Gavin stared at the scrap of paper as if it were a slice of gold. He looked around furtively to ascertain if anybody else in the Funds Office happened to be looking at him, but nobody was paying him any attention.

Gavin failed to see Justin staring at him with a deep frown marring his handsome features.

“That’s right, yes,” Gavin whispered to himself, a habit he was simply incapable of breaking. “Ignore grey, insignificant, inconsequential Gavin as you always do,” he continued to talk softly to himself. “Why wouldn’t you? After all, I’m just a lowly funds administrator, aren’t I?” he said rhetorically before once again focusing on the tiny card he held between his fingers.

The numbers written underneath a label on it seemed to dance jauntily in and out of focus. Gavin removed his spectacles to wipe them clean on his tie before replacing them on his scrunched up nose. He was still incredulous, slightly shocked to see that he held the password to the Funds Payment Portfolio.

“Gavin!” somebody suddenly called out, causing Gavin to startle so badly in surprise that he nearly tumbled out of his swivel chair, letting fall the paper in his panic.

“Dammit, Justin! Must you always shout at me like that?” Gavin asked in fury. He hated being embarrassed; Justin always seemed to enjoy doing exactly that. Gavin could hear the titters, snickers and soft laughter of his other colleagues.

“Sorry, man,” Justin apologised as insincerely as a loan shark telling a client he was sorry that he had to break his legs for being late on a payment. “I just wanted to know if you’ve submitted the applications for the second intake session or not.”

“Yes, I submitted it first thing this morning when I clocked in. You should have received them long ago,” Gavin replied curtly, still extremely irate at having been so rudely interrupted.

While replying to Justin, Gavin cast desperate glances about his cubicle in an attempt to relocate the invaluable card.

“Okay, cool. I’ll check my mail now,” Justin replied flippantly before returning to his cubicle. Just as Gavin was about to go down on his hands and knees to search under his desk, Justin popped back up at his door.

“Oh, one other thing. You don’t perhaps know, do you, if Khanisca has come in to work today?”

“Khanisca?” Gavin asked, perplexed. He wondered why Justin would ask him about the whereabouts of his girlfriend, who also happened to be in charge of the Funds Payment Portfolio.

“Why would I know if your girlfriend is at work today or not?” Gavin replied in an affronted tone. He was getting acutely annoyed with Justin and wanted the moron to leave him alone.

“Hey, man. No need to get all hot under the collar. I was just asking because I remember her telling me that she had a meeting with you this morning, but it’s already nine and I haven’t seen her at all,” Justin explained before he returned to his own cubicle.

“Finally,” Gavin breathed quietly and hurriedly searched under his desk. The priceless piece of paper was lying right next to the trash container. “No, you don’t,” Gavin grinned and quickly snatched it up.

Khanisca woke up with a jolt. For a few seconds she had not a clue where she was, then her lethargic brain exploded with knowledge.

“Damn it all! How the hell did I oversleep? I’m in such deep crap right now,” she berated herself as she hurriedly rushed to the bathroom to shower and get ready for work.

“Why did I have to go and do those extra sets last night?” she asked as she applied some make-up as quickly as possible. “Have I truly become such a gym junkie?” she questioned herself, grabbing her laptop and zooming out of her apartment.

Khanisca glanced at her watch as she sped down the highway, which was thankfully not too crowded with traffic. Keeping one eye on the road, she swiftly called Rochelle, the receptionist at work. Her cell phone was connected via Bluetooth to her car audio, freeing her from having to keep the phone to her ear. Rochelle answered on the third ring.

“Rochelle, Khanisca here,” she said before Rochelle could even greet her. “Listen, let Deon know I’m on my way to the office right now,” she continued while she negotiated between two garbage trucks. “I wasn’t well last night so I overslept this morning,” she lied smoothly.

“Hi, Khanisca,” Rochelle said cheerily. “Sure, I’ll let him know right now. You just drive safely. See you soon,” she advised Khanisca before ending the call.

Khanisca looked up from the dashboard where she had pressed the red phone symbol to end the call only to slam on her brakes just in time to avoid a collision. She stopped inches away from the stationary garbage truck in front of her.

“For the love of God!” Khanisca shouted involuntarily. “Why would you not move if the cars in front of you aren’t standing still?” she screamed at the truck driver, pressing her car horn loudly to get the obviously somnolent driver to wake up.

at his desk, Gavin carefully accessed the Funds Payment Portfolio on his laptop.

“A little knowledge is a dangerous thing,” he whispered, “but in this cutthroat business, ignorance is a death sentence,” he told himself. He thought about how he had repeatedly been overlooked for promotion, even though he had been working the longest in the company.

“I know every trick, every shortcut, every solution to every problem, yet they promote Khanisca, a true greenhorn, over me simply because she’s of the right colour,” he lamented. “And Justin? How is he even still employed here?” Gavin asked of nobody in particular. “I mean, the guy couldn’t find his own ass even if it were handed to him on a silver platter!”

The injustice of being kept in his lowly position of Funds Administrator galled Gavin; he felt smothered, humiliated, frustrated. His mind was a boiling cauldron of emotions roiling with bitterness and fury.

“Nah, it’s my time now. And if I don’t seize this chance, I’ll probably stay in this dead-end position till I’m forced to retire,” he reasoned softly to himself.

Very meticulously, Gavin made a few seemingly inconsequential, innocuous adjustments in the account. He added a twenty-four-hour window for the alteration to be overturned and reset.

Justin found Asanda warming some chicken noodle soup in the staff kitchen when he went to get himself a cup of coffee. Asanda glowed with health; her mocha skin was smooth while her body testified to her regular gym sessions. She was a lady who took the phrase “staying in shape” literally. Everything about her was shapely.

“Asanda,” Justin said, “do you have any idea where Khanisca is this morning?” he asked her. “It’s already going on to ten, and she usually arrives here by nine for the latest,” he added.

“Aw, don’t worry, Justin. She probably overslept,” Asanda said. “We hit the gym really hard last night, and even I nearly didn’t make it for work this morning,” she explained. “But why are you worrying about Khanisca?” Asanda asked Justin as she took a seat at a table to have her soup.

Justin joined her and took a sip of his coffee before he said, “It’s Gavin. I just don’t trust that four-eyed nerd. Those specs of his make him look far too much like someone who’s got something to hide; like Clark Kent, you know?” he asked Asanda.

Asanda chuckled before she said, “Come on, dude. Gavin is harmless. You aren’t really suggesting he has a secret persona like Superman, are you?”

“Pfff! No, that’s ridiculous,” Justin countered, “but I saw him come out of Khanisca’s office earlier and when I went to speak to him at his cubicle, he practically jumped out of his skin. Now if that’s not a guilty conscience, then sue me,” the attractive double-dimpled Justin stated.

“Justin, chill. You know Gavin has every right to be in Khanisca’s office, as has any one of us. That’s just the policy here. He probably dropped off some time sheets for her to sign,” Asanda said as she rose to place her empty bowl in the basin.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Justin admitted, “but still…” he added as both of them went back to their work stations.

Khanisca was making good time until she took the exit ramp to leave the highway and join a secondary road. The traffic was unexpectedly bumper-to-bumper. She once again needed to slam on her brakes to avoid crashing into the car in front of her.

“What the blazes? You’re kidding me!” she screamed, seething in rage. “What’s causing this hold-up?” she demanded irately before quickly scanning the radio stations to see if there were any traffic reports. Within seconds she came across a report citing the jack-knifing of a Coke truck on the off ramp.

“Be vigilant, please drivers,” the announcer was saying. “So far there have been no reports of injuries, but the truck has caused a five-car pile-up. Traffic authorities have assured us that the road will be cleared within minutes, as emergency responders are already on the scene,” she reported.

“Just my luck,” Khanisca groaned and reached for her cell phone to let Rochelle know she would be later than anticipated. Just then, her phone pinged with an incoming text message. It was from Gavin.

“What does he want now?” Khanisca complained before she opened his message. It left her with a slack jaw and slight palpitations.

Khanisca, you happened to have left  your password to the Funds Payment Portfolio on your desk for anybody to see. I took the liberty of removing it and resetting your password to safeguard you. I see no need to let anyone else know about this, as I’m sure it was an honest oversight. You can reset your password to one of your own choosing the minute you get to the office. I’ve inserted a 24-hour window for it, just in case you can’t make it to work today. Thanks.

The blare of a car horn behind her blasted Khanisca out of her paralysis. Swiftly, she moved her car forward as the traffic unsnarled and once again flowed freely. Her mind was awhirl with her scattered thoughts. Above all, one thought kept circling repeatedly to the surface as Khanisca drove to her office.

“I misjudged Gavin. How could I have ever treated him with such insolence? I misjudged him so unfairly,” she thought, a deep well of shame opening up in her soul.

As she neared her workplace, a single, sharp image suddenly blossomed in her mind like the unfolding of the secret of the universe.

“We judge others based on the knowledge we have about ourselves, but this is more often than not the most erroneous assumption we could ever make,” she realised.

Khanisca parked her car and walked slowly towards the entrance to the building. Smiling to herself, she thought, “Thank you, God, for giving me a chance to make amends before I had reached a point of no return.”

As if in harmony with her redemptive attitude, a single lark perched on a low-hanging branch of the weeping willow in front of the building broke out loudly into song, making Khanisca’s heart soar with joy in tandem with the melody rising up to the pristine, cerulean sky.

Image: Bermix Studio (www.unsplash.com)