Ask Tom for information

"Hey, how's it going today?" He asks me with lifted eyebrows.

"Tom... Do you know if anything is going on with Sydnee?"

He looks at me a bit surprised. "I don't think she is married if that is what you mean. I didn't realize she is your type. Want me to find out if she is dating anyone?"

"No. Victoria just called her into the office. It doesn't look good," I say in a much lower volume, hoping that he will take a hint.

"Now?" He looks at the office door and cringes, dropping into a crouch. "Shit." He scoots next to me. "Like the usual reprimanding she has to get out of her system to feel superior?"

"Worse. Sydnee looked like she was walking to a firing squad."

"Hear anything lately?"

"About Sydnee? No... I don't think so... There are the usual jokes about her being too uptight, but that's just an accountant thing, I'd say. She seems nice enou--" The door swings open suddenly and Sydnee hurries out of the office fighting back tears, not making eye contact with anyone. Tom and I stare at each other. "Firing squad is right," he whispers. Tom instinctively crouches lower as Victoria emerges. She walks toward me with purpose.

"I'm going out for lunch," she says, then squints at me. She leans forward. "What's going on here?" She asks with contempt. She walks around the side of the desk and looks down at Tom. He freezes as cold dread visibly seeps into his bones.

"I--I was..." he flounders. "I dropped... um... a... a..." He glances at the floor patting wildly for the lost figment without a name.

"Stand up." Tom weakly rises, hand absently patting the desk. He swallows hard. " You dropped what exactly?" She asks with such disdain that Tom cracks under the pressure.

"I...uh.. forgot... " He blinks awkwardly. The poor guy's mind has totally blanked.

"A pen." I suggest unconvincingly, even to myself. The **** ray that Victoria is beaming is too close to me.

"A pennn..." Tom says hoarsely.

Victoria smiles with a glint in her eye. She plucks a pen out of my pen holder and holds it out to him. "Have this one." Tom doesn't know what else to do, so he takes it. "You can keep it."

"Tha--"

"Now go clear out your desk before I return."

The words just hang there. Neither of us can formulate a logical response before she walks all the way to the elevator.

"What the fuck..." I finally whisper. Tom's shoulders are drooping as he walks to his desk without saying another word. "What the fuck!"

Later I confirm with Rachel that Sydnee was indeed fired, for what we have no clue.