The next morning, Mr Moore entered the elevator when he spotted Claire enter the building. She walked slower than usual, careful in her steps. She winced halfway through the hall and slowly continued again. Closer to the elevator she looked up and stopped. Mr Moore held the button to keep the door open. He looked at her expectantly.
"I'll get the other elevator." She stated.
"Get in."
"Look, I'm not in the mood for this." She said in an exasperated tone. "I don't really fancy being tossed around this morning."
"Another elevator is out of order."
"I'll take the stairs then." She turned around readying herself for a thirty-six-floor climb.
"Miss Thompson." Mr Moore sighed. "Please, get in the elevator."
Claire raised her brow and silently walked in.
"May I ask you to come into my office for a minute?"
"Are you planning to punch me or the wall?"
"Neither."
"What a surprise!" Claire exclaimed with faked excitement.
"I also wondered if you're attending the investor meeting tomorrow."
"I'm afraid so. Mr Michaelson asked me to present."
"I see."
Claire stood there trying her hardest not to look over at Mr Moore, focusing on the handbag she held in her hand. Mr Moore, on the other hand, was watching her reflection carefully.
The door opened on the forty-second floor and Claire followed Mr Moore to his office. As she entered she started coughing at the strong smell of cigarettes that he went through the night before.
Mr Moore watched her curiously and hurried to open the window.
"You don't smoke?"
"No," Claire admitted.
"I see." He repeated. He walked around the desk and picked up two brown bags. "Pattison bought these as a replacement. I do hope that one of them will be acceptable." He reached his hand out with the bags.
Claire cautiously walked forward and took a peek into the first bag as she took it.
"Mr Moore, when I've said that I didn't want a cheque, I didn't anticipate a replacement. It is not necessary. I do hope that they can be returned as I do not want to waste the funds. There are better ways to allocate company's funds."
"Miss Thompson, please accept these. They weren't bought using the company's budget if that's any reassurance."
"Thank you, I guess." Claire took the bag without much enthusiasm. She left, still unable to interact with Mr Moore without fearing him, yet still showing her calmness.
She made it to her office to find Zoe and Gina waiting for her.
"Everything alright? I don't think I ever saw you coming in this early."
"We heard some rumours and we wanted to check on you," Gina said in her usual worried tone.
"Rumours?"
"What do you have there?" Zoe's eyes were drawn to the brown shopping bag in Claire's hand.
"It's nothing." She said dismissively, walking into her office with the two women in tow.
"Is that clothing?" Zoe wouldn't let it go.
"It is."
"I think I recognise the brand. Where the heck did you get it from?"
"It's kind of a gift."
Zoe grabbed the bag off her and started looking through it. Her eyes widened.
"Okay, who gave you this? Like, these are so expensive!"
"Are they?" Claire blushed and started to feel concerned about it.
"Why do you need ten navy blouses?"
"It's a long story."
"We're listening."
"Mr Moore accidentally stained my blouse. This is compensation for it. I've tried denying it but, honestly, I was worried that he'll explode again."
"Your navy blouse from me?" Gina asked as she looked over Zoe's shoulder.
"Yes."
"It was like a twenty-quid blouse. If you've said that it was damaged, I would've bought you a new one."
"You do realise that this goes for five hundred quid and up, right?" Zoe studied the tags of each blouse.
"Do they?"
"How did Mr Moore manage to damage your blouse?" Gina asked worriedly.
"It was an accident. A spill of sorts." She was very careful with what she said to not worry her friends. "And the stain didn't want to come off."
"And Mr Moore decided to buy you these?"
"I believe it was his assistant that would have done it. I doubt Mr Moore would trouble himself with such trivialities."
"Maybe."
"What were the rumours?" Claire reminded them of the reason why they came in earlier to see her.
"It's going to sound weird but people think it might've been Mr Moore behind your mugging because you irritated him," Gina spoke first.
"I've told you that the elevator incident will bite you in the butt," Zoe said with a smile.
"It wasn't the elevator incident that caused the disagreement. It was the appeal that Gina helped me with."
"I'm so sorry, Claire." Gina gasped.
"It's alright. We've got the 12-week extension and I have been put on the project to overlook the new action plan I've suggested."
"She must be chosen or something. Parker wasn't." Zoe sneered. "But be wary of the elevators."
"I am trying to be. It seems like I have the worst kind of timing for it though."
"I thought that there's a private elevator at the back of the building for him." Gina contemplated out loud
"Yeah, I heard so too. I believe he only uses the main entrance elevator when his personal one is out of order for some reason."
"Really? I'll have to have a look into that." Claire smiled. "If that were the case, why would he take the main elevator? Do you think he purposely tries to catch some of his employees as an excuse to punish someone and unload his temper?"
"I can imagine that." Gina nodded. "I guess that if you're in his position, life is a little too simple, so you do everything to get a bit of excitement."
"Yeah, I guess you're right. Imagine being in the position where your main worry is that you're bored". Claire sighed.
"What would you do with that kind of money?" Gina asked curiously.
"Isn't it obvious?"
"Your mum's treatment and a new place for your parents would barely touch the tip of an iceberg with that kind of money though."
"You don't have to remind me how unfair this world is."
"See, I would go to fashion shows and buy all fancy branded clothes. I would buy fashion brands just for fun. I would go on holidays all the time." Zoe sighed. "I would go to parties and get drunk out of my mind. I'd party with all of those celebrities."
"I would love a good holiday but for me, it would be a villa or two." Gina started daydreaming out loud. "One with one of those infinite swimming pools and a cinema, and a garage full of vintage cars for my JellyBean."
"Does Joe know that he is being called a JellyBean?" Zoe interrupted her.
"I don't think he minds."
"Claire?" Zoe looked back at her. "Surely there's more on your bucket list than just helping your parents?"
"No, not really." Claire smiled. "I'd spend however much I need to make my parents comfortable and I wouldn't care for the rest. Maybe I'd be involved in charities? I think donating it would be quite nice."
"You're so selfless," Gina commented. "I'll get you a coffee before you get on with your day. I did bring some doughnuts!"
"Thank you, Gina. I appreciate it. Even though you really don't have to. You aren't my personal assistant or something."
"It's a pleasure to help a struggling friend."