Unexpected Visitor
Wendy stood before the group, completely composed except for the obvious evidence that there was something wrong. Not a hair was out of place, her outfit was perfectly styled. Her posture screamed that she was fine. But that’s where it stopped. Her face was hollow, save for glossy red eyes filled with pure heartbreak. The room was completely silent as her coworkers looked at her for help.
“Start,” she said simply.
Trent nodded. “Trent Boyett,”
“Ike Broflovski.”
“Kyle Broflovski,” he said quietly, as if he were trying to not disrupt the obvious tension.
“Rebecca… Cotswolds.”
“Christophe DeLorne,” he said, frowning slightly, not taking his eyes off Wendy.
“Clyde Donovan.”
“Stan Marsh.”
Kenny cleared his throat, distracting from the shuddered exhale that came from another part of the group. “Kenny McCormick.”
Dovakien Soma gives Wendy a nod of acknowledgement, continuing with their eternal vow of silence. Wendy didn’t notice.
“Bebe Stevens.”
“Kevin Stoley.”
“Marjorine Stotch,” she said brightly, unbothered as always.
Her eyes stayed on the floor. “Wendy Testaburger.”
Damien had a similar look on his face, but he was staring at her. “Damien Thorne.”
“Craig Tucker.”
Tweek’s right eye twitched ever so slightly, trying to involuntarily close. “Tweek Tweak.”
The front door smacked across the wall, revealing Tammy with a huge box. “GOOD–” Her face fell. Her brows furrowed as she looked over the group for a moment, mouth opening slightly. “Oh.”
“Tammy,” Rebecca hissed.
“Right,” she responded quietly with a weak smile before clearing her throat. “GOOD FUCKING MORNING!! I BROUGHT CAKE!”
“Great,” Damien muttered, pushing off of Dovakien’s desk. “Boss, I needa speak to you,” he said quietly, practically pulling Wendy out of the room.
—
The office had been almost completely silent all day. Stan and Rebecca looked up from their hushed whispers when they saw Marjorine saunter inside from her office with a smile on her face. “Psst!”
Marjorine looked over, smile growing. She quickly toddled over, leaning on the back of Stan’s chair. “Hiya, Stanny. What’s goin’ on?”
“What are you up to?” he whispered.
“Boutta check on boss.”
“Kyle?”
“Other boss,” she clarified.
“Oh.”
“Has she left her office?”
Rebecca shook her head.
Marjorine frowned slightly. “Damien?”
Stan shook his head this time.
“Well that just won’t do,” she murmured before smiling back at them. “Kay. Leave it to me!”
She walked off without another word. Tweek slid his chair back. “How do you think that’s gonna go?” he whispered.
Rebecca shook her head slightly.
“Should one of us go listen?” Stan asked quietly.
“Yes!” Rebecca chimed in.
“Okay, go!” Tweek rushed out.
The two both looked at him, squinting. Tweek shook his head.
“Tweek,” Rebecca whispered. “You have a reason to be over there.”
“No I don’t!”
“Craig’s office is right next to hers! Just go!”
“You go!” Tweek responded.
“I DON’T GIVE A FUCK!”
The trio paused, slowly turning to look towards Wendy’s office.
“Rebecca, you should go check on them,” Stan whispered.
Rebecca furrowed her brows at him. “You go check on them.”
“I’m not going to check on them! Tweek should go check on them!”
Tweek shook his head. “I can’t.”
“Dude, just go!”
“No, seriously—”
Their quiet argument was cut off by the front door to Wendy’s office opening. Marjorine skipped out like the entire office hadn’t just heard Wendy scream. She looked over at the three who were still vaguely huddled together and beamed, holding out a thumbs up before disappearing back into her office.
The three looked at each other, all squinting slightly. “She’s fuckin’ weird,” Rebecca muttered.
“Yup,” Tweek breathed out.
Stan made a face before looking back and forth between the two. “Are we all just offroading today?” he muttered.
Tweek leaned back in his chair slightly. “No consequences if we’re all slightly off our game.”
“Careful.”
Tweek let out a quiet hum, mind obviously elsewhere. “I’m gonna go see Craig. Have fun finding the plot today.”
—
Je dis toujours à Kenny que j’écris des lettres à quelqu’un dont je suis amoureux quand il m’interrompt. Je n'ai jamais été sérieux. Mais j’ai peur d’être réellement amoureux de toi. Aimer quelqu'un peut être si violemment cruel. C'est un sentiment si horrible que ça doit être un cadeau de Dieu.
J'ai peur que nous mourrions ici. Mais en réalité, je pense que j'ai peur de ne jamais vraiment le savoir ou de ne jamais pouvoir vous le dire. Avons-nous le temps ? Qu'est-ce que cela signifie si nous ne le faisons pas ?
Christophe closed out his rambling with a quiet sigh and stood up. He glanced in Kenny’s direction before lighting a cigarette and walking towards the door.
“Where ya goin’?”
“Taking a break. Stay off my computer.”
“Siryessir.”
He rolled his eyes and stepped out into the hallway, slowly making his way towards the front. He smiled softly when his eyes landed on Rebecca. Stan nudged her, causing her to look up. She smiled back, waving him over.
All the quiet sounds in the room ceased when someone knocked on the front door. Kevin’s chair wheeled back ever so slightly before he looked around the room. “What the fuck?”
Dovakien’s chair moves to their right and they look at the door curiously.
“Did Wendy leave?” Christophe whispered.
“No…”
“Damien?”
Stan made a face. “Also no…”
“Did anyone leave??” Tammy whispered from next to Dovakien.
“Tammy, what the fuck are you doing here?” Stan rushed out.
“Hearing people cry stresses me out,” she blurted.
The group fell into a short silence.
Three more knocks descended upon the room.
“Tweek, you sit closest to the door,” Stan tried.
Tweek’s right eye finally forced itself shut. “Dude! No!”
“Are you really going to make me answer it?” Rebecca whispered.
Tweek let out a frustrated exhale. He leaned forward, giving the small silver picture frame on his desk a quick tap before getting up and starting towards the door, body tense. He opened the door, eyes landing on a woman about their age. Long black hair contrasted against porcelain skin and steely blue eyes. She looked at him as though she were trying to figure out a puzzle rather than someone she was supposed to be greeting.
“Uh. Hello,” he said awkwardly.
“Leslie Meyers, corporate office.”
“Oh. Tweek Tweak. What can I help you with?” he responded, voice faltering slightly.
“Your managers didn’t tell you?”
“Tell us what?” Tammy asked, staring at the newcomer with furrowed brows.
She tilted her head slightly. “I was sent here to do a compliance check. I’ll be here for the next few weeks.”
“What.”
She looked back at Tweek who was now glaring. “Yeah, it’s been cleared.”
His right eye shut itself again. “By who?” he challenged.
“Eri-”
“No one by that name works here.”
“What?”
“Let me get my manager.”
Tweek spun around, leaving the dark haired woman by the door. Stan and Rebecca just continued to exchange looks before looking back at her. Tweek re-emerged from Kyle’s office, Kyle trailing behind him. “Hi! Leslie, right?” he greeted.
Leslie offered him a curt smile. “Yes.”
“Yeah, we spoke on the phone,” he said casually.
“You’re–”
“Kyle. Kyle Broflovski.”
“I don’t think I spoke to—” she started, sounding uncertain.
“You did. You’re sticking around for compliance checks, right?”
“Right... Do you have anywhere I can set up?”
“We have a spare office if you want your own space,” he offered.
“Okay.”
He nodded, walking towards the one empty office they had. Rebecca and Stan both looked at each other, frowning slightly. “Do you remember when–”
Rebecca looks for a moment. “Don’t.”
Stan glances. “Right.”
—
Wendy sluggishly walked into the breakroom, seemingly ignoring her surroundings as she went for the fridge and grabbed two bottles of water. She righted herself the moment they were in hand. She paused halfway through her turn, eyes landing on the unfamiliar woman sitting at the table with a cup of coffee.
“Who the fuck are you?”
The woman looked up from her copy of Fahrenheit 451. “Leslie. I’m from corporate.”
Wendy looked her over, brows furrowing. She swallowed thickly upon seeing the book in her hand. “Right.” She turned back around and left without another word.
—
Kenny knocked on Kyle’s door softly.
“Come in!”
The blonde opened the door and trailed in, closing it behind him. “What’s up?”
Kyle furrowed his brows. “Where’s Tammy?”
“Hiding at the cubicles.”
Kyle nodded slightly, leaning back. “Makes sense. What’s up?”
“Nothing. What’s up with you?”
“Still sending files over to Leslie,” Kyle responded passively. “I’m so over it though.”
“Wait… You’re emailing them to her?”
“Yes?”
“Aren’t we still banned from sending emails?”
“What?”
“Remember?? They rolled out a whole policy saying we weren't allowed to send work emails anymore so I had to make us all gmails?”
Kyle offered a slow nod of comprehension. “Right… Looks like the ban is up.”
“Right.”
“I know you’re not here to ask me about emails.”
“I’m not. How’s she settling in?”
“No complaints so far. She had a run in with Wendy a bit earlier, it seems.”
“Oh… She left her office?”
“For a moment.”
“Has Damien left?” Kyle gave him a look. “Oh my god, you got me. Answer my question.”
“Not yet.”
Kenny nodded solemnly. “Can you shoot me a message if he steps out?” Kyle looked at him curiously. “I wanna talk to him about something but I don’t want to intervene.”
“I take it you heard her yell at Marj?”
“From my office.”
Kyle sighed, tilting his head back and pinching the bridge of his nose. “I don’t think she’d yell at you like that. It’s different with Marj.”
Kenny gave him a look that Kyle missed. “How so?”
“Just is, Kenny.”
“Yeah, but how?” he challenged, narrowing his eyes at Kyle.
Kyle looked up at him. “Later. I’ll let you know if Damien steps out.”
“Understood.”
—
Tweek reached across Craig’s desk, sliding a hand under his hat. “You doin’ okay?”
“I know I should introduce myself, but my head hurts.”
“Don’t bother,” Tweek murmured.
Craig lifted his head up from his arms slightly, peering at Tweek. “Hm?”
“Don’t worry so much,” he said reassuringly. “Non-issue.”
“Is that how we’re taking this?” he asked, barely audible.
“Yup.”
“Is that how you’re taking this?”
“Doesn’t matter how I take it. It’s been decided. We’ll all cooperate, Leslie will do her compliance check and be gone by the end of the week.”
Craig let out a hum. “Okay.”
—
Leslie continued to tap her pen against her desk with her free hand, the other scrolling on the laptop she’d brought. It seemed like she had an endless amount of files to get to and thankfully, no one planned on bothering her.
—
Tammy kicked her feet slightly, hopping off the small table in the janitor’s closet. “Ever think about how we can’t tell? Like, unless we’re told? ”
“Always,” Trent responded with a huff. He reached into his pocket, pulling out a pack of cigarettes. “Wanna come out with me?”
“Those things are gonna kill ya.”
He gave her an unimpressed look.
“Why are we not smoking inside?”
“Corporate's here. I saw Christophe go outside to smoke earlier. I’m just followin’ his lead.”
“Mkay. If we’re going out, maybe we should get something to cheer Wendy up?”
“You want to get something to cheer Wendy up?”
“And Damien.”
He tilted his head slightly. “You are such an odd creature, Tammy Warner.”
Her hand came up, turning the amber pendant that sat on her sternum in her hand. “Yeah, maybe.”
“If you want to go knock on her door, I’m not stoppin’ ya.”
She nodded. “Okay.” He followed her through the small hallway and past the cubicles, right up to Wendy’s door.
“Tammy!” Clyde whisper-shouted from the media office. “What the fuck are you doing??”
“Checking on them. We’re stepping out.”
“Tell literally anyone else!” Clyde responded. “It’s suicide!”
“Don’t be so dramatic. A girl’s entitled to her moods,” Marjorine said coolly from behind him.
Tammy rolled her eyes, opening her front door. Trent leaned on the wall outside, shrugging in response to the stares he was getting from around the room.
Tammy quietly knocked on Wendy’s door. After a moment, the door slowly opened, revealing a weak attempt at a glare from Damien. His usual pale was something that bordered on sickly. The usual contrast of bright red irises was gone, nearly drowning in how bleary they were. “What’s up?” he asked tightly. The tension in his jaw looked painful.
“I’m stepping out. Do either of you want anything? Y’know.”
He shook his head slightly. “Thank you,” he muttered.
“Yeah. Course.”
“See you later,” he responded, reaching to shut the door.
“Yeah… Um. Dame?”
“Mhm?”
“I’m sorry.”
He nodded, disappearing once again.
—
Marjorine sat at her desk, lazily spinning her ninja star against it, the highest tip digging into the pad of her finger just light enough to not break the skin.
“‘S been a while since I’ve seen that,” Bebe commented.
Marjorine made a face. “Seems I misplaced it for a bit. But I got it back, so no big deal!”
Bebe looked up from whatever she was scribbling. “Wait. Seriously??”
She let out a quiet hum. “Yeah,” she responded with a shrug. “Dunno how it happened.”
“...When?”
“Think the week before last. I noticed it after Kyle…” Her nose twitched slightly. “Got back from vacation.”
“Did you tell anyone?”
“Nah, I figured it would make its way back to me eventually.”
“Marjie, that’s like…”
Marjorine looked up at her, offering a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry so much. They returned it to me. That reminds me though. I gotta talk to Tweek about something.”
“Here?”
“I’m gonna try and find him after work, all things considered.”
“So that’s the stance we’re taking?” she asked quietly.
“Everyone—mostly everyone is in agreement.”
“But what if they do what they did last time?!” The two exchanged a look. “Sorry,” she added, lowering her voice. “But still, my point stands.”
“Then business as usual until next week. You know what to do, babe.”
“But–
—
Leslie was still scrolling when a quiet knock on her door caused her to look up. “Come in!” she called out awkwardly.
Kevin slipped in, closing the door behind him, before leaning on the wall next to it. “Hi, gorgeous,” he greeted with a small smile.
She narrowed her eyes at him. “Hi?”
He laughed quietly, tilting his head. “No idea if this is gonna resonate with you, but the others are talking.”
“Is that so?” she asked after a moment.
“Mhm. But you can find an ally in me this week, if you’d like.”
“What?”
His hand came up, covering his mouth slightly as he let out another laugh. “Damn.” He shot her a sly smile. “Just remember, if you can find me, I got you.”
“I’m confused.”
He shrugged. “I believe in fairness. What they’re doing to you isn’t right.”
“Wha–”
Eight rhythmic chimes rang out, signaling the end of the day as they cut off their conversation.
Kevin gave her a slight nod. “Welp. Good luck.”