She replied with a simple "Oui," masking her frustration and lack of sleep at the same time. When she started toward the elevator, a small white sign was taped neatly to the door. Upon closer inspection, the sign said:
Elevator Out of Order, please use stairs.
"A practical joke," she thought, but her theory soon changed when she pressed the call button on the elevator. Nothing happened: no light, no bell, nothing. She mashed the call button furiously, but to no avail; the elevator was out of order, just as the sign said. Amelie banged on the elevator door before walking towards the stairwell.
"Ridiculous..." she muttered to herself. "Only one elevator comes up this high and it has to be broken NOW. They keep all the newspapers in the main hub, which is five levels down... merde!"
The stairs were old and dusty, hardly even used by maintenance. Down the first four flights she went, and the trip was so far uneventful and safe, but upon reaching the bottom few steps, the metal supports gave out, due to untreated rusting at the join. Amelie fell to the floor, just barely cushioning her fall with her right arm.
Already had the bruise begun to form, she could feel it as she brushed the dust from her uniform. "Stupid station workers can't even keep the stairs in working order," she grumbled.
The hub was lifeless. Another small sign rested on the central desk. It said:
On break. Will return soon.
Amelie said nothing. Venting her frustration would do her no good, as no-one would hear it anyway. She checked the desk for newspapers, but they were not in their normal place. From office to office she ran, but found none.
Suddenly, she tripped over something. A stack of Gallian evening newspapers. Why they were sitting in the middle of an office corridor, she would never know, but she picked one out of the stack and rolled it under her arm.
"Now to the Pharmacy..." Amelie groaned. Lucky for her, one of the elevators was working on this level. She rode it three flights down. Upon exiting, another white sign was in sight.
Went to central hub for a party. Be back later.
Amelie was astounded at the lazy nature of the staff of Gap station. But they weren't so lazy as to forget to lock up: the pharmacy was closed and every cabinet inside was sealed shut. She sighed in exasperation and distress as she leaned against the glass windows of the pharmacy. As she leaned, though, she felt herself falling back. The window swung open into the store, and Amelie resultingly fell to the floor with a hard thud.
In pain, she gasped for breath. "Merde!" she screamed as soon as she was able.
Amelie stood, and with bloodshot eyes, surveyed the room. Upon seeing the keys to the Plexiglas cabinets, she quickly grabbed them and unlocked the container holding painkillers.
She left a messy memo on the desk accompanied by the keys and enough money to cover the bottle of painkillers.
She wondered how she would get the croissants, though.
She took the elevator back up to the main hub. Yet another sign was on the center desk.
Moved to Hangar for Afterparty.
She ignored it, because despite the laziness of the staff, they did her a huge favor:
They left a plate of croissants sitting on the center desk. She set the newspaper and bottle of pills on the platter and carried it wearily away to the stairwell, which she climbed for five agonizing flights to the cafe.
Directeur Dupont still waited patiently at her table. Amelie approached her superior, battered and dusty, and set the goods down. Promptly, she sat down at the adjacent table and fell asleep.
A way a lone a last a loved a long the riverrun, past Eve and Adam's, from swerve of shore to bend of bay,
brings us by a commodius vicus of recirculation back to Howth Castle and Environs.
