Who is at the office this late?

The panic as Becks tried to get off the table was only tempered by the very real need to be quiet about it. One last California roll that had been on her collarbone almost went flying except for the quick hands of Gemma.

“I’ll go see who it is and stall,” you whispered, heading for the door.

Moments later Sabrina was with you as you headed out into the hallway, the rustling of Becks and Gemma getting Becks’ clothes in order behind you along with some very quiet cursing.

With the positioning of the conference room down at one end of the building, the corridor with the stairs and elevator on it was offset from the door so you and Sabrina quickly moved to the wall on the opposite side. Sliding along it, the closest offices that belonged to the associates and paralegals were all still dark. At the corner, you glanced around the corner. The lights in the hallway were on but dimmer, and on your first glance you didn’t see anyone.

Your second glance, and Sabrina’s first, revealed who had just come up the elevator.

“What the fuck is she doing here?” Sabrina whispered.

Joy Bellagamba strutted out of the alcove where the elevators were located and made a right, heading towards the far end of the floor where the Senior Partner offices were.

You suppressed your urge to groan by gritting your teeth in a grimace. “I don’t know,” you whispered back. “But it doesn’t look like her mom is with her. Bellagamba definitely wasn’t here?”

“No, I checked every office,” Sabrina said. “What should we do?”

“Call security,” you said. “Unless she’s just here to pick something up for her mother. Maybe call Garrison.”

“Well, that means we need to know where she goes, so let’s follow her,” Sabrina whispered.

Following Joy wasn’t exactly an easy task - the main corridors were long and relatively straight. You ended up darting a dozen paces at a time, slipping into the open doorways of offices. At one point you were sure Joy must have seen you because she stopped walking, but she didn’t call out or come back in your direction, and she started walking again.

You tailed her all the way to the other end of the building, Sabrina practically stuck to your side as you moved in unison. She was barefoot, having kicked off her shoes before you were about to have fun with Becks.

At the end of the corridor, Joy went into an office and flicked on the light.

“Whose office is that?” Sabrina asked.

“I can’t tell from here,” you said. “It might be her Moms, or it might be Mr Fletcher’s.” You hadn’t had much interaction with Fletcher beyond fetching him coffee during the morning run.

Sabrina motioned for you to stay where you were and she darted closer down the hallway and then came back. “It’s Fletcher’s,” she whispered, her eyes wide.

“Fuck this,” you grunted quietly, pulling out your phone. You quickly texted Garrison on his cell, ‘Joy Bellagamba just showed up and is entering SrPrtnr offices. Calling security.’ Then you went to the desk of whoever’s office you were in and picked up their landline phone, thumbing the button programmed to reach the front reception desk.

“Security,” the guy downstairs said when he picked up after the first ring.

“There is a woman up here on the fourth floor who shouldn’t be here,” you said quietly. “Did you let her up here?”

“You mean Joy? She’s worked for the firm every summer for years,” the guy said.

“She was fired for cause almost a month ago,” you said.

“.... oh, fuck,” the security guard said.

“Yeah, well, she’s wandering around going into people's offices,” you said.

“Fuck, I’ll be right there,” the security guard said.

Just as you were hanging up your phone started ringing. Loudly.

“Shit,” you hissed, answering it. Sabrina was at the door and looked at you with big eyes.

“Hello?” you asked quietly.

“John, where is she exactly?” Garrison said. There was noise in the background that you couldn’t distinguish, but you thought maybe he was at a restaurant.

“Fletcher’s office right now,” you said. “Security is on the way.”

“Who the hell is here?” Joy asked from out in the hall.

“Shit, she heard my phone ring,” you said quietly.

There was a rustling on Garrison’s end, and then he said, “Put me on speaker so I can hear and keep her busy until security arrives.”

You thumbed the speaker button and then went to the door with Sabrina, putting a hand on her shoulder before slipping past her and into the hall. “I am, Joy,” you said. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”

“John?” Joy asked, making a sort of disgusted face like she’d smelled something rotten. “What are you doing here?”

“I work here,” you said. “After you got fired we started doing extra hours. But I’m allowed to be here, you aren’t.”

“I didn’t get fired, I resigned,” Joy said. “And this is my Mother’s firm, I have every right to be here.”

“That’s just plain not true,” you said. “Maybe, maybe you could have a reason to be in your mother’s office. But definitely not Fletcher’s.”

“So what are you going to do about it?” Joy asked.

“Call security,” you said flatly. “Get you thrown out.”

“Security let me up here. Ben is an idiot and thinks I still work for the firm.”

“Not after I tell him differently,” you said. “And report this to the other Partners. You think your Mom can stop you from getting charged with fraud for entering under false pretences, and probably corporate espionage for trying to look at or steal privileged files?”

That finally seemed to click with Joy, and her expression went from annoyed and disgusted to stoic. “You have no proof I was doing that,” she said.

“Don’t I?” you said, raising your phone and showing her the back of it, implying you’d taken pictures and not revealing Garrison was listening in.

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