Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 134

Chapter 134

Mr Garrison made this growly sighing noise as he sat in his chair with the bridge of his nose pinched between the forefinger of either hand. His eyes were closed as he absorbed everything he'd just heard.

You were sitting in the same chair in front of his desk that you'd been in the morning before, but instead of Gemma sitting next to you, Mrs Bellagamba was standing with one hand on her hip. As soon as you'd knocked on Garrison's door and asked him to be a witness for you he had gotten this look on his face that was somewhere between 'Oh good God why' and 'I'm too old for this shit.' When he'd asked what for, and you mentioned it was for an HR meeting because you were getting fired, the 'Oh good God why' disappeared and settled into the Too Old look. Bellagamba had pushed past you and entered the office, talking about how you were stealing funds from the firm and were petulant and disrespectful.

Garrison then asked you what happened, and you told him everything that had happened in the Conference room. There was a part of you that wondered if now was the time to leverage the Joy issue entirely - the problem was, a Partner of the firm was already trying to fire you, and trying to blurt out a sexual harassment claim to counter it without evidence would make it look less reliable.

"You can go back to work as usual, John," Garrison finally said.

"Terry-" Bellagamba started.

Garrison held up a finger. "Cheryl." She clicked her mouth shut and glared at him, and he turned back to you. "As usual."

"Thank you, sir," you said, and got out of the chair and slipped out of the office. One of them shut the office door behind you, and you walked to the next office over which was Jimmy Garfield's, one of the associates who worked from home more often than not. And he wasn't in at the moment. You closed the door and sat down at the desk, pretending to work and trying to listen to the muffled sounds of conversation.

Unfortunately, the office building was well designed and you couldn't make much more out than both of them raising their voices, first Bellagamba, and then Garrison. Deciding to abandon the idea, you slipped back out of the office and considered stopping by HR anyways to make a complaint, but that could undo whatever Garrison was doing if you made an official report.

That left you with one real option, so you headed back to the conference room.

"John, we'll all quit in protest," Gemma said as soon as you stepped in.

Joy scoffed at the idea, but you didn't care. "It's a big nothing-burger," you said. "As soon as Garrison got the story, he told me to get back to work and he's talking with Bellagamba."

"That'sMrs Bellagamba to you," Joy said, scowling at you.

"Sure," you said, then turned back to the girls. "Though I appreciate the sentiment."

As you moved past her to get around to your chair, Gemma brushed you with her arm - the best she could do to try and comfort you with Joy in the room. Eric offered you a low-five underneath the edge of the table when you sat down, and you gave it to him gladly. You sat down and opened your laptop, starting to try and figure out where you'd left off in your work before you'd been interrupted. Over the next few minutes you realized you were getting looks from both Gemma and Sabrina over the tops of their laptops, and met them both, trying to reassure them.

Bellagamba didn't come back, though Joy spent a good deal of time on her phone angrily typing to... someone. To be fair, she was such a bitch that it was hard to know if the whole thing was just another blip on her radar or if something else had gone wrong. Maybe her boyfriend was cheating on her or something.

Joy got up and left in a huff at 11:30.

"Well, is that lunch for us too, or should we keep working?" Eric asked.

"Keep working," you said. "Garrison looked pretty annoyed when I went in there, and he specifically told me to work 'as usual.' So no matter what Joy says, we should do things the way we were before."

Eric sighed and threw his head back in exaggerated exhaustion.

"Actually," Sabrina said, "I have something I need to go do." She got up and started to leave in a hurry, but paused to wink at you on her way out.

"What was that about?" Gemma asked.

"I don't know," you said. "She didn't tell me anything was going on."

"Probably a dentist appointment or something," Eric grumbled.

It wasn't much longer before it was actually lunchtime, and you, Gemma and Eric all headed for the elevator. With all the eating out you were doing, you and Gemma agreed it was probably best to do some bodega lunches for a bit since they were cheaper than the sub place. Once you were in the elevator you reached over and took her hand, grinning at her.

Eric rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Rub it in," he said.

"It's not like that," you said.

"I know," he sighed. "I just- I can get hookups in the city relatively easily enough, right? But finding someone to date for longer than a random hookup or a night out is hard."

"Well, what are you looking for?" Gemma asked.

"I dunno. Beautiful. Humble. Respectful. Definitely not a slut," Eric said. "I don't care how much she makes, as long as she puts me first."

"Have you considered church?" you asked. "Cause it sounds like you're looking for a sheltered church girl."

"What?" Eric said. "No, then I'm never gonna have sex."

"But I thought you said you didn't want a slut?" Gemma asked.

"Well, I don't," Eric said. "Look, it's complicated."

"Well, if you do find someone, we'll double date with you," Gemma offered.

"You will?" Erica asked, at the same time you asked, "We will?"

"We will," Gemma grinned, and gave Eric a friendly punch on the arm. "I need to vet the girl to make sure she's good enough for you, don't I?"

Eric grinned and looked down at his shoes for a moment. "Thanks, guys."

The three of you were done in the bodega and back up in the conference room to eat your cheap lunches in ten minutes flat. That meant you got almost no time alone with Gemma to ask if she knew where Sabrina had gone, but it did give you every chance to hear about the 'amazing opportunities' Eric was getting to guest on his 'man-o-sphere' podcasts and youtube shows.

To be frank, you couldn't give a shit.