While she was energized by the work her team had completed during her trip to Guam, Beca was simultaneously exhausted by energy she spent by constantly being around people. People drained Beca. She typically worked alone, in a vacuum, making herself quite the loner. Her team had been quite accurate when they nicknamed her Attau.

She also had not quite adjusted to being back in the Eastern time zone or rested from the long flight home. Regardless she knew she was expected back in the office to write up the final report and to give her boss an update on her trip and the project as a whole. Because the planning phase was over, Beca would transition to "regular hours", only staying late for her weekly team meetings.

Beca awkwardly unlocked her office, kicking the door open before she dumped the armful of bags she was carrying along with her briefcase and computer backpack on the couch in her office. She glanced around at the familiar office which somehow had a feeling of unfamiliarity about it. Something seemed different; however, through her fog addled brain, she couldn't pick out specifics.

She stumbled to her desk at least to where her desk used to be. After setting her coffee down and taking a look around, she realized one reason her office felt foreign. Much of her furniture had been rearranged. Most of the moves were slight, but her stuff had been changed nonetheless. The irritation began to build as she began to search her brain for a reasonable explanation. Looking down at her desk, her confusion began to clear slightly as her desktop was covered in a multitude of colored notes and stickies. The writing was entirely familiar as it was the same as on all the quirky little notes the cleaning lady had left her with her after dinner coffee.

As she sipped on her now inferior coffee, Beca's fog began to lift along with her spirits as she took a seat and began to read the bits of the miniature novel left for her, tiny bright slips of a paper at a time.

Day One

Freedom for Ms. Mitchell!
I took the liberty to have your carpets deep-cleaned.

Q: What kind of pet just lays around the house?
A: A car-pet!

Q: What did the rug say to the floor?
A: Don't worry, I've got you covered!

Day Two

The way your desk sat, there was absolutely no way for you to enjoy the incredible city view out your window. I rearranged your furniture so you could enjoy the outdoor scenery while you work your insane hours.

I tried to catch some fog, but I mist.
Trees are relieved when Spring comes. (Think about it.)
I stayed up all night to see where the sun went. Then it dawned on me.

Day Three

All of your furniture has been thoroughly cleaned and polished.

The furniture store keeps calling me back… But all I wanted was that one nightstand.

Day Four

When I was cleaning your furniture yesterday, I found a few pictures tucked beneath your desk blotter. While they were not in plain view, I presume they mean something to you since you keep them in your office I hope I did not overstep by having them framed.

No jokes accompanied this day's task.

Tears welled up in Beca's eyes as she picked up the double frame which contained two pictures of her mother. One was a candid snapshot Beca had taken of her mother gardening, pruning flowers in their front flower box. She fondly remembered the other one which was taken right after her high school graduation as it was one of the last pictures she had of her mother before a senseless act of teenage distracted driving took her life.

The other frame was a collage of pictures which included her entire, albeit small, family. How the woman knew the perfect way to group the pictures was beyond her. Her heart twinged a bit as she realized someone else had touched her precious photographs. However, the end result was so perfect, the annoyance quickly passed.

Day Five

Your bookshelves had magazines and books haphazardly stacked everywhere. They have been arranged and organized by topic. The most recent ones now live on the coffee table while other ones are on your shelf.

President Trump went to a furniture store. He was surrounded by his bodyguards, and everyone immediately took notice of the unusual sight. They looked closer and they saw who it was. Everyone was in awe. "Why would Trump be picking out furniture?" they all asked each other. "He should have his staff do it for him". Finally, one man asked the President, "What are you doing in this little store of ours?" To which Trump replied, "Oh, I'm getting a whole new cabinet".

Day Six

I watered your plants.

Beca started. "Plants?" She said out loud to nobody in particular. "I don't have any frigging plants." Then she took a look around and noticed that indeed, there were now plants in her office. There was long, hanging green plant with broad leaves in a basket near the window so it could get full sun. A small tree stood in the corner. And some type of flowering plant was sitting on her desk "What the fuck?" She laughed. She then read beneath the note, expecting there to be some cheesy joke about plants.

The long planting hanging in the window is an ivy. Her name is… Ivy. The small tree is a ficus tree. His name is Frank. And the plant with pretty flowers is jasmine. Her name is … Jasmine.

And don't worry. I'll help take care of them. I don't want them to die.

Welcome Home!

As Beca wondered how the woman knew she wouldn't have a clue on what the plants were or how to care for them, she looked at the carefully wrapped package she had brought from Guam for the cleaning lady. Suddenly it didn't seem quite enough for all of the kindness the woman had shown her. Beca opened her bottom desk drawer and hid the present. After doing a quick Google search, she found what she wanted online. A few key clicks later and a much more complete gift would be delivered to her office in a few hours. Oh the joys of the internet, Amazon Prime, and living in New York City.

Beca had written up several reports while she was overseas which made it easier for her to compile her complete report for Posen. There wasn't much to add per say, mostly formalities and boxes to check-mark. She also needed to drop off the executed documents with legal so they could be officially processed and file the forms which officially shifted the project to its execution phase.

The project manager lugged the large canvas bag Hano had given her to Jessica's desk along with an armful of paperwork which she plopped down on the corner of the desk. "I hate to do this to you, but here's all the contracts that need to be finalized. I have a meeting with the vendor set up for tomorrow, then the regular project meetings will start up next week again."

"Well it's good to see you, too, Bec." Jessica chuckled as she moved the paperwork off the corner of the edge where it was precariously sitting.

"Oh geesh, I'm sorry. Guess I could have lead with that, huh?" Beca rubbed her bloodshot eyes. She pulled out a few gift-wrapped presents and laid them on her desk. "Or started with 'I missed you Jessica. Let me show my appreciation for all your hard work.' These are for you. Hide the candy or I might steal it. Mine's already gone." Beca laughed. "Is the boss-lady free?" After checking Posen's calendar and phone, Jessica buzzed Aubrey who called Beca into her office.

"Hey Posen."

The tall blonde rolled her eyes. "Why do you insist on calling me that, Mitchell?"

"Could it be because you call me Mitchell?" Actually Beca didn't know why she started calling her supervisor by just her last name, probably because she knew it irritated her. "Jessica has all the reports and contracts from the trip. But I figured you'd want an oral report, too."

Beca shuffled her feet as she was still standing in front of her boss's desk. "And I brought peace offerings. She gently placed the bag with the remainder of the gifts on Posen's desk. "I figured that since you sent me to paradise that a little bit of that should come home with me."

Aubrey's shocked look pleased Beca since she knew she'd caught her supervisor off-guard, which was hard to do. Aubrey motioned for her to sit down as she took the wrapped presents out of the bag. She started by examining the hand-crafted bag. "Beca this is gorgeous. May I keep the bag as well or is that too much?"

"No Ms. Posen… Aubrey, it's fine." For the first time, Beca felt as though she and her boss were finally making a connection. Sad that it took a hand-made gift from half a world away to do it though. She watched as Aubrey unwrapped each box, carefully lifting the tape so as to not ruin the paper then folding the paper as if she was reserving it to re-use.

Once everything had been unwrapped, Aubrey's face had a much kinder, gentler look. "Thank you Beca. This was very kind of you. I wouldn't have guessed you knew me so well." Beca didn't tell her that she only knew of her boss's tea fetish – that the rest were just Guam style gifts. "I appreciate your thoughtfulness. I look forward to reading your final report." She glanced at her calendar and clock. "I wish I had more time right now because I would love to hear more about your trip."

"Maybe later in the week."

"Have Jessica set something up."

When Beca got back to her newly decorated and arranged office, she plopped down in her chair. She pulled out the remaining box in the bags she had brought from home. She slid the picture from its box and stared at the gift from her Guam team.

The main piece was a piece of driftwood that had been planed smooth on one side while the edges and back remained the unique texture of wood that had spent countless hours bobbing in salt water. The team had taken a picture at the restaurant the last night, and someone must have had it developed overnight and shellacked the picture to the front. Seashells were randomly affixed as decorations as well as the fixed to form the word "Attau".

Hano had given it to her at the airport and had her slip it into her carry-on without looking at it. Beca had forgotten about it until she was unpacking and came across the farewell gift. "Damned onions." Beca wiped the corners of her eyes. Her new family pictures were sitting on her desk, and she placed her team picture right alongside.

The project manager caught a glimpse of the other presents that she still needed to give – to the woman that cleaned her office. Beca felt weird for worrying that she hadn't gotten the woman enough. Thankfully Amazon had a gift wrapping option, so Beca wouldn't have to struggle through that painful process. She arranged the presents on the coffee table in front of her office couch then left a note on the custodial closet to let "C" know that they were for her.

When Beca arrived at work the next day, the things she had left for "C" were gone. When she checked various places in the office and did not find any cheerful notes, her heart sank. Either she had offended the cheerful, dancing custodian or the woman had flat out hated her presents. Beca's mind was going in a million different directions because she thought that surely what she had chosen had been perfect. Nonetheless she had to shake her concerns off because she had a lot of work to be done.

The project manager buried herself mindlessly in her work until her phone began to blow up mid-morning.

Stacie: You fucker
Stacie: Call me!

Stacie then immediately called… twice in a row. By the time Beca could even get to her phone, three more text messages had come in. She quickly pressed Stacie's contact and called her best friend.

"Hey – it's my favorite Pilates instructor. What's up?" Beca had an inkling of why her best friend was so uptight this morning but was going to make her admit to it.

"Don't be all nonchalant with me pipsqueak. You know what's up!" As hard as the taller brunette tried, she could never come off as sounding mean. "I'm going to choke you when I see you."

"Awww Stace. You don't mean that." Beca was laughing. "Let me guess – you just wore the Got Kelaguen shirt without googling."

"Uhhhh yeah, and that hot chick I've been telling you about? Apparently she's ex-Air Force and was stationed guess where… Guam." Stacie made a gagging sound. "I can see fish and shrimp – I mean that's ceviche which is normal. But beef and chicken? Seriously?"

"So did you lose your shot with the hottie from your class?"

"No." Stacie had lost her steam but was still being pissy. "We have a date. But she is hell bent on finding a place that serves that kelaguen crap."

Beca burst out laughing. "It's not that bad Stace. Buck up and take one for the team."

After finishing up all of her tasks for the day, the project manager packed up her laptop to head towards her condo, delighted that she was leaving while the sun was still shining for the second day in a row. Somehow that content feeling was overshadowed by not having any of the normal silent interactions with the oh-so-entertaining cleaning lady – no notes, no late night coffee, no caught-off-guard dancing.

As she stepped out of the building, Beca pulled her sunglasses from the top of her head and settled them down on the bridge of her nose. The pleasant weather allowed her to enjoy the walk home - gave her some exercise and also some fresh air. As fresh as the polluted air of NYC could be. Her earbuds were already pushed snugly into her ears, and one of her favorite playlists was keeping her company on the walk home.

Beca had a tendency to get caught up in her music, so she had to made a conscious effort to not run into people as she walked. Her eyes were drawn to two women walking in front of her. Their arms were hooked together and their gait was slow as they seemed to be concentrating on their conversation. Beca quickly recognized her boss's long blonde hair. She then realized that Aubrey was yet again with her redheaded friend. The project manager slipped in behind the pair, hoping to not be discovered. Beca turned off her music and removed one earbud, leaving the other in case she got caught eavesdropping allowing her to play it off.

"Aubrey, I'm so sick of everything. School, this dead end job, all of it."

The tall blonde placed a gentle hand on the other woman's arm. "I wish I could make it better. But at least you have something that brings in money for now."

The redhead sighed. "I suppose. And I guess there's always church."

"Exactly. That should be on top of your list of blessings. And you have me."

As the pair's conversation turned less specific, Beca slipped in her other earbud and turned up her music. She turned down the street towards her condo and tried to make sense of what she heard. Did her boss have a girlfriend? Were she and the hottie redhead dating? They did look sort of cozy. Beca shook her head to clear that offending image. She knew she definitely had some detective work to do if she wanted to discover who the redhead was and if she was taken – by Posen.

The next morning when Beca walked into her office, there was a note with familiar handwriting laying on her desk. A huge grin spread across her face as she sat down to read it.

Ms. Mitchell:

Thank you so much for the lovely gifts. I tried the coffee, and it's to die for. I'm not sure why you left Guam when you could drink this all day every day! I appreciate the bean grinder because I don't have one and without – I wouldn't be able to try the coffee. But I guess that's what you were going for. The French Press is also cool (I couldn't come up with another word to describe it other than cool.) It's a very interesting way to make coffee, so sophisticated. I'm going to be selfish and leave all of these at home to enjoy. Sometimes the other guys here get into my coffee stash, and I'm not budging with this.

Sorry I didn't thank you earlier. It's weird having you back in the country and not on the schedule you used to be on. I'm sure you like working normal hours though. Maybe part of you misses my jokes, though!

Anyway I don't mean to rattle on. Thanks again for the kind gifts.

~C

The project manager was extremely relieved to know she hadn't offended the kind worker. Beca felt all warm and fuzzy knowing her present was such a big hit and smiled at the easy sense of humor the woman displayed. But Beca did indeed miss the easy-going interactions with the woman.

Late Wednesday afternoon, Beca found herself doing an informal reconnaissance mission around the floor of her company's office. She was going to make her purpose in life to find the one woman on the cleaning crew that had brought so many smiles to her face. Beca wasn't sure if the woman worked on Wednesday's because that's the one night that she apparently didn't stay long enough to clean her office and to leave Beca her late night coffee.

Beca wandered around the floor, peeking into darkened offices where people had gone home for the day and into the restrooms in hopes of finding the cleaning lady. Once she had exhausted her search through the entire floor, she remembered that she had the final report to give to Posen. She grabbed it and headed to her boss's office hoping that either she or Jessica was still at work.

While Jessica's desk was empty, the light was on in Posen's office. She lightly knocked and heard a voice tell her to come in. But as soon as she swung the door open and stepped inside, she froze. In front of her was the cleaning woman she'd spent the last half hour or so searching for. Thankfully, the woman's back was to the door because she was in the process of unbuttoning her uniform shirt. While she knew she shouldn't be watching, Beca was frozen like a deer in headlights as the woman stepped out of shapeless and homely uniform to reveal a curvaceous, sexy body.

"What's wrong Bree? Why aren't you coming into your office? It's not like you've never seen me naked before." The cleaning woman was teasing with her words as she turned around. Beca's eyes immediately went to the ground. "Hmmm… leer at the help much? It's okay, I'm pretty confident about all this." She motioned to her body as she pulled on a much better fitting dress.

"Ummm I just needed to leave these for Aubrey errrrr Ms. Posen. I didn't mean to walk in on you." When Beca was sure the woman's body was covered, she looked up to see the cleaning lady taking off the ugly uniform hat, removing the bobby pins from her hair and shaking out the gorgeous red locks that had been haunting Beca in her dreams. "Oh, it's you."

Not sure what Beca meant, the woman replied, "Yeah it's me."

Beca stumbled backwards as her addled brain finally pulled together all the pieces of the puzzle. The cleaning lady was Posen's redheaded friend. Posen's redheaded friend, possibly girlfriend was the cleaning lady. However now that she had all the pieces of the puzzle, she was more confused than ever, so Beca decided it was best for her to just leave.

She went to walk past C towards the door when the redhead gently grabbed her elbow to stop her. "I meant what I said. I love the coffee, thanks again."

The project manager looked at her and stopped for a moment. She muttered under her breath. "They're not green. That's what was wrong. Your eyes. They are blue." Blushing, Beca ran from the office to try to make sense of everything that had just happened.