All Chapters of The Intern Regretted His Free Coffee: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

Brandon typed back instantly:[That doesn't count. It’s literally just a cup of coffee. You’re a senior employee. Are you really being this cheap?][Don't think I don't know you pulled in a three-thousand-dollar bonus on the last project. Every other project lead buys team dinners with their bonus, but you're just tightfisted.][To make up for it, you're not just getting me a coffee this afternoon. You're buying one for every single intern on our team.][Otherwise, I’m dropping everything that just happened into the main company Slack channel and letting the whole office weigh in.][Besides, it's not like you're the one in charge of my full-time offer anyway.]He was smugly throwing around threats.Meanwhile, I was doing the math in my head. There were five interns on our team, and Brandon was the last one hired. His evaluation for a full-time offer was coming up next week, while the others were being evaluated over the next couple of days.Seven dollars a cup at Starbucks mean

After Mr. Beckett finished speaking, I froze for two whole seconds.Then, a smile crept onto my face.It wasn't a polite, professional smile. It was the heavy weight trapped in my chest all day, finally finding an exit.Mr. Beckett took one look at me and chuckled softly. "Jay, don't stress yourself out. You've always been ridiculously thorough with training the new hires, and I see the effort you put in. With this department reorg, your team is going to be running on its own. We need people with solid integrity."He paused, his voice dropping into a serious tone. "If someone lacks skills, we can train them. But if their character is trash, no one can save them."I nodded. "And the evaluation criteria for full-time offers?"My boss slid a file across the desk to me. "You call the shots. Performance, teamwork, accountability, character. You decide who stays. Even if you clear the field and don't keep a single one of them, I trust your judgment."I stared at the document, lightly

I took a step back, staring at Brandon coldly."What's wrong? Weren't you the one who wanted everyone to weigh in? Now that everybody's here, why'd you stop talking?"Tears streamed down Brandon’s face again, but this time, nobody handed him a tissue.I scrolled down the screen. "This afternoon, you demanded that I buy drinks for all the interns. So, I did. But I never said I was buying one for you. Because you already squeezed nineteen dollars out of me this morning."I locked eyes with him, my voice quiet, yet carrying easily through the absolute silence of the break room. "Brandon, my kindness isn't a leverage tool for your extortion. And my silence wasn't permission for you to slander me."Brandon went white as a sheet. He whipped his head around toward the other interns. "Say something! Weren't you guys just agreeing that he was bullying me?"No one spoke.Ryan kept his head down, his knuckles white as he clenched his fists. Chris' eyes went red, his mouth twitching, but no

Mr. Beckett, Miss Ashford, myself, and the four remaining interns.Brandon's chair sat empty.Nobody brought up his name, but every single person in the room knew why he wasn't there.Miss Ashford kicked off the meeting with a brief run-through of the process, then Mr. Beckett turned to me."Jay, the floor is yours."I opened the presentation on the main screen.The first slide displayed the master evaluation table for all four interns. Every metric was broken down with absolute clarity: task completion rate, learning curve, collaboration, accountability, and professional ethics.When Ryan saw his name at the top of the chart, his shoulders went visibly rigid.I read his evaluation out loud, "Ryan. Strong foundational skills and great data sensitivity. Early on, taking two whole months off for his thesis defense created a lapse in project continuity."His face went pale.I continued, "However, after returning, he caught up on his timeline aggressively. Over the past two weeks

The post was instantly screenshotted and shared everywhere.The comment section completely shifted from attacking the company to tearing Brandon apart:[Demanding nineteen dollars for a twelve-dollar meal and claiming to be the victim?][This isn't an intern, this is an entitled nightmare.][Jay has an incredible temper. If it were me, I would've called the cops on the spot.][Does this guy think corporate life is his personal ATM?][Anyone know if Jay is still hiring interns? I'd love to work under a manager like that.]Brandon deleted the post shortly after, but it was already too late. The internet was never going to forget.That afternoon, he called me over a dozen times. I didn't pick up a single one.Finally, he sent a text message: [Jay, I was wrong. I was just so angry.][Can you please ask the company to take down the statement? I still need to find a job in the future.]Looking at the screen, I suddenly found it absurdly funny.When he was trying to ruin my reputa