Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 135

Chapter 135

Andy showed up just as lunch was ending, a cellophane-wrapped sandwich in his hands from down in the bodega. "Hey guys," he sighed, lumping down into his seat.

"Where were you, bud?" you asked.

"Called in sick," Andy scowled, unwrapping his sandwich. "What's her name from HR called me back and said I had to come in for the afternoon."

"Oh," you said noncommittally.

"Bummer," Eric said.

"You missed some fireworks earlier," Gemma offered.

"Hmm?"

"John got fired," Gemma said. "And Joy threw a mini tantrum."

"She got that upset about John leaving?" Andy asked.

"No. They were separate events," Eric said.

"Well, they were connected," you countered.

"I guess, yeah," Eric said.

"OK, that's enough of the Who's On First routine," Gemma said.

"Who's on first?" Andy asked.

"I'm on second," you said.

"Oh my God," Gemma said, burying her head in her hands as you chuckled.

"Wait, so why are you still here if you're fired?" Andy asked you.

"Because I got un-fired," you said.

"Hmm," he thought about it, then nodded. "Nice."

You all got back to work as Andy began eating, and then eventually joined you. The minutes crept by, and you and Gemma started frowning at each other more as Sabrina didn't reappear. You'd texted her, and the group chat, between the three of you, asking if she was alright and got nothing back.

Then, just before 1:30 PM, Sabrina bustled in and grabbed her seat. "Don't say anything," she said to all of you, and flung open her laptop and started typing.

Less than a minute later Joy strode in. "Well, it seems like our laziest intern is back," she said, sneering at Andy.

"Wait, who?" he asked, earnestly clueless.

Joy rolled her eyes and sat down at her chair at the head of the table. "I just had theloveliest lunch with my Mother and one of her biggest clients," she said. "Let's just say that I'm getting the recognition I obviously deserve after my years of hard work. It's too bad none of you are stepping up so far to learn at my feet, or else I might be able to include you in my rewards."

You just kept working, trying your best to ignore her passive-aggressive gloating aimed at you. It wasn't proof of anything. Yet.

The afternoon started to turn into a slog of work. A couple of associates came in and dumped some big stacks of documents on us to do word checks on, and Joy wasn't any help in tackling it since she 'only worked for the Partners.'

Then you felt a little guilty because just as the rest of you were splitting up the stack, Garrison stuck his head into the conference room, pointed at you and made a 'follow me' gesture. You frowned your sorry, and a bit of your worry, to Gemma and Sabrina and followed. He led you back to his office. "Shut the door and sit," he said.

You did, perching on the edge of the chair with your nervousness.

Garrison sat heavily in his own chair and stared at you across his messy desk. It easily lasted more than a minute, and you felt all sorts of pressure to just fill the silence but you kept your mouth shut, not wanting to say the wrong thing. Finally, Garrison sighed and shook his head. "What the fuck am I going to do with you?"

"Sorry, sir?" you asked.

"Last week you were knocking it out of the park. You finished those pointless Staff Surveys, you played the Merger meeting perfectly for me. You even covered for your team, which I did take notice of by the way, instead of throwing them under the bus like that little shit Eric would," Garrison said. "Do you know what percentage of our summer Interns we would write recommendations for, or even make offers to after their law school for an Associate position?"

"No sir," you said. "I haven't seen any stats like that."

"Twenty-five per cent. One in four of the interns we put through our summer program. Three in four got into law school. You know how many recommendations we've written in the last five years?"

"I wouldn't-"

"Two. In five years of summer interns, we've written two law school recommendation letters. Now, most of the partners don't really care. You're all undergrad summer interns, and it has no impact on our ability to hire Associates. But it matters to me."

"What happened five years ago?" you asked.

"See," Garrison said, pointing at you. "That right there. That's the kind of question I want to hear. Five years ago I was a fat, happy man, John. And then one day I went home and found out my wife had been cheating on me for most of our marriage, and two of my three kids weren't even genetically mine. I still love them like hell, but I had to throw that woman out of my life and the divorce was bloody as hell. And in the midst of that, I had to roll back on some of my firm responsibilities."

"Like the summer interns," you guessed.

"Like the summer interns," he nodded. "And honestly, for the last five years, I haven't cared one iota about the program. Had too much shit going on. Then you opened your mouth last Monday and you've been more helpful, and more of a pain in my ass, than any kid who came through here in the last decade. So, I'm going to ask you again, what the hell am I supposed to do with you?"

You blew out a short breath. "Mentor me," you said. "And Gemma, and Sabrina. I was the lucky one to catch your attention, sir, but Gemma is aggressively smart and could probably be the leader of our whole group, and Sabrina is diligent and dedicated. She's detail-oriented, but with a charismatic heart that makes you want to listen to her."

"And what about the other three?" Garrison asked.

"Eric... has potential," you told him. "He's distracted. I think he has a bit of growing up still to do, which he's running out of time for. But when he gets focused on something he can do good work. Andy is- honestly, he's a sweet guy but he's kind of a dope and from what I understand he got hired based on connections, so I wouldn't put a focus on him and just let the connection think it's a positive overall."

"And Joy?" he asked.

"Joy..." you trailed off.

What did you want to say about Joy?

To Be Continued...