Chapter 200

Going back to work on Tuesday, you expected things were going to get hectic. But after stopping by Becks to do your coffee run drop off and hinting with her that something had happened yesterday but you couldn’t talk about it yet, and her openly telling you she didn’t have any other info, you went up to work and ... nothing weird happened.

In fact, nothing seemed to happen at all. Including no Joy. You were the first one in and as you flipped on the conference room light you saw that all of her stuff was gone. Eric was surprisingly the next in, but he didn’t have the balls to take his old seat back and sat next to you again. Then Sabrina came in, then Gemma, who circled the table and gave you a quick peck good morning in the smallest possible office PDA to try to keep things simple.

Andy showed up late, as usual. The five of you got to work. Still no Joy.

At 11:45, just as you all were starting to think strongly about lunch, something tickled your nose. You sat up, still not sure exactly what you were smelling, but it was like you had heard the magical tinkling song of an Ice Cream truck. Something nearby had set off your stomach in a visceral reaction.

“Hey, folks,” Garrison said moments later, stepping into the conference room with a pair of pizza boxes in his hands.

“Sir,” you said, nodding and trying to control your salivating mouth. Those weren’t just pizzas. They might have been the best-smelling pizza’s you’d ever sniffed.

“Are those for us?” Andy asked bluntly.

“They are,” Garrison nodded, setting them down in the middle of the table and flipping open the lids to reveal two deep-dish, gloriously greasy pizzas. “Just a little going away party.”

“A going away party?” Gemma asked while you, Eric and Andy were already grabbing for slices of the perfect pizzas.

“Yes,” Garrison said with a soft, satisfied smirk. “Unfortunately it’s my job to let you folks know that your fellow intern Joy has decided to leave the firm to pursue other opportunities or something to that effect.”

“That’s ... all?” you asked, pizza slice in hand but not eating yet.

Garrison huffed one soft, frustrated chuckle. “Joy was called into a meeting yesterday, but before we could start it she decided to resign her position. I think it had something to do with her mother arranging a new opportunity for her.” He was clearly unamused by this move, but you couldn’t blame Bellagamba for trying to get her daughter out of the shit into which she’d dug herself a hole. It was rank nepotism, but you could at least understand the motivation. Getting Joy to quit before the firm could fire her would sell better to the outside world. “In other news,” Garrison continued, reaching over to grab a slice for himself. “You folks should know that there’s been some official shifts in responsibility following our impromptu Partners meeting yesterday. I’ll officially be your point person for contact from now on, and you won’t be having any contact with Mrs Bellagamba. Understood?”

“Absolutely,” Eric said through his mouthful of pizza.

“Right,” Garrison nodded, taking a bite of his slice. “Well, I’ll leave you folks to it. If I don’t get out of here I’ll take another slice, and I can’t afford that on my diet.”