Jenny enjoyed being able to talk with Kevin. He was friendly and supportive, and if she did ultimately decide the serum, she felt he would be supportive and accepting. That was really a big plus in that regard. Animal People did have legal protection, but there were still plenty issues that they faced. The fact that there had been various criminals that had gone to great lengths to make the lives of Animal People miserable and that even with the most blatant criminal activity largely gone now, the fact that people like Jason and Jacob were so willing to play these sorts of games was a sign that things weren't perfect. Life was never perfect, but the reminders of this was troublesome. Having Kevin's support was a good thing and made things better. That was why she had made sure that he and his wife did get an invitation. Jenny didn't know if they would be able to come, but Kevin had been a supportive friend and she felt that justified an invitation. She knew that some of Clemens' coworkers at the zoo had gotten invitations from him as well.
Feeling some relief and even good cheer from her conversation with Kevin, Jenny threw away her garbage and moved to return to her own office. There was still a lot of work to get done before the wedding and her planned honeymoon. She'd just made it to the door when she felt a powerful bump in her back that sent her staggering forward and nearly made her face-plant into the wall near the door that lead out of the cafeteria. She looked up to see Jacob rushing past her and back into the hallway.
"Hey!" Jenny called after him in protest.
After the joke involving the supposed convention Jacob and Jason hadn't done much of anything to cause trouble, which Jenny and Clemens both supposed came from running out of ideas to pull those sorts of tricks. A part of her even wondered why they seemed so determined to keep playing these games. It wasn't going to make her love Clemens less. Jenny wasn't such a thin skinned woman that she wanted to be approved of by everyone. It wasn't going to give them an opportunity to attack Clemens, and even if they did, Jenny felt that they'd face defeat if Clemens fought back with his tail. Not to mention that attacking Clemens physically would only bring them legal trouble. It all seemed to be something out of high school where bullies seemed to do things for their own personal amusement and simply to make the target miserable.
"What is wrong with you?!" Kevin called after him as he rushed forward after seeing Jacob plow into Jenny.
"Sorry," Jacob answered weakly, and in a way that didn't lend much to the way of anyone believing what he'd said, "I got a lot of work to catch up on."
"If you spent more time working and less time hating people for their choices you wouldn't be behind in your work," Kevin challenged as he steadied Jenny as she recovered from the blow.
"I'll take that under advisement," Jacob answered and moved off.
Jenny only watched him move off in a hurry, only just avoiding banging into other people and managing to demonstrate that he could have avoided her if she tried.
"I swear it's like I'm back in high school with those two," Jenny sighed as she looked to Kevin.
"You were bullied in high school?" Kevin asked.
"No, not really... but neither was I in one of the popular clicks," Jenny sighed, "the situation is just like that..."
"Karma will catch up with them eventually," Kevin assured her, "people like that don't stay on top for long."
Jenny hoped that Kevin was right in that regard.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Things over the next couple of days before the scheduled bacholorette party, which Jenny had her own curiosity over, continued in much the same way. Jason and Jacob both pulled the same sorts of childish pranks. They weren't that well thought out and certainly weren't brilliant. In fact the average middle school bully could probably have come up with better ideas, but for the most part they were fairly effective. They amounted to bumping into her in the hall as she came around corners, occasionally knocking papers or items she was carrying out of her hands, making sure they managed to cut in front of her when she went to get coffee and things like that. It was annoying and clearly bullying to anyone who saw it, but because the acts were actually childish, little could be really done about it. The incidents were too easily covered as some sort of accident, and Jason and Jacob always made sure to give at least a half-hearted apology.
That meant that any sort of complaint against them would lead to a he-said-she-said argument. Without proof of intent, there was no way of proving that they were deliberately being jerks. Clemens ended up hearing a lot about Jenny's frustration on the subject, but about all he could do was listen and provide comfort. And while Jenny had thanked him for his support, she was privately sure that he didn't fully know just how much she loved him for the support he gave. Especially since he also helped keep her calm. A part of her even considered ultimately taking the serum just to spite Jason and Jacob even though she knew she shouldn't make any decision on those grounds. Kevin and her co-worker Emily, had tried to help as best they could, and that lead to meeting that Jenny found herself in.
"Come in, Ms. Young," spoke her immediate superior from the door to his office.
"Yes, Mr. Bergkraut," Jenny said slowly and got up from the chair that was in the sort of small waiting room outside his office.
He offered her a seat in a wooden chair opposite his desk and moved around it.
"I know you have a lot going on and some time off coming up," Mr. Bergkraut spoke as he went around his desk, "but I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to pick up a little extra slack..."
"Slack, sir?" Jenny asked slowly.
"Yes, slack," Mr. Bergkraut answered, "relating to whatever nonsense has been going on with you in the office and the complaints I've been receiving and having to intervene in."
"Sir..." Jenny spoke, getting a sense this had to relate to Jacob and Jason's pranks, "they've behaved like high school bullies! They..."
"Have been jerks, yes," Mr. Bergkraut cut her off, raising a hand, "that has been the nature of the complaints to me. And I have talked with them, they insist that the incidents mentioned are honest accidents."
"And you believed them?" Jenny gasped.
"Not really, but you have no proof, so what am I to do, Mrs. Young?" Mr. Bergkraut replied, "go through the extensive paperwork to go through the process of "dismissing" Federal employees because they don't like you or who love? I am NOT a high school principal and shouldn't be having to deal with these sorts of issues."
"But..."
"I don't care that they started it," Mr. Bergkraut answered, "We all have a job to do and you all need to grow up. Now, I've assigned Jacob and Jason to go through mandatory sensitivity training and counseling. Maybe that will get them to settle down and act like adults."
Jenny breathed a sigh of relief at that. That'd mean that Jason and Jacob would be out of her hair for at least a little while.
"In the meantime, since they will be either gone or not in the office as much in order to meet these requirements, I will need you to pick up their workload while they're out," Mr. Bergkraut then continued, "you all roughly do the same job and the work will need to get done..."
"Sir, that..." Jenny spoke.
"It's a lot, but I'm sure you can manage it," Mr. Bergkraut answered, "manage your time well and work hard and you should do fine. We are on a schedule that isn't going to bend for you. You know that."
"Of course, sir," Jenny sighed.
"Good," Mr. Bergkraut answered, "Now, next time something like this comes up, try to be mature and not set yourself up for this sort of nonsense... either talk with them like a reasonable adult or simply be mature enough to not let it rattle you so much."
Jenny could only sigh. The situation with Jason and Jacob would seem to be solved for the moment and the extra work wouldn't necessarily interfere with her planned wedding, honeymoon, or the other related activities, bachelor/bachelorette parties, planning sessions, etcetera, but it would mean she'd couldn't afford distractions and would probably have to work through her lunch periods for the next few days. It also made her wonder how much energy she'd have once they got to the wedding itself.