Sunlight streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows of the office, and Pearl was ready to start her work.
As she looked out at the lively street outside, her mind drifted back to her encounter with Adrian the previous night. The juice-stained suit still lay in her office, a reminder of their unexpected meeting, and she decided it needed attention promptly.
With a meeting on the horizon and her role as Oscar's secretary, she couldn't afford any distractions.
"Queenie, could you please take this suit to the dry cleaner near the company? It needs to be cleaned and returned promptly," Pearl indicated the suit bag in the corner.
Queenie nodded, picked up the suit bag, and was about to leave when Payton walked in, noticing the bag in Queenie's hands. Intrigued, she inquired, "Is this Mr. Brown's clothing?"
Queenie clarified, "It's for Ms. Harris to be sent for cleaning," before hastening out of the office.
Observing Queenie's departure, a flicker of doubt crossed Payton's eyes. She turned to Pearl, silently contemplating. 'Could Pearl be involved with someone?' This notion both excited and unsettled her, prompting Payton to consider conducting some investigation.
Just then, Pearl's phone buzzed. She glanced at it and noticed a group chat invitation from Adrian. Without hesitation, Pearl accepted the request.
Adrian messaged her: [Pearl, this is my number.]
Pearl replied: [Your suit is cleaned, and I'll bring it to you later.]
[Pearl, there's a class reunion tonight, are you free to join?]
Pearl hesitated for a moment. She hadn't seen her classmates in a long time, and each time work got in the way. She could also return the cleaned suit. So she replied: [Sure, just send me the time and location.]
Setting her phone down, Pearl continued to focus on her work. Soon, in the afternoon, Queenie returned to the office with the freshly cleaned suit from the dry cleaner.
As she was about to take the suit to Pearl's desk, Payton suddenly appeared in front of her.
"Queenie, Ms. Harris is currently in a meeting with HR; it wouldn't be appropriate to disturb her," Payton remarked with a smile. "Why don't you give me the item, and I'll pass it on to Ms. Harris once the meeting concludes."
Although Queenie hesitated a bit, she thought that as a long-time employee of the company, Payton shouldn't cause any trouble. So she handed the suit bag to Payton and hurriedly left to attend to other matters.
After receiving the suit, Payton's lips curled into a meaningful smile. She glanced around to make sure no one was watching, then quickly walked to Oscar's office.
She lightly knocked on the door, heard a "come in," and entered.
Oscar was sitting at his desk working on some documents. When he saw Payton come in, he frowned slightly. "What’ the matter?"
Payton placed the suit bag on the desk, pretending to be surprised. "Mr. Brown, your suit has been cleaned."
Oscar glanced at the suit bag, his frown deepening. His clothes were usually taken care of by Pearl, and he hadn't needed a suit urgently cleaned recently, let alone brought to the office.
Seeing Oscar's puzzled expression, Payton continued, adding fuel to the fire, "I heard this suit got stained last night, and Ms. Harris had Queenie take it for cleaning early this morning. I found it a bit strange, so I decided to bring it to you directly."
Oscar's face darkened. He stood up, walked to the suit bag, and upon inspecting the suit inside, his expression turned even uglier.
"This is not my suit," Oscar said coldly.
Pretending to be surprised, Payton asked, "Oh? It's not yours? Then whose could it be?"
Oscar remained silent, his gaze fixed on the suit, filled with suspicion and anger. Seeing this, Payton knew her goal had been achieved and tactfully excused herself.
After leaving Oscar's office, Payton felt a sense of satisfaction. She believed that this incident would surely stir up a storm between Oscar and Pearl. As someone who had always been jealous of Pearl being Oscar's personal secretary, she eagerly anticipated the fallout that would follow.