Undeliverable Read Online Free Page A

mind to keep up with the jumps in Sylvia’s thought process. “Jordy is Animal Control,” he clarified.
    “Yup. And when he comes, he picks up whatever pet stuff is due for release. It’s the arrangement we have with them. We get pet bedding, leashes, food, chew toys. After its time is up, he takes it. Whenever there is an animal to retrieve, that is.”
    Ben held up a hand. “Got it, thanks.” The information that Sylvia was providing wasn’t going to stick unless he made some notes in the manual at the appropriate places, so he turned back to the office and sat down once more with Bunion.
    For the most part, the manual consisted of straightforward advice about how to organize his day and month to make the best use of his time. Spend a little time each day prepping for and transferring old items to the auction area for the monthly auction. Make sure to enter each item that appears into the spreadsheet on a daily basis so you know what to retrieve for each auction. Stock up on Band-Aids for paper cuts until you form calluses. Throw out any perishables in the packages and do not allow them to find their way to the lunchroom, as there was once an incident with a poisoned—well, laced with laxative—coffee cake. Ben made it through half of the manual before realizing that it was past four, and he hadn’t seen Sylvia in over an hour. He picked up his tablet and worked his way out to the bullpen to inquire after his wayward assistant.
    The readers ignored him so he approached one on the end. “Hey, sorry to interrupt, but do you know where Sylvia is this time of day?”
    The man finished scanning the letter in his hands before looking up. “Typically shredding. She shreds at nine and four.” He put down the letter and picked up its envelope, looking at an address that was short a line. Google Maps was up on his screen, and he started slowly scrolling through listings for Bourbon Street.
    “Thanks.”
    When Ben found his way back to the shredder, it was humming softly, but not active. The behemoth took up an entire corner of the sorting garage, and was perched on scaffolding that allowed rolling carts to be filled with the shredded correspondence. Sylvia was sitting on the top stair, a half-full bin sitting beside her. There was a piece of stationery in one hand, her chin propped in the other and a small smile on her lips. When she saw Ben standing at the foot of the stairs, she stuffed the letter she was reading in a back pocket of her jeans and stood up, tossing the contents of the bin into the shredder. The shearing sound filled the air for a minute as the machine chewed its way through the paper and then muted to dull humming again.
    “Done with the manual already? You read faster than I thought.” She wouldn’t quite meet his eye as she spoke, one hand checking to make sure there wasn’t any paper sticking out of her pocket. Ben decided it would be better to pretend not to have noticed, rather than call her on one of Bunion’s cardinal rules, listed on page five: “
NO READING ALLOWED.
”
    “Not quite, just about done with half and the day’s almost over, so I thought I’d track you down and wrap up for the day.”
    “Sure, sure, have a seat while I finish this up.” Sylvia, all smiles again, picked up another box of letters and used it to gesture to the steps. Ben made his way up to the top and sat leaning against the railing. It was impossible to hear over the shearing, crunching sound of the paper, so Ben waited until the last bin of letters fluttered into the machine and Sylvia hit the kill switch, leaving the room silent.
    She flopped down onto the stairs beside him, a little too close for comfort. “So, how’s Bunion treating you?”
    She smelled of vanilla and warm paper, with just a hint of paint thinner. He wondered where that last scent came from, and then realized it would be impolite to lean forward for a better whiff like he wanted to, and shifted as far into the rail as he could.