"Birthday Girl"
Fandom: Trust, Inc.
Title: Birthday Girl
Author: TeeJay
Summary: The boys told Serena it was an L&P custom to bring something into the office on your birthday. And so she does. (Written from Serena's POV.)
Written for: Round 1 of the New Pub live writing session on March 10, 2012 (and then later tweaked into something actually postable). Theme for the writing session was "yellow", the prompt for that round was a rubber duck shaped cookie with yellow frosting.
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Gen
Author's Note: I can't help entertain the notion that it's kinda wacky to write fan fiction for a radio drama. However, I think it just proves just how good the show is and how much I'm enjoying it. Kudos to the whole team (because you rock), and to CBC Radio for not just broadcasting it out there over the radio waves, but also for posting all those lovely treats and podcasts and videos on the show's website. I will admit that initially I only listened because I love Peter Outerbridge's work, but now I'm hooked, no matter what. To everyone who doesn't know the show, shame on you, you should! But not all is lost. Past episodes are accessible on the CBC website. Now go and listen!
Thanks to kanarek13 for the beta read.
Disclaimer: Trust, Inc. and its situations and characters belong to Gregory J. Sinclair and CBC Radio 1. No copyright infringement intended. Not making any money from this either. (I mean, ha, I wish.)
+-+-+-+-+
Here we go again. Another day in the big, bad and very cut-throat world of PR.
Maybe not so cut-throat today, because I'm actually in the office early, and I'm finding myself in the community kitchen of L&P, unwrapping a tray of cookies that I'm arranging on a motley collection of different plates that look like the kind of tableware you'd normally throw out. Or, you know, give your kids when they move into their first apartment.
And just my luck that the first person to spot me is Ricardo. He saunters into the kitchen, the usual, cocky grin on his face.
"Serena!" he greets me, and you could almost mistake his tone for a friendly welcome, if there wasn't that mocking undertone.
"Morning Ricardo," I chirp.
He sees what I'm doing, and it's not much of a leap that he makes the deduction. "Aha! Birthday cookies."
Another quick look over my shoulder, and he's off again.
"Wait," I say, "Don't you want any?"
"Oh, I'll be back."
In the door he turns around, pointing his finger at me. "Happy Birthday, by the way."
"Thanks," I say almost shyly. Was that actually Ricardo being nice? Or the Ricardo version of being nice?
Not two minutes later, and he's indeed back. With Benny in tow. "Look here, my man," he tells Benny. "What more could your blood sugar level desire at 7:30 in the morning?"
He prances around me to get within reach of the edibles and picks up the one cookie that looks like a rubber duck that I've tried very hard to... well... buy.
"Aw, ain't this cute? A rubber duckie," he says in a mockingly sarcastic voice and wiggles it in the air with his trademark Ricardo grin.
"Well, don't eat it then," I hear myself saying in a voice that is a lot more huffy than I want it to be.
Damn. In a split second, he managed to wipe away any notion that he could actually ever be a nice person, and-
Damn you, Ricardo. He's brilliant at what he does, if he just wasn't such a damn prick all the time. And this is supposed to be the fun part. The part where I bring cookies to work because it's my birthday.
And suddenly it hits me. Maybe I'm not supposed to bring cookies. Maybe the boys were just trying to pull a stupid prank on me, trying to make me believe it's an established L&P custom to bring something into the office on your birthday.
Shit! Shit, shit, shit. New Girl has put her foot in it again. I have a knack for that, don't I? How do I make a halfway graceful save out of this?
I put the last cookie on the beige plate with the chocolate brown rim that is all shades of ugly and step aside. "Well, guys, enjoy the sugar rush," I say in a voice as chipper as I can muster.
Benny looks like he's torn between two worlds. One where he wants to do the decent thing and not be a jerk, and one where he wants to be Ricardo's best bud. He flashes a smile at me that looks halfway between genuine and apologetic. "Happy Birthday," he mumbles, holding out his hand.
I find myself shaking it. "Thanks."
He quickly averts his eyes and joins Ricardo at the counter, purposefully going for one of the pink cookies that I think is supposed to resemble a balloon. Taking a bite, he says in his slightly rambly voice, "These are really good, Serena."
Sweet Benny-saves the day once again. My mouth curves into an ever so slight smile because Benny is probably the one person at L&P who's got his heart in the right place.
It is then that Marshall bursts into the kitchen. "What's with the idle loitering? The Stafford case. We've got work to do, people!"
Benny grins at Marshall while Ricardo bites the head off the duck. "Serena brought cookies."
Marshall frowns. "Cookies? Why?"
"It's her birthday."
"Oh," Marshall just says. No congratulations, no handshake, no good wishes. Just good old Marshall. I mean, gee, what did I expect?
I sigh and am ready to resign to my fate, but my cell phone beats me to it. The display reads 'Parvinder'. My forehead creases for a second. What does he want?
I answer it.
"I hear someone's having a birthday," he greets me.
This time my smile is genuine. "And how do you know about that?"
"Oh, I wouldn't be a capable reporter if I didn't have my sources."
"Sources, huh?" I'm about to ask, but then decide I don't even want to know.
"Well..." he just answers.
"So... You can't fool me into believing you'd just call to tell me Happy Birthday. You don't call without an agenda."
"Now you're hurting my feelings."
"Come on, Parvinder."
"All right," he concedes, "I was hoping for some inside scoop on the Stafford thing."
The smile slowly leaves my lips as my brain kicks into gear. Back to business. As I listen to Parvinder's proposal, all plans of plotting my birthday cookie revenge are put on the backburner-but not before that last, slightly malicious thought crosses my mind.
"I'll get you for this, boys. You just wait and see."
+-+-+-+-+
THE END
Title: Birthday Girl
Author: TeeJay
Summary: The boys told Serena it was an L&P custom to bring something into the office on your birthday. And so she does. (Written from Serena's POV.)
Written for: Round 1 of the New Pub live writing session on March 10, 2012 (and then later tweaked into something actually postable). Theme for the writing session was "yellow", the prompt for that round was a rubber duck shaped cookie with yellow frosting.
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Gen
Author's Note: I can't help entertain the notion that it's kinda wacky to write fan fiction for a radio drama. However, I think it just proves just how good the show is and how much I'm enjoying it. Kudos to the whole team (because you rock), and to CBC Radio for not just broadcasting it out there over the radio waves, but also for posting all those lovely treats and podcasts and videos on the show's website. I will admit that initially I only listened because I love Peter Outerbridge's work, but now I'm hooked, no matter what. To everyone who doesn't know the show, shame on you, you should! But not all is lost. Past episodes are accessible on the CBC website. Now go and listen!
Thanks to kanarek13 for the beta read.
Disclaimer: Trust, Inc. and its situations and characters belong to Gregory J. Sinclair and CBC Radio 1. No copyright infringement intended. Not making any money from this either. (I mean, ha, I wish.)
+-+-+-+-+
Here we go again. Another day in the big, bad and very cut-throat world of PR.
Maybe not so cut-throat today, because I'm actually in the office early, and I'm finding myself in the community kitchen of L&P, unwrapping a tray of cookies that I'm arranging on a motley collection of different plates that look like the kind of tableware you'd normally throw out. Or, you know, give your kids when they move into their first apartment.
And just my luck that the first person to spot me is Ricardo. He saunters into the kitchen, the usual, cocky grin on his face.
"Serena!" he greets me, and you could almost mistake his tone for a friendly welcome, if there wasn't that mocking undertone.
"Morning Ricardo," I chirp.
He sees what I'm doing, and it's not much of a leap that he makes the deduction. "Aha! Birthday cookies."
Another quick look over my shoulder, and he's off again.
"Wait," I say, "Don't you want any?"
"Oh, I'll be back."
In the door he turns around, pointing his finger at me. "Happy Birthday, by the way."
"Thanks," I say almost shyly. Was that actually Ricardo being nice? Or the Ricardo version of being nice?
Not two minutes later, and he's indeed back. With Benny in tow. "Look here, my man," he tells Benny. "What more could your blood sugar level desire at 7:30 in the morning?"
He prances around me to get within reach of the edibles and picks up the one cookie that looks like a rubber duck that I've tried very hard to... well... buy.
"Aw, ain't this cute? A rubber duckie," he says in a mockingly sarcastic voice and wiggles it in the air with his trademark Ricardo grin.
"Well, don't eat it then," I hear myself saying in a voice that is a lot more huffy than I want it to be.
Damn. In a split second, he managed to wipe away any notion that he could actually ever be a nice person, and-
Damn you, Ricardo. He's brilliant at what he does, if he just wasn't such a damn prick all the time. And this is supposed to be the fun part. The part where I bring cookies to work because it's my birthday.
And suddenly it hits me. Maybe I'm not supposed to bring cookies. Maybe the boys were just trying to pull a stupid prank on me, trying to make me believe it's an established L&P custom to bring something into the office on your birthday.
Shit! Shit, shit, shit. New Girl has put her foot in it again. I have a knack for that, don't I? How do I make a halfway graceful save out of this?
I put the last cookie on the beige plate with the chocolate brown rim that is all shades of ugly and step aside. "Well, guys, enjoy the sugar rush," I say in a voice as chipper as I can muster.
Benny looks like he's torn between two worlds. One where he wants to do the decent thing and not be a jerk, and one where he wants to be Ricardo's best bud. He flashes a smile at me that looks halfway between genuine and apologetic. "Happy Birthday," he mumbles, holding out his hand.
I find myself shaking it. "Thanks."
He quickly averts his eyes and joins Ricardo at the counter, purposefully going for one of the pink cookies that I think is supposed to resemble a balloon. Taking a bite, he says in his slightly rambly voice, "These are really good, Serena."
Sweet Benny-saves the day once again. My mouth curves into an ever so slight smile because Benny is probably the one person at L&P who's got his heart in the right place.
It is then that Marshall bursts into the kitchen. "What's with the idle loitering? The Stafford case. We've got work to do, people!"
Benny grins at Marshall while Ricardo bites the head off the duck. "Serena brought cookies."
Marshall frowns. "Cookies? Why?"
"It's her birthday."
"Oh," Marshall just says. No congratulations, no handshake, no good wishes. Just good old Marshall. I mean, gee, what did I expect?
I sigh and am ready to resign to my fate, but my cell phone beats me to it. The display reads 'Parvinder'. My forehead creases for a second. What does he want?
I answer it.
"I hear someone's having a birthday," he greets me.
This time my smile is genuine. "And how do you know about that?"
"Oh, I wouldn't be a capable reporter if I didn't have my sources."
"Sources, huh?" I'm about to ask, but then decide I don't even want to know.
"Well..." he just answers.
"So... You can't fool me into believing you'd just call to tell me Happy Birthday. You don't call without an agenda."
"Now you're hurting my feelings."
"Come on, Parvinder."
"All right," he concedes, "I was hoping for some inside scoop on the Stafford thing."
The smile slowly leaves my lips as my brain kicks into gear. Back to business. As I listen to Parvinder's proposal, all plans of plotting my birthday cookie revenge are put on the backburner-but not before that last, slightly malicious thought crosses my mind.
"I'll get you for this, boys. You just wait and see."
+-+-+-+-+
THE END