Page 6 of The Interns

He spun back around in his chair to return to the box scores from yesterday’s baseball games. He wasn’t expecting her. She clearly wasn’t expecting him. And they were still feeling each other out, so he figured it was best not to push it. They could both just enjoy their quiet time until they went on the clock at nine. He brought the apple to his mouth and was about to sink his teeth in when her voice stopped him midbite.

“So what kind of case do you think we’re going to get?”

He turned and there she was again, eyes wide and bright, a flash of the Maya who had walked into the office.

“I have a feeling it’s going to have something to do with the controversy over the destruction of public arts installations at federal buildings and the artists’ right to their work. It’s all over the news right now.”

“Nah, I don’t think so.”

“It’s got to be. It’s going to be a huge case not just in Atlanta, but nationally. Who else would represent the artists aside from us?”

She was not going to like this. Not one bit. He gripped the arms of his chair and took a deep breath, silently cursing Al for giving him the “honor” of delivering this news. “It’s not our case.”

“What?”

“Al dropped this off before you got here.” He picked up a manila folder from his desk and offered it to her. “He said he was going to be stuck in meetings until lunchtime and wanted us to have it.”

She grabbed the folder, opened it, and began reading as she paced in the narrow space between their desks. He watched the smile fade from her lips as a frown set in. Once she’d reached the middle of the first page, she had apparently seen all she needed to see.

“This is an assault-and-battery case.”

“Yep.”

“This has to be a mistake.” She closed the file, and let it fall to her side. “I didn’t come here to do this kind of work.”

He leaned back in his chair, apple in hand, while she stood in front of him. She was clearly disappointed. He got it. Even he was surprised to get this kind of case from Al. Their day was off to a rocky start before it had even officially begun.

“I’m actually looking forward to working on it.”

“Well, yeah, it’s a criminal case,” she said as she tossed the file on her desk.

“It could still be interesting,” he said, trying to cheer her up. “For both of us.”

“Yeah. Maybe.” She sat in her chair, back to him, and put her earbuds back in.

Thanks, Al, he thought to himself. He had chalked up yesterday’s stilted conversation to first day nerves and awkwardness, but he wasn’t so sure of that now. He nodded and bit into the apple, then turned in his chair and went back to his box scores until they were officially on the clock. Maybe she just needed that cup of coffee and some time to let the news sink in. He hoped that was all, otherwise this was going to be a long summer.

3

Maya

Maya leaned against the bar that ran along one side of the private room of Bones Steakhouse. The dimly lit space was finished with lacquered wood paneling and heavy velvet curtains that completely blocked out the bright summer sun outside, enough to make you lose all track of time. She popped a meatball in her mouth, the one the waiter made certain she knew was Wagyu beef when he’d served it to her off a silver platter. There wasn’t enough Wagyu beef in the world to make up for the disappointing case Mr. King had assigned them, though.

“Hey, lady.”

Maya felt a nudge on her shoulder and tightened her grip on the cocktail plate to avoid spilling the world’s fanciest meatballs on the ground. Lauren, the junior associate who was only a couple years older than her, stood there smiling. She was a tall, thin blonde who was the kind of pretty that read former prom queen.

“Hi,” Maya greeted with a smile.

“I guess you got the memo.”

Maya let out a small laugh as she noted Lauren’s similarly bright pink blouse. “I guess I did.”

“On Wednesdays we wear pink!”

Only it was Tuesday, but she smiled and played along.

“I am so sorry we never got a chance to connect yesterday.”

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