*At Juliet's desk (by Justin's and Trace's office)*
"Juliet, can we see you in the conference room?" Trace asked her as she looked up from her computer screen.
"Sure," she said rising from her desk. She fell in step with Justin as they headed to the conference room, "What's going on?" she whispered.
"You're in trouble for that stunt with Erik," Justin whispered back to her before they entered the conference room.
Juliet followed Trace and Justin into the conference room. She noticed Beth and Erik already sitting there waiting for them. Trace and Justin both took a seat across from her and she felt like she was in front of a firing squad. She was angry at Trace for letting it come to this and she was not going to let them blame her for everything.
"Juliet we called you in here because Erik filed a complaint against you with HR." Beth told her as Juliet bit her tongue and nodded.
"Now I explained to Erik that I told you that you could do whatever it took to get your desk back... so with that being said know that you are not in trouble. We just want to know exactly what you did and how you did it." Trace said as he smirked at her.
"Ugh, I could flip you off for scaring me like that." Juliet said as Justin and Trace just chuckled at her reaction.
"Wait... nothing is going to happen to her? She made me break my phone!" Erik shouted in disbelief that Juliet was getting away with picking on him.
"We'll get you a new phone. She was told by Trace to do whatever she wanted to get her desk back. So how can she be punished for doing what her boss told her to do? Honey, can you please explain, in your own words for the complaint, what happened?" Justin asked as Juliet nodded her head while smiling sweetly at him.
"Okay. First I asked Erik to move to the desk by Tom. He said no. So I explained to him how I needed to be close to Justin and Trace's offices and how there was an empty desk by Tom...and...and he," Juliet said pointing at Erik accusingly, "told me that if it was empty then I should take it because he wasn't moving."
"You are aware that she is your superior and handles your evaluations?" Justin asked Erik, slightly glaring at him for disrespecting Juliet like that.
"Yes but you should have seen the way she came at me-" Erik started to explain.
"I wasn't finished talking," Juliet said as she interrupted him, "So then I talked to Trace and Trace said I could deal with it whichever way I wanted. So I went to Justin and borrowed him System Administrator password and set my plan into action."
"And that plan was?" Trace asked her.
*The Plan (as told by Juliet)*
It was a busy and productive day in the office and of course I was sitting diligently at my desk working on some contracts when I realized that I needed to make a trip to the records department. Normally this would have meant a short walk that I could easily make back and forth but on this particular day that wasn't the case. Why, you may ask? Because Erik refused to move from my desk forcing me to sit all the way over by Tom's office.
So I of course decided to let it slide until tomorrow when Trace could handle it but I also decided to wear 4-inch Manolo Blahniks that Justin bought me today and they were killing my feet. I tried to ignore the excuriating pain of countless trips to the records department when I realized Erik had not made one trip to Trace's or Justin's office but instead had made six, count them lady and gentlemen...six, trips to Tom's office. So of course I decided I couldn't wait for tomorrow. So I went back to my old desk and nudged Erik into switching me desks.
"How did you nudge him?" Justin asked since he didn't know how she did it.
I logged on my computer using your System Administrator password and used the Instant Messaging Program to contact Erik.
SysAdmin: Hello Erik.
ErikDale: Who is this?
SysAdmin:Your computer.
ErikDale: I knew you would contact me! Nobody would listen to me! This is going to prove them all wrong!
"I never typed that! I'm not as geeky as she's making me out to be!" Erik exclaimed as Trace, Justin, and Beth just chuckled.
"I have it printed out and you did too type that." Juliet said before she continued.
SysAdmin: I knew you were a smart choice. We don't have much time. At 2pm you will receive a text message with further instructions on your test.
ErikDale: My test?
SysAdmin: Yes. To prove your loyalty. This conversation is over. Goodbye.
Since I set that phase up I just had to get my hands on his cellphone to make phase 2 work. So of course on one of my many trips to Trace's and Justin's offices I stopped by my desk, or for the time being, Erik's desk. He just had his cellphone laying on his desk and he was nowhere in sight. So all I did was make it to where it read any text messages outloud. The I went back to my desk and waited for 2 o'clock. Around 1:30pm I typed up a simple message on my phone and blocked my number.
Then I made my way into Trace's office because I had some designs I needed him and Justin to sign off on. When I got to his office him, Justin and Erik were in there discussing Erik's morbid fascination with the fact that his computer was talking to him. At 2pm my cellphone instantly sent a text message to Erik's phone.
It said:
Hello Erik. In exactly 30 minutes I will send poisonous gas through the vent system. In order to stop this you must convince Ashley to leave the records department for the rest of the day and switch desks with Juliet. If you don't accomplish this everyone in the office will die without proper warning. I'm leaving this in your hands. This phone will self destruct in 5.......4......
At this point in time Erik ran to Trace's window and opened it and threw his phone out of it before I could stop him. Then he begged me to switch desks with him. Once I agreed he rushed off to get Ashley out of the records department. She of course went willingly because she was only working half a day anyways. I mean other than Erik tossing his cellphone out the window no harm was done. Unless... did his cellphone hit anyone on the way down?
"No it didn't. Juliet...baby girl...can you please apologize to Erik for pulling a prank on him?" Justin asked as he tried to contain his laughter although Trace and Beth weren't.
"Sure honey. Erik, I'm sorry that I pulled a prank on you and made you destroy your phone. It won't happen again. I just wanted my desk back. Again, sorry." Juliet said not really feeling sorry but she threw him a tight smile and tried to seem apologetic.
"Okay, well I think it's safe to say that Juliet is sorry. She has her desk back so this won't happen again. I think we're good here, right Beth?" Trace said as he turned his attention to Beth.
"Sure. I think this complaint has been handled and Juliet apologized and Erik gets a new phone on the company's dime. This was a good meeting." Beth said.
"That's it! She says she's sorry and all is forgiven? Unbelievable!" Erik exclaimed as he glared at Juliet again.
"Like Beth said you're getting a new phone and Jules apologized. It's not that big of a deal man. If you can't handle one little prank maybe you can't cut it here. We're an office full of pranksters." Justin told him as he eyed Erik with a look of indifference.
"Erik it's been handled. Let it go and just do your work. It wouldn't hurt you to lighten up a bit with everyone here in the office. She's even pulled a couple of pranks on me and vice versa. Besides Jules didn't mean any harm." Trace told Erik as everyone but him rose from their seats.
"I bet if I was dating my boss I could get away with a lot too." Erik muttered under his breath but Justin heard him.
"You want to say that louder? Because you're walking on seriously thin ice boy," Justin gritted out as Trace pushed him away from Erik, "You've been glaring at my woman this whole time and now you want to accuse us of playing favorites? You better realize your place. Trace, deal with your boy." Justin shouted as he stormed out of the conference room.
"Yeah,....I'm just....I'm going to go deal with that." Juliet said as she rushed out of the conference room towards Justin's office leaving Trace and Beth to deal with Erik.
