Spectrum

6

"No need for that." He tells me, taking a seat at his desk. "There's a first for everything, right?" He asks before taking a sip out of the cup. His nose wrinkles up as he swallows the bitter coffee.

"You don't have to drink it." I offer gently with a shrug. He nods and sets the back down onto his desk.

"Thank you." He says anyways. So much for that great first impression. "So, I spent some time this weekend getting your office ready." He tells me.

"My office?" I ask.

"Yes. You get your own space as an intern." He tells me.

"I do?" I ask.

"Yes." He says, standing up and leading us into the hallway. We walk down a few feet and enter a room right next to his office. When he opens the door, I feel my eyes grow wider. This office is bigger than the small desk I had while on Team 3. Hell, I'm pretty sure this room is bigger than the office that even Justin had.

"Mr. Parker, you really didn't have to do this." I say. "This is way too much for me."

"Please, call me Grayson." He reminds me once more. "I hate being called Mr. Parker." He informs me.

"Oh, I'm sorry." I say quickly, turning to look at him. "Grayson. This is really way too much for me." I tell him again.

"This is the smallest room on the floor." He tells me with a shrug.

"Okay well...thank you." I say with a small smile.

"It's no problem. Now, let's go back to my office and discuss a few things. Then, I'll leave you to get settled and to begin working on whatever you need." He says, leaving the room and walking back to his office. I take a second to look around my new space before exiting.

As we enter his office, he gestures for me to take a seat in front of his desk.

"So, I would like to talk about the incident that happened the other day." He says, looking down at his hands.

"Okay." I mumble nervously.

"Can you tell me how long this has been going on?" He asks me, glancing up at me momentarily.

"How long what has been going on?" I ask.

"How long has Justin been treating you this way." He states.

"He hasn't ever treated me poorly, Sir. I didn't even know that he felt that way. I was just going to my desk that morning to pick up a few things for the weekend. I just walked up and heard them talking and...well, you know the rest." I mumble.

"Has he ever made comments like that before?" He asks.

"No, never." I say quickly, "No one has." I rephrase.

"It's disheartening to hear things being said like that to other people in this company. Especially for a Team Leader to be saying that about his Intern." He says, picking at the skin around his fingernails. "Has Justin ever made you feel excluded from work?" He asks.

"Can I be honest?" I ask softly.

"Please."

"Everyone here has made me feel excluded from work." I admit. "I think it's just because I'm a girl and everyone else here are..."

"Men?" He asks.

"Pretty much."

He sighs and nods his head, grasping onto everything I have said so far.

"Grayson?" I ask gently.

"Hmm?" He asks, looking down at his phone before typing quickly.

"Is Justin in trouble?" I ask.