LOVE AND CHAOS

chapter 7- the project

The development project had started taking more of Alice's time than she expected. Every morning, there was always another document waiting for her, and every afternoon, Anthony seemed to have another meeting or another change he wanted them to look at together.

Alice did not mind the work because she actually enjoyed it, but there was something about the project that had started bothering her.

She could not explain it yet. It was just a feeling that something was not right.

On Tuesday morning, Alice sat at her desk with a cup of coffee beside her and opened the latest financial report. She went through the figures slowly, checking them against the older report Anthony had given her a few days earlier.

At first, everything looked normal,then she noticed something.

Alice moved closer to the computer screen. She checked the number again,then she opened the older document. She looked at both figures but they were different.

"That can't be right," she said.

She went back to the previous pages and started checking again; The amount listed for the road construction was higher in the new document, while the amount for the health centre had been reduced.

Alice frowned. She opened another file and the same thing happened, the numbers did not match.

She checked the dates; The first document had been signed three weeks earlier while the second one had been updated only two days ago.

Alice sat back in her chair. Maybe someone had made a mistake, that was possible. There were many people working on the project, and mistakes happened but still, something about it did not feel like a simple mistake.

She printed both documents and placed them beside each other. For the next hour, she compared every figure she could find. The more she checked, the more differences she found.

Some were small, others were not. One section showed that a certain amount had been approved for the health centre, but another document showed a completely different amount.

There was also a payment listed under a company name she did not remember seeing before.

Alice picked up her phone and took a picture of the name. She then searched through the files again.

Nothing

She leaned back and stared at the papers. "Okay, what is going on?" she asked herself.

She decided to ask someone. She picked up the phone and called one of the staff members who had worked on the project before her.

"Hello, Mr. Collins" "Yes, Alice?"

"Please, I need to ask you something about the development proposal" "Which part?" "The financial documents"

There was a short silence

"Why?"he asked. "I noticed that some of the figures are different" she replied

"Different how?" Alice explained what she had found

Mr. Collins became quiet again. "I think you should speak to Mr. Marshall about that," he finally said.

"I was planning to" "Good".

"Do you know anything about the company listed here?" He asked her. She read the name to him. Another silence followed "No"

"You are sure?"she asked. "Yes"

Alice frowned "Okay, thank you" "You're welcome"

The call ended.

Alice looked at the company name again; something was bothering her now. If Mr. Collins did not know the company, so why was it included in the new report? She picked up the documents and walked to Anthony's office.

She knocked

"Come in" Anthony was on a phone call, so Alice waited near the door. He looked at her and pointed to the chair and she sat down.

A few minutes later, he ended the call. "What is it?"he asked her.

Alice placed the documents on his desk. "I found something in the proposal," she answered.

Anthony looked at the papers "What?"

"These figures don't match" He picked up the first document. "Which figures?"he asked. Alice pointed at them and said, "This amount was approved in the first report, but it was changed in this one".

Anthony looked at the second document and read it carefully.

"Where did you get these?" "They were both in the project files". He looked at her

"Are you sure you didn't miss something?" Alice frowned. "I checked them more than once," she replied.

Anthony looked back at the documents. For a moment, he said nothing.

Then he placed them on the desk "I'll look into it"

Alice did not move. "That's all?”she asked.

"What do you mean?" "I thought we were working on this together," she added.

"We are" "Then shouldn't we find out what happened?"

Anthony looked at her for a few seconds and said "I said I'll look into it".

Alice noticed something in his voice; It was not the same calm voice he normally used with her.

"Is there a problem?"she asked.

"No" "Then why do you sound like there is?" Anthony sighed.

"Alice, there are things about this project that you don't need to worry about".

She stared at him and said, "But I am working on it and I need to understand what I am working on."

Anthony looked away.

For a moment, he seemed to be thinking about what to say "Just leave this part to me" Alice was not satisfied."Why?"she asked. "Because I said so,"he replied.

The room became quiet.

Alice had never heard him speak to her like that before. She picked up the papers

"Alright" she said as she stood up. Anthony looked at her.

"Alice"

She stopped. "I'm not trying to be difficult," he said.

"I know" "I just don't want you getting involved in something you don't understand."

She looked at him and said,"Then explain it to me".

Anthony did not answer. Alice waited,then he finally said, "I'll talk to you later." She nodded and walked out.

As soon as she returned to her office, she dropped the papers on the desk. She was annoyed

Not because Anthony had refused to answer her

But because his reaction had made her even more curious. If there was nothing wrong, why was he so uncomfortable?

Alice sat down and opened the documents again.

She looked at the strange company name, then she looked at the changed figures. She knew she should leave it alone. Anthony had told her to.

But something inside her kept telling her not to

She had seen enough at work to know that numbers did not simply change for no reason

Someone had changed them, and she wanted to know who

Later that afternoon, Alice was called into a small meeting with two other staff members. They were discussing the next stage of the project when one of them mentioned the same company Alice had found in the documents. She looked up immediately

"Which company?" She asked.

The man repeated the name. Alice felt a strange feeling in her stomach. "Has that company worked with the Ministry before?"

The man looked at her "I don't think so" "Then why is it on the proposal?"

He shrugged. "Maybe they were recently added," he said.

"By who?"she asked. "I don't know."

Alice looked at the other person in the room. "Do you know anything about them?" She asked. "No"

The meeting continued, but Alice could barely focus. When it ended, she stayed behind. She opened the file again and checked the page. There was a signature beside the company's name. The signature belonged to someone in the department and Alice knew the person's name.

She had seen him several times around the Ministry

She picked up her phone and sent a message to a colleague.Do you know anything about this company?

The reply came a few minutes later. Why are you asking?

Alice stared at the message and then typed. I saw them in the development proposal.

There was no reply. She waited for about five minutes. Finally, her phone vibrated

Don't involve yourself too much in that project

Alice frowned. She read the message again then she replied.

Why?

The message was seen but there was no answer. Alice put the phone down. For the first time, she felt uneasy.

It was one thing for Anthony to tell her to leave something alone, It was another thing for someone else to warn her about the same thing.

She looked around the office. Everyone was busy with their own work. Nothing looked strange

But suddenly, Alice felt like someone was watching her.

She turned around. A man standing at the end of the hallway looked in her direction and their eyes met. He immediately turned and walked away as Alice stood up

"Wait"

She walked toward the door but by the time she reached the hallway, the man was gone. She looked left and right, .Nothing

She returned to her office and closed the door.

Her heart was beating faster than before. She did not know who that man was and she did not know why he had been looking at her. But she knew one thing; The project was not as simple as it looked.

That evening, Alice stayed back after most people had left.

She told herself she was only finishing some work but deep down, she knew she was looking for answers.

She opened the project files again and checked the documents one after another. There were several versions of the proposal. She opened an older copy, then another, and another.

Suddenly, she noticed something.

A page was missing from one of the files. She checked the printed version, the page was there. She looked at the digital copy again, it was missing

Alice frowned.

She checked the document history. Someone had removed the page.

Her heart skipped. She clicked on the details, the file had been edited two nights ago at 11:48 p.m. Alice stared at the screen. Who was working on a government proposal at that time? She continued reading. There was a username attached to the edit but she did not recognize it.

Alice copied the name into her notebook.

She was about to close the file when her phone rang.

She jumped slightly. Unknown number

She stared at the screen. For a moment, she thought about the strange call she had received before. The same kind of call. She answered carefully

"Hello?". Nobody spoke. Alice sat still "Hello?" She said again. Still silent.

She could hear faint breathing on the other end.

"Who is this?"she asked. Still nothing

Her hand tightened around the phone.

"Please, if you have something to say, say it" The call ended. Alice slowly lowered the phone

Her heart was beating hard.

She looked at the project file on her computer, then at the notebook where she had written the username and suddenly wished she had never opened those documents.

Her phone vibrated again. She almost dropped it. This time, it was a message. She opened it

You were warned

Alice stared at the screen. Her hands became cold

She looked around the empty office, nobody was there. She quickly locked her computer and packed her things.

As she walked out of the building, she kept looking behind her. The Ministry was almost empty now, and the hallway felt different from the way it did during the day.

When she reached the entrance, she stopped

Across the road was the same black car she had seen before.

Alice stared at it. The car was parked quietly with its lights off, so she could not see who was inside. She stood there for a few seconds then the car started moving. It passed slowly in front of the Ministry before disappearing down the road.

Alice remained where she was

She did not know whether the car had anything to do with the warning. She did not know whether someone had been following her but she could no longer tell herself that everything was normal.

Someone knew what she was doing

Someone knew she had been checking the documents and someone clearly wanted her to stop. Alice took out her phone and called Anthony

He answered after some time.

"Hello?"

"Sir" Her voice sounded different and Anthony noticed immediately. "What happened?"he asked.

"I found something else in the project documents" she answered.

There was silence. "What did you find?" Anthony asked her. Alice looked toward the road where the black car had disappeared.

"Someone has been changing the files" Anthony did not respond.

"Sir?"she called. "I'm listening" "I also received another warning" she continued. Anthony's voice became serious

"What warning?" Alice hesitated

"Someone told me I was warned" Another silence.

Then Anthony said something that made her heart sink.

"Alice, go home"

"What?" "Go home now" "Why?" "Just do what I'm telling you"

"But you haven't answered my question" "I will"

"When?" "Tomorrow" Alice frowned. "Why not now?"she asked.

"Because I need to make sure of something first" She could hear the seriousness in his voice.

"Are you in danger?" she asked. Then he said, "I don't know"

Alice became quiet

It was the first time she had heard uncertainty in his voice.

"Anthony" she called out. He paused when she called his name instead of sir.

"Yes?" "What is going on?" "I promise I'll tell you"

"Promise?" "Yes"

Alice looked around again "Okay" "Get home safely" "I will" The call ended.

Alice stood there for a moment before putting her phone away. She had more questions than she had before, and now she was beginning to wonder if Anthony knew much more than he had told her. She walked toward the road and stopped a taxi

As the car moved away, Alice looked through the window.

The Ministry became smaller behind her but the feeling that someone was watching her did not disappear. She held her bag tightly and looked down at her phone.

Gerald's name was still in her recent calls. For a moment, she thought about calling him. She wanted to hear his voice, she wanted to tell him what had happened but something stopped her. She did not know why.

Maybe she was afraid of bringing him into the problem, maybe she was afraid that the warning was somehow connected to him or maybe she was simply scared. Alice put the phone away

Outside, the city lights moved past the window.

She closed her eyes for a moment. She had entered the project thinking it was just another assignment at work.

Now she was beginning to realize that it was something much bigger, and somewhere behind all those missing documents, changed figures and secret warnings, there was a truth someone was desperately trying to hide.

The only question was; How far would they go to keep Alice from finding it?