Fighting Life

Chapter Twenty One

August hit with the cold weather and it meant that there were a few staff who took a day or two off to get over colds. It was not too bad, but Tana felt like she was feeling the pinch in it in other ways. Her files were stacking up fast, like the staff were working through their files quickly and passing them on to filter into the system. Tana found herself going into work early on the Monday morning, August Fifth, because she wanted to do a bit of a tidy up and get through some of the files on her desk.

The walk with Hugo the day before had been on her mind during the train trip into the city, and she wondered, how often he actually got to run himself, considering he worked in aged care and had shifts all the time. She knew he worked out though, when they had crossed paths, she had noticed, the was his top clung to his body and the way it showed and made it very obvious that he had a decent pack. It embarrassed her slightly to think like that and so Tana had to shake her thoughts.

In the office, she sat down at her desk, a warm drink made and next to her, going through the top file. Tana was in a good mood, the weekend had been good and it lifted her spirits, so working through the files was not too bad, kind of relaxing. With two files down, Tana picked up the third file, opening it and taking a quick glance and read. Then frowned, looking at the file. It was messy, the worst she had found in the pile and she wondered, because she knew this was not a file in which she had done herself.

Wondering Tana looked to the front of the folder, noting that there was no sticker, so no name, and wondered, did she do it but not remember? No, looking closer, Tana noticed that where a sticker would have been, the file looked a little different. Brushing a hand over the spot, she could tell, there used to be a sticker there. Letting out a sigh, she knew it meant somebody was hiding files, and Tana started to wonder whom. It was investigation time.

Tana walked over to the other desks, where the other staff all worked. She did not see much on the tops of desks and she was about to give up. Only, after a moment, she had a random thought and started to glance through the bins. While they had cleaners, sometimes the bins were left for a day or two to fill up. Tana knew very well that the folder she had found had not been on her desk Friday morning, thus she hoped she would be able to find something.

Which after a small hunt, she did. Tana found some used stickers in the bin at Shanes desk. Tana let out a sigh, wondering why he would be hiding uncompleted files. Though, thinking on it, she turned the sticker over and noticed names were scribbled out. No, this was not Shanes work. Tana took the stickers back to her desk, sitting there and studying it, identifying the name on the sticker and let out a sigh. She had no idea why Jenny would do this kind of thing. Was she trying to make work harder for Tana? To get Tana in trouble? Either way, Tana knew what she needed to do now.

When she knew Clark had arrived and was settled, Tana gave his office door as knock, waiting until he advised to enter, and she did. He was in his high back chair, looking out the window. Tana took a breath, thinking this was a sign that he may not be in the best of moods. She had to give it a try though, she could not be afraid of things all the time.

"Sir, I have a request." Tana started. "I am hoping to have a one on one meeting with one of the staff. I want to lead this meeting to come to an outcome regarding their workload."
"You do not want me to deal with this?" he asked, turning around.
"If you trust me, I would like to do this. Please." She replied.
"Very well. I may attend and see how you do." He commented, a little darkly.
"If you do, I am in control." Tana warned.

He gave her a simple nod of the head and she returned it, walking out of the Office and going back to her desk. On a sticky note, she wrote down a little note for Jenny, requesting the meeting and what time. She then also sent a calendar request to Jenny and separately to Clark, checking his diary for a free slot. For the morning, Tana just continued on with the files, looking carefully at any that may have been slipped into her pile incomplete.