Chapter 2
1458 Words
Nora's POV
Taylor has yet still refused to give up on the idea of finding me a man, despite what had happened with Jacob.
She had claimed that was his ex and that she shouldn't have been there that day.
"Maybe someone had tipped her off." Taylor had said.
She apologized of course regarding the whole mess and Brian did too. But yet, she still refused to let me be in peace.
She wants me to get back out there by all means and have some "fun."
"Taylor, I am having fun." I protested.
"Nora, hanging out with me isn't fun!" Taylor shouted. "Go and get a man!"
"Hey, here's a good idea: why don't you get a megaphone and SHOUT IT ON TOP OF THE ROOF!!!" I yelled back, laughing, and Taylor teasingly bumped into my shoulder before finally deciding to give up.
"Honestly, I don't know what to do with you." She said, picking up her cleaning bucket as we finished mopping the hallway assigned to us.
"Trust me, T," I finally said, "When it's time for me to get a man, I definitely will. Stop trying to link me up with men that I don't want."
"I will not stop until you bring home a man." She said, determined, and I laughed despite myself.
"Okay MOM." I responded, shaking my head.
We had just finished cleaning the whole building our group had been hired to take care of when the manager called us all together to inform us something had happened.
"What do you mean we can't go home?" One of the ladies working with us asked.
"I'm sorry everyone," The manager said, "But we need you all to do one final sweep of the whole building before you leave."
There was a mishap with the venting system and now the whole building was covered in dust— all over again.
"How is that our problem? Shouldn't the next group take care of it?" Another lady asked.
"I know, and I'm sorry. I genuinely understand how stressful this must be for you all." The manager pleaded, trying to convince us to stay just a couple more hours and do some light cleaning before we go.
And after much begging, we all finally agreed to do a quick sweep of the whole building before calling it a day.
Taylor and I had just finished cleaning our 7th apartment when we started walking towards our last.
"Do you think someone tried to break in and tampered with the machine as a distraction?" Taylor, asked.
"Why would anyone wanna break into this s**t house?" I replied. "All I know is the manager needs to pay us extra for all this."
"I doubt he's gonna do that. You know how stingy he is." Taylor scoffed as we knocked on our final door and waited for whoever was inside to answer us.
"And by the way, you're going on a date with Brian's cousin next week." Taylor then said. "He's coming for a visit."
"Hell no." I said, quickly. "Taylor, give up already."
"Never." She pronounced, lifting her chin stubbornly and I couldn't help but laugh.
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK
Taylor knocked again.
"Maybe this one's empty." I said to her, and Taylor leaned in, placing her ear on the door to listen for any sign of movement inside.
She almost stumbled inside as the door suddenly flew open but luckily I caught her and pulled her back.
"Oh, hi." The man inside said, puffing out smoke from his cigarette on our faces.
"Sir, smoking isn't allowed in here." Taylor protested, waving her hand in an attempt to blow the smoke away.
"I paid for the room, didn't I? I can smoke wherever I want" The man said, leaning against the door in his bath towel.
He sure is arrogant but I don't really care and I wasn't in the mood to challenge him. I just want to finish up my job and go home to get some good rest.
Thankfully, he was more respectful to us unlike the last 3 perverts we met along the way.
And finally, we were done.
Taylor and I were just about approaching the elevator together when the manager came to us again, and told us he needed us to clean the private office built on top of the building.
It seems everyone else had gone home, leaving us both, and the rest of the crew had forgotten about the office upstairs.
"Can you two handle it? I really need to go see someone right now, so... I'll see you guys tomorrow?" He said, glancing at his watch as he stepped into the elevator, leaving Taylor and I standing there with our buckets and mops in hand.
"Sir! Find someone else to do it." Taylor protested.
"Good night!" The manager said with his hand raised, as the elevator door went shut.
"Oh my God..." Taylor groaned. "It's almost 10 pm. Nora I really can't do this anymore. I'm exhausted."
I was exhausted too but I really can't complain. I needed this job.
"It's okay T," I said to her as I drew my cleaning bucket closer while adjusting my hair for one final round of cleaning. "How about you go home and let me finish up with the cleaning?"
"Oh my God, really? Are you sure?" Taylor asked.
"Yeah." I replied, smiling. "It's just one small office."
"Nora, I'm going to marry you in my next life." Taylor said, pulling me in for a good squeeze.
"Yeah, yeah," I said. "Go on now. I'll finish up and then head home right after."
"See you later!" Taylor said, as she walked in the elevator.
"Alright Nora," I murmured to myself, "Let's get this over with."
I'd finally made my way up to the top of the building to finish up with the cleaning when I saw how massive the place was.
It was much bigger than I thought.
"This is going to take a while." I breathed asI flicked the lights on and got ready to begin working.
Putting on some music on my phone, I decided to enjoy the moment as no one else was in here with me.
I danced and cleaned with joy while singing along to my favorite playlists, forgetting all the worries that awaited me outside the four walls I was in.
I was in my moment and no one was going to take this away from me.
I'd just finished cleaning a small section when I heard a clatter from behind the door leading to another space within the office, loud enough that the sound echoed through the music blasting in my ears.
"What was that?" I asked myself as I paused the music.
Curious to know what it was, I decided to go and have a look, only to open the door and find a man dressed in all black pointing a gun at another man the moment I walked in.
It seems the two were having a fight.
They both turned to look at me the moment I walked in, surprised to see me as much as I was to see them.
"What the f**k?" I said, subconsciously, as I froze in that moment.
"Nora?" The man holding the gun called. "You shouldn't be here."
Taking advantage of the distraction I had created, the other man lunged forward, and made a desperate attempt to reach for the gun.
But he was too slow.
BANG! BANG!! The man holding the gun shot him twice in the chest and gave one last shot just to make sure— BANG!
"Oh God!" I screamed as the sound echoed through the walls and I backed away immediately, with my back hitting against the door.
"I—I swear, I wasn't here. I didn't see anything." I said to the man, who was now turning to face me, as my hand searched frantically for the door knob. "Please, you can just let me go. I swear, I won't say anything. I saw NOTHING."
"Come here." The man ordered and my legs moved immediately.
But instead of moving towards him, I turned and bolted as I successfully pulled the door open. Only to be stopped by another figure that appeared out of nowhere and grabbed me before I could go any further.
"HELP!—" I screamed but my mouth soon went shut when the man covered my nose with a white handkerchief and I started feeling numb, before passing out.
- Writer
