Chapter 7: Clarification.

I got to the lab shortly, after practically flying. I am quite sure Usain Bolt would have felt threatened if he had seen me. Unfortunately, after my speed and all I still got to the lab drenched to the bone, looking like a drowned rat.

I walked in slowly, shoes squeaking, my hair sticking to my clothes and my clothes dripping water on the perfectly tiled floor.

"Geez what happened to you?" I looked up to see Naomi looking at me.

Why was she looking at me like that, definitely I look better than I thought?

"The rain obviously," I replied

"Take care of it before you catch a cold." she motioned to my entire self. I nodded as I walked on towards the lab to get my spare clothes and her going back to work.

"By the way where is Anne, I saw both of you leave together?"

Oh, crap. What do I tell her, I was yet to come up with a reasonable excuse.

"Hum, she went to get something," I forced out

"Oh, okay."

Oh my God, how could I forget, I am sure Jane is not going to bite what I told Naomi. What was I going to say I screamed internally? Of course, I am not that stupid to scream aloud.

I walked on now, with extra caution, being careful to avoid any unnecessary noise that could bring Jane my way. However, really, my shoes were not cooperating because every squeak of my shoes was now sounding like a bunch of giants coming inside, at least to my ears.

I got through the double doors and made a beeline for my table to get my extra clothes, not making eye contact with anybody. I did a quick scan and saw that most people were not back. I internally rejoiced since Jane will not have much of an excuse to query me.

I was terribly wrong because as soon as I start in the direction of the bathroom, she appeared in front of me. I felt a sense of déjà vu as I saw her, what did she want?

She stood in front of me, arms crossed and as always, displeasure gracing her features. Why was she looking at me like that, I wasn't the only one who was late, at least I was still better than those who were absent. I thought of all those empty seats that were supposed to have people seating on them, no offense to all the chairs.

She kept staring at me with displeasure on her makeup-caked face, which I also returned, as I waited, expecting her to speak first. However, I became more aware of my current state when a burst of wind passed and cold nipped at my skin. I wrapped my hands around myself to preserve my warmth and prevent me from freezing to death.

After a while of being on the receiving end of her ice cold glare, I was tempted to snap my fingers in front of her face in case she was lost in thoughts which I doubted, but then, I remembered she was my boss so I decided to show her some respect and kept my hands were they were.

I instead asked,

"What do you need?" as politely as I could.

I was even surprised I did not shout at her, she finally removed her eyes from my face for a few seconds, and then she brought it back with her glare still intact.

She wasted no time because she immediately fired at me

Where have you been?" I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at her tone

"The rain; I was disturbed by the rain." I answered instead, gesturing outside to the still pouring rain.

She looked unsatisfied as if she had expected me to say something like I was run over by a truck. She continued her mini interrogation

"So where is Anne?"

"Oh, she developed a rather severe stomachache during lunch so she went to get it checked. She told me to come tell you to grant her a sick leave for the rest of the afternoon."

I lied smoothly; I even patted myself on the back because it sounded quite convincing. I think she bought it because she turned and swayed away, heels making noises on the tiled floor.

"What's her deal with you?" I turned when I heard Nate, a colleague of mine

"Whats her deal with everybody?" I returned shrugging.

"That's true." he laughed and returned to his work.

I immediately rushed to the bathroom eager to get the wet clothes off my body. That done I stood in front of the mirror and thought of what I could do to my hair, which was still quite wet and was dripping on my new clothes. And like a flash of light, I remembered that we had towels in a cupboard in the storage room. I rushed there, retrieved one of them, and came back to the bathroom. Now in the bathroom, I patted my hair dry with the towel, though it was still damp but it was now better than before.

I looked in the mirror and was quite afraid of my reflection. Because my hair (which I tried to make presentable in the morning); was sticking out in all direction now. I ran back again, to my table to retrieve the spare brush I had kept in my bag earlier that morning and returned to the bathroom.

I tugged, yanked, and almost gave up on my hair before it achieved decency. I am sure anyone hearing the grunts and groans of me brushing my hair would have thought I was in labor.