded through the Central Office’s enormous waiting area and walked straight into the main hall. A cool breeze surged past him as soon as he stepped inside. Behind him, the doors sealed shut, muffling the groans and whines from the undocumented souls waiting to be processed.
He shivered. He had got used to the heat in the Pit and the air conditioner was too cold for his liking. On these typical weekdays, the office was jam-packed with people. Jean-Luc zeroed in on the person he was looking for and headed straight to her desk. Ivanka Djavik grinned when she caught his sight. The Pit admin worker had been his mentor when he’d been a rookie. Two decades ago, she’d had enough of field work and transferred to the Central Office for a desk job.
“Berthier.” Ivanka greeted him with her signature raspy voice. “I heard you’re on vacation.”
“I am. Just wanted to check on a few things. I was hoping you could help me.”
“Why should I?”
“Because you love me.”
Ivanka snorted. “What do you want?”
Jean-Luc pulled a chair next to her cubicle opening and sank in it. “It’s about andras. I believe you keep a record of their assignments each time someone uses them, if I’m not mistaken? I need to know who was using andras yesterday.”
“Oh.” Her expression changed. “That information is classified.”
“Classified. Merde. I had no idea. By the way, it’s a lovely blouse you’re wearing.”
“Fuck you.”
“The colour complements your hair.”
“Cut the crap, Berthier.”
“I take it you can’t help me at all?”
“Well…”
Jean-Luc leaned closer. “That’s a beautiful brooch you have. Is it an heirloom?”
“Shut up.”
“Suppose you leave this piece of information lying around unintentionally, and a certain person accidentally gazed upon it, naturally, you wouldn’t be held accountable, would you?”
“Supposedly…” Ivanka played along. “I wouldn’t, would I?”
“I think not, madame.”
Ivanka pulled out her drawer and took out a leather-bound, heavy ledger. She flipped through its pages until she found what she was looking for. Casually, she dropped the ledger on the floor. It fell with a thunderous boom.
“Oh, my.” Ivanka looked around. Everybody was too busy to even notice it. “How clumsy I am.”
Jean-Luc bent forward and picked it up. He quickly scanned the written pages that were left open. He returned the ledger with a smile. “You’d hurt yourself if you dropped it on your toes.”
“Geez. Luckily, I didn’t.”
“Be more careful next time.”
“Screw you.” Ivanka put the ledger back into the drawer. “Why are you still here?”
“Can’t friends catch up for old time’s sake?”
“Get out.”