Amanda was dreading work the next morning. After crying herself to sleep the night before, she had considered calling in sick, so she wouldn't have to face Andrew, but when she thought of what Alma would have to say to that, she decided she'd rather go to work.
When she arrived at work, prepared to see Andrew, she was almost disappointed when he didn't show up. At half past 10, Arthur stopped by Amanda's desk to see if she'd heard anything from him. When she said that she hadn't, he instructed her to let him know as soon as she did.
"And if he does decide to come in today," Arthur added. "Send him back to my office immediately."
"Will do," Amanda replied.
After overhearing this juicy bit of gossip, Hector dropped by Lawrence's cubicle to spread the news and to gloat.
"So guess what I heard. Andrew still hasn't come in today."
Lawrence nodded to let Hector know that he had heard, but didn't bother looking up from his work.
Hector laughed. "All this time I've been worried about Andrew taking my promotion and now he's sabotaging himself. How do you like that?"
"I don't," Lawrence said sternly as he rose from his seat and started to walk away from Hector, but the other man stood in his way.
"Oh, I see how it's going to be. You get promoted and you forget how to be grateful. Don't forget, I'm still the one who got you this job. And it's not too late for it to be taken away," Hector threatened, before storming off to his own cubicle.
Almost an hour later, Andrew stumbled into the office, looking disheveled and smelling like alcohol.
"Amanda," he said softly.
She glanced up at him, before quickly turning back to her work.
"About last night, Amanda . . ." he started, but was quickly interrupted as Amanda rose from her chair.
"Mr. Townsend wants to see you in his office," she said coolly as she grabbed a stack of files from her desk and walked away.
Andrew rapped cautiously on the door to Mr. Townsend's office before peeking his head inside, "Mr. Townsend?"
"Come in, Andrew," Arthur said sternly. He took one look at Andrew and rose stiffly from his chair. "What's your excuse for showing up here, 3 hours late without even a call and hungover too?"
Andrew fidgeted nervously, his head still pounding from the night before, and mumbled, "I'm having some personal problems."
"I can see that!" Arthur replied. "Really, Andrew, I expected more from you." Arthur shook his head in disgust and then waved Andrew away. "Get out of here. Go deal with your personal problems. I expect you to be in tomorrow, on time, and in a better condition than this or you can find employment elsewhere."
Andrew walked out of the office, feeling sick and ashamed, but mostly sick. He looked for Amanda when he walked into the lobby, but she was away from her desk. No doubt, avoiding him.
"Hey there, Martin. I see you finally decided to show up today. Well, good for you."
Andrew turned to see Hector standing behind him, heckling him. He could tell that Hector was about to make another smart remark, so he beat him to the punch, with a fist to his jaw.
Hector was shocked speechless, rubbing his stinging face. But Arthur who was just stepping out of his office, was not. "Andrew, I told you to get out of here. Go home and sober up before I call security."
Andrew angrily stormed out of the office, almost bumping into the two women who were just walking in.
They paused in their conversation, and exchanged bewildered looks. After Andrew had passed, Lucy whispered, "I wonder what that was all about."
The other woman only shrugged as she followed Lucy inside.
"Hello, Arthur," Lucy called out as she saw Mr. Townsend standing in the lobby. "I'd like you to meet Reese Boroughs," she introduced the other woman. "The firm assigned her to the case."
Once the introductions were made, Arthur suggested that they move the meeting to the conference room, where Reese filled them in on the latest findings in the investigation.
"Well," Reese began. "I've reviewed the file on your case and since you've spoken to my associates at the law firm, certain pieces of evidence have come to light, turning Mr. Stuart's death into a criminal case. The police are still investigating and trying to find out who is responsible for his death. But I want to let you know that no matter who the guilty party is, you definitely have a case against the hospital."
Arthur glanced from Reese to Lucy. "Well, that's good to know," he remarked, to which Lucy only nodded weakly. "Is there anyway we can help?"
"No," Reese replied. "For now we just need to wait. The police will be questioning the hospital staff to see if they saw anybody in Mr. Stuart's room around the time the incident occurred. Until then, I'll contact you if I need anything and I'll keep you informed."
The sounds of chairs scrapping against the floor carried into the hallway as the meeting inside of the conference room was breaking up. Hector moved away from the door and headed back to his cubicle with a sickly feeling in the pit of his stomach.
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