And yet it was also off-kilter; wrong ever so slightly.
I leaned back in my office chair and whispered to Marta. “Hey. Do you know where Molly is?”
“How should I know?” she grumbled indifferently, returning to her work.
I sighed. I should have known better than to ask Marta for help.
The squeaky wheels of the janitor’s cart reached my ear. I flagged him down. “Excuse me? Do you know where all of Molly’s things went?”
The janitor, an old man with bushy white eyebrows and thin lips, tilted his head like I’d asked a strange question. “I’m not sure who Molly is,” he said, “but I was instructed to clear out that desk this mornin’.”
“Who told you to do that?”
“No one specifically. I get work order requests through that there system and then I go an’ clean whatever needs cleanin’.”
I swallowed, my throat uncomfortably dry. Confusion washed over me. This was so weird. First, she didn’t show up to drinks, then she wasn’t answering her phone, and now her workspace was cleared out? What the hell was going on?
I rose from my chair and walked over to my supervisor’s office. A metal name plate was drilled into the side of the frosted glass wall, the titleFloor Supervisorengraved in cursive lettering just below his name. I knocked on his door and peered inside.
“Hey, Arty?”
He looked up from his work. “Ah, Vivian. Just the gal I wanted to see. Come on in and shut the door, would you?”
My stomach flipped, but I did what I was asked. I stepped inside and closed the door behind me, freezing when I realized there was another person in the office already: Alistair McCloud.
“Hello, dear,” he said with a kind smile.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you were already in a meeting. I can come back and—”
“No, no,” Arty insisted. “We were actually just about to get you.”
“Me?”
Alistair patted the free chair beside him. “Come and take a seat, dear. We won’t take up too much of your time.”
I sat next to him, picking at my fingernails.
Arty nodded, warily eyeing Alistair the entire time he spoke. “I’m sure you’re curious about Molly.”
I held my breath. “I am. Where is she? Did something happen?”
Alistair chuckled. “Everything’s fine, dear. We simply transferred her to a different division for her co-op placement. I thought it would help her take in all sides of the business better. Expose her to new departments and connections. Networking is half the battle in this line of work, as I’m sure you know.”
“Yes,” I mumbled, though deep down, I didn’t understand in the slightest.
None of this was adding up. Molly would have told me the second she found out she was moving departments, probably in an attempt to get me to come with her. We texted all the time, so why hadn’t she answered her phone? It wasn’t like her to keep secrets. This wasn’t right.
“I understand that you must be disappointed,” Alistair said gently. “I’ve heard you two are very close?”
I nodded. “Yes. Molly’s my best friend. We… tell each other everything, which is why I’m confused here.”
I didn’t miss the way Alistair stole a glance at Arty.
“Everything?” Arty asked.
I licked my lips. “Yes.”
Alistair leaned in, bracing himself against his cane. “Did she, by any chance, mention anything to you that seemed… strange? Out of the ordinary?”