J.P. Sullivan. It was so strange, seeing her name in bold black letters on the door to her new office. It was like a dream. Unreal.

"Wow," scoffed a familiar voice. "You must be so proud."

Jamie gritted her teeth and whirled around, "Shut up, Rory."

"Was it hard?" the sleek black monster went on, waving his slim, lanky arm in a gesture of sarcastic mockery. "Getting to be Chairman of the Board when your daddy runs the company?"

"I worked long and hard to get this job, Rory," Jamie spat. "It had nothing to do with family ties."

"Uh-huh," Rory snickered. "Sure."

"I don't know why I waste my breath on you," she snarled, escaping Rory's cynical gaze by pretending to scrutinize the figures on her clipboard. "I've got more important things than you to deal with right now."

"Look who's acting all high and mighty, just because she got a promotion," he continued. "What's it like to be all that and a bag of chips?"

Jamie snorted, not raising her eyes from the clipboard, "You tell me, Mr. Hot-Shot. Mr. Employee-of-the-Month. These kids' sense of humor must be going wayyyy down the toilet if you can manage to make them laugh so hard."

"Second only to that Wazowski guy," Rory corrected grudgingly. "And I have my methods." he added slyly. Note to self, that's not suspicious at all.

"Speaking of which, is there a reason you're not working right now?" Jamie inquired, not amused.

"It's my lunch-break, Almighty Chairman," Rory sneered. "Please don't smite me."

Jamie's claws groped for something to dig themselves into and found the clipboard, "That attitude will get you fired, ya know."

"You think I'm afraid of you?" Rory laughed, turning to walk away. "Think again. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to work, Chairman."

The clipboard shattered into a million pieces. Fury broiled inside of her, and Jamie was sure she could rip something apart a billion times over fueled solely by her rage. Anger ignited like a spark and spread to a blazing wildfire.

But in the next minute, an ominous chill overcame her. She tried to push it away, but she was practically quavering with uncertainty.

It was night. A cool breeze blew in through the open window, disturbing the soft blue curtains as they billowed in the wind. Jamie tapped her fingers on the armrests of her chair absentmindedly. This chair is not very comfortable, she frequently noted, shifting in her seat multiple times over the course of one minute. An agitating silence had blanketed the room, and the only sound was the occasional scribble of a pencil as her father crunched numbers at his desk.

"Dad," Jamie finally piped up, leaning back in her chair and at last finding a comfortable little groove in the spongy cushions. "Why was Rory hired?"

Sullivan twisted in his chair to look at her, "Huh? Well, he's good at his job. Why?"

'Cuz he's a jerk. "Oh, no reason," Jamie said innocently, trying to play it off as an inquiry of pure curiosity.

He gave her a quizzical look, "Jamie, is something wrong?"

"Nope," Jamie replied, a little too quickly.

They lapsed into silence for a good 60 seconds.

"You made me Chairman because I'm your daughter, right?" Jamie challenged at long last.

He blinked, "What? Who's been telling you that?"

"Right?" Jamie repeated, unwavering in her confrontation.

Sullivan blinked, "No. No, of course not. Jamie," he gently brushed a strand of spotted blue-pink hair behind her ear. "I chose you because no one works as hard as you do. I saw your determination, and I knew that's what I wanted in a Chairman. I was happy and proud to hand that privilege to my own daughter, yes, but it wasn't the reason why-"

Jamie cut him off, "I'm too young and too rash and you know it! You act like I can possibly live up to this incredible legacy my family's established, but I can't. Why not make Rory Chairman? He's just as hard a worker as me."

"So," Sulley leaned back in his chair. "It's Rory that's been saying those things?"

"I never said that," Jamie muttered hotly, grimly aware of the futility of her own protests.

"Jamie," her father said. "I will have a talk with Rory, and you don't have to-"

"No!" Jamie interrupted. "Don't you see? That will only prove him right. I need to fight my own battles and show him I can take care of myself."

"Is that what this is about? Pride?"

"It's about living up to those ridiculously high standards you and your dad set for me," Jamie spat, rising from her chair and sending it toppling over with one strong push. I can't do this. I'm done. She threw the front door open, stepped out, and slammed it with superfluous force. She didn't look back. She didn't know where she was going. She just ran.