With a click of her trusty stapler, Delilah fastened another stack of documents together in one neat pile. By her count, that made the fourth set of paperwork she had gotten through today. Glancing at the clock, she took a rare moment to pause, considering whether she could fit another set in before she was due to go home. If she needed it, she could probably convince her manager to give her some overtime. Not for the pay, of course. That wasn't the important thing right now. Picking up the next stack, she briefly looked at the calendar pinned to the cubicle wall.
For the first time since she had been employed by Grandvale-Lilton, Delilah had been filled with a sense of purpose. The endless stream of documents and forms that had so often felt meaningless were finally paving the way towards something, or in this case, someone that mattered. It had been 30 days since Ms. Verity had promised her a reward if she was the most productive member of her office for the month, and she had been utterly determined that she would get it.
Just as she was about to resume working, the phone on Delilah's desk rang. She hadn't ever been sure it even worked - It was an old, corded telephone, not the sort that many people brought these days, and she had never really had to use it. It wasn't like anyone had much reason to call a specific cubicle on floor 3 anyway. She answered with an inquisitive, "Hello?"
"Hiii, this is Cherry from the Employee Discipline department," a cheerful voice rang out. "Is this Miss Tilly? Don't worry, you're not in trouble!" She added. Delilah imagined that a call from the department was rarely good news.
"Oh, hi! Yes, it's me. We met. Last month. Uh, sort of. Briefly." Delilah recalled their trip in the elevator together after her last meeting with Ms. Verity, squirming a little at the memory. "Did you need something?"
"Don't worry, I remember!" Cherry replied in a singsong tone. "I have a note here saying that Ms. Verity made a little promise to you last month. She's had me look at your records and she's
very
impressed. She said, 'Oh, what a delightfully good little worker bee she is!', or something like that." Cherry's attempt at an English accent was, quite honestly, terrible, but it made Delilah smirk a little.
"Yeah, that sounds like her alright. Almost."
"Anyway! She would like to invite you out to dinner at a restaurant tonight. She'll come down to you and pick you up so you two can head over. Okay?"
"A restaurant? Tonight?" Delilah looked at the clock. It was late afternoon already. "Oh, geez... That's such short notice..."
"...is that a no?"
Delilah's immediate instinct would usually be to try to reschedule to give herself a bit more notice, but that hardly felt like an option here. "No, don't worry, I'll go!" She insisted.
"I mean, you don't have to sound so reluctant about it. If you don't go, she'll just use the reservations for someone else. She could always take me instead!" Delilah frowned and was about to interject before Cherry quickly added, "But I'll let her know. Have a fun timeeeee!" With a click, Cherry hung up.
What was that supposed to mean? I wasn't being reluctant
, Delilah though.
And it's supposed to be my reward, not hers!
She sat there, dwelling on it for a moment, until she finally shook it from her mind.
_____
Delilah stared at the handkerchief that sat on her desk. It was the one Ms. Verity had given her at their last meeting. She must have walked out with it in hand, forgetting to give it back, in the intense afterglow she was in following their last 'session'. She had, of course, washed it since then, but she had brought it to work and left it on her desk so she could give it back the next time she saw her. It also served as a memento of their last encounter.
Embroidered in the corner were the letters 'J. E. V.' in elegant golden cursive. Jessica E. Verity, Delilah presumed. She sat there in thought for a moment, before calling over the wall of her cubicle.
"Hey, Suzanne? You know Ms. Verity?"
"Uhhh... The one who saw you at that disciplinary hearing? I know
of
her. Why?" Between the shuffling of papers and the distraction in her voice, it was clear that only half of Suzanne's attention was on replying to her question.
"Do you know what her middle name is?"
"Uh... No idea. Why would I? Look it up on the staff directory, hun."
Of course! Grandvale-Lilton maintained an internal directory of all staff in the building. Delilah searched for 'Jessica Verity' and soon found her profile. Jessica Esmé Verity. A name as elegant as Delilah had expected, though she was a little disappointed that there was barely any information available beyond that.
She was, apparently, Senior Department Manager of the Employee Discipline Department and Chair of the Cross-Departmental Disciplinary Committee. She had been employed at the company for 24 years. By Delilah's count, her date of birth made her 44 years old. Beyond that, the rest of the page was sparse. Delilah frowned. Executive management typically used their pages to make themselves look a little more human to their subordinates, but there was nothing like that here. No hobbies, no boasting, nothing.
The one other thing on the page was Ms. Verity's photo. Unlike the photos of lowly workers like Delilah, who had bland, poorly lit photos taken for their company ID when they joined, it was a professional headshot. She seemed to look a few years younger but had the same long, flowing blonde hair, piercing green eyes, and confident grin of a lioness looking down at her prey. Even looking at the photo, it felt like Ms. Verity's gaze was peering into Delilah's very soul.
"I must say, I
did
