Stolen Secrets

Stolen Secrets- Chapter 20

~Jeff~

I watched Natalie nervously as we headed to the office building her dad worked in. She was biting on her lip so hard I was scared she would start bleeding any minute. She had enough injuries left over as it was, I didn’t want her to have any self inflicted ones.

We didn’t talk at all on our trip from school until we were in the elevator of the office building.

“Is it bad that I’m scared?” Natalie asked turning to face me. Her eyes were large worry and her cheeks nosy from the cold.

“No you’re just worried,” I told her.

She thought for a moment. “No I’m scared,” she admitted.

“Well maybe you’re scared of what we will find,” I didn’t want to tell her that, but I didn’t really have a choice. I was completely against lying to her. I wasn’t going to add to the pain she already felt.

Natalie stayed silent.

The elevator dinged and the doors slid open. Natalie stepped out and I was right behind her.

“Hi Cheryl,” Natalie said with a smile that was nowhere close to reaching her eyes.

“Well hello Natalie. I haven’t seen you in forever,” The surprisingly young secretary said with a smile. “Any news from you father?”

“No,” Natalie said sadly. “I actually came to see if I could find out anything,” she explained.

Cheryl looked shocked for a moment but nodded. “Well, of course. You know where everything is. You are welcome to do what you wish, and I’m available if you have any questions,” she said. I noticed she talked with her hand lots and it was fluttering around next to her. It was very distracting.

“Thanks. We won’t be here long,” Natalie promised. I knew she would stay true to it. I don’t think Natalie would be able to stay in a place that reminded her so much of George long.

Natalie turned and immediately headed down the hall to the room on the end. But she didn’t enter. She just stood and stared at the door.

“You okay?” I asked coming up behind her and putting one hand on her hip. I wanted to comfort her, but I wasn’t sure if she would appreciate it here, so I settled for the small little hug I was giving her instead.

“I just- I just- Kinda,” she said finally answering my question. Her hands balled into fists and I could hear the deep breath she took to calm herself.

Suddenly she reached out and twisted the knob of the door and walked in like her little freak out had never happened. This girl continued to amaze me.

Natalie walked around the desk and to the laptop. She started powering it on and looked through the papers on the desk.

“Anything I should do?” I asked. I wasn’t sure how much of a help I would be because I didn’t know what would look suspicious or not. I was next to no help in this situation. I was just here to comfort Natalie, if she would let me.

I don’t think Natalie realized it, but she started rearranging the papers on the desk. At first I wasn’t sure how she was organizing them, but as I looked closer I saw that she was actually putting them by type. I think she was all doing subconsciously though, which was amazing.

The laptop was finally finished turning on and she started typing and clicking away on it.

“He keeps it unlocked?” I asked astonished.

“No, I know his password,” Natalie said looking up at me briefly.

“Oh right,” I said sheepishly.