Chapter 22: The Present
Contains spoilers
Summary
- Harriet asks Elizabeth how her first day back was, and Elizabeth lies by saying it was "fine."
- Elizabeth asks her daughter Madeline how school was and learns some classmates are incontinent.
- Madeline tells Elizabeth that Mrs. Mudford wants to meet with her and provides a note.
- Elizabeth praises proactive teachers, while Madeline inquires what "proactive" means.
- Harriet interprets "proactive" as trouble.
- A few weeks later, Elizabeth visits Personnel to inquire about an investor and speaks with Miss Frask.
- Miss Frask, disclosing she's gained weight, reluctantly gives Elizabeth a confidential slim file with little information.
- Frask suggests they have lunch the following week to give her time to find more files.
- During the lunch, Frask confesses she couldn't find additional information and reveals she's been fired.
- Miss Frask's firing is related to her weight gain, despite her earlier seven-point improvement plan.
- Elizabeth protests the firing as illegal, but Frask dismisses her concerns with cynicism.
- Frask advises Elizabeth to have a heart-to-heart with the boss, but then jokes that it never works.
- Frask mentions she has already lined up temporary typing jobs post-firing.
- Before leaving, Frask promises Elizabeth a gift as reparation for past grievances and asks to meet at the south elevator on Friday.
- On Friday, Frask takes Elizabeth to a no admittance storage area in the basement, warning of escaped mice along the way.
- Frask shows Elizabeth storage with small steel doors labeled with numbers and uses keys to open door number forty-one.
- Elizabeth discovers boxes of Calvin's work, all boxed and sealed inside the storage.
- Frask suggests they move the boxes quickly using a dolly and that they must hurry before she must return the keys.
- Elizabeth questions the legality of taking the boxes, but Frask retorts with indifference toward the legality.