Hidden Sanity

Chapter 16 - A Step Away From Risk

Morrie sat on Alice's table. She crossed her legs while staring down at her.

"Hey..."

Alice acted as if she wasn't nervous to keep the conversation relaxed between them. "Hi. Morrie."

"Where have you been?" She started with a straightforward question.

"From Sir Jorge's office... He asked me to work with all of these, can you believe it?"

"Really? Is that all?"

"He explained it all to me first so I can work on them correctly."

"Just an explanation.... Really? And it took you that long inside his office?"

"I can hardly understand what he's saying so it ate most of the time. Not an expert, just a secretary, I said. He... he explained it to me until I finally get it."

"I think you need to explain to me what he just said."

"Why are you doing this?"

Morrie looked more deeply into her eyes. More like sensing if she was lying or not. "Oh, nothing. I just feel like I have the right to know because I'm your assistant. Don't you want some help on that?"

"Oh, yes. You're right. Well, he told me that we have to—" She browsed the pages, looking for the first word she'll see to expand the idea and create something out of it. "—organize the schedule of the employees and check their attendance for the month so we could confer about the monthly salary of each worker."

"That's it? That's what took you so long inside his office?"

"No, of course, he let me do another pack of projects which I think I'll be doing at home, to at least meet the deadline requirements."

"Mind me to help you?" She was intently compressing her excuses to tell the truth.

"I can handle it. Don't worry. I'll tell you when I need your assistance. Because—that's... that's your job, right? Though you don't need to be bothered by thinking that I'm doing it to increase my salary, please, I have no intentions on taking your money. But I think we must do our jobs according to their description."

Morrie moved closer to her face with fierceness in her eyes, her arm leaning on her table. "Are you really sure nothing happened?"

"What happened?"

"Inside?"

"What is going to happen inside? There is a happening. Yes, a formal discussion. Why? Something wrong with that? I see nothing wrong with that. Why are you asking, by the way? Should I think something else?"

"Sir Jorge never had a visitor in his office for that long... Nothing, that's just suspicious."

"Suspicious? I think what's more suspicious is when someone in this office has a relationship going on with the president and she enters his office for that long then keeps on doing that thing to him day by day. That's just not courteous. Now that's the real doubtful situation."

Morrie was held back to what she said. She was wordless. But she managed to collect herself and swept up the topic to their conversation. Abruptly, she smiled. "Exactly! I'm just asking, anyway."

She stood up and whispered. "Just make sure it won't hit you back..." She waved her hand then walked away. "Bye, Alice! Just call me when you need assistance, alright?"

She became friendly afterward. But what she lastly said surely left a consciousness to her mind. Will she also be like her soon? It bothered her even before she slept that night.