"Hey Annie!" Jeff saw her from down the hall and quickly overtook her with his long strides. She smiled softly, pretending not to notice him until she could hear the slight labor in his breath as he walked next to her, "Oh, hey! Going my way?"
"Literally every day." He grinned, anxiously shuffling his binder under his arm so that he could run his free hand through his hair nervously. "Are you working Saturday night?"
"No, you know I quit my night job, Jeff. I couldn't do both and take on a full load at school. Why, what's up?"
Biting back every urge he had to make a joke out of a full load, Jeff cleared his throat, "So you're free then?"
She stopped short, causing him to nearly trip over her and drop all their belongings to the ground, "Oh, god, I'm sorry, Jeff!"
"It's ok," He laughed, reaching down to pick up their fallen books and his lone binder. She kneeled down, doing her best not to brush her hands over his and blushing when it eventually happened anyway. They both jerked away and stood up awkwardly, smiling a nervous sort of smile, "I just need a favor."
"Mmmm. I need more information before I give up a whole night, especially since we have a test next week. In both classes."
"Yeah, yeah, I'm sure you'll do fine but, uh…" He trailed off, waving his hand in front of him in an effort to find words. "My firm is throwing a retirement party for one of the big guys, and Ted wants me to show up and make a good impression, but I don't want to stay all that long, so you know, I figured you can go with me. You can give us an excuse to leave and help with the good impression cause you're articulate and smarter than anyone I've ever met. You'd be a hit."
He inhaled deeply, realizing he hadn't taken a breath during his mini speech, and he realized she was beaming, holding back a laugh.
"So…" She looked up at his as they neared their class. "You want me to save you from this party AND make you look good?"
"Um, yeah."
She clicked her tongue and smirked, "That's a big ask… but I could do it. Do I get a favor in return?"
"Of… Course." He said warily, absolutely knowing her favor would involve something he'd hate (such as schoolwork that he wasn't interested in doing). "You name it."
"I'll hold onto it for now. You never know when it will come in handy."
. . . . .
Saturday night Jeff knocked on the door to apartment 303, only vaguely self-conscious about being uncharacteristically early. He adjusted his tie and looked at his watch, wondering why he had been in such a rush to get over here (he only lived about fifteen minutes from them). Suddenly the door swung open, and he was greeted by Abed in a bowler and a bathrobe, and Troy in what could only be considered a police costume.
"Uh, hello." Jeff raised an eyebrow, attempting to peer past his friends for Annie. "How's it going?"
"Great." Abed replied, not moving to let Jeff in. "We were just working out an alternative ending to one of our favorite Inspector Spacetime episodes in the dreamatorium."
"It really changes the way you view the rest of the season." Troy nodded, gently grabbing Abed's arm and pulling him from the door. "You're here to pick up Annie for a party?"
"I wouldn't call it a party so much as a work event." Jeff replied, stepping inside and looking around. Nothing had changed, but he still felt a little in awe at the space.
"So." Troy said, crossing his arms and giving Jeff a stern look once he looked over to acknowledge them, "We know Annie is a super capable adult, and a badass, but we care a lot about her and would appreciate if you wouldn't let anything happen to her."
Jeff laughed, looking between the two skeptically, "We're going to a retirement party, what could possibly happen?"
"You're going to a LAWYER party, Jeff. And if movies have taught us anything- it's that lawyers are scummy."
"Sleazy." Abed agreed.
"Bad guys."
"Definitely not to be trusted."
The three stood in silence for a moment, looking at each other, Jeff in shock, Troy in contemplation, and Abed… well, blankly.
"Um, thanks? You guys do know I'm a lawyer, right?"
"Oh yeah." Troy grinned. "But you're like…"
He wrinkled his brows in thought before turning to Abed, "Like…?"
"You're not like a regular lawyer, you're a cool lawyer." Abed nodded. "And, if we continue to assume via context clues that you're going through a mid-season character arch, you're becoming more and more relatable to the audience and having difficulty finding your place between the two worlds you're trying to live in."
"You do know that this is real life, right Abed?"
"Of course," He nodded, tightening his robe. "But life imitates art, and vice versa."
"Yeah, we know you're a good guy, Jeff." Troy laughed, "Even if you pretend you're not."
"Well…" Jeff rubbed his neck, trying to decide whether he should be offended. "Thanks for the vote of confidence?"
"Of course." Abed gave him a thin-lipped smile before turning to Troy, "We should get back to the dreamatorium, but Annie should be out any second."
They waved at him, and Troy gave him one more look that seemed to demand that Jeff protect Annie's virtue at all costs, before they ran back into what Jeff could only assume was their (real?) bedroom and he tried to ignore the strange, muffled sounds that followed. Turning back to the wall of photos, Jeff allowed himself to become lost yet again looking at pictures of the group camping, skiing, dressed up for Halloween. He grinned at the photo of Shirley dressed as Miss Piggy(?) and Abed in a surprisingly cool Alien costume. He stopped and leaned in when he noticed a photo of the group with him in it (not yet framed but taped to the wall) and he smiled. He hadn't even noticed that Abed had taken a picture of them at their family dinner a few weeks ago, but judging from the photo how would he? Even there he was staring affectionately at Annie. He smiled softly when he heard a door open and Annie laugh at him, "Didn't peg you as someone who'd show up early."
"I guess you'll have to tell me-" the grin on his face slipped away as he turned and saw her. "How you… pegged me…"
She smiled bashfully at his callback, gently smoothing out her charcoal, sleeveless pencil dress. It had been a great find at a local thrift store, the neckline plunged but had a sheer panel that crept all the way up her neck, and it barely reached her knees (which made her feel a little exposed, but her sheer tights made her feel a little more like herself).
"We match." She laughed, gesturing to her purple pumps, clutch, and shawl (in case she got cold). He continued to stare dumbly at her, looking at her shoes and then her bright eyes that were adorned with a smokey eyeshadow. Even when he'd seen her at The Landing she hadn't looked like this, although she did style her hair in the large, loose curls that he found he really, really liked.
"Cause… your tie, and my shoes-"
"Yeah!" Jeff suddenly remembered words and shook his head. "How funny. Right shade too."
"Well, I figured you'd wear gray, but I will say I'm surprised at the purple."
"Well…" He smiled, "It's a great accent color."
She laughed again and sauntered over to him, hooking her arm in his, "You look really nice."
"Yeah, um, you look… you do. Too! You too."
"Wow. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were flustered."
Swallowing thickly, he laughed and opened the door so they could head out, "Well, do you know any better m'lady?"
"We'll see, m'lord."
He smiled as they walked down the hall and she stopped him, "I have to tell you something."
Jeff's heart raced as he looked at her, unsure of what she was going to say. He had several hopes, but he had no idea what he'd do if any of them were realized. "Y-yeah?"
"If Alan's there…" She smiled sweetly, "I'm going to kick his ass."
Fortunately for Alan, he made sure to steer clear of Jeff once they arrived at the party. He hadn't spoken to him since the incident at the club, and Jeff was happy to see that he wasn't going to start now. He looked at Annie out of the corner of his eye when they walked into the hotel ballroom, smiling at her wide eyes and eager look. She had chatted nonstop on the way over, and he'd been happy to just listen and nod, but now that they were here it seemed nerves had gotten the better of her.
"Hey." He whispered, "You okay?"
"I'm fine. There's just… A lot of men… and a lot of girls that don't look like they work here."
Jeff cringed a little, knowing she was right, and he hoped that she didn't feel the need to lump herself in with the group of girls that his coworkers brought with them. She was bright, funny, and smarter than possibly every person in the room, and when he told her so she smiled up at him and winked knowingly. He understood how she was feeling though. As soon as they had walked in his stomach had churned and he didn't really know why, but the feeling wasn't particularly pleasant, and it certainly wasn't going away. Mark's words scratched at the back of his brain, and he did his best to quiet them. Annie cleared her throat and looked up at him, "So. Did you need me to talk to someone specific about your promotion, or just make you unapproachable?"
"Both. The less people I have to talk to, the better, and the nicer we are to Harold and Phil, the sooner we can leave."
"You got all gussied up just to leave, Jeff?" She tutted, looking around at the people staring at them. "How unlike you."
"Wrong." He laughed, "I'm fashionably late, and I leave gratuitously early."
"Mmmm. Cute." She nodded, eyeing the spread that was laid out in the corner of the room. "So, can we eat or…"
"Obviously."
"Let's go then." She grabbed his hand (stopping his heart momentarily) and dragged him to grab a plate with her. He declined to eat anything, preferring to look around anxiously (which she noticed, but didn't want to point out). Annie cleared her throat before grabbing a plate and popping a strawberry into her mouth, "So, I'm here to make you look good, right?"
"Hmm?"
"Who do I need to impress? What do you want me to say? Am I a peer, a professor? Do I tell them how you're a great student, how you've been picking up clients at work…?"
He laughed at her and shook his head, "You're impressive just by being yourself. No one else here has any substance. But sure, tell them about the whole one client I picked up in the last three months."
She smiled at him and held out her plate (of mostly fruit) to him, but he shook his head and said he'd grab them both a drink from the bar.
"What are you having?"
"An appletini."
"Stop."
She scoffed, faking offense as she started to pile cheese onto her plate, "Jeff, are you really not going to indulge your favor granting friend? Honestly-"
"Fine." He sighed, rolling his eyes. "You're dangerous, you know that right?"
She smirked and continued looking at the table instead of acknowledging him, and he slid off to the bar to order her sugary spirit and his whiskey. Leaning against the bar he felt a hand clap him on the shoulder, and he forced a smile as he turned to his friend, "Hello, Ted."
"Glad you could make it Jeff, I was getting worried you wouldn't show."
"Me? Miss an opportunity for an appearance? It's like you don't know me at all."
"Yeah, well, lately that's not a reach." Jeff raised an eyebrow but said nothing, instead turning to the bartender and handing him some cash for his drinks. "That girl looks familiar."
"Yeah, that's Annie."
"The waitress from the club?"
"My classmate." He corrected, doing his best not to shoot him a glare. "She's smart, I thought she might like rubbing elbows and networking a little."
"I'm sure you did." Ted smiled, nodding at the appletini in his hand. Jeff rolled his eyes and nodded towards her, prompting Ted to follow him over to where Annie was engaged in what looked to be a great conversation with some of the thirsty interns. Jeff casually slid the drink into her hand without making eye contact with her, and the interns face's all fell once they realized Annie was here with him. She smiled and excused herself before turning to him, "Thanks so much, I'm sure it was very painful for you to order that."
"It was a clear blow to my masculinity, but I think I'll survive." He grinned before motioning to his boss. "This is Ted-"
"Oh, Ted!" She exclaimed, putting her plate down and extending her hand, "Jeff's told us so much about you."
"I wish I could say the same." Ted smirked, shaking Annie's hand. She sipped her drink and grinned at him as he elbowed Jeff playfully, "This guy must be studying hard, he's been super MIA around here."
"Well, he takes his studies very seriously."
"As seriously as he takes his job, I hope."
"Uh, so, anyway." Jeff cleared his throat and glared at Ted. "How's Harold been?"
"Eh. He's retiring. He hasn't cared much about anything the last couple days. You said hi yet?"
"You're the first person I've run into."
"You should make some rounds then, Winger." Ted clapped his hand on his back and gave him a gentle shove. "Remind everyone who you are. You're basically a ghost story at this point."
Jeff scoffed and gave Annie a look that essentially said, "TEN minutes" and walked off to find Harold and the other partners that were almost certainly hovering around him like vultures to a carcass. Annie moved to follow him, but Ted gently grabbed her elbow, prompting a raised eyebrow from her.
"Can I ask you something?"
"It depends on how appropriate it is." She smiled forcefully and narrowed her eyes. Ted laughed and shook his head, "I'm not Alan."
Annie relaxed slightly, realizing she'd been on alert since she walked in. The air was thick with some sort of bad energy, and Jeff tensing up as soon as they walked in didn't exactly inspire her. She trusted him, but she definitely didn't like anyone that he used to entertain quasi-friendships with. "Yes, Ted?"
"What's gotten into him?"
"To Jeff?"
"Yeah. He doesn't return our calls, our texts, doesn't want to hang out. Is this about that night at the club, like… are you two-"
"No." She said quickly, sucking in a quick breath. "No, not at all. Uh, like I said, he's really taking school seriously."
"Hmm." Ted nodded, looking away at Jeff as he crossed the room. "I'd say he's taking something seriously. Maybe you can convince him that this job is one of the things he should prioritize, because people are already counting him out of the game."
"The game?" She couldn't help but sneer. "Hasn't he never lost a case?"
"Never."
"And isn't he trying to improve himself to prove to you all that he deserves something that he's clearly earned? And yet it's a game?"
"I don't make the rules surrounding office politics Anne-"
"Annie."
"Annie. I'm just saying, it's pretty clear he cares about you and your opinion. Maybe you can get him to care about this a little more."
He held up his drink as a small toast to her before walking away looking frustrated, and she quickly scanned the room to find her friend. Spotting him quickly she made her way over to him, gently putting her hand on the small of his back and smiling up at the men he was talking to, "Hi, how are you all?"
"Oh, Phil, Harold, this is Annie Edison, my-"
"Hopefully, colleague." She finished with a huge smile. "You are so fortunate to have Jeff here at your firm, he's truly such an asset. We've been trying to steal him away to be on retainer for us at GCC and he simply can not be bought."
Jeff stared at her incredulously, wondering if she had even heard him when he said, "be yourself". He was curious as to what had gotten into her, but was ready to go with it. After all who didn't love a little role play?
"Are you an administrator there, Miss Edison?"
"Yes, actually, I'm a financial consultant. I work very closely with the deans and the board when it comes to any and all business expenses for the city colleges."
Jeff didn't know if his eyebrows could rise any higher and he looked from her to Phil and Harold and back to her, "Yes, uh, Miss Edison and I met after my first week or so at Greendale."
"He had offered one of our tenured professors some advice that absolutely saved her. He is just to die for. We are going to miss him come December, I'll tell you that."
"Well." Harold smiled at Jeff with a gleam in his eye, "I know the firm will be happy to have one of it's top boys back in action. I'll tell you, Jeff, your killer instinct has been missed. Don't think your absence… hasn't been noticed. Lot less blood in the water for these sharks to be smelling, if you know what I mean."
Annie winced but continued smiling, hoping that her persona would pay off in Jeff's favor. Harold and Phil both turned to smile at her and shake her hand before excusing themselves to mingle with other guests, and Jeff turned to stare at his friend, "Um… what the hell?"
"What?" She asked innocently, pouting her lips slightly and giving him her Disney eyes. "You told me to make you look good."
"I think what I said was, 'be yourself', not 'create an entire career out of thin air'."
"Why not? It's not like I'll ever see any of them again."
"You don't know that." He muttered, tossing back his drink and giving the room another quick once over before setting his glass down on a nearby table.
"What?"
"Nothing." He sighed. "This just… feels weird."
"The… party?"
"Yeah." He shrugged. "I don't know how to describe it. It just feels… Nostalgic, maybe? But not in a good way."
Annie grimaced slightly, panicking inwardly as she saw Ted laughing with Alan and the other guy that had been with them at The Landing that night (regardless that he wasn't Alan, it didn't feel good to see him be so chummy with him). "Jeff, this is your dream, isn't it? You've worked so hard to be a partner here, and you're so close. Harold just said-"
"Harold's opinion doesn't matter much, he's retiring."
"Okay, well, you still-"
"Do you want to get out of here?" He cut her off, looking at her with an intensity that she hadn't seen before. It made her nervous and excited and she looked at him with her mouth agape. He raised an eyebrow at her and softened his expression into the smirk she'd grown used to, and she nodded breathlessly (why was she out of breath? She didn't know).
"You didn't want to say hi to-"
"No. Not really. You're the only person here I want to talk to."
Annie blushed so furiously that she thanked the heavens that she had worn makeup tonight and smiled up at him, "In that case, let's go."
"Cool. Cool cool cool." He grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the exit, stopping only when Mark and Ted met them at the door.
"Tango!" Mark exclaimed, grabbing Jeff and pulling him into a bro hug. "You just got here, where you going? Who's your friend? Hi, I'm Mark."
"Hi-" Annie started, but Jeff wouldn't let her finish as he nodded to the two men, "Ted, this was nice, but uh… I'm out."
"You're out?"
"Yeah." He shrugged, ignoring Annie's wide eyes and her jaw practically on the ground. "I'm out. I quit. I'll email you a formal resignation, but I'm just… Not interested in this anymore?"
Mark, Ted, and Annie all shared similar looks of disbelief and awe, as none of them had seen this coming. Annie was exceptionally shocked, as she'd just done a whole lot of acting to make him look good. She met Ted's gaze and raised a shoulder, trying to indicate that she was just as lost as he was.
"It's been great working with you, but it's just time to move on, ya know? Find some place where I'm valued for who I am and what I bring to the table."
Again, no one said anything, so Jeff shrugged and turned to Mark, "I'll be in touch?"
Mark nodded as Jeff smiled and turned to Annie, motioning towards the door. She followed him with a small wave to his former coworkers, and Ted finally released the breath he felt he'd been holding.
"What the fuck."
