Tim & Chuck

CH. 9 Perry's Promotion

Never before had going to work been so incredibly stressful for Perry Johnson; which was a shame because he had just begun to really enjoy his internship at the Wall Street Journal. But ever since he had bumped into the CEO of all people and caused him to spill his coffee, Perry now lived in constant fear that each day would be the one where Kevin Sloan, his supervisor and head of the Accounting department, would call him into the office to dismiss him as a message from his higher up.

A couple of weeks passed and Perry had his fingers and toes crossed that the coffee debacle was forgotten, despite the faint carpet stain that remained. In the meantime, Perry had found himself assigned to bigger accounting projects, and based on the positive feedback at the debriefings, he hoped that this meant he could potentially land a job by the end of the internship. Plus, he was also secretly hoping to have more time to get to know Mandy, the CEO's personal assistant.

Yes it was a long shot, but couldn't he hope for something, selfish as it was?

One Friday afternoon, Perry was sitting at his assigned desk, trying to meet a deadline for one of the spreadsheet projects. He had been tasked to budget out a promotional launch of a new article series for the last quarter of the year, and it was due in 24 hours. Even though it had been in the department plans for a few weeks, the assignment had just landed on his desk only the day previous much to his annoyance and panic.

"Mr. Johnson, Mr. Gallagher would like to see you briefly in his office please." A smooth and pleasant voice rang through his intercom, and Perry immediately recognized it as Mandy's.

Perry nearly fell out of his chair. Chills coursed through his body, and he hoped that this wasn't the end of his time at the Journal. Was the CEO finally going to show him the door for his mistake? Shaking, Perry made his way down the corridor of cubicles and up a floor via the elevator to the glass offices.

Tim's office was by far the largest of them all, and it lay at the end of a hallway that displayed various accolades that the Journal had won through the years. Hesitantly approaching the office, Perry could see his boss Kevin inside having what appeared to be an animated one-sided conversation with the CEO.

At this point, Perry was just praying that his death would be a quick one because he was sure that both of his bosses in the same room spelled the end.

"Have a seat, Mr. Johnson. Mr. Gallagher will be with you shortly." Mandy's voice appeared suddenly to his right. Perry looked at her nervously. "Um thank you but...I'd rather be standing to be honest."

Mandy chuckled. "So long as you don't wear a hole in the carpet from your pacing, I'll allow it." Her eyes twinkled to accompany the teasing lilt of her voice.

Perry felt himself blush a little bit at her words. He briefly wondered what kind of restaurants she liked before his mind sidetracked back to the original train station of thought. "Do you...uh, do you know what they're discussing?"

Mandy nodded. "I do." She said nondescriptly, continuing to type rapidly on her laptop. Well, that's remarkably unhelpful, Perry thought dryly.

"Do I, uh...do I still have a job?" Perry managed to stutter out.

"A job, yes. The current job you have, no."

Mandy's encrypted answers were doing absolutely nothing to calm Perry's nerves but if he weren't so panicked, he would've seen the cute smile that flashed across her face.

"Son of a spineless, dirty, unmanly, cowardly..." Angry expletives cut the air sharply as at that moment, Kevin emerged from the office and stormed past Perry in a rage. He swung the door open so hard that the metal handle slammed against the glass wall behind it, producing a fractured circular imprint, but fortunately the entire wall did not shatter.