Hello again fan fiction readers. It's been a while since my last update of this story. My apologies for the delay. I honestly forgot all about it until I started getting inboxes for it to be updated. I hope this installment fits the bill for ya. Thanks again for all the support you all are giving my stories. I really appreciate it. Please remember to leave comments and reviews, I enjoy reading all feedback. Be blessed!
It's late morning and Olivia is sitting in the conference room at her office. They've just finished the briefings for the two cases they've been working, and Olivia couldn't be more proud of how much they've gotten done despite being short-handed. Deeming the current status of their cases a success, and agreeing with them that more help is needed. She assures them help is on the way, as she commits to making some calls today to schedule interviews. This brings a smile to their faces and she sees the relief settling in on them.
When the meeting ends they all disburse doing their respective duties, and Olivia opts to take over answering the ringing phones as well as work on the staffing issue. After she goes to her office she's not sitting down for long before there's a knock on her door. She looks up to see it's Marcus.
She smiles at him through the glass door pane, and nods for him to enter once their eyes meet. He opens the door and smiles as he asks, "Hey Liv do you have a minute?" She replies, "Sure Marcus, what's up?" He comes inside and closes the door behind him. She offers him a seat and he sits down in the chair facing her desk.
When seated he says, "I wanted to talk to you about Charlie." Olivia leans forward as she asks, "Really? Is there something wrong?" He quickly replies, "No. Actually he's doing really well. So well in fact I was wondering what's his story?" Olivia asks, "What do you mean?" He replies, "Well, I know a little about everyone else's plights. But he's rather tight lipped and vague about everything I ask him. And Quinn and Huck are even more secretive about him. Which unnerves me because I'm not even sure if what they've told me about themselves is true."
Olivia can see that Marcus' inquisitive nature is working overtime trying to figure out more about Charlie and the others. And she knows he's coming to her as a last resort since nobody else is divulging any information. While she understands he's naturally curious about who he's working with, she also wonders why everyone's background is so important to him. So she says, "Marcus, everyone here has some sort of past. You of all people know this given what led you to our door. And not everyone is willing, able, or even obligated to share their story with you or anyone else, because it's nobody else's business. Therefore, I suggest you simply mind your business and don't worry about what's going on in other people's lives, especially if they're not willing to talk about it." Realizing he's coming off as a busy body, he says, "I'm not some nosey guy looking to gossip Liv. I was just trying to get to know everyone better. We spend a lot of time together and I just thought it would make sense if we got to know one another better as coworkers and friends. Is that too much to ask?"
Olivia hears the sincerity in his voice, and after she glances down at the group photo on her desk, which features Harrison, Abby, Stephen, Huck, herself, and Quinn. She instantly recalls how close they were; they were more than friends and coworkers, they were a family. And right now their group couldn't be more fragmented, mostly because the core of the group isn't there anymore.
She takes a breath and looks at Marcus. She knows now that he means well; he's just going about it all wrong. But she wants to be supportive of his efforts, so she says, "What you're trying to do is commendable Marcus. And I understand it perfectly; it's normal to be inquisitive about your coworkers and make deeper connections. I think it makes for a stronger team dynamic and helps improve the working relationship by leaps and bounds." Marcus nods as he says, "So you're on my side. You agree we should be more open right?"
Olivia nods as she says, "This isn't about choosing a side here Marcus." He replies, "Well you at least agree with me right?" She nods as she says, "Yes. I do agree with you Marcus. Being open with people you spend the majority of your time with is normal. We spend most of our time with our coworkers, instead of our families." He responds, "I agree, which is why I don't get why nobody wants to do work gatherings and hang out. We can even bring our families so we can all be together. Like a family night or something for kids. Does anybody have kids?"
Olivia finds his desire to deepen their connections sweet; but she knows his approach is off base. She searches her mind to find a polite way to let him down easy. It comes to her as she says, "Marcus, as I said what you're attempting to do is great, and I really appreciate the effort you're making to forge deeper relationships here. It's obvious that's very important to you, and it probably helps you work better. Am I right?"
He nods as he responds, "Yes. It does. And you said you agree it improves work performance too." She nods as she says, "Yes I did say that, and I believe it. But what I also believe is that everyone, or at least the majority has to be comfortable with something like this in an office environment if it's going to be genuine, and effective. And by what you're saying to me you already know that the masses are not on board with your approach. Which is why you're coming to me. You figured getting me to back your play would force everyone else to fall in line. But that's not how we do things here Marcus. We're all adults, and with that being the case I'd like to think you're all more than capable of handling internal discrepancies and disagreements without my input. Unless the work is being negatively affected I shouldn't be involved in this type of situation. So let me ask you this; is the work being negatively impacted in any way by this Marcus?" He quickly says, "No not at all."
She replies, "In that instance, let me tell you that using me to bully people into doing things your way isn't becoming at all, nor is it very mature. Or helpful with getting your coworkers to like you. I can ensure you they'll be more aggravated if they knew about us having this conversation. Which I believe is the opposite of what you're trying to do."
Olivia sees him squirm in his seat. She knows she put him on the spot, and he doesn't know what to say. She can tell he's trying to find a response but he can't find one fast enough, or good enough to defend his play in this scenario. She lets him twist in the wind for a moment before she bails him out by saying, "Look Marcus. There's nothing wrong with what you're proposing. Again it's normal. But I think you can agree that this isn't a typical office environment. Here we do our jobs and we go home, and if we decide to do more or say more. It has to be at everyone's own pace. You can't force people to do something they aren't comfortable with in the name of making you more comfortable. So with that being said, are you sure you want to continue working here?"
He didn't expect the conversation to go this route, he quickly says, "Yes of course Liv. Unless you're firing me. I'd like to keep this job." Olivia responds, "No. I'm not firing you Marcus. Your job is here if you want it. But I don't want you to be uncomfortable working here either. I know it's a tough job, and it's not for everyone. So I won't think less of you if you're not up to it."
He takes a breath as he says, "I'm sorry if I gave you the impression that I didn't want my job Liv. I like it here. Scratch that I love my job. It's everything Quinn said it was. I guess like you said, I've been pushing hard to change the dynamic and I didn't consider how uncomfortable my actions may have made everyone. I apologize for not respecting the current dynamic, it won't happen again."