Chapter 19
MOLLY
The morning starts off normally enough, but that changes after I have my break.
I come back and sit down at my computer.
I have some reports that I need to print for Joshua to take into a meeting with him.
it shouldn’t take more than a minute or two to get it done and the client isn’t due in for another fifteen minutes.
But when I try to log into my computer, I can’t get in.
I enter my password, and the system displays a message saying that it is incorrect.
I try again, and again, I get that same error message.
My fingers move slower as I carefully type it in one more time.
I’m certain I didn’t make a typo or anything this time and I hit enter, but no, it’s still wrong, and my stomach goes cold when I see the error message this time.
It doesn’t just say that my password is incorrect.
It says I am now locked out of the system and to contact an administrator to regain access.
Panic rises in my chest. How the hell has this happened?
I know I typed my password correctly. Could it be Sarah back up to her old tricks again?
But no – she has actually been civil to me lately and she hasn’t done anything to sabotage me in months.
Plus, this doesn’t seem like her style. She did easy to put together things like picking up something off my desk and moving it.
Changing my password would be a bit more difficult although not impossible, because now I think about it, using my name as my password probably isn’t advisable.
Oh well, I’m going to have to change it now anyway.
I pick up my desk phone receiver and look on the company intranet for the number for the IT department. I find it and type it into my phone and then I bring the receiver up to my ear.
“IT,” a male voice says, taking my call almost before it has started to ring.
“Hi,” I say. “This is Molly Matthews. I’ve locked myself out of my computer and it says to contact my administrator.”
“Where are you, Molly? Which department?” the man asks me.
“I’m on the seventh floor. I’m Mr Redfern’s secretary,” I say.
“Ok,” the IT guy says. “Give me five minutes and I’ll be there.”
“Thank you,” I say and then I replace the receiver on my phone.
I wanted to ask him to hurry, but I was afraid that would make me sound entitled, especially after mentioning that I work directly for the CEO, and I didn’t want him to think I was being a dick.
Aside from anything, it would likely make him drag his feet.
I sit, practically counting down the minutes, willing the IT guy to appear.
I don’t dare tell Joshua what I’ve done.
It makes me seem so stupid. And I’m hoping it gets sorted quickly and without him ever having to find out what happened.
I breathe a sigh of relief when I see the IT guy heading down the hallway towards me.
He’s wearing jeans and a pale grey cardigan over a white shirt. He has square, black framed glasses and messy hair. He’s exactly what I imagined an IT guy to look like.
“Thanks for coming so quickly,” I say when he gets to my desk.
“I think you’ve mistaken me for someone else,” he says with a smile. “I’m Harrison Miles, here to see Joshua.”
“Oh, my apologies Mr Miles. I did think you were someone else. Let me just see if Mr Redfern is ready for you,” I say.
Fuck. The client is early, and Joshua doesn’t have the reports. There’s not much I can do now. I can’t exactly demand the client leave and come back on time. Joshua would kill me if I did that.
I get up and go to Joshua’s office door. It’s closed today and I tap lightly on it.
“Come in,” Joshua calls and I open the door and step inside.
“Mr Miles is here to see you,” I say.
“Send him in,” Joshua says.
I come back out of the office.
“Mr Redfern will see you now,” I say.
Mr Miles nods his thanks at me and goes into the office, the door closing behind him. Still, there’s no sign of the IT guy. Should I call back? I can’t do that. It’s barely been ten minutes since I called.
Joshua’s office door opens, and he comes out.
“I need those reports I asked for,” he says.
“They won’t be long,” I say. He raises an eyebrow at me, and I know I’m going to have to give him more than that. I’m going to have to tell him what’s happened. “I got locked out of the system. I’ve spoke to the IT department, and someone is coming to get me back in.”
When he finds out, his frustration is palpable, and he rolls his eyes.
"For God’s sake Molly, how can you get a password wrong that you set?"
I’m not going to tell him that I’m certain I entered my password correctly and it just didn’t work for some reason.
I can hear how that would sound. It sounds ridiculous even to me.
And I can still remember how angry he got over the Redfart thing when he thought I was passing the blame for the mistake.
"I don’t know. I just … I don’t know. I’m sorry," I say.
But sorry doesn’t fix the mess I’ve created. Again.
Joshua runs a hand down his face, exhaling sharply.
“Bring them in as soon as you have them. In the meantime, I’ll take my usual coffee, and Harrison will have a black coffee with one sugar,” he says.
I nod and get up to go to the kitchen and make the drinks.
“Oh, and Molly?” I turn back. “Try to keep the drink in the cup this time and get them the right way around.”
I don’t reply to that, I just put my head down and scramble away faster.
As I make the coffees, I’m practically praying that when I leave the kitchen, the IT guy will be here.
But I return to my desk to find it still empty.
I’m almost afraid to take the drinks into Joshua’s office, but if I wait and then they are cold when I take them in, I will be in trouble again, and I really can’t afford another refreshment-based mistake.
I knock on Joshua’s office door with my elbow.
“Yeah,” Joshua calls and I push the door handle down with the same elbow and go inside.
I take the coffees over to Joshua’s desk and place them down, one in front of Joshua and one in front of Mr Miles.
I’m certain they are right and when neither of them comments on them except to thank me, I relax a little bit.
“Where are we with those reports?” Joshua asks.
“I’ll get them right in,” I say.
I don’t know if that’s true or not. The IT guy could turn up hours later, but I don’t know what else to say. Joshua is glaring at me, and I have to say something. I feel like he is still glaring at me as I walk back to the door even though he is now talking to the client.
I leave the office and gently close the door, and when I spot someone else coming along the hallway, I cross my fingers that this is my guy. He doesn’t look like an IT guy. He’s dressed in a sharp looking black suit with a silk tie that looks damned expensive.
“Molly?” he says with a smile, and I nod my head. “James from IT.”
“Oh, thank God,” I say. I point at my computer. “It’s that one there.”
“Have you been waiting long?” he asks as we walk over to my desk. I guess he’s asking because of the way I sounded so pleased he is here.
“No, but Mr Redfern needs some reports for a client meeting and the client is already here and the reports are on that computer,” I say.
“Ouch,” James says with a wince.
“Exactly,” I say.
“Well, you’re back in. The temporary password is password one, all lower case and the number is the actual number not the letters to spell it out.
The first time you log on, it will prompt you to change it.
Follow the prompts and maybe pick something you can remember this time,” he says.
His eyes glint and he grins at me and I can tell he’s joking rather than having a go at me so I smile back at him.
“I’ll try,” I say.
He leaves me to it, and I soon have the new password set up – no longer my name – and the reports printed and taken into the meeting.
I get back on with my work. The meeting goes on for a couple of hours and I manage to forget the fact I’m likely to be in trouble when Joshua comes back out of there.
When the door opens finally, it’s Mr Miles. He’s calling goodbye to Joshua over his shoulder and then the office door closes, and he smiles at me.
“Bye,” he says.
“Goodbye Mr Miles. Enjoy the rest of your day,” I say.
It feels as though Joshua has counted Mr Miles’ steps. The moment he’s out of sight, Joshua’s office door opens, and he appears beside my desk.
"Look, I know things happen,” he says. “But I need these reports before the meeting, not while the client is already in the room. Do you realize how unprofessional that makes us look?"
"I do," I whisper, feeling heat rise to my cheeks.
"Then be better prepared next time. Triple check any passwords you use. And if I tell you I need a report for a two o’clock meeting, don’t wait until five to two to decide to get them sorted.
Do it earlier then if anything does go wrong, you have some extra time to fix things.
This is basic stuff. Something I don’t feel like I should have to be telling you. I need someone I can count on, Molly."
The weight of his words presses down on me. I force myself to look him in the eye as I reply to him.
"It won’t happen again," I promise him. “You can count on me.”
His gaze lingers on me for a moment before he nods seemingly satisfied.
As I watch him walk back to his office, I swear to myself that this is the last time I let something like this happen.
The password thing was an unexpected mistake, but Joshua was right.
I should have had those reports ready hours ago.
I won’t make the same mistake twice. In fact, I won’t make any more mistakes. I refuse to fail again.