A little follow-up to the events of 3.9 The Disconnect.

After school on Monday, Ryan entered the Newport Group offices with some trepidation. He wasn't sure if he still had a job. Sandy didn't say that he was fired, but he didn't say I'll see you after school either. Ryan figured he was probably okay since Sandy didn't seem mad any more when they talked on Sunday, but you never know.

After checking quickly with Sandy's secretary to make sure that he wasn't busy, Ryan slowly approached Sandy's office. The door was open, so Ryan stopped at the doorway. Sandy was sitting at his desk, engrossed in some paperwork. After a moment, Ryan knocked on the open door. Sandy heard him, looked up, and smiled. Well, that was a good sign.

"Ryan. School over already?" Sandy didn't wait for Ryan to answer. He looked down at his watch. "Wow, I didn't realize it was getting so late."

Sandy looked back up at Ryan, who hadn't moved from the doorway. "Come in, come in." He gestured at one of the chairs in front of his desk. "Have a seat."

Ryan walked in and sat down in the chair indicated. Sandy in the meantime had picked up the phone.

"Matt, could you come to my office, please?"

That made Ryan a little bit nervous. He wasn't sure what this meant. Was Sandy going to chew them both out at the same time? Ryan was happy that at least Sandy had changed his mind about firing Matt, after what Matt's friend Lily had said to them during her visit on Sunday. But he wasn't so sure that Sandy wasn't still mad.

A few seconds later, Matt entered the office and sat down in the other chair in front of Sandy's desk. He also looked nervous. After sharing a look, both he and Ryan looked to Sandy, waiting. After a moment, Sandy took a deep breath, leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. He took a long look at both of his charges.

"Okay, guys, we're going to try this again. But I don't want a repeat of what happened this weekend."

Ryan was just about to apologize, again, but Matt beat him to it.

"Sandy, I am so sorry. It was all my fault. Ryan didn't do anything wrong." Matt looked at Ryan. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get you into trouble at home."

Sandy quickly answered Matt, "Ryan's not in trouble at home." Sandy looked at Ryan and smiled briefly. "He's apologized for his role in all this, and I've accepted it."

Ryan breathed a sigh of relief. That was good to hear.

Sandy looked back at Matt. "But, Matt, you're right in that this was primarily your fault. You're 26. Ryan's 17. You shouldn't be dragging him to strip clubs –"

"Yes, yes, I know, and I'm sorry. It will never happen again."

"Good. I'm going to hold you to that." Sandy leaned forward and put his arms on the desk. "Don't ever lie to me again. If you can't get your work done, tell me. We'll figure something out."

Matt looked down. "I know, Sandy. I won't. I'm sorry."

Sandy nodded. He looked quickly at Ryan then back to Matt. "Look, guys, I don't want to set this thing up where Ryan's your babysitter, Matt. Or a spy. But you have to know that Ryan's my son, and I expect him to tell me things. Just make sure that there's never anything again that Ryan can't tell me. Understood?"

Ryan and Matt shared a quick look, then they both looked back at Sandy and nodded.

"Understood."

"Good." Sandy smiled and sat back in his chair. "Good. Matt, why don't you go ahead and get back to whatever you were doing. And Ryan, I have an assignment for you."