Chapter Text
There couldn’t possibly be anything that compared to the pain of searching for a job as a recently graduated journalism major. Especially in New York. Alexander never liked the job hunt, especially because it always ended in him working in a position that he was too good for, even if it didn't look that way on paper. That was an issue that he could talk about for hours—the value of a piece of paper outweighing someone’s actual skills. But it wasn’t like he could do anything about that now.
Being unemployed was one thing. Plenty of people don’t have a steady source of income and are in a much worse situation than he is—Alex has a roommate who is very forgiving, and no children or loved ones depending on him to live. But rent in East Rutherford, New Jersey was not exactly low, even though Alexander and John’s apartment was located near that hellzone of a stadium. So, he needed to finally find something sustainable. He couldn’t be a barista at the local cafe anymore, that’s for sure. Thankfully he had his friends trying to help him find jobs as well.
“You know, Alex, I’m sure there is some newspaper that needs a position filled. They just might not be advertising it on these websites.” Hercules suggested, scrolling on his phone. He was sitting in John’s recliner, his legs draped over the arm.
Alexander sighed. “Yeah, but that means they aren’t worthwhile. No one reads the paper anymore, and if someone isn’t advertising online, I doubt that they’re going to pay anything spectacular.”
“There’s an opening at Geno’s,” John mentioned. He was in the kitchen, making something to eat since he just got back from work himself. He worked at Geno’s, which was short for Geno’s Grab ‘n Go, a gas station that Alexander knew for certain would not give him what he was looking for.
“No offense, John, but I don’t think that’d be much better than working for some dusty old newspaper. I need something that I can use to get my name out there, so that I don’t end up like all the people who wasted their time studying journalism.” Maybe he should have gone to law school instead. He’d probably at least have better networking opportunities.
John turned towards Alexander, grinning. “Fair enough.” He also needed to find a new place to work, and everyone here knew it. Geno’s wasn’t exactly known for being a great place to work unless you were ready to handle being held up on the regular. John once told a story about how Geno, the owner of the little convenience store/gas station, had stared down an armed robber until the police arrived. Of course, it was only a teenager who had assumed things would go his way and would never have pulled the trigger, but Alexander couldn’t imagine himself ever really knowing how to respond to a life or death situation. Geno’s was not the place for him.
“There is always the opening that I told you about with us.” Lafayette said. By his tone, Alexander could tell that Lafayette wasn’t trying to convince him to apply for that job. He was suggesting that Alex take the path that is clearly the best current option.
Still, Alexander sighed. “I do not want to work for a group of rich assholes who watch a bunch of men run around together. It sounds like a living hell.”
The job that Lafayette (and Hercules and Peggy) wanted Alexander to apply for was at none other than the wretched hellzone that is MetLife Stadium. He’d be one of two social media managers, the other one being Peggy, and he didn’t see how that helped him with his journalistic career at all. From the way Peggy described her average day at work, it had very little to do with anything that mattered at all and more so on things that distracted everyone from what did matter. He didn’t think it was terrible for the people who want to be distracted, but he simply wasn’t one of those people and never would be.
Lafayette and Hercules also worked there, all three of them managing to be employed by the New York Giants by some weird miracle. Not that working for a team that horrible would be a miracle, but it probably kept them employed. Lafayette was one of the several athletic trainers on staff, and Hercules worked in the equipment department. It was perfect for each of them, their respective roles with the Giants, but Alexander didn’t have the personality to work alongside Peggy. Surely she knew how to get the players involved and having fun, something he’d certainly fail at.
“Do you think that John wants to work for Geno?” Lafayette questioned, as if this was the most obvious response to have to Alexander’s distaste. “Because I don’t think many people want the jobs they have now, or that they wanted their first jobs. Most people just suck it up because at the end of the day, that’s all any of us can do. I wish I didn’t work in this stupid American society, but here I am. I am making a name for myself in my career, and you should take this opportunity to do the same, my friend.”
Well, shit. Lafayette had an unfortunately good point, one that Alexander knew he couldn’t really argue against. It wasn’t like he’d be worsening his odds at getting somewhere great in life, and he’d have three friends that he could talk to. Besides, if he applied and didn’t even get the job, Laf would stop mentioning it and he’d know that it wasn’t meant to be. Or, more likely, he’d become obsessed with proving them wrong and apply to work for the Jets, but that’s beside the point.
“Fine.” He said, waving his hands dismissively as if he was only agreeing to get Lafayette to let it be rather than having nothing else to say. “I’ll apply for the job, and if I don’t get it, then I’ll just look for something else. Something that’ll get me where I need to go and will appreciate me for my skills.”
—
“What the hell?” Alexander whisper-yelled to Lafayette, who was apparently now his coworker. He'd gotten the job after an interview with the hiring manager, and was informed that he'd be given a tour of the facility so that he could begin to familiarize himself with the buildings. Thankfully, the tour was given by Lafayette, which actually made sense given his personality.
Beside him, Lafayette smiled. “What? Now you're employed, and you get to work with three of your favorite people. When Peggy finds out, she'll be so excited.”
Alexander was, admittedly, pretty relieved to be able to expect a paycheck in a few weeks. It was like a weight was lifted off of him, because now he could pay rent and buy the good toilet paper. But still, this was far from desirable, and this building was not at all what Alexander thought it was going to be.
Lafayette was guiding him through the building, which from the outside looked like a school. Inside, it wasn't much different, but it'd have to be a very nice school. There were team themed decorations all throughout the building, collages and the like of previous games. Trophy cases filled nicely with memories of when the Giants were well rounded and respectable. The last time they won it all was in 2012, and Alexander would have been ten years old.
“This is the cafeteria,” Lafayette said, pointing to a pair of dark blue double doors with skinny windows, just like in a high school. Alexander peered inside, trying not to scrunch up his face too much in case anyone was in there.
“This feels like I'm the new kid at school.” He said as he turned back to Lafayette, who smiled and waved him along.
To Alexander's surprise, they were going outside, where there was what must've been a practice field. There wasn't anyone out there, which seemed a bit odd given that he was pretty sure the season started soon. But he didn't bother asking about it, because Laf didn't seem concerned and he was a trainer. Instead, the two continued towards a large building, which Lafayette entered using a keycard that Alexander hadn't noticed. High security made sense, there were technically celebrities here, but it still felt weird for some reason.
Inside the giant building was just another football field, except this one was turf instead of real grass. There was some equipment on the sides, but still no people. Finally, Alexander's curiosity got the best of him.
“Where is everyone?” He asked. So far, he’d only seen the man who hired him and Lafayette, and that felt like it wasn’t right. “Shouldn’t there be like, practice happening or something?” For a professional sports team, it seemed that there was an extreme lack of training, but Alexander knew he probably shouldn’t say that part out loud.
“In meetings.” Lafayette answered simply. “A lot of what happens around here is meetings, they don’t train extremely hard every day. Otherwise, they’d destroy their bodies.”
That made sense, but Alexander had always just assumed that all these guys did was work out and get paid for it. “What kind of meetings do they have to go to? I don't know anything about this stuff, I don't even know how I got hired.”
“Well, it depends. Right now, it's just about performance and preparation. When the season goes on, it'll be the same, adding stuff about specific games. And of course, there's the guys who might be finding out about being released, stuff like that.” Lafayette explained, leading Alexander back into the school-like building and up a flight of stairs.
“Where are we going now?” He asked. Finding his way around this complex was not going to be fun, especially at the beginning. Surely there was a directory or something that he was missing.
“Up to your desk and stuff. You get your own cubicle and everything,” Lafayette teased. Even though he was pretty new himself, he already got his own office because of his job.
Alexander only rolled his eyes, following Lafayette into a room with clean gray carpet and little cubicles. It almost reminded him of The Office , which could be a nice experience if his coworkers were pleasant instead of crazy.
Lafayette stopped suddenly, turning to Alexander. “Wait here, I want to surprise Peggy. She has been waiting to find out who her new..apprentice will be.” He then continued on, leaving Alexander standing there looking (or maybe just feeling) like a fool.
But Alex could still hear the conversation that his two friends were having. Peggy wasn't a particularly quiet person, and Lafayette's voice was so distinct because of his accent.
“Where's the new hire? I thought you were giving them a tour.” Peggy asked. Alexander could only imagine how eager she was. After all, she finally got to be someone's ‘superior.’
“He's just in the bathroom, he should be coming any second now.” Lafayette replied. He was always so nonchalant, and Alexander sometimes envied that.
Peggy sighed, a bit dramatically. “It's a man?” She grumbled. “I was so hoping that I'd get to slowly build an all female team. I’m pretty sure enough men work here.”
Lafayette peeked out from the little cubicle wall that he'd gone behind, waving Alexander over. It was a bit silly, given that Laf was taller than the divider, and Alex couldn't help but smile.
“Peggy, this is your new co-admin. I think you'll get along well enough.” Lafayette said, crossing his arms comfortably.
“It's nice to meet y—No way! Alex? I didn't know that you were even applying, you jackass!” She said, smacking his arm. “I guess I can be okay with it being a man if it's one that knows less than me. This is gonna be so fun!”
Lafayette left, saying he had an appointment with some guy called ‘Grub.’ Alex thought that had been a highly out of character insult, but apparently it was just what everyone called one of the players. Maybe he needed to look further into this team and its culture if he was going to work here.
—
The first thing Alexander did when he got home was simply Google the team. He didn't ever care about football as a kid, his favorite sport had been baseball, but he remembered when the Giants were good and people were proud to support them. Now, there was a distinct lack of team pride and a losing record year after year.
None of the information that came up seemed all that important. The head coach was probably someone he wouldn't spend much time with, and he definitely had no reason to interact with the owner or GM, so he decided to change his search to ‘new york giants players.’
For some reason it surprised Alexander when the players came up in the same way that actors do when searching up a show. The first player was someone Alexander had actually heard of, John Adams, a quarterback. He was the starter last season, and led the league in interceptions thrown. He was well past his prime, having been in the league for twenty years. At forty-one years old, everyone was just waiting for him to retire. So much so, that even Alex and John had a small bet on when that announcement would make the evening news.
After Adams was James Madison, a wide receiver. Alex had heard his name on the TV as well. Then Thomas Jefferson, another quarterback. His picture was from college, based on the uniform, and his smile was unfortunately beautiful. Alexander clicked on his name, absolutely just curious to see who he might be working with. Peggy said that a big part of their job was making content with the players, and she said that it's good to know some stuff about them for pranks and other kinds of fun videos. That's all Alexander was looking for.
Jefferson's birthday was in April, and he was the same age as Alexander. It made sense, if Alex just graduated and Jefferson was just drafted. Alexander continued down the page, looking at the brief preview of the Wikipedia page.
“Thomas Jefferson is an American professional quarterback for the New York Giants of the National Football League. He was selected seventh overall by the Giants in the 2025 draft after playing college football for William and Mary. In 2024, he was a Heisman trophy finalist and Maxwell Award winner.”
So, there wasn't much on the guy yet. That didn't matter, it wasn't like Alexander was going to become his friend anyways. He scrolled down to the ‘People also search for’ part of the page, finding random dudes Alex had never heard of in his life. Finally, another name from the team he was supposed to be looking into, James Madison. He clicked on the name, and read up on him the same way that he had for Jefferson.
There was even less information. He went to the same college as Jefferson, but that was about the only notable piece of information. After looking into some other details about the team, Alexander decided he'd just have to learn about them through experiencing it all himself. He officially started on Monday, and Peggy told him that it'd be fun because it's just the preseason and doesn't mean anything yet.
Even though it was just another job, Alexander felt an odd sense of nervousness. Usually, he was plenty knowledgeable about anything he was involved in. But he'd never cared about football, and now he felt like he didn't know anything at all. Would he even fit in there? Peggy did just fine, but she could get along with literally anyone.
Either way, Alex would just have to suck it up. He knew that much, but the weight that had been lifted from his chest that morning was replaced with a new one. One thing Alexander knew for certain is that his fears would never prevent him from succeeding. He hasn't let them yet, and he sure as hell doesn't plan on it ever happening.