Chapter 194

Garrison and Bellagamba both stepped outside and, after a moment, the lady from HR stepped in. It was the one you and Gemma hadn’t reported to, who worked up on the second floor. She’d been there during one of your interviews but you hadn’t seen her since you started at the firm.

And you quickly decided that you were happy about that.

This lady just stood there at the doorway, starting out a little startled that Garrison firmly shut the door as she stepped in, and then was simply frosty and glaring. The strange thing was that she hadn’t seemed to be so ... well, bitchy, when she’d sat in on your interview. Was that just a front, or had something happened to make her act like that?

She was eyeing all of you, and all of you were watching her.

“Ahem,” she coughed, glaring.

You all got back to work, typing softly and only stealing glances towards her and the door. The typing, however, didn’t overpower the muted, stern voices that were happening out in the hallway. You couldn’t tell what was being said, but it was clear that Garrison and Bellagamba were having an intense discussion.

‘Mom and Dad are fighting’ Sabrina sent over the slack channel we all shared. Not the official Intern one, since Joy was in that one.

You knew exactly when Gemma read it because she almost spit out a laugh and coughed to cover it up. Glancing over to her, you met her eyes as she kept coughing into her elbow, her eyes watering a little. You looked over at Sabrina and she was trying not to giggle at the response she’d gotten. The HR lady didn’t seem to be catching on.

“Hah!” Eric barked out a quick laugh when he saw the message.

The HR lady turned and glared at him, and he shrunk in his seat a bit as he stared at his laptop screen and mumbled an apology.

The voices outside the door cut off abruptly, and a moment later the door opened. Garrison was holding it open and Joy walked in. The smirk on her lips, and the pleased crinkle of her eyes as she looked around the room, was more than enough to let you know she was feeling totally in control and had a secret she was keeping.

Garrison shut the door again once she was inside, which broke that facade for a moment, but she turned back to the room and gave the HR lady a smarmy, simpering smile. “Good morning, Cheryl,” she said.

“Good morning, Joy,” apparently-Cheryl said, giving her a tight little smile in return.

“So, I guess something is going on...” Joy began saying to the room, clearly leading into gloating, as she made her way around the conference table. But then she saw the napkins. And the crumbs. And the coffee cups. Her face hardened and her smile turned into a sneer. “Um, excuse me? I thought it was made clear that you weren’t allowed to make any purchases for yourself along with the regular coffee orders. This might as well be insubordination. And theft. Cheryl, are you going to do something about this?”

“Actually,” Gemma said. “I bought everything with my own money. Just a Monday morning treat to help us get started.”

Joy narrowed her eyes. “Well, where’s mine then? Are you excluding me? Because that sounds like bullying and workplace harassment. I am head of the intern team.”

“Oh, sorry,” Gemma said, putting on an innocent look and tone. “I just got snacks for the crew of us who are here before the start of the day. I figured since you’re always in sometime after 10 that you probably have time for a proper breakfast.”