Chapter Five
The next couple of days were a blur of preparing to start the internship. She managed to call off of work at the coffee shop that day, although Mike was concerned.
“Internships are hard work, Em. I’ve had to fire people who have had them before because they couldn’t juggle both.”
“I can juggle both.” She swore, even though she felt less confident than she was putting on.
Emily still didn’t know what she was going to walk into on an internship. She knew she wasn’t getting paid, and searches online didn’t exact fill her with confidence that she was actually going to be doing any writing at all. Mostly, it sounded as if she was going to be getting coffee and doing grunt work. But would Alec have hired her just for that? Were any of the other writers hired by him directly?
Sareh hadn’t reacted kindly to Ayumi’s card either. Emily had left it on the counter for her, and that afternoon, after Sareh had woken up, she’d looked furious.
“Did she give you this directly?”
“Yeah, why?”
“That’s it. Nope. Em, I can’t bring you along to any outings.”
“Okay,” Emily said, not caring too much since she had only gone out to run into Alec. “Can I ask why?”
“It’s not you. It’s just…it has to be this way, okay?”
And she had locked herself in her bedroom. Emily figured Sareh must be hiding something major and didn’t want to tell her.
It took her ages to get ready for the first morning of her internship. Emily was hoping she’d look more modern than usual, and as if she had been in the city for a long time. She didn’t like people looking at her in a manner that just screamed that they knew she was from the Midwest. Once she was okay with how she looked, Emily headed to her internship.
The doors to the elevator glided open on floor fifty-six. This floor looked unfinished. There were posters on the floor and people bustling around, calling out to other people. Desks were set up in cubicles, but some still hadn’t been fully set up, and it all looked messy. This floor wasn’t made for anyone else but the people working on the magazine to see. Emily saw mostly men, but noticed a few women around as well. She took a deep breath and stepped into the hallway, unsure of where to go. Someone stopped in the hustle and bustle in front of her and saw her.
“Hey, you’re here.”
It was Alec, Emily realized with a jolt. He looked completely different than he had yesterday. He was wearing khaki pants and a button up shirt, but his hair was messy and his air was casual. He walked over to her and Emily could feel her heart thrum.
“Here I am.”
“Everything is still being set up. Interns are still being assigned.” He chewed his bottom lip for a moment and leaned slightly forward. “The assignments are supposed to be at random, but do you have a preference?”
Emily’s throat had gone dry and she tore her gaze away from Alec to look out at the desks. “Something where I won’t be an intern forever. Where I can prove myself.”
Alec nodded, “I’m glad you’re here.”
Emily looked back at him, trying to ignore the goose bumps that had popped up along her skin for some reason, “Me, too.”
He straightened himself back up and began to walk into the fray. Emily trailed after him, hoping she wasn’t blushing. People nodded and said hello to her, but she wondered if it was only because Alec was with her. Alec took her to the back, where an older man was looking through pictures on a camera behind a desk. He stood up when Alec came over.
“Jacob,” Alec said. “This is Emily. She’s going to be your intern for the cover stories.”
Jacob held out his hand. He was going gray and his legs were so long that it looked as if he was walking on stilts. His facial hair was gray as well, and his eyes were a striking blue.
“Nice to meet you,” he said in a British accent as they shook hands, “If Mr. Richardson is bringing you over here, then you must be coming as highly recommended.”
“Emily is a fantastic writer, but has only recently moved to the city. I think pairing you two up will be good for the both of you. Emily, for the experience it will bring her, and you, because I know you’re jaded.”
At this, Jacob laughed. “Yeah, you can say that.”
Alec nodded at Emily before he walked away, leaving the two of them alone. Jacob smiled.
“Let’s get to work, right?”
The Billionaire's Intern, Book One: Life in a New City Page 6
