Undercover Alice Read Online Free Page A

carefully, one finger at a time. I pressed OK again and the same
message popped up. I glowered at the machine and typed them in a third time,
absolutely sure every keystroke was right.
    ‘You have been locked out of the system. Please
contact an administrator.’
    Well, I was off to a flying start. First I’d nearly
killed myself in a horrific chair incident, and now I was in system lockdown,
or something. I thumbed through the rest of the sheets, but I could see no
mention of this mysterious administrator or how to contact him. Maybe if I said
his name three times he would appear…
    Oh hang it. I pushed the chair back cautiously – I
didn’t trust it one bit – and left the office, determined to at least find a
cup of coffee successfully, if it was the only thing I managed today.
    After turning down a few corridors that ended up
leading to rooms filled with computers and young men and women feverishly
tapping away, I finally found myself in the large canteen. There were brightly
coloured chairs dotted all around, and here and there groups of people sat,
talking animatedly with each other. To my immense relief, I spotted a coffee
machine and made a beeline for it, choosing the strongest one they had. I took
a sip and grimaced. Lukewarm. Could this morning be going any less swimmingly?
    I turned to go, planning to pour my coffee down the
sink on the way, and my whole body was suddenly jarred by an impact.  My coffee
went flying, all down my white blouse and new skirt. I let out a shriek of
surprise.
    A woman, scurrying with her head down, had walked
slap-bang into me. While I managed to keep on my feet, she let out a squeak and
ended up in a heap on the floor. I immediately bent down to help her up.
     ‘Are you ok?’ I asked, anxiously. She’d taken quite
a tumble. I held out my hand and she took it, using it to haul herself to her
feet.
    The woman brushed herself off  and I got a good look
at her. She was very pretty, blonde hair tied up in a tight ponytail, and smart
trousers that hugged her shapely form. She was wearing black-rimmed glasses
that really suited her.
    ‘Oh I’m so sorry,’ she exclaimed. ‘ I had my head in
my phone again. Matt’s always telling me this would happen, and now it has.
And, oh, I’ve totally ruined your outfit. And, oh my god, aren’t you burning?’
    ‘Oh no, it wasn’t hot,’ I said, gesticulating at the
coffee machine.
    ‘Oh, must be on the blink again. Can you believe it?
It’s brand-new that machine, only been here three weeks, and this is the third
time it’s broken. I’ll have to let Matt know.’ She stuck her hand out, and I
went to grasp it with my sticky, coffee-stained hand and then thought better of
it. I ended up doing an awkward little wave, instead.
    ‘I’m Alice. I’m new here, this is my first day. I
was just having a look around.’
    ‘Oh gosh, your first day and I walked into you and
spilled coffee all down your front. I’m so terribly sorry. I’m such a klutz.
Matt is always telling me to be careful. I’m Sarah, by the way, Sarah Elliot.
I’m head of applications support here.’
    She laughed at the puzzled look on my face.
    ‘It’s even more boring than it sounds. Look, I have
a spare top and some gym leggings in my office, please borrow them. You can’t
go around like that all day.’
    I agreed, reluctantly. I looked like I’d been the
victim of some unfortunate sewage accident. I followed Sarah to her office,
listening to her talk. The main subject was Matt and I got the feeling she was
slightly keen on him in a more-than-colleagues way.
    ‘And I told him it was a bad choice, but he didn’t
listen. He doesn’t, you know? He gets an idea in his head and that’s it, he’s
like a child.’
    She smiled fondly. There was definitely something
going on, I thought.
     ‘How long have you worked together?’ I asked,
trying to probe without being too obvious.
    ‘Oh a couple of years now. We worked together at my
old firm, but when Matt