Timothy was a good lawyer. Truly, he was. It wasn't his fault his latest case fell through. His boss set Timothy up to fail. And boy did he fail spectacularly. Now, as he sat in the lobby waiting to meet him, he prepared his excuses.
Unfortunately, the secretary buzzed him in before he could formulate any sort of defense.
"Timmy, boyy!" Mr. Linch, an obese man that always had a smile on his face, greeted Timothy warmly. "How have you been, son?"
"Fine, sir," Timothy said, already sweating profusely. He scratched the back of his head.
"Good, good. Son, you're fired."
Timothy's gulp woke up the pigeons on the balcony. "I beg your pardon?"
"Son. That case was given to you on a silver platter. I haven't seen butchery of a slam dunk like that since Spud Webb won the slam dunk competition."
"B-b-but, sir! I was set up to fail, I -"
"Spare me, Timmy." Mr. Linch rifled through some papers. "Here! Take this and report to Sandra outside, she'll tell you the rest. Good luck to you."
Timothy barely felt his legs as he walked up to Mr. Linch's secretary. Handing her his release papers. What was he going to tell his wife? He would have to get that teaching job, or maybe try consulting in her father's firm. What a mess. This was so not fair. Timothy was a great lawyer.
"Here you go, Mr. Murr. Your internship begins tomorrow at ten." Mr. Linch's secretary said.
"E-excuse me? Internship? Those weren't release papers?"
"Goodness, no! Mr. Linch never just lets untrained talent loose. He's scheduled for you to intern at his brother's Consultation Revolution. You are to ask for Mr. Beck, he will take care of your tutelage personally. Have a good day!"
Consultation Revolution? That made no sense whatsoever. Sure enough, as Timothy read through the papers, he was scheduled to receive 'active training' as it was called for no less than eight weeks. Upon completion, he would receive an evaluation and possible reinstatement in the law firm.
"Timmy!" Mr. Beck was like his brother's slimmer form. Same bushy hair, same smile, same manner of speech, "I bet you don't remember me?"
"I... sorry, sir. It's been a while." Timothy scratched the back of his head.
Mr. Beck pierced his lips. "My brother says you have an attitude problem. Or rather, a character problem. Frankly, son, I knew this the moment I saw you all those months ago. You might know the law, but you have no idea how to enforce it, do you?"
"I... uhmm... sir, I -"
"Son," Mr. Beck became very serious. "That is the last time you stutter in front of me, understood?"
Timothy opened his mouth, closed it, took a deep breath, exhaled. "Yes, sir."
And so Mr. Beck trained Timothy in the art of speech, body language, and most importantly - power. Consultation Revolution was unlike any place Timothy had ever seen. The people seemed Happy to work there. And truly, Timothy was happy as well. Apart from the fact he couldn't see his family. He was forced to sleep in the facility until his training concluded. This made the entire experience feel strangely otherwordly.
As the days turned into weeks, Timothy started appreciating Mr. Beck's lessons more and more. Timothy rarely spoke and mostly listened. Mr. Beck said 'The less you speak the better, this leaves an air of mystery around you.' They also took posture classes and vocalization lessons. All meant to make Timothy sound more authoritative.
'Never say your intentions. Your face must be a mask at all times.' This one was hard as Timothy never concerned himself with limiting his emotions. He always thought the law spoke for itself. 'The law is what you make it!' And so Timothy practiced, practiced, and practiced.
'Let others do the work for you, while you take the credit.' Was his latest teaching, Timothy was trying to understand how he could use this when he got called into Mr. Beck's room.
Mr. Beck was in his bed, pale and coughing. "Timmy, sit beside me, son. I won't be able to teach any longer. I am... very sick..."
Timothy scratched the back of his head. "B-but, s-sir. The reevaluation exam is in a week!"
"Don't fall into your old bad habits, now!" for a moment, Mr. Beck seemed like his old jolly self. "Be firm! Don't stutter! And quit scratching that empty head of yours!"
"Yes, sir," Timothy said, he felt... tears bubbling in his eyes.
"None of that." Mr. Beck said. "Go on then. Study and you'll be alright."
"You were... an amazing mentor, sir," Timothy said much to Mr. Beck's chagrin.
That was the last time he was Mr. Beck. Consultation Revolution was a community, no, a world in itself. It was isolated, yet everything you needed was at its massive campus. No one spoke about what had happened to Mr. Beck, only that he wouldn't be returning to company activities.
Timothy, having internalized all the teachings was now a changed man. A devious man ready to conquer the world and fulfill his potential. For such a man, the reevaluation exam would be a breeze. And it was. Before Timothy could blink, he was back in his old law firm, waiting on Sandra to buzz him into Mr. Linch's office.
"Well, well, well." Mr. Linch grinned, "No longer scratching our head are we?"
"No, sir." Timothy smiled, standing tall. "It's a pleasure to see you again, sir."
"Likewise, son. Likewise."
Timothy wanted to ask after Mr. Beck, but his training took over - if he needed to know, he would. Best not to show eagerness of any kind. Timothy just stood there, expectantly.
"They didn't tell you to get a haircut?" Mr. Linch asked, dead-faced.
Timothy almost scratched his head. Instead, he let a smile appear on his face. "I didn't let them, sir."
Mr. Linch grinned. "Good man. Come, I have a job for you."
This is the first draft of the story. Written by Jovan Gjorgjiev, ©️ 2023.
Obligatory shout-out to the 🍕PIZZA🍕 gang, 🤙 gang. 🤙
Word prompt: The Hero's Journey: As always, I went a little unconventional with my prompt interpretation. Not sure how fun it was to read though. 😅 Of course, 1k word limit so we manage. But I think I handled the word count aspect at least well enough. Hope you folks enjoyed!
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Cover image source.
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