It's only three days 'till our two weeks off start. I was looking forward to Christmas and all the holiday spirit brought with it. I just finished a psych evaluation of some guy that attacked a fellow shopper in an electronic store. It was court mandated and I am certified by it. My very first job as a graduate was at court. A man claimed the other guy cut in line. I wrote that he was completely sane in his decision and other than aggression issues, he is qualified for a normal trial. If I ruled that he had some sort of psychological condition, he would just get sent to therapy and be fined. Without any real repercussions. No, this guy knew exactly what he was doing. It was a very conscious decision to punch that man enough times to send him to a hospital. I send it out about half an hour ago.
Victoria worked on the same case, representing the guy who I deemed not crazy. Which makes her job a lot harder. In these kinds of situations, I had to stay impartial. When I am assigned to evaluate someone, that is completely separated from my work in the company, with Lukas. He has been pacing up and down since this morning, throwing around different papers, laying pictures on the floor and staring at them. He has been ignoring me all day. Completely invested in whatever case he was analyzing. He barely responded to basic yes and no questions. Just like me with the court calls, he from time to time worked with the NYPD. It sometimes felt like we worked more for others than for the company, but it did help the image and made for good publicity. I think this job is more of a stepping stone for both, rather than the end destination. For myself, I don't know, but Lukas will either become a part of the FBI or a serial killer. I don't see him in any other role.
I do hope it's the FBI thing because I'm pretty sure otherwise I will be very high on his kill list. Someone knocked on the door and I urged them to come in. A young man entered and noticing Lukas, made a confused face.
"How may we help you," I glanced at my partner now sitting on the floor, scribbling hysterically on his notepad: "Or rather how may I help you?"
He still looked weirded out but composed himself enough to answer: "Mr. Kent would like to see you."
This got Lukas's attention.
"Why?" we both asked in unison.
He shrugged, startled by Lukas who was now standing up, glaring at him. I didn't really understand why he got so tense all of a sudden.
"I don't know. He just said he wants to talk to you."
Lukas's eyes narrowed in suspicion.
I shrugged: "Ok."
I followed the man out of the office. I could feel my partner's gaze on me as I was walking away. Strange. He led me to the office I have never seen and opened the door. Mr. Kent was sitting behind his desk, watching me enter. I wasn't sure if I should sit or not, so I just awkwardly stood opposite of him.
"You wanted to see me?" I said, way more calmy than I felt. The whole atmosphere was unnerving.
"Yes, I would like to talk about your transfer."
My eyes widened, but my mouth stayed shut.
"We feel you are too poorly matched with Lukas since I heard you don't seem to like each other at all, so it's only logical to transfer you. I personally have a lot of connections and I could set you up with a really good therapeutic job. Help groups maybe?"
Therapeutic job? Is he kidding? I'm not trained for that. The closest I came to being a therapist was when I talked a drunk Charlie out of calling her ex. I looked around like I was waiting for someone to say something. Only a moment later I realized that I wasn't looking for just anyone, I reflexively expected to hear some sort of snarky remark coming from Lukas. Just how much I truly took his presence for granted and how much I depended on it was never more apparent than in this moment when I stood in front of my boss gaping and completely silent.
"Um...What?" was all I could master.
But who could blame me really? This completely blindsided me.
"Well, it's just that we feel you could be a lot more useful somewhere else."
"Are you firing me?" I just wanted to get to the point.
"Look at it as a suggestion."
I frowned: "I can't look at it as something that it's not."
He chuckled.
"On what grounds are you firing me, exactly?"
I asked with crossed arms. I tried to keep my face emotionless, but anyone who could at least read expressions a little bit would figure out that I was angry and not just slightly confused.
"You see, this is a family company, where we put family values first."
The fuck?
"This is a company that makes money of people getting divorced. Doesn't really scream family to me."
This time he didn't seem amused.
"Our investors and clients are...traditional. They might be a little bit concerned about your openness and..."
I tightly pressed my lips together and dug my nails deep into my arm, since they were still crossed over my chest.
"So this is about my sexuality? Seriously?!"
He seemed surprised by my raised voice.
"No..."
"Yeah, right! And what does that has to do with my job anyway?! It's not like I'm the only one that's queer around here."
I thought I could see him frown at the word.
"You are the only one that goes broadcasting it. But..."
"I don't..."
"Doesn't matter, because it's not about that. I tried to tell you that, they are concerned about your openness, which we don't care about really, and mostly about your work."
"My work?"
"Yes. You are sloppy. Your reports are not organized and your psych evaluations are more times incorrect than they are correct."
"What?"
Are they? I haven't heard anyone say that, but...
"Look, you are young. You just need time to gather more experience. But we can't afford subpar. I can help you find something else."
I nodded, not sure what to think.
"That's all. We will arrange the details later."
I was in a daze while walking to my office. What the hell just happened? It just felt so...off.
"Are you ok?" I heard Lukas's voice.
His stare was firmly glued to my face, but I still managed to avoid his eyes.
"Um, yeah, it's, um...I think I've just been fired?"
His eyes widened in shock and he shot up from his chair so quickly, I got whiplash.
"WHAT?! Who?! What?!"
I almost snickered at the intense response.
"Mr Kent said..."
A shadow fell on his face.
"He fired you?"
"Yes. I think. Honestly, it was kind of confusing."
He urged me to continue.
"First he said I had to go because we don't get on, which now, I realize was probably him softening a blow, because the real reason was that I'm not good enough."
"He said that?!"
"Well, not directly. He said I was sloppy, that my evaluations are incorrect and that the reports are badly done."
He looked positively insulted by the last part.
"Fuck him! I personally go through your reports so that they don't sound idiotic."
Geez, thanks.
"What the hell is he..."
He stopped himself and bit his lip. I could see a realization in his green eyes.
"Did he mention your coming-out party?"
"Uh, yes, but he said it has nothing to do with..."
He started laughing. In a weird way, not the way I heard him do it once. He sounded like a crazy man. Or a villain. A crazy villain man!
"Oh, Blondie. It has absolutely everything to do with it."
He tried catching his breath and wiped away the tears.
"What do you mean?"
He turned to me, still chuckling. It was freaky.
"I mean, he is a bigot."
I furrowed my eyebrows. He stopped laughing. His expression became stiff.
"Uh?" I almost whispered.
He rolled his eyes: "Spencer, he wants to fire you, because you are bisexual and standing in a way of his ˝plan˝ "
"His plan?"
He ignored my question.
"Don't panic, I'm taking care of this."
"You-What? No, you don't need to do that for me."
I actually really wanted him to.
"Don't worry. I'm doing it for me. He is not going to screw me over again."
Oh good. I was afraid I was going to need to thank him.
There was a fire in his eyes.
"Again? What did you mean by..."
He already slammed the door.
"...his plan?"
I was even more puzzled than before, but there was one thing I was certain of. I did not envy Kent of having to deal with Lukas when he was this pissed.