A/N: everyone knows Michael's talking heads are some of the best; he is completely ignorant and yet completely open to sharing his thoughts. So I started to think about the poor person who has to interview him and this story came to fruition. Claire is from my Milestones fic, and is slightly based off of me (I'm training to become a family therapist) and my boyfriend's cousin, who actually works as a psychologist on The Real World! I know, right? So jealous of that job.
These chapters will be super-short (for all of you out there who have ADD) and will incorporate a real talking head into every chapter. And just to be clear, I don't own The Office or its characters. Wouldn't that be awesome though? Enjoy!
Claire had handled a lot of sad and disturbing cases in her career: ugly marriage disputes, child abuse and domestic violence, and had even been brought in as an expert witness in court cases concerning rape and sexual harassment. But all her years practicing therapy hadn't prepared her for what she was facing now.
She thought working on a television show would be exciting, especially those new reality shows that always seemed to create quite a buzz. The producers were especially impressed with her interviewing technique and the way she could build rapport so quickly; they knew her skills would be beneficial having already met the cast. She, however, had not had that pleasure.
Her first day was the first day of filming. She didn't mind being thrown right into the situation, and started out with the basics:
"So, uh, Michael Scott, you are the regional manager of Dunder Mifflin, Scranton—"
Michael smirked, "Yesh."
Claire cleared her throat, "So, how would you describe your managing style?" He stared at her blankly, and so she elaborated, "Um, what do you think your employees think of you?"
"Oh!" Michael exclaimed as he leaned back in his chair, "People say I am the best boss. They go, 'God we've never worked in a place like this before. You're hilarious'…" Claire nodded, somewhat unsure of what exactly he was getting at. Sensing this, he continued with his explanation, "'And you get the best out of us.'" He picked up a mug that said 'world's best boss' and gave her a nod, "I think that pretty much sums it up… I found it at Spencer Gifts."
"You bought a mug foryourself that says 'world's best boss'?"
Michael shrugged, "Sure, why not? I know I'm the best boss, so why should I wait for an employee to think of getting me this?" Claire rested her chin in her hand as she pondered this logic. She looked to the cameraman for assurance that she wasn't the one being irrational, but wanting to stay out of this, he kept his eye on the viewfinder and kept the tape rolling.
"Well usually, those kinds of gifts are bought for a boss by his or her employees, as a sign of respect and admiration—" Michael nodded his head in understanding. "So, if you bought that mug for yourself, it doesn't support your theory that people say you're 'the best boss'…" Again, she watched Michael's expression turned to a blank stare, and so she sighed in exasperation, "Okay, I didn't expect this to be so hard—"
"That's what she said!" Michael snorted through stifled laughter. "Oh man, I got you so bad!" Michael continued sniggering as Claire decided it would be best to move on to another interview.