by Mia Archer
He chuckled at his own joke and winked at me. He actually winked! My mouth was hanging open. I couldn’t believe someone like that was actually working here. I couldn’t believe he was talking to me like that! If this was par for the course at the company then there was definitely going to be some house cleaning when I eventually worked my way up, and there was no doubt in my mind that I was going to work my way up. It was fucked up, but as much as I hated the way the old man was hard on me, at the same time I always saw that as a challenge to live up to. This building would be mine someday, and not just because I’d inherited it. Because I’d earned it.
Also because it was my last name on the outside, but you get the point.
“Actually my name is Erica. Zeidner. And I was going up to have a meeting with my father before I start an internship here at the company tomorrow,” I said.
The way the look froze on that guy’s face was well worth having him hit on me in that clumsy and disgusting manner in the first place. It was obvious he was seeing the end of his career flashing in front of him as he stared down at him. As I smiled up at him with my best syrupy sweet smile. I held up his card as the door opened on his floor.
“And thank you so much for giving me your card! It’s going to be so helpful when I tell my dad all about the nice things you said about him.”
The guy eyed the card for a moment and it was clear he was debating whether or not it was worth it to try and snatch it out of my hands. Not like it mattered. I’d already memorized all the pertinent details just in case he tried something like that. Instead his shoulders slumped and he stepped off the elevator. He turned to stare as the doors closed.
“Have a great day sir!” I said just before his face disappeared behind the doors.
I let out a sigh of relief and fell back against the wall giggling. I had to admit that had been fun. It was too bad the old man wasn’t going to give me an undercover assignment so I could do more stuff like that. Really get in and figure out how things in the company worked from the bottom up. Maybe root out some managers who’d gotten a little too complacent in their petty positions of power.
No, I figured I could look forward to a job up in administration on the top floor. I really would be nothing more than a glorified secretary, learning how board meetings worked by sitting in on them with the old man and making sure I soaked up all the things he’d learned over the years. Though I definitely didn’t have to worry about some of the other things that his secretaries did.
The door opened onto the top floor and I made my way to his office, squaring my shoulders and preparing for battle as I breezed past his latest secretary, some pretty little blonde thing that reminded me of the girl I’d seen down below, though of course this one would be into the gentlemen if she was working for dear old dad. She raised her hand as though to stop me but I ignored her. The less I thought of the string of mistresses he’d had since the accident the better.
“So glad you decided to join us,” dad said as I stepped into his office, an expansive room that made up a good portion of the top floor with a large floor to ceiling window that looked out over the city. Off to one side was an equally massive conference room with the same view that was separated from his office. Right now the glass was clear, but I knew it could frost over at the flip of a switch to give them privacy.
Amazing the little technical marvels people came up with.
I glanced down at my watch and grimaced. I was only five minutes late, and it’s not like he was one to talk about being late anyways. He’d famously shown up to my graduation thirty minutes after I walked onto the stage, and I’d heard it was the same with meetings here.
“I’m just learning from the best,” I said.
“Oh?”
“Yeah, I figure around here everyone waits for the owner, right?”
Dad blinked and then a huge smile split his face. Now that was interesting. He hadn’t done much smiling since the accident a few years ago. He held up a finger and wagged it in the air.
“You’re already learning. I like that. But remember that only works if you’re meeting with someone who’s lower on the totem pole than you, and I’m as high on the totem pole as you can get these days.”
I sighed and took a seat. “Right. So what’s going on with this internship anyways? Am I going to be licking stamps with Barbie out there, or are you actually going to let me put my degree to use?”
“Is that what you want to do?”
I paused and thought about that for a moment, wondering if this was a trap or something. Ultimately I shrugged and decided I might as well be honest.
“Not really. I’d rather be in the trenches. I just had an interesting encounter on the elevator with a gentleman who thought I was going up to be your latest secretarial sacrifice, and he said some things that he’d never say to the owner’s daughter. Makes me think interesting things could happen if I was out in the wild where no one knew who I was.”
Dad cocked an eyebrow. “Now that’s interesting. Did you get his name?”
“Even better,” I said. I dug into my shirt pocket and pulled out the card. Slid it across the table. “He basically propositioned me in the elevator. He’s a walking sexual harassment lawsuit waiting to happen.”
Dad pocketed the card and turned back to me, suddenly serious. “I’m going to be honest. When you were coming in this morning I had to potential internships ready to go. One was licking stamps and one was really getting into the weeds and seeing how the company works.”
“I’ll take the weeds, please,” I said.
Dad smiled and pulled out a manila envelope that he slid across the table. I picked it up, ripped it open, and dumped the contents out on his desk. The thing that most drew my attention was the name badge. It had the ZeidnerCorp logo on it, and a picture of me that he’d gotten from somewhere, but that wasn’t my name. At least it wasn’t my last name.
“Erica Smith? That’s the best you could come up with?”
He shrugged. “I figured it’s be easier if you only had to deal with one name change. Are you sure you want to do this? You’re going to be treated no different than a regular intern, but I expect you to keep your eyes open.”
“Open for what?”
“I’m not sure. If I knew then I wouldn’t be sending you out into the world to look at things with a fresh set of eyes, would I?”
“Fair enough,” I said. I picked up the badge and looked down at it. Erica Smith. This was going to be interesting, to say the least. “So where am I going to be doing my undercover boss routine?”
“I was thinking we’d start you in Statistical and Data Analysis,” he said. “Seems like that would be right up your alley. They’re down on seven. I have a feeling posting you there will be interesting, at least.”
I locked eyes with him and suddenly wondered what he was up to. What I was getting myself into. Usually when he said things were getting interesting that meant nothing good, but it’s not like I was going to find out unless I went down there and threw myself to the wolves. Besides, if he thought this was “interesting” then I figured it would be the perfect opportunity to get out there and prove myself.
“Fine, I can do interesting,” I said. I stood, but he held out a hand that stopped me in my tracks and I sat back down. It was like he was using the Force to move me around with his hand waves. “Something else?”
“You might be going down there as Erica Smith, but you need to remember that you’re Erica Zeidner,” he said.
I rolled my eyes and suppressed a sigh. I was starting to hope we might go the entire meeting without launching into this, but apparently I’d hoped in vain. His own eyes narrowed at my eye roll but he didn’t say anything. That brief scowl was more than enough to get the message across. Supposedly that scowl was enough to liquify the bowels of unsuspecting junior executives, but I’d seen it often enough that it didn’t bother me.
Much.
“You’re representing the Zeidner name out there. That means no w
ild partying. No carrying on. I don’t want a repeat of some of the things Lilith has been telling me about from your school,” he said.
“I told you not to have her following me around anymore,” I said.
“And I told you that I’m not going to have my only daughter who also happens to be a tempting target since she’s the daughter of a billionaire, out there completely unprotected.”
“The only reason you have her following me is so you can keep tabs on me and make sure I’m not besmirching the family name,” I hissed. Damn. That was more anger than I usually let creep into my voice when I was talking to the old man, but this happened to be an issue I felt very strongly about. I hated that he had that dark-haired harpy following me around everywhere keeping tabs on what I did. It was ridiculously hard to get laid when there was some creepy older lady following you around, though she’d never gone so far as trying to get into my apartment or anything.
Though there were times when I wondered if she ever slept. The woman was like a vampire with the hours she kept. Had just about the same complexion and personality as a vampire as well, come to think of it.
It was a pity that we were getting into this now. Things had been going so well. When he opened with the smiles and it seemed we were on the same page with regards to where I’d be posted in the company I almost thought we were sharing something close to a father/daughter moment.
Of course it would all turn out to be so much bullshit. I stood again, not bothering to listen as he droned on about how he expected me to comport myself as the daughter of the owner of the company and the granddaughter of the founder. I’d heard this lecture so many times before that I could recite it in my sleep.
“Right, this has been fun, but I have to get ready if I’m going to be starting the job tomorrow.”
To his credit he at least stopped the lecture and grinned. He knew when he was pontificating, it was one of the things he did best, and he was usually pretty good about stopping when I called him on it.
“Right. Well just remember who you are, and best of luck to you in the new internship.”
Best of luck in the new internship. An internship where I was Erica Smith, anonymous college girl looking to make her way in the world and not Erica Zeidner, billionaire heiress who had whatever she wanted. Though at the end of the day I’d be going back to my penthouse apartment and takeout from some of the best restaurants in town rather than back to a hole in the wall apartment and the best ramen that could be bought in this city on the meager amount of money they gave interns.
Still, it felt like this was going to be fun. I could finally get a chance to be me, truly me, and not the last name. I was surprised at how excited I was at starting this new gig tomorrow.
And as I made my way back down to the lobby I found myself thinking about that girl again. I’d only seen her for a brief moment on the other side of the elevator doors, but what a compelling brief moment. I wondered where she worked and if maybe I’d see her in the course of my time as an intern. It didn’t seem likely given how big the building and the company were, but a girl could dream.
3: First Day
The doors opened on the seventh floor and I smiled, readying myself for another glorious day in paradise. Sarcasm definitely fully intended. Still, I had a job to do. Even if I’d barely gotten home before midnight the day before because I was working so late trying to take care of that job.
I figured I needed to be happy and chipper for the new recruit, whoever he or she ended up being. I glanced at my watch. It was twenty ‘til. Plenty of time for me to sit at my desk and have a moment to myself before Christine arrived. Besides, I figured it would be a little while before the intern showed up. It’s not like whoever it was had any way of knowing the unofficial attendance policy on the seventh floor.
I stepped into my cubicle and managed to suppress a shudder at the familiar surroundings. My ancient computer in one corner with the monitor situated so it could easily be seen by someone walking past, a requirement from Christine because she wanted to make sure no one was screwing around. Not that anyone could screw around on the computer if they wanted to considering all games and access to any website that wasn’t strictly work related was strictly restricted.
There was one major difference to the usual soul-sucking decor in my cubicle. A girl. Sitting in my chair. I raised an eyebrow. What the hell was this? I cleared my throat and the girl whirled around. Immediately anything I was about to say caught in my throat because holy shit, it was her. It was the girl from the elevator yesterday who had me in a funk all day long because my thoughts kept drifting to her.
Thoughts and daydreams were about the only thing Christine couldn’t strictly control on the seventh floor, and so I spent a lot of time doing that when I wasn’t in a mood to work. That had been another big part of the reason why I didn’t get done until close to midnight.
The girl seemed just as surprised to see me. I suppose that was a good sign. I wasn’t the only one looking like a complete idiot, at least. Her eyes ran up and down my body and for some reason that look felt more intimate, more sensual, than any lover’s caress I’d ever felt. That was the kind of look that made me feel like I needed a cigarette when she was done. Fuck!
“You!” we both said at the same time.
I blinked. Of course I recognized her, but it didn’t seem like she would have any particular reason to remember me. We’d just had that brief moment in front of the elevator, after all, and it’s not like I was anything special to look at. Definitely nothing compared to the runway model meets business attire goddess who was sitting in my chair.
“I’m sorry, but can I help you? Are you starting on this floor?”
“You could say that,” the girl said. She held her hand out. “I’m Erica. Your new intern!”
I took her hand in a daze, and it didn’t help that taking her hand sent an electric fire dancing from my fingers down to the rest of my body, particularly to between my legs where that electric fire turned into a raging atomic maelstrom of arousal. Fuck! If this girl was my new intern and this is how I reacted to seeing her then we were in for a bit of trouble. Briefly I thought about asking Christine to reassign her to someone, anyone, but of course I wasn’t going to do anything of the sort.
For one I didn’t think that would end well at all. Christine thought she was punishing me by giving me this intern, though I guess the joke was on her since giving me this intern was going to be anything but a punishment. It was sure to be absolute torture every moment I had to be working close with her given how I’d already reacted to her presence, but it wasn’t going to be anything close to punishment.
Secondly, and more importantly, I had no intention of letting this girl get away from me. No, that reaction yesterday in front of the elevator was telling me something, and I felt like her showing up in my cubicle like this today was the universe trying to tell me something. What it was I wasn’t sure, but I was going to roll with this and see what happened.
“I’m Nicole, a definite pleasure to meet you Erica,” I said.
Erica glanced back at my chair. “Sorry for taking your butt rest there. My marching orders said I was supposed to be working with Christine, but then when I got down here this morning there was a note on her door saying I should come looking for you?”
I sighed and rolled my eyes. That got a raised eyebrow from this Erica girl. I made a quick decision in that moment. I wasn’t going to be dishonest with this girl. Not completely, at least. I figured if she was going to work here then she should probably know enough to tread lightly around Christine.
“Sorry,” I said. “Christine has a habit of pushing her work off on me. That’s how I inherited you. Though it’s not a problem at all!”
I hastened to add that last part after an odd look came across her face. The last thing I wanted was for the poor girl to think there were two people in this office who thought she was a burden to be foisted off on someone else. I’d be crushed if I felt like I wasn’t w
anted when I went to my first internship, and I was not going to do that to this girl.
“Well this looks like it’s going to be an interesting experience,” Erica said. Then she shifted gears, or at least she tried shifting gears without realizing she was just moving on to a different version of the same problem. All fucked up roads led back to Christine’s dictatorial management style on floor seven. “So what brings you in this early anyways? I got in early to impress the new boss, but what’s your excuse?”
I sighed again and glanced at my watch. “I suppose you should know this as well. If you’re not here on time then you’re late, and Christine considers “on time” to be fifteen minutes before you’re supposed to be here. Not sure if that will hold true for you as well, but it’s probably better if you don’t find out.”
“Damn,” Erica said. “This Christine really sounds like a dragon lady.”
“You have no idea,” I said. Then my eyes went wide. I heard the elevator door opening followed by the telltale click-clicking of Christine’s high heels making their way across the tile floor. My eyes went wide and it was obvious from the look on Erica’s face that she could tell something was up. I hated that I was looking so worried in front of her like that, but I couldn’t help it. I just hoped Christine was in a good mood this morning, because I really didn’t want this poor girl to have to put up with her bullshit on the first day in.
“That her?” Erica asked.
I nodded and turned to face the door to my cubicle. Christine appeared, and my jaw very nearly dropped. I found myself wondering who this woman was and what she’d done with the sour faced bitch who usually ruled floor seven with an iron fist.
The woman standing before us couldn’t have been any different from the usual Christine. She had the same bun, the same clothes that didn’t fit quite as well as they used to, the same makeup that was way overdone, but there was one huge difference. The scowl that was usually on her eyes was gone and the puckered expression that bore so much resemblance to a cat’s asshole plastered on the front of her face was gone, replaced by a wide smile.
