by Mia Archer
“Yeah? Well I don’t know who that woman is or what she did with Christine, but something’s going on there.”
Erica tapped her lip and followed the sound of Christine clicking over to her office. I could hear the glass door opening and then it slammed shut with enough force that the entire glass cube that contained her personal domain rattled. Oh yes, she was definitely very annoyed.
“So is she like that a lot?”
“The smiles or the rattling glass?”
“Either or?”
“Let’s just say that’s the first time I’ve seen her smiling without malice since I started here.”
I clapped my hands together and did my best to smile. It wasn’t that difficult to smile around this girl, though. She was just so captivating. I didn’t find myself thinking about girls like that very often, but there was just something about her.
And I realized that even though I was relieved that I was going to get to work with her directly I was also slightly terrified. I was definitely going to have to work to keep it under control. I’m sure the last thing this girl wanted during her internship was her supervisor hitting on her. I was going to have to work hard to keep things professional, as much as it disappointed me that I was going to have to maintain that detachment.
“Right, so let’s get you set up with a chair and see about getting you a computer or a laptop or something,” I said. “We don’t have any spare cubicles right now, so we’ll have to double up and be a little cramped for awhile, but don’t worry. I’m sure Christine will fire someone soon enough and we can move you.”
I was only half joking about that, but she seemed to take me seriously enough. She arched an eyebrow again and her lips parted ever so slightly and I found myself wondering what it would feel like to have those lips brushing against mine, but I chased those thoughts away as quickly as they appeared in my traitorous imagination.
“Oh don’t worry,” Erica said. “I’m sure I won’t mind working close with you.”
I stood there dumbfounded for a moment. Had she really just said that? That couldn’t possibly just be my imagination. Then I took hold of myself and headed to the supply closet with Erica in tow, and the entire way I couldn’t shake the feeling I was being watched.
I liked that feeling, dangerous as it was.
4: Blowing Off Steam
This internship was going to be pure torture. I felt my heart jumping into my throat when it turned out this Nicole girl I was going to be working under for the next couple of months was none other than the very same girl I’d seen when I was getting onto the elevator with the Pervatron 5000 yesterday. This definitely made this whole internship thing a hell of a lot more interesting than I thought it was going to be.
And it seemed like there was so much going on here. So much under the surface that I was just beginning to understand. I still had no idea what the hell was going on with this Christine lady. Nicole seemed terrified of her, but then she blows in with smiles treating me like I’m a long lost best friend or something.
It was almost enough to make me think she knew who I was, but of course that was impossible. Dad had presumably gone to great lengths to make sure not even a hint of a rumor that his daughter was somewhere in the building would get out. What was the point of sending me out to anonymously survey his domain if he didn’t pull something like that? And yet I couldn’t shake the feeling that there was a leak somewhere.
“So if you look at the column there, we just have to make sure it matches the numbers in this column over here. Otherwise it means someone from up on ten is trying to pull a fast one by massaging their numbers, and that’s the sort of stuff that gets people investigated by the feds for fraud.”
I shook my head and glanced over Nicole’s shoulder again. Tried to concentrate on what she was trying to teach me about what they did in this department rather than concentrating on how nice she smelled. On the view that I had where I could almost see down her shirt as I leaned over her. I wondered if she was doing that on purpose, because it was driving me wild and making it very difficult for me to concentrate on important stuff like the job at hand or what the hell was going on here on the seventh floor.
I glanced at the clock down in the corner of her computer. I was forced to look at her screen because they weren’t going to be able to get a laptop up here for me until at least tomorrow at the earliest. From the way Nicole talked it seemed like it might be even longer. I got the impression that getting supplies wasn’t considered very important on this floor which seemed ridiculous. Everyone was supposed to get the equipment to do their job if they needed it. Just one more mystery for this floor that had me wondering what the hell was going on here.
Yeah, I could see why dear old dad would want to send me down here. There was definitely something going on here, and if I wasn’t seeing it being right here on the floor then I could definitely see why things were being hidden from upper management. And I had a feeling that Christine girl was at the center of everything, but I’d have to work on that.
Of course what I’d really like to work on is this Nicole girl. She had an unassuming beauty that drew me to her. I wanted to whirl her chair around and kiss her, and I was really fucking surprised at how intense that feeling was. I hadn’t expected to find that on a boring internship of all things.
“Y’know it’s getting close to five,” I said.
Nicole turned and looked at me, a sad smile on her face. “You can go at five if you want to, but I have so much crap to do that there’s not a chance I’m going to get out of here before eight or nine at the earliest.”
I blinked. That was ridiculous! “Does everyone have to work hours like that around here?”
Nicole rolled her eyes. “Not really. Just the people who were stupid enough to get in Christine’s crosshairs.”
“Really? How’d you do that? An argument or something?”
“I wish. I just did my work. And every time she brought something new for me to do I did that too. Before I knew it I was being loaded down with a bunch of her pet projects and now with managing an intern on top of that I’m just going to have to pull some long hours,” she said. “Not that I blame you or anything.”
"I know you don't blame me," I said. "I'm still sorry you have to put up with this."
I reached out and took her hand. Gave it a squeeze. Nicole looked over at me and her eyebrows raised in surprise. To be honest I was a little surprised that I was being that forward. After all, she was technically my boss. Taking her hand felt like the kind of personal gesture that was a little inappropriate for the workplace.
Not that I cared. It's not like they were going to fire me or anything. Or, at the very least, if they did get to the point where they were going to fire me I had a feeling dear old dad would step in and take care of business. Not many people enjoyed that sort of job security.
Nicole blushed and turned away from me. Started typing at her computer again. I let out a sigh of frustration and she turned back to me for a moment, but never once in that moment did her fingers stop dancing across her keyboard.
"Come on Nicole! You're young. Why don't you get out and live a little? Your work will be waiting for you in the morning!"
"You don't understand," she said. "If I don't do this then Christine will…"
"What? She'll yell at you more?"
Nicole looked back at her computer. Back at me. A smile split her face, and then she started giggling. I blinked in surprise. Giggling was the last reaction I expected, but it was infectious. A moment later we were both giggling and I was wiping a tear from my eyes, though I still had no idea what the hell was so damn funny.
"So are you going to tell me what the big joke is?" I asked.
"It's actually more depressing than it is a joke," Nicole said. "I was thinking about how I'm going to get yelled at by Christine and treated like shit whether or not I do her work. What’s the worst that could happen if I skip a night?"
"Well she could try and fire you," I
said.
Of course what Nicole couldn’t know was nothing of the sort was going to happen to her if I had anything to say about it. Sure I didn't exactly have much pull within the organization. Not yet. Not until dear old dad decided to trust me with a little more in the way of responsibility. But I would go to the mats for her. She seemed like a good person. She was fun to be around her. She was so easy to talk to.
I'll be damned if I was going to let someone like that escape the company because she happened to have a bad boss. At least I told myself I was only doing it for selfless reasons. For the company. Because the other reasons I wanted to keep her around definitely weren’t workplace appropriate. The sort of thing dear old dad frowned on. Never mind all the fun he’d had with his secretaries over the years.
"I'm not worried about that," Nicole said with a dismissive wave and a snort that told me exactly what she thought about the idea of getting fired. "She wouldn't dream of firing the person who's doing all her grunt work. Besides, if she fires me the company will have to pay out all the vacation I've been saving up ever since I started working here. That would hit her budget so hard she’d probably get fired herself!"
More giggles. It felt good to laugh with Nicole. Though what I desperately wanted was to reach out and brush her hand again. I wanted to move my hand up and brush it along her cheek. Maybe wrap it around the back of her head and pull her against me.
No, that was getting into an area that was completely inappropriate. That was the sort of thing that could get us in trouble even if it was kind of hot thinking about being the naughty intern seducing the boss. And I wasn't sure I’d be able to do anything to save our jobs if I pushed one of my father's buttons like that.
I could giver her a little push to get out there and live a little though.
"So what do you think about hitting a bar near the office? I'm sure you know of a few good places to throw down and unwind!"
"What would make you say that?" Nicole asked.
"You seem like the kind of person who might need a drink or two when you get done with a day at the job."
I hated that anyone working for the company would feel like they needed to have a drink or two after a day at the job, but there wasn't anything I could do about it. Not now, at least. I could observe, though, and report on everything I saw. I was starting to wonder if maybe this Christine lady was the whole reason dad had sent me down to visit this particular department in the first place. I'd learned very early in life that he didn't leave much up to chance.
"I know a couple of places where we could stop and get a drink," Nicole said.
"What about dancing? The place definitely has to have dancing!"
Nicole blinked. "We’re in the business district. What makes you think anyplace around here would have dancing?"
"What? Are you telling me everybody decides they don't want to go out and have a good time when they get a real job? There's no meat market for people to meet up and hook up after work? Because if that's what you're saying, then I'm never leaving college ever!"
Nicole tapped a finger against her lips for a moment and then her face lit up. I was glad to see her face lighting up. I’d freely admit that I had an ulterior motive for getting her to a place like that. Sure I was enjoying my time with her, but I was also very interested in seeing what she looked like when she let loose. I had a feeling Nicole maybe had some moves, and they were moves I very much wanted to see.
Besides, I figured just watching her would be innocent enough. It seemed like it would be perfectly okay as long as we were doing it outside of the confines of the office. Outside of this building where dad's tendrils reached out into every facet of life. Sometimes I felt like he had eyes in the walls.
"I think I know a place like that," Nicole said. "But I'm sure it's not going to be like a college bar or anything like that. There might be people looking to hook up after work, but these are old boring people with jobs who have to be back at the office first thing in the morning."
"It sounds wonderful," I said.
And so I found myself sitting at a dive bar not too far from the building. At least it was a dive by the standards of the campus bars I was used to, and that was saying something. But they did have a dance floor. I suppose I'd asked for a dance floor. I just never specified that it had to be a dance floor in a moderately classy joint.
I took a sip of my beer and looked out over the crowd.
"This is a lot more depressing than I thought it would be when I asked you to take me here," I said. Looking out at the dance floor wasn’t putting me in a mood to go out there myself. Nicole certainly wasn’t making any move out there. She seemed just fine hanging out by the bar nursing a beer.
Damn it.
"Hey, you asked for dancing. You didn't say it had to be pretty," Nicole replied right back.
I smiled and raised my beer in a salute to her and the echo of my own thoughts. I suppose the old phrase about being careful what you asked for were still true. Or maybe it was be careful what you wished for. It worked just the same in this situation.
Well if dancing wasn’t in the cards then at least I could go for conversation. Figure out what made Nicole tick.
"So what did you want to do before you got stuck working for dragon lady?" I asked.
Nicole looked out over the dance floor and sighed. A bunch of middle-aged or older people out there busting a move to songs that hadn’t been popular on the charts for at least a couple decades. Probably not since before I was born.
"Certainly not working for dragon lady," Nicole said. "I suppose it's the usual stuff. Do my job. Be good at it. Go up the corporate ladder and be recognized for my accomplishments."
She punctuated that last bit by letting out a sarcastic "ha!" I smiled and shook my head. It was a shame a talent like this was being wasted because of poor middle-management.
"You never know," I said. "Maybe something good will happen to you eventually."
"At this company?" Nicole asked. "I don't see that happening. But it's a nice stepping stone. A job you put up with for a couple of years while you frantically look for work somewhere else where your boss isn’t a total bitch!" She frowned. “Assuming your current total bitch of a boss doesn’t do her best to sabotage you when you move. People stopped telling her where they were going after she called one place and lied through her teeth to tank some guy’s job offer. I still don’t know how she didn’t get sued for that one.”
I shook my head and raised my beer one final time. They clinked together. "Here's to not working for total bitches!"
"No worries about having that experience while you're working as my intern," she said. And then she surprised me by kicking her head back and downing her entire bottle of beer. My eyes went wide as I witnessed this incredible feat of alcohol consumption. She slammed the beer down and smiled.
"Come on! The night's just getting started!" Nicole said.
I had a brief thought in the back of my head that this was the sort of thing dad wouldn't approve of, but then I decided fuck it. My entire life had consisted of doing things he wouldn't approve of, and I didn't see why that should change now that I was working directly under his thumb.
And so I waved the bartender over and ordered another round. Nicole tried to protest, but I held up a hand and told her it was my treat. The night was young, after all, and I figured there would be plenty of time for her to pick up a round or two.
I don't know what I'd expected when I started my internship at the company, but it certainly wasn't this captivating girl sitting before me. Captivating? Yeah, I suppose that was the best way to describe her. I was intrigued. I wanted to get to know her better.
Whatever. Tonight was a night for having fun, getting blasted, and toasting our new working relationship. I just needed to remember to put particular emphasis on the working part of that phrase, lest I get myself in trouble.
But damn could I have some fun getting in trouble with this girl!
5: New Routine
&n
bsp; I woke up to a buzzing next to my head. I opened one eye and peered at my nightstand. My phone was buzzing there, but it was difficult to tell why it was buzzing. The world refused to resolve into a non-fuzzy picture.
Damn. I'd had entirely too much to drink the night before. If I didn't know any better I'd almost say Erica was trying to get a girl drunk. I found myself feeling just a little warm and fuzzy at that thought, but I dismissed it as ridiculous and pushed it out of my mind.
No, I needed to figure out why my phone was buzzing frantically. I worried that there might be a death in the family or something.
I pulled the phone towards me and tried not to let the bright light disturb me too much. It was like somebody was taking an ice pick and ramming it straight into my brain through my eyes. Well, metaphorically at least. If someone actually did that then it would probably kill me. Though death would be welcome compared to the headache that was brewing.
I squinted at my phone until the small letters on the text messages sort of made sense. It looked like somebody was upset from the way it was all caps with lots of exclamation marks. My heart sank as I saw that. I only knew two types of people in this world who texted like that. The first was teenage girls discovering the Internet for the first time letting everyone know how excited they were about everything around them. The second was Christine, because of course she wasn't happy unless she was doing the textual equivalent of screaming at someone. She was always screaming at someone whether in real life or over texts.
And right now she was screaming at me. Her messages asked me where the hell I was. Getting increasingly frantic. I glanced up at the time on my phone and very nearly pissed myself. There were even a couple of messages from Amber in there sounding increasingly worried and spelling out in gruesome detail just how furious Christine was. Damn.
I was late. Very late. It was at least two hours after I was supposed to be at work.
