The Grant~An IT Crowd Fanfiction

Standard Teatime in the Restroom

"Ten thousand quid?" Imogene whispered.

Jen touched her shoulder affectionately. She, Imogene, and Roy were seated on the couch together, Imogene slouching in shock. The once homey office was now a prison, the walls closing in and suffocating her like a trash compactor.

"I'm so sorry," said Jen. "We thought you knew."

Imogene shook her head as her eyes welled up with tears. "Ten thousand quid!"

"It's a lot of money," Roy confirmed. "Almost thirteen thousand dollars in the United States."

Her voice broke. "Ten thousand quid!"

"Oh, Im," Jen comforted. "It's alright. We really do love having you here, no matter the circumstances."

"My dad paid you off. He paid all of you off, just so he could get rid of me! Just so he could have me out of the way!"

"Maybe that's not so bad," said Roy awkwardly. "I mean, look at all the wonderful things you've accomplished. From traveling halfway across the world and meeting all these new people—"

"I've met four new people. And I've done nothing of any value. Nothing at all! I'm nothing but a burden and everyone knows it."

"You're not a burden," said Jen.

"Oh, yeah?" Imogene wiped her nose and sniffled. "Name one good thing I've done around here."

Jen opened her mouth and closed it again. Roy twisted his head to one side as he thought.

"Well..." said Jen.

"There was that one time," said Roy.

"What one time?" asked Imogene.

"Yes, Roy," Jen scolded softly, her gaze stabbing into his very soul. "What 'one time'?"

"That time...on MarioKart."

Jen threw her hands in the air. "Are you KIDDING me?"

"I need to be alone!" Imogene cried, plugging her ears.

She stood up and hurried to the back kitchen, but just when she made it to the entryway, she almost rammed into something. Something cream-colored and checkered, with a stripe of ugly brown down the middle. She looked up and saw Maurice Moss staring down at her through his black eyeglasses, his brown eyes wide and bulging behind them. He was very close to her, close enough that she could smell his natural musk—a mixture of warm cookies and the inside seam of a comic book. His chest rose, and she felt a sudden wave of electricity course through her veins.

She looked down at her shoes. "Sorry."

"It's alright," he said.

She moved to the right side to sneak past him, but he moved in the same direction. She moved to the left and he followed. They went back and forth for a few seconds until Imogene's eyes welled up again and she spun on her heels and walked straight out of the office, slamming the door behind her. Moss, who was holding two cups of coffee, walked gingerly to the table and set both mugs on Roy's desk. He glanced at the door and flattened his tie.

"I can't help but speculate that something very important occurred while I was gone."

"Some pretty important stuff has been going down. Where on Earth have you been?" Jen asked.