Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 66184 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 331(@200wpm)___ 265(@250wpm)___ 221(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66184 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 331(@200wpm)___ 265(@250wpm)___ 221(@300wpm)
As I’m looking around my office for a good spot to display it, Jackie sticks her head in. “Ana?”
“Yes? Hi, Jackie. Good morning.”
My usually amiable associate isn’t smiling. “Good morning. Um … have you been over by the break room yet?”
I glance toward my lunch bag, which is still sitting on my desk. “Not yet. Why?”
“There’s a bit of a problem over on that side of the office. A … smell.”
“A smell?”
“Yeah, I’m afraid it might be a little something left from one of the furry visitors on Friday. It wasn’t my girl, though. She was by my side all day, and I took her outside for frequent potty breaks.” Jackie adds quickly.
Oh geez, this can’t be good. If one of the dogs or cats had an accident on Friday, it’s been setting into the carpet all weekend. I was thinking the first pet day had gone incredibly well, but apparently I thought too soon.
Sure enough, as I cross the space, the odor starts out faint and grows stronger as I near the corner just past the break room. It smells like pee, not poop, and initially that seems like a good thing, but then I realize urine will have seeped into the carpeting much more than a solid mess would have.
As I try to find the source of the smell, other employees whose desks are in the vicinity arrive and immediately begin complaining. I can’t blame them; it smells pretty gross.
It definitely needs to be handled right away, but first I need to find the exact location of the problem. After a first and second pass, I can’t find any visible stains, though the carpet is gray with light and dark areas, probably intentionally designed to hide stains.
“Hey, what happened back here?” It’s the marketing director, Owen, and while everyone else has been in an instant bad mood about the smell, his tone sounds sympathetic.
“Apparently, someone had an accident on Friday.”
He lifts his hands in innocence. “It wasn’t me, I swear, but I did see Rob turning circles in this corner Friday afternoon.”
I crack up, grateful to him for lightening the mood. “It needs to be cleaned, but I can’t find the actual source.”
Owen starts helping me look, and after moving a chair out of a vacant cubicle and crawling under a desk, he finds it.
“I’ll go get some spray cleaner,” I say. “I don’t suppose there’s vinegar in the kitchen, is there?”
He shakes his head. “Not that I’m aware of.”
“I’m probably going to have to bring in professional carpet cleaners. The best I can do right now is mask the smell.”
All of a sudden, Derek and Jansen are there. I hardly ever see them out of their offices, and never at the same time, but they just had to choose this moment to appear.
“What’s going on?” Derek’s voice is gruff. Jansen wrinkles his nose.
“There was an accident on Friday, apparently. I’ll get it taken care of.”
“I knew bringing animals in was a bad idea,” Jansen says.
I step in close to them, so I can keep my voice low. “It’s just a little oopsy. A minor inconvenience, well worth the goodwill created by allowing people to bring their pets in.”
“It doesn’t smell minor,” Derek says coldly, “and here you are having to deal with it, instead of doing actual work.”
“It won’t take long. I’ll get it taken care of.”
The men don’t look happy—what else is new?—but thankfully, they walk into the break room without another word.
I tell Owen I’ll be right back and head to the supply closet for cleaner, then to the restroom, where I remember seeing a can of air freshener. When I return, there’s no sign of the CEO grumps, but Owen has moved all the furniture out of the vacant cubicle.
“The stain went way under the desk, all the way to the wall,” he explains, wincing.
“Oh no. Well, thank you very much for your help.” I recall that Owen didn’t even bring in a pet on Friday, so it’s not as if he’s acting out of a guilty conscience.
Nevertheless, he takes the bottle of cleaner from my hands. “I’ll get it. You’re dressed too nicely to be dealing with messes.” Still smiling, he casts an appreciative glance at my dress, the kind of glance that makes me wonder if he might be the person who gave me the dolphin figurine this morning.
“You don’t have to do that. I can get it.”
“Not a problem.” He sprays the floor thoroughly, and when he’s done, I follow up with the rose-scented air freshener. “I suppose we’ll need to let it air out,” he says. “Let me know when you’d like me to move the furniture back.”
“Thank you for your help. I really appreciate it.”
“Anytime, Ana.” After an extra beat of eye contact, he heads back to his desk, and I make apologies to people who sit in the area, assuring them I’ll have professional carpet cleaners in as soon as possible.