Chapter 23. Trapped Again
Morning arrived. Bianca had deliberately come early because she intended to meet the security guard on the night shift. Her desire to know the flower sender was still burning.
After parking her maroon automatic motorbike, the woman approached a guard at the entrance of the building. Seeing the ID hanging from Bianca's neck, the guard recognized that Bianca was an employee in the building, so the man did not stop her. "Good morning, Ma'am," the man greeted her politely.
"Morning, Mr. Eko," Bianca said after seeing the letters on the uniform the man was wearing.
"So early morning, Ma'am?" Eko asked surprisedly.
"Yup. Avoid the pollution from time to time, Sir," Bianca said pleasantly. "Mr. Eko was new here? I've never seen you before," Bianca said probing.
"That's right, Ma'am. This is my first week and I get a night shift," Eko said.
Bianca nodded as if she understood. "Well, yeah, Mr. Eko, did you also receive roses for me yesterday?" Bianca continued asking.
Eko nodded and replied, "That's right, Ma'am. Is there something wrong?" the man asked carefully.
"Did you know who sent the flowers here?"
"Courier, Ma'am. Yesterday I asked who it was for, then the courier replied to Mrs. Bianca. The courier was asked to deliver a message from the sender that the flowers should be placed on your table. So I answered, oh, I didn't know what floor Mrs. Bianca was on. I would just hand it over to the receptionist, I answered. Well, then Joko heard it. He said Mrs. Bianca was on the floor where Joko was assigned. I thought that the item sent was harmless, so it wouldn't be a problem if he put it directly on your desk. Alright then, I have entrusted it to Joko. Is there a problem, Ma'am?" Eko asked with a slightly scared face. He had not even worked one week there, he was afraid he had made a mistake.
"Oh, no. Nothing problem. It's just …." Before Bianca finished her sentence, someone came to interrupt the conversation between the two of them.
"Excuse me!" a medium-sized man with a bouquet of sunflowers leaning on his left arm greeted them.
Bianca's breath stopped for a split second as her brain was warning her that another flower was about to land in her hands that day.
"Yes, Sir. Can I help you?" Eko asked.
"I delivered flowers to Mrs. Bianca who works in this building," the man said with a smile.
Eko looked at Bianca who was frozen. "Ma'am, here is another shipment for you," he said.
Bianca did not immediately introduce herself as Bianca, the person who deserved the bouquet or also reached out to receive it. However, the woman unwittingly took a step back and asked the flower delivery man a question. "Did you also send flowers for me yesterday?" Bianca asked.
"No, Ma'am. I just recently received an order to be delivered to this address," the man said.
Bianca's head began to speculate as quickly as possible, but to no avail, because the flower delivery man interrupted again.
"So, your name is Bianca?"
"Yes that's me."
Then the delivery man who was wearing a black jacket stretched out three sunflower stalks tied together with a green ribbon of betel leaf measuring about five centimeters. Among the flower petals which are a dozen centimeters in diameter, the sender's greeting card pops out.
Bianca accepted the flower hesitantly. "May I know who sent it, sir? Name? Address?" Bianca asked hopefully.
"Well, I'm just a courier, Ma'am. There's also no name on the note I received. But there's a card there, Ma'am. Maybe it's written there," the man said, pointing at a thick white card.
Surely Bianca did not immediately follow the courier's advice. Because she would definitely find the same thing as before, only the initials. Bianca then smiled to answer the suggestion of the man standing in front of her.
"Here, please sign here, Ma'am." The man in the black coat held out a piece of paper with a blue inked pen. After carrying out his main objective, the courier man excused himself and left the Advance Advertising building.
"Morning, Miss Bianca!" Fadly said, a security guard who knew Bianca well.
"Hi, Sir," Bianca said with a slight bow and a smile.
"Hurry up and gather the others. Let's have an early morning ceremony!" Fadly ordered Eko, his junior.
"Ready, Sir! Execute! Excuse me, Ma'am," Eko said.
"Why did Miss Bianca come so early this morning?" Fadly asked curiously. "It's still morning but the weather is already hot, isn't it, Miss," Fadly joked, making Bianca raise one of her eyebrows.
Seeing Bianca's face that did not understand what he was saying, Fadly explained, "The sun is too close. There are three suns. And you are holding it by now."
Bianca was stunned by Fadly's jokes which were actually not funny. She had to make an awkward smile.
"Ha ha ha … not funny, huh?" The man said shyly.
Precisely because of Fadly's acknowledgment of the unfunnyness of his jokes, Bianca smiled widely so that she bared her teeth in response to Fadly.
Inside the building, there were no active employees yet. No one was seen passing by because the new office was active about two hours later. When going up the stairs, Bianca felt the need to go to the bathroom. Her sensitive area was a bit uncomfortable because that was the first day of menstruation.
She hardly ever used the toilet on the ground floor since she worked in the five-story building. Bianca's bouquet of sunflowers placed in front of the sink mirror along with her briefcase. There were three small chambers that could be used to defecate. After looking into the small room, Bianca decided to use the center cubicle.
After a few moments and having done what Bianca thought was necessary, she decided to leave. However, the door would not open. For a moment Bianca's eyes bulged in shock in disbelief. Before long she was pounding on the door repeatedly hoping that someone would hear.
“Please, is there anyone outside? Please, I'm stuck here. Help!" That was Bianca's words pleading for help, but the ground floor was still quiet. No one heard Bianca's screams.
Almost ten minutes passed. No one came to help either. Bianca was a little desperate. She felt sorry for leaving her briefcase outside. If not, she could contact someone to help her.
Bianca's eyes started to blur. The woman suddenly felt dizzy. The narrow room seemed to be shrinking. Her stomach felt a tingle that made her slightly nauseous. Then the cold sweat one by one out of the skin pores. Bianca took several gulps of saliva and tried to take in as much air as possible for her to breathe. Her chest was moving up and down rapidly. Dizziness in the head was getting real.
"Help! Help me!" Bianca forced herself to stay upright with her fists clenched to bang on the door and she screamed for help again and again with all her might.
'Don't faint! Don't faint!' Bianca said in her mind. The remnants of Bianca's strength returned to gather to beg for help, "Help!" Bianca's body slumped to the floor.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
"Hello!" A voice was heard from outside the toilet.
Immediately Bianca jumped up and screamed for help once more. "Please, I'm stuck here!"
Hearing the words from inside the toilet, the knocker on the door burst in.