Jonathan's POV
Rollings Designs - Early Morning
I rubbed the back of my neck as it was feeling sore from yesterday night's reviewing.
I had a throbbing headache and my eyes were strained from glaring at the screen the whole night.
It was early morning, and days were going by faster than I could count.
The screen was still flickering against the racing thoughts running in my mind.
Over the past few days, I have been obsessed over USB drives.
My gaze again fell on the system as it was staring back at me.
There were more folders in this USB than my entire office.
Five years of data.
Then I noticed a folder named in numbers.
"Numbers?"
My brows pinched together.
I began to open files…multiple files.
I kept writing the notes and the mentally tracking patterns.
I rejected any wrong assumption before reaching the correct logic.
"Why is this the only folder with a number label?"
I began to scan the other file names.
They had numbers at the beginning, some at the end.
But none was named only in numbers.
"It could be an error, but then…"
I checked the logs…
Maybe this was a system glitch.
But the more I saw, the more the formatting inconsistencies kept surfacing.
And then there was the intentional coding pattern.
At first I thought it was only one.
Then after forty files, again a number label file.
After another forty files, another number label file.
Again.
Again
Now…
This wasn't an error.
This is definitely a pattern.
I began to check so I could know what was going on.
Then I compared the number labeled files.
Some of them had the missing steps of some named files.
While some jumped right into the procedure.
"The full one is filed in April, while the incomplete one is in June."
I saw the matter was repeated, or a copy of the full file.
Even the folders were identical.
Only the timestamps were suspicious.
Even though the dates were different from the original file, the data flow was the same.
Some data was repeated in the files, while some was consistent.
This confirmed one thing.
It wasn't coincidental.
The procedure was done in the same way…every forty files…every time.
"Hello," I said on the phone. "Send the staff admin in."
"Yes Mr. Rollings."
"Mr. Rollings," she said. "Did you call for me?"
"Who's been authorizing the bypassing standard procedure?"
There was an evident tension between us.
A first for me.
As my staff never hesitated in front of me…
At least not until I began to question how things are going around.
She was clearly nervous, compared to my controlled tone.
Even if she was trying to cover up, she had already implanted subtle suspicion regarding what she knew.
"Mr. Rollings," she said hesitating. "Of course only the top-level could give approval."
I leaned over the desk, placed my elbows on the table with cross-fingered hands.
"Define…what you mean by top-level authority."
"Mr. Rollings," she said, narrowing her eyes. "Of course you and Ms. Harmon."
I didn't react as she told me I also gave approval.
I remained calm, as I realized Veronica wasn't the only one.
I was also being framed.
But now my responsibility only narrowed down.
As I was also now part of the game.
"Okay, you can get back to your work."
"Wait,"
I called her back.
"Next time, you receive a file…I approved, unless I give it personally, run through me."
"Yes Mr. Rollings," she said with narrowed eyes.
As she left, I was alone once again.
"You or Ms. Harmon,"
I let out a breath in frustration.
I clearly knew I never authorized any document.
Especially one that Veronica was to deliver.
Had I known, I would have never allowed her.
I began to recall the times I called to check in on her, and the lady would say, 'she was not feeling well, so she came over to keep an eye on Janet so Veronica could rest.
I always believed the person.
Never questioned who she was.
Never questioned why Veronica was so often unwell.
I presumed it was the work.
But she was out delivering documents in the middle of the night to strangers.
True, I couldn't stop Sanders…
Another thing I still don't understand.
How after one drink I was so drunk.
I was seated on the end side.
And I clearly poured myself wine.
But I drank the scotch.
But the quantity was normal.
I can easily drink four of them and not feel a thing.
Then…
Who gave me the glass?
I remember the moment I drank the drink, I began to feel dizzy.
My vision became blurry.
It was only when Imelda took me near the door, I saw Sanders forcing himself on Veronica.
That glass…it was meant for me to faint out.
I paused for a brief moment so I could control my emotions.
I was reviewing another one of the USB documents,
My mind drifted to the staff's statements.
The facts that stood out,
were…
Veronica handling urgent files,
Considering she just joined Harmon Designs.
I doubt Imelda gave her importance because of me.
Had she, she wouldn't have given Veronica cents as her pay.
Another fact, Veronica delivered the documents directly to the client or receiver's home.
"That means she made them know who Veronica was…"
"To them?"
"Was she the delivery person or the initiator?"
There was no doubt she was part of the process, only had no control over what she did.
Apart from Veronica being involved, there was another thing bothering me.
Timeline conflict.
The timestamps of the files, and the delivery timings, didn't match.
It would be impossible for Veronica to deliver them, even if she drove at 60.
The speed of approvals was faster than her delivery time.
Yet, there was never any delay in the submission or approval.
I paused.
""Rather…too fast."
"It's as if whoever the top high is, already knew the outcome."
"Making the approval quick."
But the deliveries were not in a timeline.
Yet, on paper they had a fixed timeline.
Suddenly, recalling a fact, I scrolled back into the records.
Not just a little back, way back to the older ones.
Almost two years back.
My finger got tired from scrolling but the files didn't stop.
The further I scrolled, the older dates came to my sight.
The same pattern came in front of my eyes.
After every forty files, a number label file.
"That means they began taking notes at least two to three years back."
I rechecked the records of older dates.
It was clear.
This pattern began three years back.
It wasn't in months, or from the time Veronica joined Harmon Designs.
But years ago…
Three years ago to be precise.
And Veronica has been the delivery-person since then,
I paused for a moment.
"Then…why was she delivering these…even before, according to me, she ever met her officially."
"As far as I knew, she only met Imelda during the parties. Veronica never met Imelda. Then how did she begin delivering them?"
She was being used long before I knew, suffering silently.
I let it all go under the office culture blindness.
I didn't even notice how perfectly she was working at a place she just begun.
I got up and began to pace around the office.
Overall, in front of the world.
Veronica's work was…normal.
It was a step-by-step process.
Nothing that anyone would point out.
The staff also only saw Veronica was efficient.
She did files, dealt cross-department work, even made coffee for them.
No one noticed she was being exploited.
Everyone was made to believe this is how work is done.
That's why when she left, Imelda behaved as a normal employee and she began to find a new one.
In fact…
"That…wasn't the fact."
"She wasn't finding a replacement."
"Because…"
"She can't find another Veronica who'll do her work."
"After all, where would she find someone so obedient, silent, and loyal."
"Only Veronica's loyalty doesn't make any sense to me. Why did she hide from me?"
I went over to my desk and called the Staff Admin on the phone.
"Hello, were the urgent files always logged in?"
She hesitated again.
"Mr. Rollings, always, only the ones Ms. Smith used to…weren't."
"Why?"
"We were told by the top-level authority."
I let out a small laugh.
As I wasn't the top-level authority who allowed…
leaving only one person.
Now lots of things are clearer than before.
I went over to my chair, and leaned back.
A brief pause settled in the office.
I tried to recall how Veronica worked late at night.
Her quiet compliance to the work.
"She followed everything without any explanation."
"Without allowing me to know."
"The same way I didn't tell her, and kept to myself."
I began to align the facts I had in hand.
The repeated bypasses.
Same so-called top-level authority.
Only Veronica handled the deliveries.
Mid-night timeline.
"This wasn't a broken execution."
I paused for a brief moment.
"It was a planned one, an allowed one."
The screen was dark.
Silence again was surrounding me.
I was all alone.
It was midnight and I was alone in the office, or rather building once again.
But tonight…
All files were closed.
Silence was around me.
"If this was allowed…"
"That meant someone made sure she was the only one delivering them."
Another brief pause.
"And that person made sure, the ones who knew never questioned,"
"And the ones who didn't know, never knew."
I let out a breath.
"So what exactly have you been hiding in these documents for the past three years?"