Elara hated the smell of the shelter, and her body ached from sleeping on the hard board floors.
All Elara had left was packed into two battered bags tucked under her feet. She had spent the last two days wandering through the city, holding 'help wanted' flyers, desperately looking for a means to escape her reality.
She had called one distant aunt in Ohio, but the woman ended the call when she mentioned her name.
"I'm tired. " She spoke quietly to herself, wiping a tear on her cheek.
She picked an old newspaper from the ground and read the job ad section: CLEANING STAFF NEEDED URGENTLY AT SILVER ENTERPRISES. START IMMEDIATELY, ABOVE MINIMUM WAGE.
Silver. The man she had saved was a Silver. She wondered how he was doing and if his wounds had healed.
"They won't recognize me or remember what I look like." She thought to herself.
She would be invisible in the hallways, cleaning supplies in hand, earning just enough to save up for a small apartment far from the city center.
Silver Enterprises was a tall, glass-and-steel building in the city's business district. The most prominent building in the city.
Julian slammed his fist on the mahogany desk in his spacious penthouse office.
"You are supposed to be the best at this. How can you say it's going to be difficult?"
The Private Investigator, a man named John, shifted uncomfortably in his seat.
"Mr. Silver, there is no information about her online. Her credit cards are not working; no car is registered in her name; the network provider disconnected her phone; and she has no known relatives. She is a ghost."
Julian stood up and walked to the window.
"There must be a way to find her; she can't just disappear."
"We're checking the shelters and cheap motels," John said.
"But this is a big city, and there is a possibility she can never be found."
" You must find her." Julian snapped.
"Keep looking, double the reward for information. I want her found by the end of the week."
As John left, Caleb stepped into the office.
" Can you please focus? We have tons of work to do."
"She was evicted, Caleb," Julian said, turning around.
"The day after she saved me. I should find her and reward her at least."
"You can't save everyone, Julian.
The following Monday, Elara resumed work at Silver Enterprise. She wore a baggy, grey jumpsuit and a pair of rubber gloves, her wavy auburn hair pulled into a ponytail.
Martha, her supervisor, handed her a cart filled with cleaning supplies and rags.
"You're on the top floor. You must never speak to the executives or breathe when they pass by. Go against my orders, and you're out. Understood?" Martha asked with a loud voice.
"Yes, ma'am," Elara responded quietly, keeping her head down.
"Good. Start with the 40th floor. The CEO's suite is off-limits until after 6:00 PM. Move."
Elara reached the 40th floor and got to work immediately.
The main elevators opened.
A group of men in suits walked down the hallway. At the center was Julian Silver.
Elara froze.
He looked handsome in his dark grey suit, moving with admirable confidence.
Julian brushed past her, his attention focused on the assistants he was speaking to. She bowed her head until he passed her.
"You guys must seal that deal on Thursday," Julian was saying as he disappeared into his corner office. "And call John. I want an update on Elara Vance."
Elara froze. Her hands were shaking.
He's looking for me? she thought.
For a second, she considered walking into his office and saying, "I'm right here."
But she remembered her promise to her mother and turned back to scrubbing.
Elara finally paid for a small shared room at a boarding house three miles away, which was better than the shelter. She was beginning to get her life together.
She adapted quickly and did her job efficiently. Never taking part in gossip but eavesdropping on the other cleaner's gossip.
They all talked about a woman who was a terror to them.
Jessica Sterling.
Jessica was a junior executive known for her stinky attitude and expensive clothes.
She was also in love with Julian Silver.
"You," Jessica snapped one Tuesday afternoon.
Elara, who was polishing a vase by the elevator, stopped. "Yes, ma'am?"
"There's a stain on the window in my office," Jessica said, her tone cold.
"Fix it. Now."
"My supervisor told me to finish with the lobby first, ma'am," Elara said softly, keeping her eyes on the floor.
Jessica stepped closer, "I don't care what your supervisor told you. If I tell you to move, you move."
"I'm sorry, ma'am," she said quietly.
She followed Jessica into her office, which had glass walls. The stain was a slight blur on the glass wall.
As Elara cleaned, she could feel Jessica's eyes on her back.
"Where do they find people like you?" Jessica asked, leaning back in her chair.
"You look like somebody pulled you out of a bin. They need to give you pigs better uniforms; that jumpsuit is annoying."
Elara tightened her grip on the spray bottle. "You're almost done here Elara".
Julian Silver was having a bad day.
A shipment was stuck in Singapore, the board had so many complaints, and John had just called to say he was giving up on searching for Elara Vance.
"How does a woman with no money disappear?" Julian muttered, pacing his office.
He walked toward the elevators, wanting a coffee.
Halfway down the hall, he heard a sharp voice coming from Jessica Sterling's office.
"I said you missed a spot! Are you blind as well as poor?"
Julian stopped.
He usually ignored his staff's petty arguments, but something about the silence caught his attention.
He looked through the glass wall. Jessica was standing over a cleaner who was kneeling on the floor, scrubbing the sliding door.
"I'm sorry, Ms. Sterling, I'll do it again," the cleaner said. Her voice was low, steady, and strangely familiar.
"Don't bother," Jessica hissed.
She reached out and tipped over the cleaner's bucket.
Soapy water spread across the floor.
"Look at that," Jessica mocked.
"Another mess for you to clean."
Julian felt a surge of anger. He hated bullying, especially from Jessica.
He pushed the door open and the sound of the door made both women jump.
Jessica's face changed instantly from a look of meanness to a bright smile.
"Julian! I was just—this girl was so clumsy, she knocked over her bucket. I was telling her to be more careful."
Julian looked at the cleaner. She was still on her knees, her hands in the dirty water as she tried to soak it up with a rag.
"Jessica," Julian said, with a quiet voice.
"Yes, Julian?" Jessica smiled, stepping toward him.
"Go to HR."
Jessica blinked. "What? Why? "
"Tell them I sent you; they should sign you up for a professional conduct seminar," Julian said, his eyes narrowing.
"And if I ever see you bully any junior staff again, you're out."
Jessica's face turned red.
She gave the cleaner one last hateful look and hurried out of the office.
The room was silent.
"You don't have to do that," Julian said, his voice softening.
"I'll get someone to do it."
"It's my job, sir," the girl said, head down.
Julian stepped closer.
There was something about her. A feeling that he had seen her before.
"What's your name?" he asked.