NINE TIME MACHINES: Do you want to undo your entire life on planet earth?

CHAPTER 80

This calls for a master plan. What do I do? Should I rush back to the maids' room and assume my role or remain in my denim suit? Step out in pride like I own the place? No, that wouldn't work at all. Miss Nosy wouldn't back me up. Then, with my luck, Tessa might walk out and demand I step back in line or be fired. I dredge my mind to think up a viable solution. Think fast, Mary. This is Tessa's hallway you're standing in. What if she suddenly appears and makes you hobble back out there, mop and pail in hand? That would be rich. Think, Mary; think. There must be someone who Tessa won't override; someone who can swoop down from the sky and save you. And then my knight in shining armour turns the corner, all tall and stately.

"Mr Stokeley, sir." I throw on the plastic smile. "I was just about to come clean your office."

"Well, Mary; get to it then. I'm just heading to the bathroom for a minute. You go right ahead."

"Thank you, Ambassador."

"No need to be thanking me. I should thank you. Pretty young lady like yourself."

My face lights up like Ruby's body. "I'll get right on it, Mr. Stokeley."

The next three hours are spent on Stokeley's office and the other two next door. By the time I finish, she's gone. Miss Nosy steals tentative stares at me as I put pressure on the mop to remove the red stain. Just my luck. Of all the persons who could drag their filthy essence into Stocatta Embassy, why did it have to be that Madawaurian Copper? And why did she have to spill her favourite drink all over my floor, to make my life harder than she already had? Why was she even here? Then it hits me. Why does anyone ever enter Stocatta Embassy? We'd all leave if given the chance; especially the ones with good jobs who want to spend their money in peace.