Laughter Lines ▷ Tony Stark

1 - LAST DAY

Not to mention, the name Costello was floated around the building floors at a fair rate, what with Jude having written down and memorized so many coffee orders and took over for so many jobs that the other assistants slacked on.

To say he was bitter about his being released was an understatement, but he wasn't about to show in.

"After you," Mr. Banks said, when the doors opened, and Jude laughed softly as he ducked his head and walked out, because Mr. Banks was on the younger side of those that worked the offices themselves, just thirty-two, and he didn't know half the charm that he had, which made him all the more charming.

Jude always wondered Mr. Banks had a soft spot for him, but it seemed he just liked to do that with all the office assistants. Some said it was so he could get some ass, others said it was so he could shirk off some coffee. Jude always thought it was because he was unwaveringly nice.

"Catch me before you leave, Costello, I got a present for you," Mr. Banks said, and Jude's heart raced as he nodded, hoping his face wasn't as red as he felt it was.

He made his way along his usual path, dropping the coffee that he was usually bribed to get, smiling as he picked up the bills held in the hands he dropped them in, pocketing them as he continued along. He was very good at what he did and he had a rhythm in place, which was most of the reason why he didn't want to leave.

He liked working there, he didn't want to have to leave, but he wasn't about to throw a hissy fit and make sure no other company was ever going to hire him ever again. He was young, not stupid.

He took a deep breath as he stepped into the glass-windowed office at the end of the room, the only one separated from the rest of the floor which were made up of only desks with dividing walls so no one could see their work as easily.

But his boss had her own office. After all, she was interim CEO while the true CEO was in recovery, it made sense why she had her own office separated from everyone else in the building.

It was also why everyone was so shocked when it was revealed that Jude wasn't one of the assistants that was staying, and while he was just as upset as some others, he wasn't as surprised, not even trying to feign surprise when people came up to talk to him about it.

After all, it wasn't as if his boss was the one making the cuts. Though, of course, she did warn him in advance and asked if he wanted her to pull some strings, to which he told her no.

He had berated himself constantly for it, but his reasons were admirable, if not laughable, at least in the industry he chose to be apart of. Surrounded by people who knew how to get what they wanted, he was one of the only people who was willing to self-sabotage for people he cared about, and no one could understand him, most of all his boss.

"Jude," she said, standing up and moving to hug him, and he set the coffee tray down to hug her back, not caring that everyone else could see them through the glass.

He took a deep breath as he hugged her, smelling the perfume she had asked him to help pick her out, and he smiled because he knew she didn't like it as much as she pretended to, but it meant a lot that she was wearing it now.

"You're wearing it," he said, because he liked to state the obvious, or so everyone else told him. He liked to think he just paved the way towards subtext.

His boss, a woman in her forties who didn't look a day over thirty-seven by the name of Breanna Robbins, smiled as he ran a hand through her hair, adjusting it as she moved to walk back around her desk to continue her work, picking up the coffee cup out of the tray which he rushed to push towards her.