That morning, Eleanor arrived late at the office. Punctuality was a thing of hers and she could feel a tension straining inside her even though it was not her fault. On her journey she had been unexpectedly delayed. The train she usually got had been cancelled. It seemed to her that these cancellations had become more frequent over the past month. As she made her way along the crowded platform her instinct was to move to the edge where there were fewer people. She had found herself listening to two women talking about the delays and about someone being hit by a train. I wonder if it was an accident, one of them had said. The other tilted her head, her lips tightened as she said in a low voice, or it could have been …you know… Then she had raised her eyebrows.

Nearly all of the hot desks were now occupied but Eleanor saw one that was free in the far corner, so she quickly made her way over there and threw her jacket over the back of the chair. Soon she was logged on and all set up. She was a little surprised that there were no new emails in her inbox. How weird she thought, but maybe it just needs time to refresh. In any case, she had a report to complete which would probably take her most of the morning so the lack of distraction would be welcome.

From her place in the corner of the office she could see over at the other end that Chloe and Alice were sitting next to each other as they often did. She smiled and tried to catch their eye but perhaps they hadn’t seen her come in. In any case they looked busy. She began to work on her report and soon lost track of time.

It was when she looked up from the screen sometime later that she experienced a strange dislocating feeling. The question that came to mind was: when was the last time she had been in the office? She couldn’t clearly remember. Why is that? She felt a growing sense of unease. It was such a simple question, but it really wasn’t clear in her head what the answer was. True, some days just seem like others but ultimately, they were all at least a little bit different. What’s more she was a relative newbie so why couldn’t she remember? She could check her diary but suddenly she wanted someone to tell her. To reassure her of when it was, so that she could make sense of this.  Perhaps Chloe or Alice would know. However, when she looked across the office she could see that they were not at their desks. She could do with a coffee she thought, and the two of them might be in the kitchen area having a chat. 

As she entered the kitchen Chloe and Alice were picking up their cups and walked straight past her in silence. Eleanor stood, rooted to the spot. Her heart was beating hard, and her hands were shaking. She let out a short laugh. Maybe this was in response to the thought in her head: this can’t be happening. She began to think hard trying to remember if something had happened that might explain their behaviour. Friday drinks after work, yes, that might have been it. She had drunk more than she should. Could she have said something to offend them? They had been talking about one of the new managers who was proving very popular with everyone. She had a vague memory of maybe saying something mean about them. Would that have been enough to upset everyone?

The ends of her fingers were cold and her hands trembled while she got herself a glass of water. And then she remembered they had been talking about Chloe’s boyfriend and what was it she had said? There had been a pause in the conversation and Chloe had got up and gone to talk to someone else. Would that be enough for them to give her the silent treatment? To ghost her?

Back at her hot desk she tried to carry on with the report but her mind was distracted. She thought about going over to the two women and saying hello. But what if they ignored her? No, she couldn’t risk that. It would be too humiliating. She was finding it increasingly hard to concentrate on the report she hoped to complete that day. She looked up and across the room half a dozen times during the rest of the morning and then saw that Chloe and Alice were no longer at their desks. They and several others had obviously gone for a lunch break. Eleanor decided that she needed a break and fresh air. That would help her clear her head and take her mind off everything.

At the sandwich place she usually went to, there was a fairly long queue but she waited patiently. She wasn’t hungry but decided it would be an idea to get something anyway. She could always save it for later. She was nearly at the front of the queue when she reached into her pocket for her purse and then realised it wasn’t there. She heard someone say “Who is next?” and while she was checking her other pockets the man behind her just stepped forward and ordered what he wanted. How rude! She thought. At least he could have asked if I was going next. Is it just me or are people’s manners getting worse?

She returned to the office to see if she had left her purse there.  When she got there her laptop had been closed and on it was a sticker that said “For Collection by IT Services.” The power cable had been removed and was no longer on her desk.

This can’t be possible, she thought. She looked around the office at the rows and rows of desks. It seemed to have got darker since she had returned from her lunch break and she could see the light from the screens reflected in people’s eyes. She moved through the office quickly. Who can I talk to about this? Quite a few of the hot desks were now free as people had left for the day. Eleanor reached the kitchen area and stopped. Standing by the counter were Alice and Chloe. They mustn’t have realised that she was there since they carried on their conversation as if she weren’t. It’s tomorrow afternoon in the main conference room said Alice. Gary wants to say a few words about Ellie, and we’re all invited to say something if we want to. Have they found out what happened? Said Chloe. Alice lowered her voice; it looks like it was some random guy who just pushed her off the platform. The police are still looking for him.

She made her way through the darkening streets to the station. She hoped there would be no cancellations this evening. As she moved through the crowd on the platform, she looked at the faces of all the people waiting for the next train.