by Minot, Diana
The last straw was the day Kate sauntered proudly into class and announced that she had received an offer to work at a law firm that summer. Whitney had tried to be as understanding of Kate as possible since the night Alex told her about Kate’s struggles, but it was a bit demoralizing that a girl given to verbally and physically attacking Whitney had secured a plum job while Whitney had no prospects.
Whitney decided to sit down in the law school’s atrium that afternoon and not move until she had applied for at least ten positions. She had just hit send on her second application when Alex approached the table where she was sitting.
“Hey,” he said, sitting down across from her. “What are you doing? You’ve been sitting here for an hour and a half with a very intense look on your face.”
Whitney raised an eyebrow at him. “Are you stalking me?”
Alex laughed. “No, I was just on my way to a meeting a while ago and saw you, and now I’m on my way back from the meeting and you’re still here.”
“I’m applying for jobs. Has it really been an hour and a half? Shit, this is taking forever. I told myself I had to apply for ten positions before I am allowed to leave, but at this rate I’ll be here all night.”
“Yeah, it’s time consuming. What are you applying for?”
“So far I’ve applied for two internships with some nonprofits here in Chicago. I’m trying to decide if I want to apply to anything in Texas, but I don’t really want to go back for the summer. It’s so freaking hot there. But none of these jobs in Chicago sound exciting to me.”
“What are you interested in doing?”
“I don’t know. I want to work for a firm after graduation so I can make good money and pay loans back. But I don’t want to spend this summer doing anything like that. I’ll have the rest of my life to do firm-type work.”
“So you have no idea?”
Whitney put her face in her hands. “No. Not really. I feel like maybe I don’t want to be a lawyer, but I should have realized that before spending so much money and time on law school.”
“Uh-huh. I think most of us have that thought from time to time. Some of us more than others. But let’s think about this. Were there any classes that you particularly liked last semester?”
“I liked Civil Procedure.”
Alex made a face. “Really? Civil Procedure?”
Whitney shrugged. “I dunno. I liked the class. I liked Professor Chaplin. He was nice, and good at explaining things.”
“Have you thought about asking him if you could do research for him over the summer?”
“No. I thought those types of jobs were really competitive.”
Alex let out an exasperated sigh. “Okay, Whitney. First of all, almost every type of job is really competitive these days. Nothing is going to just fall into your lap. You’ve got to put in a little effort. Second of all, just because something might not happen is no reason not to try for it. If you want it, go for it. You never know unless you try.”
“Well, Lincoln seems pretty broken up about not getting the research assistant job that he wanted.”
“Yeah, and Lincoln was also broken up over getting almost straight As for grades. The guy is a hyper-achiever. I mean, he’s awesome and a good friend, but the dude needs a serious chill pill. Besides, Professor Neals is an asshole. I’m sure he takes great pleasure in making anyone he turns down for a job feel miserable.”
Whitney considered this for a moment. “How do you apply for a research assistant job? Should I just make a cover letter and résumé and take it to Professor Chaplin?”
“Honestly, if I were you, I would skip all that bullshit and just go talk to him right now. Ask him if he’s hiring a research assistant for the summer. If he wants a résumé and cover letter he’ll ask you for one. I mean, weren’t you pretty good friends with the guy anyways?”
Whitney nodded. “Yeah, I went to his office hours all the time.”
“Yeah, seriously, just go talk to him. I doubt he’s going to make you jump through fiery hoops if he’s interested in a research assistant. Not all the professors are like Neals.”
“You’re right. Thanks.” Whitney looked at her watch. It was 3:30. She started to pack up her laptop. “I’m going to go try to catch him in his office.”
“By the way, before you take off, what are your plans for spring break?” Alex asked.
Whitney groaned. “Why? Are you going to invite me on a super-expensive trip that I can’t afford?”
“Um, that depends on what you mean by expensive. I’m not inviting you to Greece.”
“So they asked you, too?”
“Yeah. I don’t want to spend the money, either. It seems like a waste to spend that much money for just a weeklong trip.”
“Well I don’t have the money to spend even if I wanted to. Elise and Jamie invited me to Saint Thomas, but I don’t have money for that, either.” Whitney did not mention that Elise had offered to pay for the Saint Thomas trip. Alex probably would have told her she was being a prideful idiot and should take Elise up on the offer.
“Well, Saint Thomas is more reasonable for a weeklong trip. But I was thinking of taking a road trip to New England. Do you want to come? I’m already paying for gas and the hotel, so the only thing you would be responsible for is food for yourself. It would be nice to have some company.”
“Maybe. Where in New England?” Whitney thought a road trip sounded like a lot of fun. She would want to contribute to the gas and hotel cost, as well, but it would still be much cheaper than a week in Saint Thomas or Greece.
“I was thinking about driving around a bit to see a few different places. I’d like to do a brewery tour of the area and check out some different craft beers. I spent so much time studying wine, but I want to try some different beers as well.”
“Sounds fun. I’m definitely interested. When do you need to know by?”
Alex shrugged. “Whenever. I’ll probably make hotel reservations this week, so if you want to have any input on that you should decide sooner rather than later. I probably should have already made reservations, but, whatever. I’ll make it work.”
“Okay,” Whitney said. “Let me think about it and I’ll get back to you tonight or tomorrow.”
“Sounds good,” Alex said. “Now go get yourself a job.”
Whitney smiled and headed off to track down Professor Chaplin.
* * *
Whitney knocked on the door to Professor Chaplin’s office, and opened it when she heard his booming voice say, “Come in.” He looked up from his desk and smiled when he saw her.
“Whitney! Come on in! How are you? How is the new semester going?”
“Hi, Professor. It’s going alright. A little less stressful than last semester, since I sort of know the ropes now.”
Professor Chaplin nodded. “It gets easier, slowly.”
Whitney took a deep breath. She could not believe how nervous she was. Professor Chaplin’s opinion was important to her, and she did not want to look like an idiot in front of him. “Professor, the reason I stopped by is that I’m still looking for a summer job.” Whitney paused and hoped he might magically understand where she was going with this. He just nodded and looked at her expectantly, so she continued. “I, um, well, I really enjoyed your civil procedure class last semester. I was wondering if you were planning to hire a research assistant for the summer and still needed one?” Whitney felt her face heating up and turning red. She tried to remain calm, but she braced herself for his rejection. She knew he would be nice about it, at least. Alex was right. Professor Chaplin was not an asshole like Professor Neals. Professor Chaplin did not speak for what felt like an eternity. In reality, it was only a few seconds.
“Actually, Whitney, I am planning to hire a research assistant. I’ve received quite a few résumés from students already, but I would be very interested in working with you. Your grade in my class was excellent, and you always demonstrated a thoughtful understanding of the legal concepts we reviewed dur
ing office hours.”
Whitney could not believe what she was hearing. Professor Chaplin had received résumés from a lot of other students, but he wanted to work with her!
“My only question,” Professor Chaplin continued, “Is what type of schedule you are interested in working. Did you want a part-time schedule, say, twenty hours a week? Or were you more interested in a full forty hours a week? Of course, the actual work hours are flexible. I’ll probably just schedule a weekly check-in meeting with you to make sure we stay on track.”
“I…I’d like to work full time, I think.” Whitney was stunned. All this time she had been so stressed about finding a summer job. Was it really going to be this easy?
“Excellent!” Professor Chaplin said. “Why don’t you send me your résumé just for kicks, but the job is yours. Come see me after finals and we’ll work out the details then.”
Whitney was elated when she left Professor Chaplin’s office. She pulled out her phone and texted Elise and Jamie. I nailed down my summer job: research assistant for Professor Chaplin! They both texted her back to say congratulations within minutes. At least she would not have to keep making excuses to them about why she did not have a job yet. Sometimes, defending your bad decisions to your closest friends was the worst part about making bad decisions.
Whitney texted Alex next. Holy shit, you were right! I just went to Chaplin’s office and asked if he needed a research assistant, and he hired me on the spot! Whitney thought about texting Ben, but decided against it. Sometimes, she felt like he got annoyed if she texted him too much. It was almost like he thought she was trying too hard to make things happen between them. She would just tell Ben the good news the next time she saw him. A few moments later, Whitney’s phone buzzed with a reply from Alex. Congrats! I told you so! You’re awesome, Whit! You just need to have a little more confidence in yourself! Whitney smiled. More confidence. She was working on it. She had not been perfect, but she was making progress on her New Year’s resolution. Her phone buzzed again, and it was another text from Alex. Now, what about New England for Spring Break? Whitney smiled again, and texted back. Oh, what the hell. I’m in!
Chapter Twenty-Four
“Let me get this straight,” Elise said, as she wrapped a section of her dark brown hair around the barrel of a curling iron. “You won’t go to Saint Thomas with Jamie and me, and you won’t go to Greece with Ben, but you’ll go to New England with Alex?”
Whitney flopped backwards across Elise’s bed. “How many times do I have to explain this to you, Elise? A road trip to the East Coast is exponentially cheaper than a trip to Saint Thomas. Or a trip to Greece.”
“But I offered to pay for you!”
Whitney was exasperated. “You know I don’t feel comfortable with that.”
Elise rolled her eyes and went back to curling her hair just as the doorbell rang.
“That’ll be Jamie,” Elise said.
“I’ll get it,” Whitney said, glad for the break in the conversation. Jamie came in and took off her coat, revealing a red cocktail dress with spaghetti straps and a deep v-neck. Whitney whistled. “You look stunning!”
“Thanks,” Jamie said. “I feel like I’m going to freeze tonight even though this event is indoors. Your hair looks amazing, by the way. And I’m assuming that’s not what you’re wearing tonight?”
Whitney laughed. “Nope, not quite.” Whitney’s hair was curled perfectly and her makeup was flawless, but she was still wearing a tank top and shorts. “Elise is loaning me one of her cocktail dresses. It’s this glittery, strapless turquoise dress. It’s gorgeous!”
“Vintage Chanel!” Elise called from the bathroom. “Jamie, get in here, I want to see your dress!”
It was the night of the fundraising event that Elise had invited Jamie and Whitney to attend instead of Barrister’s Ball. Whitney probably could have finagled Ben into being her date to Barrister’s Ball, but that would have required some begging, which Whitney had sworn she would not do with him. Besides, Kate was undoubtedly going to be at Barrister’s Ball, and there was an open bar there. If Whitney attended the event with Ben, things would get out of hand.
Whitney was growing increasingly frustrated with the Ben situation. It was almost the end of February, and Ben seemed no closer to moving things along with Whitney. Alex, as usual, refused to give any insight into what Ben might be thinking, and so Whitney was left to her own imagination to decide what Ben’s intentions were.
“Are you daydreaming about Ben again?” Elise asked, poking Whitney in the ribs. Whitney did not answer, which was all the ammunition Elise needed.
“Forget about him tonight,” Elise said. “Open up your mind a little bit, because you’re about to see that there are a lot more options in Chicago when it comes to hot, single men.”
An hour later, the girls stepped into the bar that had been reserved for the event. The cocktail tables had been beautifully decorated with glowing candles, and the room had an expansive view of the glittering Chicago skyline. Men in tailored suits and women in beautiful dresses filled the room. Whitney could not remember ever being at an event this fancy. The hors d'oeuvres looked like works of art, and the open bar had a list of specialty cocktails that had been created just for the event. Whitney ordered one called the Blue Line, a rum cocktail named after one of Chicago’s subway lines. The coconut concoction tasted like summer, and Whitney closed her eyes and imagined that she was on a beach instead of the middle of wintery Chicago. For a moment, the sensation made her want to take Elise up on her offer to pay for a trip to Saint Thomas.
When Whitney opened her eyes, she tugged on Elise’s arm. “How do they make money off of this, if the tickets are only sixty dollars?”
Elise laughed at her. “A lot of people donate much more than the ticket price. And they have a raffle up front where you can buy tickets to win items local businesses have donated.”
Elise spotted Evan, the gorgeous young businessman who had invited her to the fundraiser, and waved him over.
“Evan!” Elise said, giving him a friendly hug in greeting. “These are my friends, Whitney and Jamie.” Evan reached out to shake their hands, and he flashed them a dazzling smile. He had the whitest, most perfect teeth Whitney had ever seen. Elise shot her friends a look as if to say, “I told you he was scrumptious.”
Evan was not the only scrumptious male specimen there. Within minutes, two of his friends, Jake and Caleb, joined them. Jake had dark hair and deep blue eyes, which, as usual, made Whitney swoon.
“So, what do you do?” Jake asked over the sound of the background music.
“I’m in law school,” Whitney said. “This is my first year, so unfortunately I’ve got two more to go. It’s kind of brutal. What about you? What do you do?”
“I’m an anesthesiologist,” Jake said. “I finally finished my residency last year, so I feel your pain on being stuck in training.”
“Oh, wow,” Whitney said. “I’m pretty sure med school and residency to become an anesthesiologist is more intense than law school!”
Jake laughed. “Well, it felt like forever at the time. But now it’s done!”
Whitney smiled. “Cheers to that!” she said, lifting her glass.
“Cheers,” Jake replied, and clinked his glass with hers, then noticed that Whitney’s drink was almost gone. “Let me go grab you another drink. What are you having?”
“Oh, um, The Blue Line cocktail,” Whitney said.
“Ha, cute!” Jake said. “I’ll be right back.”
Elise leaned over and whispered in Whitney’s ear, “What did I tell you? So many cute guys here!”
Whitney joined in the conversation with Evan and Caleb. They both worked in some sort of business management jobs, but most of their current conversation was centering around their love of the arts. They were horrified when they discovered that none of the three girls had been to Steppenwolf Theatre yet.
“You have to go. And soon!” Evan said. “It’s a Chicago legend!
Oh, and Second City! Please tell me you’ve been there?”
The girls all shook their heads no, and Evan looked pained. “Second City is improv comedy,” he said. “It’s so funny, and a bunch of famous people got their start there. Like Steve Carell and Tina Fey.”
Whitney listened with interest. She loved theater, so going to see a show at either Steppenwolf or Second City sounded appealing to her. Law school had consumed most of her time since she arrived in Chicago, but maybe this summer, with a flexible work schedule, things would slow down. Whitney wondered if Ben would be in Chicago this summer. She knew he was still looking for a job, searching in both Chicago and San Francisco. But, as Jake returned with Whitney’s cocktail, she shook off thoughts of Ben. She wanted to enjoy the chance to spend an evening with people who were not bogged down in the law school world.
“Thanks!” Whitney said. “I know it’s kind of a girly drink, but, what can I say? The coconut rum is delicious!”
“No need to apologize,” Jake said. “You’re a girl. Drink all the girly drinks you want!”
Whitney smiled at Jake and took a long sip from her cocktail for good measure.
“Hey, by the way, have you bought a raffle ticket? If not, you should. There are some awesome prizes!”
“I haven’t,” Whitney said. “How much are they?”
“It’s just a five dollar donation,” Jake said. “Come on, I’ll go with you if you want to get one.”
Whitney nodded, and turned to Elise. “I’ll be right back. I’m going to go get a raffle ticket.” Elise smiled and nodded, preoccupied with listening to Evan tell a story about the time he spent two weeks touring Italy on a motorcycle.
Whitney started making her way through the crowded room toward the raffle table. As she fought through the crowd, she felt Jake put his hand on the small of her back so they would not get separated. She got chills up and down her spine and smiled. This night was turning out much better than she had hoped. Although she had been a little sad about missing Barrister’s Ball, she was now happy that Elise had convinced her to come here instead.
