Page 2 of In Love and War
That’s what I did. Instead of preparing.
FML.
2
Over the course of the next two weeks, my completely shallow and unjustified infatuation with Zac began to grow, accompanied by detailed daydreams and daily phone calls with Kai.
“You’re so lucky, Mills. You know how rare it is to have a hot, young boss? Do you even understand?” Kai sighed into the phone the day before my internship began. “You’re going to have all that eye candy while I’m stuck cleaning out coffee pots and sending off faxes all summer like it’s the eighties all over again and email doesn’t exist. You know whoIreport to? Some guy in his fifties named Steve. And you know what? He’s one of five old dudes in the office named Steve.Five.”
“Emails existed in the eighties. Also, your dad’s name is Steve,” I laughed.
“Yeah, that’s how I know. He’s always talking about how people mix them all up in the office. These are the types of stories he brings home, Mills, becausethat’show boring it is working at an oil and gas company.”
“At least it pays?” I wasn’t sure what else to say to make him feel better. Kai was going to school for graphic design in the fall on scholarship. He was insanely talented, always had been. But his parents, worried about how competitive the industry was, had begged him to have a backup plan. So, the compromise they’d settled on was an internship at the company his dad worked at, which would be good to put on his resume, in addition to him minoring in economics.
“I guess… I want daily updates from you though, no exceptions. If I’m stuck in a cold office under fluorescent lights all day, listening to Steve C. tell me about that one time Steve A. got mistaken for Steve B., without being able to at least live vicariously through you, I’ll go insane. Seriously, Mills. Insane.”
We were so dramatic.
I promised I would keep him updated before saying goodbye and getting ready for bed. It was early, but I wanted to be well rested and knew I’d be too excited to fall asleep right away, so I gave myself an extra hour.
It didn’t work. I tossed and turned most of the night and was still semi-awake when the alarm went off at seven.
Once showered, I put on a white dress-up silk cami, a black fitted blazer on top, and black slacks. The simple outfit was topped off with a rose-gold Marc Jacobs watch featuring a burgundy leather band.
After extensive research, Kai and I had decided this was the best outfit choice. Very grown up and office-chic, without seeming as though I was trying too hard.
We’d spent three and a half hours picking it out.
My curls went up into their usual bun, and I put some concealer under my eyes to cover the dark circles that were already forming. I’d watched about two dozen makeup tutorials trying to figure out how to do a cat eye but failed miserably every time. I couldn’t even get close to what they were doing. So, the concealer and a bit of mascara would have to do.
I took the elastics out of my braces that I’d been instructed by Dr. Mwangi to wear all day (there was no way I was showing up sporting bright blue elastics in my teeth), grabbed my classic leather Chanel bag, and ran out the door, practically vibrating with excitement.
I’d timed it perfectly.The Uber dropped me off at 7:48 a.m. I would be exactly ten minutes early by the time I rode the elevator up.
“You’re late.” Zac was standing up, flipping through a binder on his desk, when I was led into his office.
I didn’t know he wore glasses. They looked unbelievably good on him.
“Um, hi, Zac… I’m not. It’s 7:52. That, uhm, that’s what my phone says…” I trailed off, stupidly holding it up to show him. He kept his attention on the binder, making use of the yellow highlighter in his right hand, while I stammered through my sentence.
Mental note to self: hire a speech therapist immediately. Apparently, you need one.
“Andrew.” Zac called in the well-dressed aqua-haired boy with round glasses who had greeted me when I came in. He’d introduced himself as the “office assistant” for the eleventh floor.
“Yes, Mr. Evans?” Andrew popped his head back in so quickly it startled me.
“Did the introductory emails go out to the new interns last week with their schedules?”
Shit.
“Yes, sir, they went out on Thursday.”
I hadn’t thought to check my school email once summer had started, and that’s the one they had on file. We’d all applied to our internships during a Business Development class, and I’d filled it out on autopilot.
Honestly, I’d talked so extensively with my father about what the job entailed that I hadn’t thought there would be anything else to keep an eye out for.
All of a sudden, I felt underprepared. What the hell had I been doing last week? What else had I missed?
