Chapter Text
It was happening. It was finally happening. Tracey slipped discretely from the Pied Piper annual Christmas party and toward her office upstairs. Poilety dodging her young coworkers as they sloshed drinks across the floor. Someone had over spiked the punch and though she would usually be focused on trying to track down the employee who was responsible she had more important things to do.
Upon reaching her office Tracey slipped off her bright red heels and grabbed a pair of comfy flats from her emergency drawer. She then powered up her computer, turned on the Kuerg by her desk and got to work keeping an eye on the clock. The party had another hour or so before the cleaning crew would force them to finally shut down.
Twenty minutes later she was ready. Step one, handle Jared Dunn.
Jared was easy to find. Already in the cleaning supply room arming himself with the necessities to wipe down for the cleaning crew before they arrived.
"Mr. Dunn, I thought I'd find you here!" Tracey chirped. Her cheeky pep was heightened and she wasn't sure if it was the joy of what was about to happen or the over spiked punch she had sipped throughout the night.
"Oh, Tracey! Hello. Are you here to help me with the pre-cleaning? I didn't think anyone would respond to my memo, but you know I just hate to think of poor Sandra and the girls dealing with all of this mess when they come in tomorrow."
Tracey helped up a finger, taking a moment to swallow a tiny burp, She should have doubled that coffee.
"I apologize Mr. Dunn. I'm not here to clean. I just wanted to give you your Christmas gift," Tracey pulled a small envelope from her dress pocket. "Tickets to Good Morning Silicon Valley tomorrow."
Jared gasped. Eyes already glistening with appreciation.
"Oh, Tracey! Oh, what a gesture! Oh, I don't even know what to say..." Jared took the tickets from her. Holding them sweetly in his hands as if they were a pair of baby chicks.
Tracey beamed, "Don't mention it. You deserve it. And hey, maybe you could sleep in a little tomorrow. The show starts seating the audience at 4:45 am."
"Oh 4:45," Jared frowned, "I could still come in at four to help the janitorial staff. I'll slip in for a few minutes before heading over to the show.
No. No. No. Tracey did not go on a date with the insufferable Keith Heather to score those tickets for Jared to still come in at four in the godforsaken morning and completely ruin her plans.
"I can fill in for you!" The words were out of her mouth before she even had a chance to really think it over. She'd have to come in now. At 4:00 am. No way Jared wouldn't swing by to see if her car was parked here tomorrow before heading to the show.
"Oh, Tracey. You've truly given a gift this Christmas. You must promise me your lunch block tomorrow. I would love to tell you all about the show taping and repay you for the gift."
"I look forward to it Mr. Dunn." Tracey squeezed his arm and moved past him. Step one done.
When the party finally wound down Tracey made her way out the door with the rest of her coworkers, got in her car, drove out the lot and after a quick spin around the block pulled right into the parking lot again and headed inside. She would sleep in her office that night.
The next morning she rose early before the cleaning crew, cleaned up and got ready for work in a staff bathroom and kept her promise to Jared, helping Sandra and the girls tidy up the office from last night's party.
When the cleaning crew began to pack up Tracey took to the printer room. Prepared to sets of fat documents, slipped them in manilla envelopes and dropped one off in Monica Hall's mailbox. The second, she tucked under her arm, headed to the kitchen for a coffee and raspberry yogurt, then with a joy she hadn't felt since her wedding day, skipped to Bertram Gilfoye's work station and sat at his desk.
Gilfoye arrived at his desk at his usual 9:14. When he spotted Tracey at his desk from the open kitchenette he left his still bagel in the toaster and came as close to running as he could to his desk.
"Tracey. To what do I owe the pleasure of having your ass in my chair so early in the morning?"
"Mr. Gilfoye." Tracey beamed up at him and the chill Gilfoye felt at his spine caused his eye twitch. It was a traitor. He would spoon it out if it ever did it again.
"What do you want. I'm ahead by three weeks." Gilfoye deadpanned at her.
"I just wanted to personally hand over your new employee relations paperwork packet. You can have it at my office by the end of the week. I understand how busy you are."
"Having sex with a coworker doesn't require me to fill out a packet," Gilfoye told her. "It's not even a relationship yet."
"But it will be."
Gilfoye shoved the packet into his bag, "How did you even know? This happened last night."
"It's my job to know Mr. Gilfoye."
"So you just had this ready and on your printer queue? That's not creepy. I didn't realize my personal relations were so important to this company."
"When I got whiff of the possibility of the relationship I started on the paperwork. I'm sure that you can understand that logistically it's a bit of a nightmare"
Gilfoye grunted.
Tracey dropped her empty raspberry yogurt cup into his trash bin. She knew how much he hated that.
"End of the week!" She called out, loud enough for the rest of his colleagues to hear as she skipped away.
"Fuck."