There was just too much paper and we probably needed a few trips to transport it all out even if we had a trolley. Ace began looking through the folders as if he was looking for something in particular.
“Are you looking for something?” I asked with the hope that I could help him search for whatever it was that he was looking for.
“No need. I’ve already found it,” he said as he took a folder out of the cabinet.
I watched curiously as he opened the folder and began flipping through the pages of a document. From where I was standing, I couldn’t see very clearly what he was looking at. It did surprise me that Ace seemed to care about this past work now all of a sudden when he showed no interest in it before. Someone had told him that his old works were all disposed of and he seemed fine about it.
“Let’s go. I already got what I came here for,” he told me casually.
“That’s it? I mean, you’re not going to take the rest of it with you?” I asked in slight confusion.
I honestly thought that he was going to take all his old work with him now that he had left the company for good. It felt strange that he was just taking that one folder and that made me wonder what exactly was in the folder that made it important enough for Ace to come back to fetch it like this.
“Let’s just leave the rest here…” Ace replied before walking off.
“Oh…Ok…” I mumbled softly as I eyed the rest of the documents that were being left behind a little sadly.
Since the documents were non-living and did not have a heart and mind of their own, I doubted that they felt any kind of sadness or emotions. So, I must have been the only one that felt my heartache a little at the miserable fact that they were being abandoned to sit in the archive.
“I hope someone discovers you soon. Just like some treasure,” I whispered before smiling a little sadly to myself.
…
Although Ace was no longer the CEO, his influence clearly remained. I was surprised that he made no effort whatsoever to hide the file that he had extracted from the archive. What was even more surprising was the fact that the guard made no move to stop Ace. I looked at the guard in disbelief as I recalled all the trouble that he gave me when all I wanted was to borrow some documents for the archive for just a little while.
Ace turned and took my hand in his before leading me after him. I must have been walking too slowly as I recalled the various interactions that I had with the guard in my head. While trying to ignore the clear double standard of treatment, I focused on feeling thankful that everything was going smoothly just as Ace had wanted. Just when I thought that we were done with sorting out our things from the office, Ace seemed to have a different idea.
“Come with me for a bit, I have something to show you,” Ace said as he tugged slightly on my hand.
“Did you forget something again?” I asked.
“Not quite…” he replied casually.
“I think I packed all of your things from your office already. Do you want to head there to check again?” I inquired.
Since Ace quit his job, his office had been cleared out but as far as I was aware it was still vacant. Elizabeth took another office as hers when she moved in to work at this building although she also had another office in the Chase Creatives building as well.
“No,” Ace replied without pausing to think.
I was more confused than before about what he had in mind. Ace led me into the elevator before pressing a button to the floor where he wanted to go. If I wasn’t wrong, the floor where we were headed was where the procurement department was. By the time that we arrived on the floor, most people had already left work for the day. I’ve worked a few times with the procurement team, but it had been a very long time since I’ve been on this floor.
“This way,” Ace said before leading the way.
All the while he made sure to hold my hand in his. In a way, I was glad that there was no one there to see us together this way. The rows of office desks came into view, and I had to say that the procurement department seemed more orderly than what I was used to in the design department. As I began wondering why Ace had taken me there, he came to a stop in front of a normal worktable that looked just like the rest. The table was located right to the side of the room next to the window and had a view of the garden outside. There were many items on the table that showed signs of its current owner but there was nothing noteworthy or anything that drew my attention.
“Do you need something from this department?” I asked with the only guess that came to mind.
“I used to work here,” Ace stated simply.
For a moment, I was surprised and didn’t quite know how to take what Ace had just said. I mean, I knew very well that he used to work in the company, but I was also sure that he never worked in the procurement department.
“Here…as in…?” I prompted him questioningly for more clarification.
“Back when I started working in this building, the procurement department wasn’t on this floor. Instead, this used to be the design and creatives department. The department was much smaller in terms of headcount than it is now, and it used to be located right here on this floor,” Ace explained as he looked around the now-empty office.
I never knew that. Of course, it was normal for departments to shift and swap floors and move around within the building, but it didn’t happen that often.
--To be continued…
There was just too much paper and we probably needed a few trips to transport it all out even if we had a trolley. Ace began looking through the folders as if he was looking for something in particular.
“Are you looking for something?” I asked with the hope that I could help him search for whatever it was that he was looking for.
“No need. I’ve already found it,” he said as he took a folder out of the cabinet.
I watched curiously as he opened the folder and began flipping through the pages of a document. From where I was standing, I couldn’t see very clearly what he was looking at. It did surprise me that Ace seemed to care about this past work now all of a sudden when he showed no interest in it before. Someone had told him that his old works were all disposed of and he seemed fine about it.
“Let’s go. I already got what I came here for,” he told me casually.
“That’s it? I mean, you’re not going to take the rest of it with you?” I asked in slight confusion.
I honestly thought that he was going to take all his old work with him now that he had left the company for good. It felt strange that he was just taking that one folder and that made me wonder what exactly was in the folder that made it important enough for Ace to come back to fetch it like this.
“Let’s just leave the rest here…” Ace replied before walking off.
“Oh…Ok…” I mumbled softly as I eyed the rest of the documents that were being left behind a little sadly.
Since the documents were non-living and did not have a heart and mind of their own, I doubted that they felt any kind of sadness or emotions. So, I must have been the only one that felt my heartache a little at the miserable fact that they were being abandoned to sit in the archive.
“I hope someone discovers you soon. Just like some treasure,” I whispered before smiling a little sadly to myself.
…
Although Ace was no longer the CEO, his influence clearly remained. I was surprised that he made no effort whatsoever to hide the file that he had extracted from the archive. What was even more surprising was the fact that the guard made no move to stop Ace. I looked at the guard in disbelief as I recalled all the trouble that he gave me when all I wanted was to borrow some documents for the archive for just a little while.
Ace turned and took my hand in his before leading me after him. I must have been walking too slowly as I recalled the various interactions that I had with the guard in my head. While trying to ignore the clear double standard of treatment, I focused on feeling thankful that everything was going smoothly just as Ace had wanted. Just when I thought that we were done with sorting out our things from the office, Ace seemed to have a different idea.
“Come with me for a bit, I have something to show you,” Ace said as he tugged slightly on my hand.
“Did you forget something again?” I asked.
“Not quite…” he replied casually.
“I think I packed all of your things from your office already. Do you want to head there to check again?” I inquired.
Since Ace quit his job, his office had been cleared out but as far as I was aware it was still vacant. Elizabeth took another office as hers when she moved in to work at this building although she also had another office in the Chase Creatives building as well.
“No,” Ace replied without pausing to think.
I was more confused than before about what he had in mind. Ace led me into the elevator before pressing a button to the floor where he wanted to go. If I wasn’t wrong, the floor where we were headed was where the procurement department was. By the time that we arrived on the floor, most people had already left work for the day. I’ve worked a few times with the procurement team, but it had been a very long time since I’ve been on this floor.
“This way,” Ace said before leading the way.
All the while he made sure to hold my hand in his. In a way, I was glad that there was no one there to see us together this way. The rows of office desks came into view, and I had to say that the procurement department seemed more orderly than what I was used to in the design department. As I began wondering why Ace had taken me there, he came to a stop in front of a normal worktable that looked just like the rest. The table was located right to the side of the room next to the window and had a view of the garden outside. There were many items on the table that showed signs of its current owner but there was nothing noteworthy or anything that drew my attention.
“Do you need something from this department?” I asked with the only guess that came to mind.
“I used to work here,” Ace stated simply.
For a moment, I was surprised and didn’t quite know how to take what Ace had just said. I mean, I knew very well that he used to work in the company, but I was also sure that he never worked in the procurement department.
“Here…as in…?” I prompted him questioningly for more clarification.
“Back when I started working in this building, the procurement department wasn’t on this floor. Instead, this used to be the design and creatives department. The department was much smaller in terms of headcount than it is now, and it used to be located right here on this floor,” Ace explained as he looked around the now-empty office.
I never knew that. Of course, it was normal for departments to shift and swap floors and move around within the building, but it didn’t happen that often.
--To be continued…
