Power Failure

Blap.

The bright light suddenly went out. So did the shower that was originally on.

Alice spontaneously screamed excitedly and heard the sound of a door slamming from outside. "Aliiiiccceee, are you okay?" Noah opened the door in a huff.

"Hwaa, Noah doesn't come in! I still have no clothes on!" She shouted.

"Eh? Sorry-sorry! I thought you were fine." Then there was the sound of the door closing again. Alice felt her face heat up. The girl immediately grabbed the nearest towel that she had placed near the sink and wrapped it around her slender body. Alice rushed outside and saw someone's face lit with a flashlight which startled her, her feet tripping over the table. Her body almost kissed the floor if Noah's arms weren't swiftly behind her back.

Alice's hands reflexively held the towel, afraid that it would fall, so her history was over because she was not wearing anything.

"You are! Just surprise me, I thought it was a ghost," Alice grumbled irritatedly as she stood up straight again.

"Why are you in there?"

"No, don't be surprised to suddenly die."

"Get down like that. I don't know where the fuse is."

"Oh." Alice reacted curtly. Watching Noah, whose hair was still wet, it was clear that the man had just finished taking a shower. "Yes, you go first. You are in front I mean." Noah went first while Alice trailed behind. "The fuse is by the pool." Alice walked over holding Noah's arm.

They both reach the swimming pool. "That," Alice's index finger pointed to the black box stuck to the wall.

"Which one?"

Alice brought her face closer. "The very end."

Noah's fingers pushed the fuse on the far end, but it still wouldn't light. Alice sighed in annoyance. "I just sold the generator, if I know that the lights are going out, I'll sell it back," he said regretfully. "Besides, it's 2021, how come it's still a blackout period."

"Rotating blackouts, Alice."

"I haven't finished showering yet."

"So, what's next?"

"Take a shower."

"Hah?" Noah was shocked to hear that.

"Yeah but don't look, your eyes are on the wall."

"This is serious… Al? what if I peek?"

"Yeah, don't peek, please," Alice pinched Noah's arm until the man winced in pain, "please, Noah, I'm scared."

It was the first time in his life that Noah had heard of a girl asking him to take a bath with him. Well, even though they're already husband and wife, it still feels awkward, right?

Noah finally had no choice but to shrug his shoulders and answer lazily. "I refuse also won't be able to, right?"

****

Alice's request was not a joke, she asked Noah to accompany her to the toilet. By the dim light of a candle. Usually, this is an intimate and romantic atmosphere, but not for the two of them. Noah sat on the closed toilet. Staring at the wall while listening to Alice humming happily. "Noah, if you see it, I swear you will be unlucky seven generations."

Noah could only shake his head. After all, he had no desire to peek at Alice. Not at all.

"Are you done?"

"In a minute."

Twenty minutes later, Alice finished bathing. The girl was already in her nightgown and was drying her hair with a towel. "Inviting the opposite sex to be alone in the toilet is a very high risk, Alice, don't do that again, okay?"

"What's it to you?"

"Aren't you afraid I'll be okay?"

"What do you want to do, it's okay, you're my husband right?" Noah could only stare at Alice's slurred speech which was completely unfiltered. Alice sat at the end of her bedroom bed while faithfully drying her hair with a towel. "What is that?" Alice glanced at the paper Noah had placed on her desk. The girl turned, sitting next to Noah. It turned out to be financial data from her company.

"I've tried to analyze your financial data, you misrepresented income recognition. Look at this." Noah brought the flashlight closer from his phone. Shows data on Alice's company income in 2019. "Your net income this year is really big because it shouldn't be included in the income list, but here it is combined. Even though this is going into debt."

"Ah, really?" Alice read the data presented by Noah and tried to remember. "What do you mean? Oh yes, I remember, there is a seller who wants to order my shoes, but they can only produce them next year."

"Shouldn't be in sales, this messes up the financial list."

Alice nodded. Trying to be heartened to accept advice from Noah that can be obtained for free.

"If I see it, your financial statements that are examined by an external auditor have recommendations for improving the presentation of income. For the 2020 period, the internal audit in your office doesn't do any follow-up, right?"

"Yes, there have been recommendations, but I didn't follow up on them because I didn't think they had much of an important impact on the company's future."

"It's wrong because your net income last year will be your company's equity next year. If you don't fix it right away, the mistakes will continue and your company may be in danger of being unsustainable." Noah showed me one more list. "I'll give you an example of the correction journal, I've also marked where the error is so you won't be confused."

Alice took the paper. "Turns out there's also some use, right? Internal auditors? So far, I have always limited the space for internal auditors in my company, yes, I only employ internal auditors to comply with regulations issued by the government, which every company must-have."

"You can't do that, Alice. Internal auditors must be independent, they must not be regulated or subject to anyone, even if they are the directors of the company. It's like a supervising lecturer, his job is to correct mistakes from his guidance thesis." Noah explained at length while massaging the back of his neck which suddenly felt sore. The whole night was added to the office, he was trying to find the location of the error from the financial list attached by Alice until finally some of the minus points were found.

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To be continued . . .