Owen wrung the mop out before putting it over the pool of vomit. Not his favorite part of the job, but not the worst either. Puke was something that he'd come to expect periodically from the kindergarten classes, since especially little children tended to not be as self-aware as the older kids in the school, and so would be more likely to not realize they needed to get to a toilet or something before the contents of their stomachs came up.
He also couldn't really blame the kids for that, since that was part of them growing up. Plus, it didn't take long to clean up the puke anyway. At least it wouldn't if the rumors he'd heard about the school getting carpeting in the kindergarten classrooms wasn't true. If it was, then that would either necessitate him getting a carpet shampooer or it would make cleaning this up a lot more of a pain.
"Thanks again Owen," the kindergarten teacher said from the door of the room that led out to the playground as she kept an eye of her students.
"No problem," Owen replied amicably. "Messes like these are to be expected when dealing with kids that young."
"Doesn't really matter how young they are, throw up is still awful to have to clean up."
"Maybe, but with this job, you get used to it after a while. Especially with the youngest of the kids here."
"Either way, it's still a big help to get it cleaned up."
"All part of the job, Olivia," Owen said as he finished cleaning up the puke. Which fortunately was mostly liquid, not really any solid chunks to deal with.
"Mr. Andrews, please report to the office immediately," a voice over the PA system sounded.
Owen sighed. What problem was there this time? It always seemed to be one thing or another.
"Have a nice day, Owen," the teacher said as he left.
"Take care of yourself as well," Owen replied, as he collected his mop bucket and left the room.
He didn't immediately go to the office, since he first needed to empty the mop water and put the bucket and mop away. If he left it outside of the office, he'd have to clean it up later, since it wouldn't be the first time it got knocked over, either by accident or by some kid wanting to make a mess.
So, when he got to the office, he wasn't surprised to see the principal annoyed with him. What was surprising was how many people there were. The superintendent and a few other people he didn't recognize were in the principals office.
"Sorry for taking so long," Owen said, as if him being called to the office with these people was something that happened all the time. "Was in the middle of cleaning up a mess when you called me here."
"Sit down, Mr. Andrews," the principal snapped.
Trying not to look concerned, he sat down while his mind raced over what the problem could be. Especially since he hadn't done anything wrong or been late for the past few weeks.
Unless, they needed him to tell them what he witnessed at some time or another, he realized. Was he being used as a witness for something? He couldn't think of anything that he might have seen that would necessitate so many people in the office at once.
"It has come to our attention that you have been looking at students in an inappropriate manner, Mr. Andrews," the principal said after a minute of silence.
Owen was shocked. He'd never looked at any kid, let along any of the students here in an inappropriate manner. Where was this coming from?
"Do you have anything to say in regards to these allegations, Mr. Andrews?" the principal asked.
Ever since the principal arrived, she hadn't liked Owen, but Owen couldn't figure out why. He assumed it was because of how there's just some people you take an immediate dislike to and nothing can change that. Despite that, he'd always figured they could still work in the same place despite that.
However, he knew that couldn't be the only reason for this. Especially with accusations of this nature. If the principal was making this up herself, this would have to go way beyond simple dislike and Owen was quite sure the principal wasn't like that.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Owen merely replied. In all honesty he didn't. He was completely blindsided by this.
"Well, be that as it may, we're going to have to suspend you until a formal independent investigation is conducted," the principal said. "Until this is over, you are not to set foot on the property of this school for any reason, except if we request you to return for any additional information, as unlikely as that will be."
Owen sighed. It looked like whatever is being alleged, the principal was moving quickly to get him out of the building. Which was annoying in itself, since he'd known a few teachers and a couple students that had had similar allegations against them and nothing was done to them while the investigation was made.
Some of it he understood, given this was a private school and not a public one. Where the school itself didn't like unpleasant publicity that could affect student enrollment. However, he couldn't help but feel that the principal's dislike for him was what was spurring this whole suspension thing on.
Shaking his head, he went to the staff locker room so he could change out of his uniform, although he was very conscious of one of the people who had been in the office accompanying him to the locker room. Clearly making sure that he didn't do anything in retaliation or whatever it was they felt he'd actually done.
Inside the locker room, he changed quickly, trying to ignore the knowledge of his 'babysitter' outside the changing stall. Even after he was done changing, he stayed in the stall for a minute longer, trying to calm his emotions and thoughts about the matter. He'd seen careers ruined over simple allegations and while he didn't have a position that would be as impacted as some of the other jobs here, he could still see his life being flushed down the drain from this alone.
When he was as calm as he felt he could make himself, he exited the stall and made his way back to the office. Even though he'd been suspended, he still needed to make arrangements for his paycheck. After all, he was only being suspended. For them to withhold his pay, they would need more than just allegations during the investigation.
And so, while he normally had to pick up his paycheck at the office, since he wouldn't be allowed on the property during the investigation, he would need to get arrangements made so they would send him his check rather than making him pick it up since he wasn't, in essence, allowed to do that.
As he entered the office, the secretary gave him a look of surprise. "You're not supposed to be here," the secretary said.
"I haven't left yet, so I'm not violating anything," Owen replied, although he wasn't really confident about that fact. "I just came back to make arrangements to have my paycheck sent to my house."
The secretary gave him a level look, one that said he was being unnecesarily difficult. "Mr. Andrews, you know full well that unless there is a viable reason that you can't pick up your paycheck here in person yourself, then you can not have it sent to a location outside the school," the secretary told him.
"I was told that I wouldn't be allowed on the property until the investigation is over. How am I supposed to pick up my paycheck if I'm not allowed on the property?" Owen asked, trying to keep his patience in check.
"That is not our problem," the secretary replied as if she was dealing with a troublesome child. "You should have thought of that before you did what you did."
Owen was shocked. These were allegations against him, not convictions. "So, you're saying that I can't pick up my paycheck unless I come onto the school's property myself. That I can't have it sent to my home and I can't have someone, at my behest, come and pick it up for me?" he asked, mostly to verify what he was being told.
"That's is correct, Mr. Andrews," the secretary told him. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have work to do."
Owen felt the urge to push everything off of the secretary's desk, but was able to restrain himself because he knew for a fact that doing something as childish as that wouldn't help him at all.
What he needed to do was seek out an attorney. Someone who would be able to help him out with getting his paycheck. After all, he hadn't been suspended without pay and he'd tried to make arrangements for his paycheck to be sent to him.
If they wanted a fight and the possibility of publicity over this matter getting stirred up, that was their business. He would do what he needed to do to survive this ordeal. Especially since he knew he hadn't done anything wrong. He barely even looked at the kids around te school. His job was pretty much all he focused on.
As he stepped outside the school, he sighed. He couldn't say what might come of this, but he also knew that he wasn't going to take this lying down. He would do what he had to do.
Then as he took the first step down towards the parking lot, he suddenly found himself waking up in the room for the competition of whatever he had gotten himself roped into.