Dirty Tricks. And Zombies.
Title: Dirty Tricks. And Zombies.
Author: nancygrew
Rating: G
Disclaimer: Characters belong to ATWt
Notes: Written for Lure_ATWT Fun Fic Fridays Prompt ‘Dirty Tricks’. Takes place Mid January 2011. You do not have to read any of my other fics in order to understand this one.
Summary: Just another day at Grimaldi Shipping
Luke knocked softly on the open door of Ellie Snyder’s office. His aunt glanced up from her computer, pushed her glasses up further on her nose and smiled at him. She waved him into the office. When Luke closed the door behind him, she raised a brow. Luke sat down on the edge of her desk and bumped his leg affectionately against hers.
“So, I hear you practically made Bonello cry today,” said Luke.
Ellie huffed. “Someone ratted me out?”
“The executive officers of Grimaldi Shipping may be a pit of vipers, but they’re my pit of vipers,” grinned Luke. “Everyone rats everyone else out to me. I should start giving out gold stars for tattling.”
Ellie narrowed her eyes. “You’re not expecting me to apologize to him or anything or you?”
Luke laughed. “Nope. But I do want to let you know that you don’t have to be so protective of me. It’s to be expected that a lot of the employees are . . . concerned about having such a young and inexperienced president. I hired you because you’re brilliant at what you do and because I trust you. I didn’t hire you to make sure that people don’t say mean things about me.”
“Even if you weren’t my nephew, I would have still told Bonello off,” insisted Ellie. “Yes, you’re inexperienced but you’re doing a great job. Plus, one does not denigrate the president of the organization to other executives regardless of the circumstances. It’s unprofessional and disloyal.”
“You know, I’ve been referred to things much worse than Peter Pan.”
“I have no idea whether he meant it as homophobic or whether he was referencing your age in a derogatory manner. But I wasn’t going to put up with it.”
“Maybe he was just referencing the fact that I look good in green,” said Luke dryly.
“Yes, I’m sure that’s it,” said Ellie. “You mentioned that you could trust me. May I ask whether the reason you trust me is because I’m a Snyder?”
“Part of my complete faith in you is probably because you’re family. After all, if you try to take over my company, Grandma Emma would never make you pie again.”
Ellie laughed.
“Another reason I trust you is because Grandmother trusts you,” admitted Luke. “She wouldn’t hesitate to hire you back. Plus there’s the fact that you’ve really made a name for yourself in New York.”
“I never thought I’d return to this place,” admitted Ellie. “Oakdale just always seemed so provincial to me. I started dreaming of running off to the big city before I was in grade school. But surprisingly I’ve really enjoyed being back. And I love my job here at Grimaldi Shipping.”
“I’m really happy you’re back. Because you’re family and because I do rely on you here,” said Luke.
“It must be tough trying to decide who to trust within the Grimaldi empire,” observed Ellie.
“I’d like to say that I have excellent instincts that were honed by my close observation of Grandmother,” said Luke. “But I’ve been adhering pretty closely to the Hierarchy of Trust that Damian suggested to me.”
“What’s the Hierarchy of Trust?” asked Ellie.
“I can trust Butters and Reynaud completely. They’re completely loyal to the company and to the Grimaldi family. If there’s ever a zombie rampage, I’m pretty sure they’d both throw themselves in front of me to protect my delicious brain.”
“I hate zombie rampages,” said Ellie.
“Who doesn’t?” asked Luke rhetorically. “I can trust Sarlo and Magro to a lesser extent. Their sense of loyalty and duty is healthy but so is their self-interest.”
“So they’d let the zombies take you?”
Luke nodded sadly. Then smirked at Ellie when she giggled. “And at the bottom of the Hierarchy of Trust are Mitchell and Bonello. They’d trade their loyalty to me for a pack of gum.”
“I think you’re exaggerating. I’m pretty sure Bonello would trade his loyalty to you for a stick of gum.”
“It’d have to be good gum,” insisted Luke. “I stopped by mainly to make sure you knew that I didn’t expect you to beat up any mean kids for me but I also wanted to stop by to see if you wanted to come to dinner this Saturday.”
“Reid’s not the most sociable person I’ve ever met. He’s not going to spit in the food, is he?”
“Probably not,” said Luke.
“Well, with that ringing endorsement, count me in,” smiled Ellie. “Can I bring anything?”
“Just an appetite and a willingness to risk my first attempt at Moroccan fare. I bought a Berber folk music CD and large floor pillows for the occasion,” said Luke with a large degree of enthusiasm.
“I’m not sure if I’m excited or a little scared,” pondered Ellie with a frown.
“See you later at the department head meeting,” said Luke as he left.
As Luke approached his office, he noticed Chris Hughes sitting on the sofa in the antechamber. His administrative assistant burst out of her seat and rushed to Luke.
“He doesn’t have an appointment!” fretted Louise. “He insisted on waiting for you. Should I call Max to throw him out?”
Luke ran his hand down the arm of his highly-strung administrative assistant as he reminded himself, for the hundredth time, that it would be just plain wrong to slip valium into her bottled water. “It’s okay, I’ll see him.”
Luke nodded Chris into his office.
“Are Katie and Jacob okay?” asked a concerned Luke.
Chris didn’t reply immediately. He was distracted by the size and obvious luxury of Luke’s office.
“Your office is about ten times bigger than mine,” huffed Chris.
“Size isn’t important,” soothed Luke. Given Chris’ disturbingly intent purview of Luke’s office, Luke decided that Katie and Jacob were probably fine. He sat behind his desk and waved Chris to a seat. Luke wasn’t sure why Chris had shown up at his office but he decided that he’d start off the meeting sitting in the big boy chair, the position of power.
Chris sat down across from Luke. It took him a moment to stop peering around the office and frowning. “Luke, I want you to know that I’ve always liked you.”
“How can I help you, Chris?” asked Luke hoping to cut to the chase.
“You and Reid are so different,” began Chris. “You are such a sweet kid and---”
“You don’t think that referring to me as a sweet kid is just a tad condescending?”
Chris started. “I’m sorry if you feel insulted by my comment.”
“Chris, if you’re here to involve me in your little feud with Reid, I’d advise you to leave,” said Luke.
“I’m here because I’m trying to protect you,” avowed Chris.
Luke wondered if Chris was always this smarmy or if losing the Chief of Staff job to Reid was making him more so.
“Are there zombie hordes approaching?” asked Luke.
“What?”
“Never mind,” said Luke. “Just tell me what you want.”
“Reid’s having an affair,” blurted Chris.
Luke gave a startled laugh. He hadn’t been expecting that. “No he isn’t.”
“You don’t even want to here what I have to say?”
“No, I don’t,” said Luke. “I’m not fond of the way you’ve handled your relationship with Katie but she loves you so I’ve refrained from making any comments. And I’m not fond of the way you’ve handled your so-called rivalry with Reid. But since he considers you to be more of an irritant than anything else, I’ve stayed out of it. Irritation builds character. But you will not attempt to interfere with my relationship with Reid. That’s off-bounds to you.”
Chris hurriedly stood and ran the fingers of one hand through his hair in obvious frustration. “Reid’s an arrogant, piece of---”
Luke leisurely got to his feet and walked towards the door of his office, “You’ll be leaving now.”
“Wait!” spat Chris. “I saw Reid get into the elevator at the Lakeview with another man.”
“Ah, the Lakeview Elevator of Semen Exchange,” said Luke. “Yes, two men in an elevator at the Lakeview does seem to indicate intercourse is about to go down.” Luke briefly wondered if his own sarcasm level had increased lately. Was he becoming Reid-y via prolonged exposure?
“It’s not funny! Don’t you care that he’s sleeping around? He’s probably laughing about it with his lover,” muttered Chris.
“I see two possibilities here. One, you truly think that Reid’s having an affair which means that you really are stupid as everyone thinks,” Luke said coolly.
“Hey, just because I’m not a genius like your jerk--”
“Or two, you decided to try to cause trouble for Reid by trying to make me doubt our relationship. You probably think that by distracting Reid now while the Chief of Pediatrics position needs to be filled, that you’re more likely to convince the board that you’re the man for the job.”
Chris’ eyes shifted. But then he drew himself up. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. But I deserve the Chief of Peds job. Hell, I deserved the Chief of Staff job.”
Luke rolled his eyes. “No you didn’t. If you want to continue your petty rivalry with Reid, that’s up to you. He’s a big boy and can take care of himself. He’s already won over most of the board and you’re really no threat to him at work. But if you ever try to interfere with my relationship with Reid again, I’ll destroy you.”
Luke could tell that Chris was confused by Luke nonchalantly threatening to destroy him. Luke sighed. Chris probably thought that he’d strike at Luke’s storied insecurity and that Luke would instantly have a melt down and drag Reid down with him. Man, he really wished that people would stop viewing him as that dumb kid he’d been years ago. Well, the dumb kid he was a year ago.
“You’re being stupid by putting your head in the sand,” sneered Chris.
“I have pictures of you in a cosplay outfit,” said Luke while studying his nails.
“What?!?” screeched Chris.
“Your obsession with Reid worried me so I had a private detective do a little research so I could feel safer,” said Luke. “He found a video that one of your exes posted anonymously online. You’re quite adorable as a chipmunk.”
“I . . . I have no idea what you’re talking about,” said Chris unconvincingly.
“Look, your private life is your own. I don’t care. But I won’t hesitate to re-post it and email the link to your mom if you ever try to mess with my relationship with Reid again.”
“You’re a bastard,” spat Chris.
“Thanks!” said Luke gleefully. He continued to smile as Chris stormed out of his office.
Much later, after a meeting with the department heads and attending a late night business class, Luke returned to the Walsh guest cottage that he shared with his boyfriend. Reid was sitting on the couch reading a medical journal. Luke slid onto the couch beside Reid and swung his legs onto Reid’s lap.
“So, how was your day?” asked Luke.
Reid grunted. He laid aside his medical journal and started massaging Luke’s calves.
“Ask me about my day,” demanded Luke.
“How was your day?” parroted Reid.
“Pretty boring. Hey, I bet I know where you interviewed Duke Kramer about the Chief of Pediatrics job.”
“If you’re trying to impress me with some Amazing Kreskin act . . .”
“Do you have any pop culture references from modern times?”
“Any idiot could figure out that I wouldn’t do the interview at the hospital as we’re trying to keep it low key for now. So you’ve probably figured out that I met him at the Lakeview.”
Luke sighed mournfully.
Reid raised a brow. “I mean, great job figuring out where my top secret meeting was?”
Luke huffed a laugh. “So does it look like you’re going to hire Duke?”
“Looks like. Are you going to give me some speech about how Katie’s family and so Chris is family so I need to cut him some slack and hey, it’s not his fault that he’s a moron?”
“Nope.”
Reid tilted his head questioningly.
“On a professional level, feel free to make Chris’ life a living hell.”
“Really?” asked Reid hopefully.
“Go for it, tiger.”
Author: nancygrew
Rating: G
Disclaimer: Characters belong to ATWt
Notes: Written for Lure_ATWT Fun Fic Fridays Prompt ‘Dirty Tricks’. Takes place Mid January 2011. You do not have to read any of my other fics in order to understand this one.
Summary: Just another day at Grimaldi Shipping
Luke knocked softly on the open door of Ellie Snyder’s office. His aunt glanced up from her computer, pushed her glasses up further on her nose and smiled at him. She waved him into the office. When Luke closed the door behind him, she raised a brow. Luke sat down on the edge of her desk and bumped his leg affectionately against hers.
“So, I hear you practically made Bonello cry today,” said Luke.
Ellie huffed. “Someone ratted me out?”
“The executive officers of Grimaldi Shipping may be a pit of vipers, but they’re my pit of vipers,” grinned Luke. “Everyone rats everyone else out to me. I should start giving out gold stars for tattling.”
Ellie narrowed her eyes. “You’re not expecting me to apologize to him or anything or you?”
Luke laughed. “Nope. But I do want to let you know that you don’t have to be so protective of me. It’s to be expected that a lot of the employees are . . . concerned about having such a young and inexperienced president. I hired you because you’re brilliant at what you do and because I trust you. I didn’t hire you to make sure that people don’t say mean things about me.”
“Even if you weren’t my nephew, I would have still told Bonello off,” insisted Ellie. “Yes, you’re inexperienced but you’re doing a great job. Plus, one does not denigrate the president of the organization to other executives regardless of the circumstances. It’s unprofessional and disloyal.”
“You know, I’ve been referred to things much worse than Peter Pan.”
“I have no idea whether he meant it as homophobic or whether he was referencing your age in a derogatory manner. But I wasn’t going to put up with it.”
“Maybe he was just referencing the fact that I look good in green,” said Luke dryly.
“Yes, I’m sure that’s it,” said Ellie. “You mentioned that you could trust me. May I ask whether the reason you trust me is because I’m a Snyder?”
“Part of my complete faith in you is probably because you’re family. After all, if you try to take over my company, Grandma Emma would never make you pie again.”
Ellie laughed.
“Another reason I trust you is because Grandmother trusts you,” admitted Luke. “She wouldn’t hesitate to hire you back. Plus there’s the fact that you’ve really made a name for yourself in New York.”
“I never thought I’d return to this place,” admitted Ellie. “Oakdale just always seemed so provincial to me. I started dreaming of running off to the big city before I was in grade school. But surprisingly I’ve really enjoyed being back. And I love my job here at Grimaldi Shipping.”
“I’m really happy you’re back. Because you’re family and because I do rely on you here,” said Luke.
“It must be tough trying to decide who to trust within the Grimaldi empire,” observed Ellie.
“I’d like to say that I have excellent instincts that were honed by my close observation of Grandmother,” said Luke. “But I’ve been adhering pretty closely to the Hierarchy of Trust that Damian suggested to me.”
“What’s the Hierarchy of Trust?” asked Ellie.
“I can trust Butters and Reynaud completely. They’re completely loyal to the company and to the Grimaldi family. If there’s ever a zombie rampage, I’m pretty sure they’d both throw themselves in front of me to protect my delicious brain.”
“I hate zombie rampages,” said Ellie.
“Who doesn’t?” asked Luke rhetorically. “I can trust Sarlo and Magro to a lesser extent. Their sense of loyalty and duty is healthy but so is their self-interest.”
“So they’d let the zombies take you?”
Luke nodded sadly. Then smirked at Ellie when she giggled. “And at the bottom of the Hierarchy of Trust are Mitchell and Bonello. They’d trade their loyalty to me for a pack of gum.”
“I think you’re exaggerating. I’m pretty sure Bonello would trade his loyalty to you for a stick of gum.”
“It’d have to be good gum,” insisted Luke. “I stopped by mainly to make sure you knew that I didn’t expect you to beat up any mean kids for me but I also wanted to stop by to see if you wanted to come to dinner this Saturday.”
“Reid’s not the most sociable person I’ve ever met. He’s not going to spit in the food, is he?”
“Probably not,” said Luke.
“Well, with that ringing endorsement, count me in,” smiled Ellie. “Can I bring anything?”
“Just an appetite and a willingness to risk my first attempt at Moroccan fare. I bought a Berber folk music CD and large floor pillows for the occasion,” said Luke with a large degree of enthusiasm.
“I’m not sure if I’m excited or a little scared,” pondered Ellie with a frown.
“See you later at the department head meeting,” said Luke as he left.
As Luke approached his office, he noticed Chris Hughes sitting on the sofa in the antechamber. His administrative assistant burst out of her seat and rushed to Luke.
“He doesn’t have an appointment!” fretted Louise. “He insisted on waiting for you. Should I call Max to throw him out?”
Luke ran his hand down the arm of his highly-strung administrative assistant as he reminded himself, for the hundredth time, that it would be just plain wrong to slip valium into her bottled water. “It’s okay, I’ll see him.”
Luke nodded Chris into his office.
“Are Katie and Jacob okay?” asked a concerned Luke.
Chris didn’t reply immediately. He was distracted by the size and obvious luxury of Luke’s office.
“Your office is about ten times bigger than mine,” huffed Chris.
“Size isn’t important,” soothed Luke. Given Chris’ disturbingly intent purview of Luke’s office, Luke decided that Katie and Jacob were probably fine. He sat behind his desk and waved Chris to a seat. Luke wasn’t sure why Chris had shown up at his office but he decided that he’d start off the meeting sitting in the big boy chair, the position of power.
Chris sat down across from Luke. It took him a moment to stop peering around the office and frowning. “Luke, I want you to know that I’ve always liked you.”
“How can I help you, Chris?” asked Luke hoping to cut to the chase.
“You and Reid are so different,” began Chris. “You are such a sweet kid and---”
“You don’t think that referring to me as a sweet kid is just a tad condescending?”
Chris started. “I’m sorry if you feel insulted by my comment.”
“Chris, if you’re here to involve me in your little feud with Reid, I’d advise you to leave,” said Luke.
“I’m here because I’m trying to protect you,” avowed Chris.
Luke wondered if Chris was always this smarmy or if losing the Chief of Staff job to Reid was making him more so.
“Are there zombie hordes approaching?” asked Luke.
“What?”
“Never mind,” said Luke. “Just tell me what you want.”
“Reid’s having an affair,” blurted Chris.
Luke gave a startled laugh. He hadn’t been expecting that. “No he isn’t.”
“You don’t even want to here what I have to say?”
“No, I don’t,” said Luke. “I’m not fond of the way you’ve handled your relationship with Katie but she loves you so I’ve refrained from making any comments. And I’m not fond of the way you’ve handled your so-called rivalry with Reid. But since he considers you to be more of an irritant than anything else, I’ve stayed out of it. Irritation builds character. But you will not attempt to interfere with my relationship with Reid. That’s off-bounds to you.”
Chris hurriedly stood and ran the fingers of one hand through his hair in obvious frustration. “Reid’s an arrogant, piece of---”
Luke leisurely got to his feet and walked towards the door of his office, “You’ll be leaving now.”
“Wait!” spat Chris. “I saw Reid get into the elevator at the Lakeview with another man.”
“Ah, the Lakeview Elevator of Semen Exchange,” said Luke. “Yes, two men in an elevator at the Lakeview does seem to indicate intercourse is about to go down.” Luke briefly wondered if his own sarcasm level had increased lately. Was he becoming Reid-y via prolonged exposure?
“It’s not funny! Don’t you care that he’s sleeping around? He’s probably laughing about it with his lover,” muttered Chris.
“I see two possibilities here. One, you truly think that Reid’s having an affair which means that you really are stupid as everyone thinks,” Luke said coolly.
“Hey, just because I’m not a genius like your jerk--”
“Or two, you decided to try to cause trouble for Reid by trying to make me doubt our relationship. You probably think that by distracting Reid now while the Chief of Pediatrics position needs to be filled, that you’re more likely to convince the board that you’re the man for the job.”
Chris’ eyes shifted. But then he drew himself up. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. But I deserve the Chief of Peds job. Hell, I deserved the Chief of Staff job.”
Luke rolled his eyes. “No you didn’t. If you want to continue your petty rivalry with Reid, that’s up to you. He’s a big boy and can take care of himself. He’s already won over most of the board and you’re really no threat to him at work. But if you ever try to interfere with my relationship with Reid again, I’ll destroy you.”
Luke could tell that Chris was confused by Luke nonchalantly threatening to destroy him. Luke sighed. Chris probably thought that he’d strike at Luke’s storied insecurity and that Luke would instantly have a melt down and drag Reid down with him. Man, he really wished that people would stop viewing him as that dumb kid he’d been years ago. Well, the dumb kid he was a year ago.
“You’re being stupid by putting your head in the sand,” sneered Chris.
“I have pictures of you in a cosplay outfit,” said Luke while studying his nails.
“What?!?” screeched Chris.
“Your obsession with Reid worried me so I had a private detective do a little research so I could feel safer,” said Luke. “He found a video that one of your exes posted anonymously online. You’re quite adorable as a chipmunk.”
“I . . . I have no idea what you’re talking about,” said Chris unconvincingly.
“Look, your private life is your own. I don’t care. But I won’t hesitate to re-post it and email the link to your mom if you ever try to mess with my relationship with Reid again.”
“You’re a bastard,” spat Chris.
“Thanks!” said Luke gleefully. He continued to smile as Chris stormed out of his office.
Much later, after a meeting with the department heads and attending a late night business class, Luke returned to the Walsh guest cottage that he shared with his boyfriend. Reid was sitting on the couch reading a medical journal. Luke slid onto the couch beside Reid and swung his legs onto Reid’s lap.
“So, how was your day?” asked Luke.
Reid grunted. He laid aside his medical journal and started massaging Luke’s calves.
“Ask me about my day,” demanded Luke.
“How was your day?” parroted Reid.
“Pretty boring. Hey, I bet I know where you interviewed Duke Kramer about the Chief of Pediatrics job.”
“If you’re trying to impress me with some Amazing Kreskin act . . .”
“Do you have any pop culture references from modern times?”
“Any idiot could figure out that I wouldn’t do the interview at the hospital as we’re trying to keep it low key for now. So you’ve probably figured out that I met him at the Lakeview.”
Luke sighed mournfully.
Reid raised a brow. “I mean, great job figuring out where my top secret meeting was?”
Luke huffed a laugh. “So does it look like you’re going to hire Duke?”
“Looks like. Are you going to give me some speech about how Katie’s family and so Chris is family so I need to cut him some slack and hey, it’s not his fault that he’s a moron?”
“Nope.”
Reid tilted his head questioningly.
“On a professional level, feel free to make Chris’ life a living hell.”
“Really?” asked Reid hopefully.
“Go for it, tiger.”