Page 90 of The Revenge Agenda

I grab a cloth to do exactly that, spending time on seals and the buttons on the front as well. It’s still a bit whiffy though.

Some kind of lemon cleaner will get rid of the smell. Or a bleach? I search the cupboard under the sink, then make my way through the drawers. Cutlery, utensils, dish towels, a brush and pan. Other than some multipurpose spray, there’s nothing here that will mask that smell, so the cleaners probably have the good stuff.

Luckily, it’s a day Mika works, and when I find her in the cleaning staff’s office, I give her the widest smile I can.

“Morning, Mika!”

She crooks an eyebrow. “What have you broken now?”

“Why on earth would I have broken something?”

She doesn’t answer me, just waits.

“Someone stank up the microwave, so I cleaned it and wanted to borrow some bleach to get rid of the smell.”

“I’ll do it.”

“No, it’s totally okay. I don’t mind.”

She chuckles, standing up from her desk and grabbing her keys. “It’s my job. And there’s no way in hell I’m letting you wander off with bleach.”

“I’m capable of cleaning a kitchen appliance.”

“You’re also capable of ending up on the seventh floor, drenched in bleach and wearing someone else’s clothes. Let’s stick to our strengths, sweetie.”

I’d argue, but … it’s happened before. Ah, minus the bleach.

“I told you?—”

“Yes, yes, there was a reason.” She waits patiently as I pass her so she can lock up. “There’s always a reason. Which is why I’ll do my job, and you can go back to doing yours.”

Gah, my job. My job that I was supposed to catch up on.

“Thanks, Mika.”

I dart off, backtracking to my side of the office, determined to sit and concentrate and?—

There’s a line of M&Ms on my desk. I drop into my seat and stare at them. They’re resting on a sheet of paper, three little legs drawn on either side of the candy with a task written neatly next to each one.

Across the top are the words, “For when you need assitANTs.”

I glance over my shoulder towards Hunter’s office, and as soon as we catch eyes, he points to his own before pointing at his computer screen.

Focus, he mouths.

I swoon instead.

Then, I pull my shit together and decide that if I can’t do it for me, I’m going to do it for him. I’ll impress him by turning my entire day around, and then who knows? Maybe he’ll even reward me for how hard I worked later.

I turn to the list of ten things he’s written. Close off approved claims. Nope, too much paperwork. Call customers we need more information for. Nope, too complex. I’m skimming, looking for something easy to cross off and start the momentum, but by the time I hit job number ten, it’s obvious why I haven’t made progress today.

It’s all too hard.

Like, I know what to do for the majority on there. There’s one where I’m going to have to get clarification and another that’s going to be a horrible conversation, but it’s not like I’ve never told someone no before.

The issue isn’t the work itself.

The issue is that I’ve subconsciously decided I can’t do it, and so I can’t do it. I blow out a long breath, rocking on my chair and trying to decide on one already. Just one thing. But if I close off those claims and then get information on the others, and then that information leads to those claims needing to be closed off, then that job ends up back on my list. I’d be better off getting the information first, but if one person doesn’t answer, that job will be outstanding too, and I know one of those clients won’t be reachable until four, my time. Calling with bad news … I skip right over that one.

---