Crazy Scandal.

"Shit I forgot my wallet" I muttered under my breath after I ran my fingers through the pockets of my jeans and my jacket, I turned swiftly and ran back into the hotel as fast as I could, I wasn't ready to loose my wallet for any reason whatsoever, I really needed the cash in that wallet or else I would starve for the night. On my way to my changing room, I passed through the manager's office, only that this time I stopped by because I heard suspicious voices, voice that caught my attention. My curiosity got the best of me after I struggled with the thought of eavesdropping on my boss, "he might need my help or something" I thought, but just as a way of reassure myself that I wasn't doing something bad. I tiptoed as lightly as possible, pressing my left ear to the door in order to fully grasp anything that was been said or done in there, I grinned to myself as I readied my ears for whatever I was about to hear. "Don't tell me it was a mistake, didn't you take a pill or something"? a masculine voice, which sounded like my boss's asked, I could feel a wave of confusion and dispare in that voice, "I did but I don't know what happened, I-I-really don't know what happened" replied the other person who undoubtedly was a female, there was silence for about a minute, after that minute had passed, I heard the masculine voice again, "alright let's go grab a drink and talk about this in the bar, this place isn't a suitable place for this discussion. Instantly I knew I needed to hide myself as soon as possible, after all I didn't want to be a part of whatever it was they both discussed in there, I tiptoed swiftly to the end of the corridor and hid. In about a minute after I did this, I saw my boss come out of the office from where I hid, but that wasn't what shocked me, Marie, my co-worker came out as well. My eyes widened in horror and disbelieve, "was she pregnant for him, a man with a wife and children"? I thought to myself still confused and somewhat disappointed. "Chile must hear this tommorow morning" I muttered underneath my breath as I watched them walk towards the door which led to the stairs.

"She is definitely with a child" Chile shrieked as she tossed a duvie into the washing machine, "Imagine the holier-than-thou Marie getting pregnant for her own married boss, how despicable" Caro, another co-worker of mine chipped in while folding some clean sheets and towels into a basket in front of her, "what if she was raped"? came the subtle but silencing question from Ellie who sat quietly all along at a corner in the laundry room listening to all the crazy conversations we had been having. "Yeah right always the optimist" Chile shot back as she rolled her eyes at Ellie, "forget it dear, people can be hypocrites" Caro added while still working on the sheets, I just giggled at the two responses when I saw Ellie giving me a cold stare, I stopped immediately, that stare scared the life out of me. "What if I can prove it"? Ellie asked solemnly lifting her cold eyes into ours one after the other, "are you serious"? Caro asked as she turned her face towards Ellie, Ellie nodded, we all were shocked beyond words, we abandoned every chore we had in our hands and rushed over to Ellie who at this point was quite nervous to talk about it. "I swore I would never tell anyone but I guess I have to" Ellie stated, "Mr Owens called Marie and instructed her to clean up a vacated room immediately as he was expecting some guest who might want to use the room, she agreed and got to work as soon as possible, but then something happened, Mr Owens came into the room, locked it, and......" Ellie paused, bitting her lips hard as if to prevent herself from saying any further, "no no no, this is unfair" whispered Chile as clenched her fist in a bid to stop her fingers from trembling, Caro stood dazed, she found it hard to swallow I guess, "but why didn't she speak up"? I asked Ellie, "she was afraid, he threatened her, and she wasn't sure if she wanted to break his family up" Ellie replied. "We really got to help her, she's too gentle to be left to fight this off" Caro finally spoke up, we all stared at her for a minute, "but how exactly can we do that"? Chile asked as she threw her hands in the air in confusion, "I have a plan" Caro whispered, we stared at her again as she smiled and guestured to us to move closer to her in order to hear whatever she had to say.

"Marie, can we talk to you"? I asked Marie as I walked towards her in the cloth and sheet store, she hesitated a bit but she finally spoke, "what is it"? She asked as she leaned towards me, I looked into her anxious eyes, they confirmed that she was hiding something, something she dared not to speak of. " Marie we know everything" I managed to say, her eyes sunk, her lips trembled no matter how she bit them to stop the trembling, then slowly, with a defeated look on her face, she lifted her face to me, "now what"? she asked softly, "we want to help you" I said as I lifted her hands into mine and clasped them tightly, tears began to roll down her cheeks, uncontrollable tears, I scooped her into my arms and comforted her in the best way I could, "it's alright, you aren't alone any longer" I whispered softly to her as I stroked her hair, after about five minutes, she wiped her teary face and looked up straight at me, "what's the plan"? she asked, I smiled sweetly at her and bent over close to her ears "it's simple" I whispered.  

Marie decided to go to Mr Owens's office, "come in" he responded after she knocked on the door. Before Marie opened the door to go in she turned to look at Chile, Caro, Ellie and I as we stood some distance away, she nodded and we nodded back in affirmation. She walked into the office while we went back to the laundry room to wait for her response. After a few minutes, she came into the laundry room, we all stood up from wherever we sat, we anxiously stared at her slim, pale face in search of answers. "So"? Chile finally blurted out, "it went well, I got the recorded conversation" Marie replied as she let out a huge grin, we all let out a sigh of relief, "you did well sister" said Ellie as she placed her hand on Marie's shoulder, Marie held onto the hand on her shoulder, tears began to swell from her eyes and roll slowly down her cheeks, Ellie took her into her arms and began comforting her in any way she could, "so what's the next step, Caro"? I asked, "we getting this to the board of t ASAP" she said confidently, we all nodded in affirmation, including Marie.

A week had passed, a week after we carried out the whole plot to expose Mr Owens, and it felt like our words weren't heard, everything began to feel hopeless, Marie most especially had given up on any form of response on the case and resumed to accepting it all, the reminder of us were still confused as to why it was all taking time, it was all sort of depressing. 

One Saturday morning, while we were all going about our normal day to day duties, one of the cleaners rushed into the laundry room as if to say he was being chased. The way he badged in scared the life out of us, "what is your problem Jonah, can't you see we are working"?! Chile, who was in the worst of moods screamed, "the board of directors are all here, you guys need to come out" Jonah managed to blurt out as he panted heavily, "so you wanted to break down the door because of that"? I asked in a bid to get on his nerves, Jonah just gave me a hard stare and sighed, "it's my fault, I should have just stayed back" he spat as he left the laundry room. We all rushed to a small hall which was stationed at the end of the hallway were all the workers usually converged when an important message had to be passed. When we all got there, it was full to the brim, "did new employees join us or something without my knowledge"? Chile whispered to me, "don't be ridiculous, girl"!, I shushed at her immediately, just as she was about to engage me into the argument she was about to brew up, the board of directors stepped in, a few of them to be exact. The two smallish, grey men made there way to the small podium which in turn, got everything and everyone to turn silent. "We received news, supported with evidence, about the abuse and gross misconduct that was endured by one of our employees" one of the men spoke in calm but clear voice, "Mr Owens raped one of our employees and threatened her, for reasons best known, we won't call her out" he continued. "Mr Owens is from henceforth no longer holding any position within these walls and is also currently in police custody, this is to remind you all not to act recklessly in this working environment, and we encourage you, to respond any sort of abuse or misconduct, we will always listen", he concluded as he stepped down and left the hall, slowly followed by the man who had accompanied him. 

We all dispersed after this announcement, everyone to his work or chore. When the four of us made our way to the laundry room, we shut it immediately and had a group hug, "it's over Marie, you are now free" Ellie spoke as she flashed a smile at her. Marie smiled back as tears rolled down her cheeks, we all took turns hugging her and apologising for how wrongly we had judged her, she forgave us almost immediately, at this point it was hard not to like this beautiful soul. "Girls I got big news" Marie said as she giggled from ear to ear, "what's that"? Caro asked as she stared curiously at her, "I just saw my period this morning"!, Marie should in excitement, "whaaaaat"?! Chile shouted in excitement, we all screamed in excitement too, hopping around like little rabbits, "don't you think this all calls for a celebration tonight"?! I yelled, "yes girl"!!! was the chorused answer I got from the three, excited ladies.