Page 43 of The Interns

“I got into town last night.” She was beaming, apparently just as happy to see him as he was to see her. She looked down and ran her hand over her cheek before meeting his eyes again. “I thought I’d stop by to say hello before the office closes for the holidays.”

“Well, it’s good to see you.” He took a step back, restoring some semblance of personal space between them. “You look great.”

“So do you. You finally ditched the suits, I see,” she said with a smile as she gestured towards his jeans.

“Yeah, I figured they couldn’t expect much from part-time help.”

They smiled at each other for a moment longer. His eyes continued to take in the subtle and not so subtle changes that came with time away from someone you were once used to seeing everyday. Eventually he noticed her looking over his shoulder, though, at the files stacked on his desk and the document pulled up on his computer screen. He laughed quietly. He knew she wouldn’t be able to help herself.

“What are you working on?”

“A response to Jonas Hill’s latest bullshit claim,” he said, tossing a glance toward his desk. “I’m struggling. This was always something you did better than me.”

“You want a second opinion?”

“You don’t have to do that. You’re on vacation.”

“You know I don’t mind. In fact, I’m dying to see what he said.”

“Maya,” he warned.

“Come on, Stanton.” She stepped in a little closer, a troublesome smirk forming on her lips as she invoked his last name like she used to when they were partners. “It’s still our case,” she whispered.

He looked back and forth between her and his desk a few times, then brought his hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose. Resistance was futile when it came to her, but why would he deny her and himself anyway?

“Okay, we can do some work, but,” he stressed as he held up a finger before she started a premature celebration, “then you’ve got to let me take you out for lunch.”

“Deal.”

Reed stepped over to his desk and rolled out his chair for her, allowing her to settle in before he pushed it back into place. He rested his forearms over the back of the chair so he could look over her shoulder while he brought her up to speed, but he quickly realized that wasn’t necessary at all since she was already scrolling through the document on her own.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” she muttered as she read through it, scoffing and snidely chuckling at specific lines she found particularly ridiculous. “No. Not happening.”

He just stood back and let her do her thing, smiling as he observed and read along himself. He had missed this. He had just plain missed her.

18

Maya

Some work turned into an entire afternoon’s worth, so lunch turned into dinner, then dinner turned into drinks and conversation long after the plates had been cleared from their table. Being with Reed was just so easy. To say that they had picked up right where they left off would be incorrect because something was different. Somehow they felt closer despite being apart for months.

He had also become easier on the eyes if that was even possible. Handsome in a way she’d never allowed herself to fully appreciate before. His light brown hair had grown out to the point where you could finally make out his curls, and the scruff had grown even thicker than she ever remembered. He wore a light blue oxford shirt tucked into a pair of jeans and what she swore looked like a pair of tan boots peeking out from under them. She’d catch herself staring at him during their brief lulls, just as she was now, searching for more subtle changes or just admiring those she had already noticed.

“How are you two doing over here?” the server asked as she passed by on her way around the dining room of the bar and grill around the corner from their office.

“Can we get another round?” Maya asked. She wasn’t sure what time it was and really didn’t even want another drink, but she had no desire to call it a night yet.

“You got it.”

The waitress walked away and Maya turned to pick up where they’d left off only to find Reed looking concerned. “What’s wrong?”

“I’ve still gotta drive home.”

She dismissed his worries with a wave of her hand. “I’m not driving back to my parents’ place at this point. Adam’s out of town and I still have my keys, so I was just going to walk to his place and crash. You can come with.”

She realized how that must have sounded as the words tumbled out of her tipsy little mouth, only she didn’t want to take them back necessarily. She let them linger in the air between them, just to see how he’d react, and he didn’t seem put off at all.

When their next round was dropped off, he traded out his empty and lifted his glass. “We just finished our second to last semester of law school, so we deserve to celebrate. At least a little bit, right?”

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