Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 197

Chapter 198

Returning to the conference room with the others, when you walked in Joy looked up and seemed confused as you went and took your seat. She still had a smarmy little grin on as she tried to get a read on you, but when you told the others that what you'd been called away for wasn't a big deal she got even more confused.

It honestly kind of felt good to be mind-fucking her like this, even if nothing was confirmed or solid at the moment. With Bellagamba in that room it felt just as likely that you were going to get turfed as that something would happen with Joy. And thinking like that brought you down a bit of a mental rabbit hole as you considered what would happen if you did end up getting fired.

The good news was that it wouldn't actually affect your final year at college - well, unless the firm (or Bellagamba) contacted them to tell them you'd been fired for sexual harassment. But that was the absolute worst-case scenario. Outside of that, you weren't counting on the internship to actually afford your final year. That's what your student loans were for.

But you were counting on the internship to help pay for your summer expenses. Subletting a place wasn't cheap, let alone other living expenses. Without the internship paychecks you would need to leave the city unless you found another job, and there was no fucking way you were leaving the city this summer because that would mean leaving Gemma.

You felt a little bad thinking of it like that, or really of excluding Sabrina from that equation, but the reality was that you and Sabrina could reunite back at school if one of you had to leave the internship and city. But Gemma was going back to Australia - leave now, and you would likely lose her forever.

Another wild option was that you could move in with one of the girls if whatever job you found couldn't cover you having your own place, but despite wanting to spend every minute with both of them that felt too early and sort of cheap. Forcing a step like that made the idea of it less special. The scary part was that at this point Sabrina could basically just be your Sugar Mommy for real and would probably be happy to do so.

Just before noon, Gemma got called out of the office by Vega. You had no doubt they wanted to get her side of things before you both had the chance to talk privately.

Lunch was a subdued affair. You and Sabrina went down to the bodega and made sure to pick up one of Gemma's usuals before going back to eat in the conference room. Eric took the run down to the sub place, wanting to stay away from Joy as much as possible. On your way in and out Becks had been busy at her desk both times, but had taken a moment to wave as you and Sabrina came back in and flashing you a thumbs up as if to say, 'Hey, you're not fired yet!'

Sabrina got summoned by Vega right at 12:30, and Gemma returned after a minute and was thankful for the lunch you'd gotten her. She also openly came over and gave you a little peck on the lips, and pulled her chair over to eat next to you as you started back to work. That left Eric and Andy wide-eyed and open-mouthed, which made Gemma laugh and explain that your relationship was HR Certified.

Eric, of course, was a little putout but you reminded him he was travelling down to Miami later in the week for his podcasts. Andy was surprisingly enthusiastic for you two.

Joy, somewhat surprisingly, took almost an hour-long lunch break and was lucky to return when she did. Right at one o'clock, minutes after she had returned, Vega showed up escorting Sabrina back and asked to see Joy again.

She left, shooting a smirky glare over her shoulder as she went.

And she never came back that afternoon.

It was weird. Her place at the end of the table was like a hole, sitting there waiting for someone to fall into it. Joy was a horrible, irritating presence but her not being there when we expected her to be was weird. Joy being free to work her evil little fingers into fucking your lives up however she could without you knowing what she was doing was something else entirely.

But she just... didn't come back. Her laptop sat open, and her purse hung from her chair. The afternoon passed and none of the partners came to the conference room. Things started, slowly, to feel like... normal? Andy was the first one to crack a joke, the lovable dope. Gemma asked you a question, and Sabrina had the answer quicker than you, which led to some teasing. Eric showed off one of the girls he'd been chatting up on a dating app, and Sabrina pointed out to him that the pretty woman had a kid listed on her profile, which Eric had missed and immediately decided excluded the woman from being a potential partner. That spawned a whole, lingering debate as you worked about whether any of us would date a single parent.

And then the day was over, and Joy still hadn't come back. You shut her laptop and left her stuff there, turning off the light as you left.

You kissed Gemma goodbye outside the building, in sight of Andy and Eric since they knew. And then you kissed Sabrina goodbye just around the corner.

And then you went home. And you weren't fired.

Or you weren't fired yet.

It was weird, not knowing.