97 First deliverable (2)

Sarah got to her office and exhaled. She was irritated by the thought that there are people who think that anything can be theirs as long as they pay enough. And that maybe works on people who need money or something else, but she is not one of those people.

Sarah sat on the sofa and thought about why she is here. When she saw Aiden work so much, she wanted to share his burden with him. She wanted to be present in every part of his life. So far, it's working, and she got what she wanted. It's all about him, Aiden became center of her world, and everything revolves around him. She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath and appreciating her reality of life that includes Aiden.

Sarah's phone buzzed few times, and she checked it. It was a message on work chat app. Aiden was asking her to come to his office.

Sarah stood up and walked over.

"You called?" She was happy to see him.

"Yes, close the door and come here. You need to see something." He gestured to the screen of his computer, and his expression was not good.

He was serious, and Sarah got a bad feeling. She walked over and looked at the screen. He was looking at the report for the work she did earlier that day. It was about a factory which had hidden facilities underground. Sarah was not sure what seems to be the problem. Did she miss something? She followed the steps and everything they discussed previously. And she was not traced back. What could be so wrong that he looks like that?

Aiden was not sure how to start. He hesitated for some time. "Some information is not here. I don't think that you will miss such a thing, so I wanted to talk to you about this. We can figure out what happened, together."

Sarah was confused. "What is missing?"

"Information about the building itself."

Sarah closed her eyes and went through her memory... when she did this, she could see images flash in front of her eyes. Her memory allowed her that when she closes her eyes, it's almost as she is flipping thought a book full of images, and everything she saw earlier is recorded. When she saw blueprints of floor plans, she opened her eyes. "Impossible."

She scrolled through the report and saw that all sections about building information are empty. Only titles are there, and no content. Sarah pulled a chair for herself, used Aiden's laptop to remote to the PC in her office, and she looked through the files that she retrieved, they are still there... she found multiple blueprints and opened the files. "Why is this not in the report?" She showed him the files.

Sarah checked the team share where she copied the results and files related to building info were not there. "Not possible. I copied all files. I didn't select anything individually. So why are these missing?"

Sarah thought for a minute before speaking. "Do we keep logs with history of changes for these shares?"

Aiden nodded, and started typing an email. "Our operation team manages this. I'm sending them a request to give us the logs, this will be faster. They are kept separately."

Sarah rested her chin on her hand. "Another thing... is there a way to find out who worked on which part of the report?"

"I will ask those three."

"No." Sarah thought of something. "Ask only Fox and Daniel. And ask them separately, in person."

"You think that Evalina did this on purpose?"

"Who else?" Sarah shrugged.

After about a minute, logs from ops arrived for that file share. They showed that user 'evalro' deleted number of files that afternoon from the share. File names matched the ones with information about the building. Sarah looked at Aiden with a look that said: 'I told you so.'

'evalro' is Evalina's alias in the company.

"Why would she do this?" Aiden was confused.

Sarah saw that Aiden is oblivious to some things, especially about women and relationships. He needs to realize how women can be cruel. She is happy to offer her guidance. "What happens to the report after it's created?"

"I review it, then send it to Jeff. Once it's approved it goes to the customer."

"You and Jeff would notice that this information is missing, right?"

"Yes. But isn't this too much? If I don't know you, I would start doubting that you are not competent." Aiden shook his head.

"I think you are on the right track…" Sarah smiled. "In a normal case, you would talk with Jeff about this, keep a closer eye on me... maybe catch some more issues like these, and eventually I lose my job. Right?"

"This is serious." He frowned and looked at Sarah with concern.

"Don't underestimate woman's jealousy." Sarah shook her head. She was happy that Aiden could see this side of Evalina. She is not so friendly and innocent as she portrays herself. "Let's find out who did which part of the report next."

"Why do you think that is relevant? We already know that she deleted files."

"If she worked on this part in the report, then she is working alone. If Fox or Daniel worked on this part, there are two options, either they are in this together, or Evalina is implicating them without their knowledge. I will leave that part to you to figure out, mister team lead." Sarah looked at Aiden who was lost in his thoughts, obviously muddled by this situation. Sarah concluded that he never dealt with issues between coworkers. She sighed and held his face in his hands. "I hope that you are this dazed because it's your first time facing this conflict, and not because you are disappointed in Evalina."

Aiden snapped out of it. "Of course, I'm disappointed in Evalina. But not because of anything romantic. I'm disappointed that she would throw someone else under the bus, and jeopardize project which involves the whole team… for what? Because of her one-sided interest?" He sighed.

Sarah saw that he is troubled. She hugged him.

Aiden rested his chin on Sarah's shoulder and inhaled her scent. "I would be disappointed if it's anyone else. The fact that she is sabotaging you, it's making it much worse, and I am taking it personally. Because it involves you. And because it involves her." Aiden reluctantly admitted. "I hired her three years ago, and I'm taking this incident as my failure. I failed to see that she is not a good team player, and that is most important. Everything else can be learned, but if someone lacks character, that is one thing that can't be fixed. I failed to see that." He sighed again. "But this is work, I need to cool off and deal with this rationally."

Aiden appreciated that Sarah is next to him, holding him. It helped him calm down.

Sarah felt that he relaxed and inched away from him. She gave him a quick kiss on the lips and smiled.

He smiled as well. It was the first time in office that she kissed him. Somehow, all worries became nonexistent.

"Send me this version of report. I will add missing pieces." Sarah stood up and looked at Aiden. "Don't let Evalina find out about this. Let her think that she succeeded, for now."

He looked up at her and raised an eyebrow. "Wow, women are scary!" He was back in his playful-teasing mode.

Sarah squinted. "Don't put me in the same category with other women. When my anger flares up, only ashes remain."

Aiden stood up and his right hand went around her waist while his left hand held the back of her head. And he kissed her.

Sarah could tell that he was holding back. At first.

He spoke in her lips. "I don't dare to put you in the same category with anyone else. You are in a league of your own."

"Don't forget that." She whispered back and at that moment forgot that they are at work.

When his hands started exploring her body, and back of her thighs pressed on his desk, she became aware that they are his office, and there are people outside. She held his hands, panting. "Let's finish work and go home. There are some areas of apartment that we need to check out."

Aiden watched her longingly as she adjusted her clothes and walked out. Then he sent her the almost-finished report and called Fox to come to his office.