LIVING THE DREAM ✅

Twenty Two: The office, the reports and the fight

To say that Hayley's insides were on fire was an understatement.

She was quietly doing some final touches on microscopy relating to Theo's project when a messenger from the HR's office came to get her. The messenger himself was quaking as he explained that he also found it unusual that an intern got called inside the said office. If any intern ended up being called, it either meant that they were extraordinary or being cut off from the internship program.

Hayley didn't know which of the two she was. She was sure that she wasn't extraordinary. She never was. Before the internship, nobody except her sister took her seriously. She wasn't the best student in class, she didn't have a social life and you could say that Vine Food Research Lab choosing her for an internship program was very surprising.

With shaky hands, she turned the door knob to the office after being told to go in. An elder woman sat there staring right into her soul, her eyes not blinking at all, and on her right side sat Theo who didn't even lift his eyes to look at her as she entered.
"Come in and have a seat, Ms. Cooper," the woman - HR - said.

Hayley took a seat on the HR's left side, opposite Theo.
"Thank you, ma'am."

"You might be wondering why I called you here. I'm sure that the messenger told you that it's quite unusual for me to call an intern in my office," the HR started, her arms folded in front of her as she spoke. "I won't take much of your time, so, I will get straight to the point. What is happening between you and Mr. Manson over here?"

That was the last question Hayley expected someone, an HR moreover, to ask her.
"Excuse me?"

"I have got reports from two different people telling me that you two have something unusual going on. Is that true?"

"Unusual?" Hayley tried to scratch her brain for a possible answer but all the HR was saying sounded gibberish. "What does that mean?"

The HR opened a file on her desk and pushed it in front of her.
"The first report says that both of you have been seen going for lunch together on more than one occasion. The second one states that you two spend quite a lot of time together because for starters, you were seen leaving this place at 8pm, which I'm sure both of you know that it's past the working time. The same report seems to suggest that Mr. Manson drove you home that night. Is that true, Ms. Cooper?"

"Yes, ma'am. That's true-"

"It's true? What were you both thinking?" The woman exclaimed, her eyes narrowing at Theo. "I'm sure you both know about the no relationship between coworkers policy, or at least Mr. Manson is aware. Why did you let this happen? Do you realize that because of your actions, Ms. Cooper could be taken off her internship program here?"

"As I stated earlier," Theo responded, his voice firm as ever. "I can explain. All those reports are making something out of nothing."

"Ms. Cooper just said that everything is true!"

"That, I won't negate. Everything said in the reports is true except for the context in which they were taken. You see-"

Theo went on to explain that the reason why he took Hayley - and his brother who the reporters were so glad to cut out of the story - to lunch in the first place was because he wanted to ask them to be his research assistants. The next time he took them was to thank them for the progress they had made in the research project.
And for the time they were seen leaving late, it also came down to both of them having a lot of paperwork for the project that they had to stay a few hours to work on.

"So, what I'm hearing is that you two - or three since you mentioned your brother - are working on your project?"

Theo nodded. "Yes, ma'am."

"And there is absolutely nothing going on between you two?"

"I told you so already, ma'am. Apart from the fact that we do have a friend in common, so, we sometimes spend time together after work hours, Ms. Cooper and I don't and will never have something going on."

"Very well, Mr. Manson. I'd like to say that I believe you but until I see that project for myself, that's when I'll believe it."

"Don't worry, ma'am," Hayley interrupted this time. "Before you called for me, I was making final touches on microscopy. It should be ready soon, even by 5pm today."

"I look forward to reading your dissertation, then. That's all I wanted to say and I sure hope that you prove me wrong."

As she walked out of the office, Hayley had the huge urge to go and knock the receptionist's face into a wall but she needn't because hours later, when she, Theo and William had finalized the dissertation and handed it to the HR, Hayley arrived to a familiar face with a squeaky voice almost knocking the receptionist into a wall.

" -was always wondering who the person that slammed doors into Hayley's face was. Now that I know who you are, you better get your shit together because I have my eyes on you and I happen to know a guy that knows a guy-"

Hayley rushed to the scene and pulled Hannah away from from the receptionist. Any other day, she'd have gladly let Hannah beat the shit out of her. However, with the accusations in the HR's office, who knew what was going to be reported next?
"It's not worth it, Hannah. Let's go home."

"Can I at least pull her ears? Or hair? Please?"

"No violence, Hannah. Else she will report me to the HR and the results won't be good this time."

Hannah scoffed. "This time? Has she reported you before? She's such a bitch. What does she have against you anyway?"

And as Hannah drove her home, Hayley told her everything from the false accusations to the project which they hoped got approved. They could only wait.