Unfurling

Funky Smell

Surprisingly, Paige hasn’t had any issues with the maintenance man. It is going on a week and the trash is still being picked up and the restrooms clean. She figures that contacting the supervisor set things right with the man.

Things are moving along with the IT fixes and the work around so the product deployment is on schedule. She’s grinning as she hits her stride on the treadmill because things have been going so well. Life is good and she knows in the business world that you enjoy those few moments when they happen.

Breathing heavily, she steps off the treadmill and wipes her face with the hand towel the complex provides for the gym. She takes it with her as she moves to the free weights. Once done on the weights, she throws the towel in the hamper and jogs back to her apartment.

It isn’t long before she is heading back out her apartment door to her car to drive into the office. Today she opts for a contrast-trim blazer that’s navy with white, an ivory knot neck top, and the matching navy slim fit pants. Her navy pumps are new and she is truly hoping that her feet aren’t killing her by the end of the day.

Paige slides into her car, presses the start button and then moves out of the complex towards her office. The music is fairly loud and she’s thinking about the day ahead. Her calls are light which means she can have some one-on-one’s with her team to make sure they’re all in good shape.

It’s a beautiful sunny day, she thinks. It’s going to be a great day today. I can just feel it.

He’s at the window with his water waiting on her arrival, wondering what type of mood she’ll be in. He sees her white car heading up the floors in the garage and sees it stopping to park on the top floor.

A good view this morning, he thinks.

Continuing to watch, he sees her get out of the car and notices she has her hair pulled back in a barrette, a gold one possibly. He takes a sip of water as she crosses the garage to head to the elevator and then she disappears inside once the doors open. It isn’t long before she steps out of the elevator into the vestibule of the parking garage and then out the doors.

Wow, he thinks. She is in a very good mood this morning.

He notices she’s smiling and her stride is quicker than normal for this time of the day which makes him smile. It warms his heart when he sees that she’s in a good mood and he gets a glimpse of that smile. He can’t help wondering if the smile lights up her eyes too.

And there’s the maintenance man out for a smoke, he thinks.

Paige sees the maintenance man standing by the front door and provides a greeting, “Good Morning!”

She doesn’t wait for a response, swipes her badge and is in the door heading to her office. As she nears the office, she notices there is a foul odor on the entire floor.

What is that smell? she thinks. That is awful. We can’t work in that environment.

Greeting people as she passes them, she finds the odor is getting stronger the closer she gets to her office. She thinks about holding her nose but decides against it. Once she reaches her doorway, she gasps. Her trashcan is full of garbage that isn’t hers and appears to be old along with several bags of garbage on the floor with the tops opened. The garbage in the bags appears to be old as well.

People are standing by her. Some are commenting that they saw it when they arrived and wondered what was going on.

Paige’s mouth is open and she has covered her nose as the smell is horrendous.

“Paige, what’s the deal with the trash?” asks Neesy, a team member who is located in the building with her.

“I think it’s payback from the maintenance man,” Paige responds. “I called a few weeks back about the failure of our trash being picked up and the restrooms being cleaned.”

“Oh. That’s not cool,” Neesy responds. “You want me to clean this up for you?”

“No. I’m going to work from home and I will be calling his supervisor again.”

“Do you really think you should?”

“It’s the right thing to do. Can you let the team know I’ll be logging in a little later and let them know why? I’ll send out an email that I’m working from home once I get back there.”

“Sure. I’ll let you know when the trash gets cleared out too.”

“Thank you. I appreciate that.”

Paige stalks out of the building with her head swiveling to the right and left looking for the maintenance man. She is prepared to give him a piece of her mind and is slightly disappointed that she did not encounter him again. Pausing for a moment, she debates going to his room to call him out and then remembering how big he is along with the location of the office, she decides to forego the personal confrontation.

He was still at the window enjoying the sun and the people. Relishing in the fact that he doesn’t have to go into work tonight so he can go to bed a little later than normal.

What’s this? he thinks. She’s headed back out of the office and she looks mad. I wonder what happened.

He watches her stalk back to the parking garage and sling her bag in the car. Then the little white car is racing down, out of the parking garage and out of town.

“What the heck just happened to her?” he asks out loud.