Chapter 8- A new chess piece enters the board
After last night, Gearld totally hasnβt been overthinking about oversharing to Philip from last nightβ¦yeah, he did. The teen had stayed up all night thinking about it.
Gearld lay in bed, staring at the ceiling as the sun rose, its warm light shining into the dark room. He got up, grabbed his Journal, pulled his sweater on and left his room. locking the door behind him
He waved at TriceMire without looking at the biocomputer, walked past the creepy paintings and the massive statue of Thomas, which the mainland gave him thirty odd years ago and past the manor gates. past the obnoxious signs and straight for the docks, sitting down and starting to write in his Journal.
GOD FUCKING DAMNIT! I over-shared with Phil, and now he's going to only pity me and never take me seriously ever again! WHY THE FUCK DID I DO THAT???! WHY???? HES JUST GONNA SEE ME AS A PATHATIC KID NOW!
He slammed the journal down on the dock after he slammed it shut. lying down on the old, soggy, rickety dock and putting his face in his hands, screaming into his hands.
He paused his mental breakdown when he heard something splash in the sea. He shot up and spotted a red fish tail disappearing into the sea. He blinked before he sighed, rubbing his eyes βI need more sleepβ
He got up, grabbed his Journal, and left the dock, entering the manor gates, up the stairs and past the statue, past the paintings and went into a side corridor and walked up to his makeshift office. Well, it was more like a broom closet. He had shoved a desk and a bean bag chair in. The desk was covered in piles and piles of lab reports he needed to fill out from Phil AND Thomasβs behalf.
He sat down, putting his Juoal in a drawer and started to work, his pen moving on the pages as he tried to take his mind off of what happened last night. At least Phil pays him for this. Gearld must have worked until the early afternoon when he suddenly heard someone knock at the door βCome inβ, Gearld muttered absentmindedly.
βGerry? The bosses want to see us,β Eillot says, sticking his head in the room like a dog would stick their head out of a car window βGolly, this is smallβ
βIt works for what I need it forβ, he says as he got up and stretched, following Eillot out of the room and into the hallway of creepy paintings.
βSoβ¦.what do you think they want?β Eillot wondered aloud
βBeats me, as long as we donβt get punished againβ, Gerald commented.
βHey, that was one time!β Eillot pouted
βWe had to clean up all the labs with nothing but a toothbrush because you thought it would be a good idea to mess with random chemicalsβ, Gearld countered. βIt took us all night and most of the morningβ
Eillot looked away sheepishly, ββ¦. I know,β he chuckled.
βYou're lucky I still like you after that stuntβ, Gearld playfully huffed. He was only kidding. Eillot was his only friend after all.
The two entered the Moroseβs office, Gearld spotted them talking about something in their normal spots, Thomas in his desk Chair and Samanatha leaning against the solid African Blackwood desk.
βWeβre here, bossβ, Gearld called out and went to close the office door when Philip entered as well, his blue overcoat covered in stains from working. Just what was going on?
Thomas looked away from his wife and looked at the three with that intense look that Gearld was still intimidated by to this day, despite working here for a month βAh, you're all here now. We have a little situation hereβ, giving Samantha the go-ahead to explain what's going on.
βBefore Eillotβs letter came in, we thought he was a no-show, so we hired Miss Posey Wilderβ, Samantha explained, βbut then his letter cameβ
βSo we have an extra intern that we donβt need, as Elliot arrived, so weβre giving the intern to Philip insteadβ, Thomas continued.
The three by the office door froze.
βIβ¦ I'm getting a what- why didnβt you tell me last night?β Phil puzzled, sounding Belwildered as Gearld felt
βWe were still deciding last nightβ, Thomas responded coldly.
Samantha sighed, βWell, Miss Wilder is arriving next week, so it's going to be very chaotic on the 12th. Philip, I need you to show Miss Wilder the ropes of our research. Gearld, I need you to show her around as you did with Eillot. and Eillot i need you to take over Gerald's duties for the morning,β Samantha instructed
Gearld nodded and looked to his right. Eillot looked excited, which made sense as he loved to meet new people. Gearld looked to his left, and Philip just looked perplexed. Gearld just sighed.
βGot it, bossβ, he yawned.
βIβ¦.okay?β Philip sputtered
βAYE AYE!β Eillot smiled brightly
This is going to be a long week, Gearld thought to himself.
βYou are all dismissed.β Thomas finished
The three left the office, Phil still in quite a lot of shock. βTheyβ¦only gave me a week to prepare for this?β
βYou've been teaching me stuff, youβll do fineβ Gearld smiled, putting his hand on Philip's shoulder to comfort him.
βYeah, youβll do just fine, Philly!β Eillot beamed
Philip sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose like he already had a headache βI have a lot of work to doβ
Gearld couldnβt help but agree.
