Page 7 of The Interns

“It’s okay,” Maya assured her. “I know how busy you must be.”

“You have no idea.” She leaned against the bar and closer to Maya. “I’ve been swamped with this new public arts case we took on.”

“Oh.” Maya’s interest and voice went up an octave. “Well, if you need any help—”

“Oh my God, I would never do that to you.” Lauren laughed. “It’s going to be tedious work. And if I’m being completely honest,” she shielded her lips from the rest of the room with her hand, “this isn’t really my thing. I’m just putting in my time so I can get an in-house position at a big Hollywood studio in a few years, you know?”

Maya hummed through tight lips as she nodded away at Lauren’s overshare, not that she was judging her. Hollywood wasn’t her dream, but she respected Lauren for working towards something bigger. That’s what she was doing here, as well. King and Associates was a brief stop on the journey toward making partner track at a big firm up north before she turned thirty. This arts case very much was her thing, though, and she desperately wanted to work on it.

“Well, all the more reason to take some help then.”

Lauren giggled as she reached out and patted her hand. “You should be collecting that nice paycheck, fattening up your resume, eating fancy lunches, and doing as little work as possible this summer because life gets real after this.” She shook her head and looked across the room for a moment. “Actually, there might be something you could help me with.”

“Sure. Anything.”

She would have agreed to serve coffee at their meetings if it just put her closer to the case because once she had an in, she was sure she could prove how helpful she could be to the team.

“So your friend, Reed…”

Maya’s face scrunched at the word friend. They looked across the room to the man in question, dressed for the occasion in a charcoal gray suit with a white dress shirt and navy tie, laughing about something with their boss and two other coworkers she’d yet to meet.

“Is he single?”

Maya’s face fell with disappointment, something that was becoming a trend around this place. Apparently Reed Stanton was the most eligible bachelor in the Atlanta metro area. “I have no idea.”

“How do you not know that?” Lauren demanded, as if it was a crime not to have a burning desire to know more about his personal life. “You share an office.”

“It’s only been twenty-four hours, and I also don’t really care.”

“Well, do you think you could find out for me?”

“I don’t know.”

“Please? Friend to friend?”

Maya tried her best not to side eye Lauren for her liberal use of the word friend again. As someone who bestowed that title on a very small circle of people, none of whom were in that room, it always bugged her when people threw it around so easily.

“Why don’t you just ask him?”

“I can’t do that. It would look all kinds of wrong.”

Then how will dating the intern look? she thought. Because that’s where this is going, is it not?

“If it comes up, I’ll let you know,” Maya offered.

It certainly wasn’t a yes, but it also wasn’t a no. She wanted to keep this “friendship” in good standing. If she wasn’t going to be able to work on the case, maybe she could at least get the inside scoop from Lauren.

“Thank you.” She sighed with relief as she grasped Maya’s hand again. “And if you need anything at all, just say the word.”

Maya nodded uncomfortably as she tried to extricate her hand. As she looked away, she caught sight of their boss making his way to the other end of the bar.

“Will you excuse me? I need to speak with Mr. King for a moment.”

Lauren nodded and turned to order a drink while Maya made her way down to him.

“Mr. King.”

He turned at the sound of his name. “Maya! How are things going? I’m sorry I missed you this morning.”

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