Desolation // l.p.

Chapter XI

I try to catch my breath, leaning against the door to Mr. Payne's office- the same thing I always seem to do. Between his rude remarks and intimidating frame he leaves me shaking in my shoes. He's so damn intimidating.

I take a deep breath in and push away from the door, leaving behind Mr. Payne and his awful attitude. Lucky for me I won't have to deal with him until lunch. That's three and a half hours for me to get him off of my mind- while I go to his apartment, and pick up his dry cleaning, and buy his mother a gift...

Dammit.

I sit down in my swivel chair, immediately putting the card and slip of paper from Mr. Payne into my purse. God knows if I don't do that now I will likely lose both of them.

"I thought you resigned?" Victoria's prudish voice speaks from her desk. I look up to her just as she sets down her nail file and begins to flip through her magazine. What does this woman even do for her job here? Or is she seriously payed to sit around, file her nails and be lazy while reading Cosmopolitan?

"I had a change of heart." I speak through gritted teeth, slightly angered by her audacity to be an uptight bitch who has her nose stuck so far up in the air that she is suffocating in the ozone layer.

"Darn, I'm sure you would have been easy to replace." She snorts and flips the page in her magazine. I bite my lip, forgetting her and her remark. I turn on my computer, the monitor immediately lights up and I'm glad. The sooner I get this e-mail the sooner I will be able to leave behind Victoria and Mr. Payne. It takes a few minutes for the computer to completely start up as I sit and watch Victoria, noticing how she reads for a few seconds, then types something on the computer, and then she reads again. My guess is that she must be e-mailing someone back and forth. I immediately return my attention to my own computer when it beeps, the small login box pops up and I type in the username and password that I received yesterday after lunch. I had to get the information from the lady that sits by the front doors of the building yesterday since she seems to be the only helpful and somewhat nice person around. I click on the message, bringing it up and read it over. When I'm finally done I hit print and get the paper from the copy room, ready to head out and get the few errands done with.

•••

I slam the door of the taxi and step onto the curb, looking up at the small dry cleaners. The building is small and older, it's brick showing the wear and tear from over the years. It definitely doesn't look like a place you would find Mr. Payne going to but it is the address he gave me. I think.

I pull the folded up paper with the e-mail that I printed and recheck the address,  only to confirm that this is in fact the right place. Surprised, I tuck the paper in my purse and begin to walk towards the frail building. A small bell chimes as I step through the door, taking in the quaint and small place. The inside is definitely nicer than the outside, the floor is lined with marble and walls decorated almost victorianly. A thin brunette walks from a door that disappears into the back of the building, her tall frame and beautiful features make her look more like a model than someone who works at a small dry cleaners. Though I can't lie, it now makes more sense as to why Mr. Payne uses this place. Since the girl who works here looks like someone he would hire. I'm beginning to see a recurring pattern with his taste in women. And then of course- he hired me.

"Can I help you?" she smiles and I return one, walking towards the counter that she is standing behind.

"Yeah, I'm here to pick up the dry cleaning for Liam Payne?" I say asking more of a question than a statement.

"Oh, you're..." she pauses, picking up a sticky note and reading it. "Sarah Fletcher?" she asks looking up at me innocently.

"Yes, that's me." I confirm, wondering why she would have had my name written down.