Buried within a fortress of paperwork and files, she peeked up with bleary eyes at the clock on the wall in front of her. Finally, the hands were only minutes away from the time at which she could leave. She scribbled some things on the file laid out on her desk, and with a huff, added a final piece to the pile of completion, arching her back against her stiff wooden chair with a crack after hours of sitting leaned over. Relaxing in her now sprawled out position, she saw the tiny calendar she kept on her desk, today's date viciously circled in red pen. Today's date. She couldn't help but smile at it, and then quickly realize with horror that today's date meant not tomorrow, or next week, but today. Leaning back over her desk, she grabbed the closest mug among the many others sprawled about, tipping it over her mouth, only to get a single drop of cold coffee.

"Bloody hell."

Jumping up off her chair and grabbing her small bag hung on it, she proceeded to stuff her things into it as fast as she could, all the while picking up the cups and taking in what small drops of coffee were left, all the while completely forgetting about the other women working in the room, staring at her with wide eyes. Eventually she noticed, gave a wide smile, and slowly placed the cup she was holding back onto her desk, and proceeded to finish closing up her bag at a normal pace.

"Sorry ladies, I have plans today," she said in an sorry attempt to excuse herself, as she practically ripped her coat off the chair with a rough tug, pulling her bag over her shoulder and grabbing as many cups off her desk as she could. Whipping around to dash her way to kitchen with her now-without-a-doubt-completely-empty cups, she rammed into someone's chest, the soft silk of their white shirt belonging to the only man she knew could afford something as unnecessary as a silk shirt, her boss, Mr. Kirkham.

"And what, Ms. Paulette, sort of trouble are you up to today?" he asked with a forced smile, wiping off his shirt as if her touching it left a stain that required taking it for a thorough cleaning.

"Well sir," she replied with her own insincere smile, "I was just about to leave, as I have plans today, which, I'm sure you recall, I mentioned to you two weeks ago."

"Yes, I believe you did mention that, but you never did specify, did you?" Paulette narrowed her eyes at him.

"No, I don't believe I did, but then again, I didn't think I needed to."

Moving around Mr. Kirkham, she started making her way to the kitchen, the ladies at their respective desks behind her quietly losing it over the fact the she had spoken to him with such disrespect, and looking on in awe at Mr. Kirkham's expression, which was one of pure anger and annoyance, his jaw clenched hard enough that a small vein had popped out on his neck. Paulette, of course, had not noticed the consequences of her words, and entered the small kitchen, which had an off-white counter and a simple ceramic sink, already with several cups inside, and she stacked her own set on top of the previous ones, picking out the small flakes of paint that had fallen in from the old rust-colored ceiling. Taking another peek at the clock in the other room, and noting the fact that Mr. Kirkham had not yet left from his spot next to her desk, she made the conscious decision to wash the ceramic pyramid that had amassed itself in the sink.

Rolling up her sleeves and grabbing the dish cloth draped on the rim, Paulette began to wash the cups, glancing back every so often at the clock, so enamored in the time, even cleaning the cups half-heartedly, that she hadn't noticed when Mr. Kirkham turned away from her desk walked and into the kitchen.

"After you're done, there's some more paperwork I'd like you to finish," he said from behind her. She flinched at the sound of his voice, but she didn't turn around.

"I don't know if you've heard sir, but I have to leave work early today."

"So you've told me."

She wiped off the last of the cups and attempted to go around him back to her desk, but he promptly stepped in front of her, his vein-popping clench of anger replaced with a strangely sly smile, causing Paulette to look at him with an arched brow of confusion.

"But I've also been told that you're off to take an exam."

"I don't think I know what you-"

"A police exam, of all things."

She froze, loud pounding suddenly echoing in her ears.

"I… I don't know what you mean, sir."

"Oh, I beg to differ Ms. Paulette."

His words practically punched her in the gut. He wasn't supposed to know that. Scenarios of the last few weeks flew past in her mind, snippets of the few conversations she had at work. Did I tell someone? Paulette, for the life of her, could not remember. She took a glance into the office, the women around her promptly returning to work, all except for one older woman, her grumpy brown-haired neighbor, who briefly met Paulette's eyes with a pale face.

"Hm. Meredith ratted me out?"

"She merely warned that one of my employees was about to make some terrible decisions. Do you really think a woman should waste her time trying to be something she can't?" He was practically looming over her now, as she pushed herself against the sink behind her to make space between them. She clenched her clammy hands into fists. No, I'm so close. Ignoring the roaring of her fast-beating heart, she looked up at him straight in the eyes.

"And what if I am?"