Page 5 of Interning For A Billionaire

“What do you mean, any more?”

Josie told me she’d received more resignations last week, from two developers who said they no longer saw a future at Pyramide.

“Well, let them go,” I said.

“That is exactly the kind of attitude that scares people away,” Josie said, firmly. “People see you living at the office, and it scares them. It’s like you don’t have a life and you don’t expect them to have one either.”

“That is not true!” Okay, maybe it was a little true.

“Belle had some ideas to lift people’s spirits and I happen to think they’re good. We’ve always been light on wellness and mental health, and this is where she’s strong.”

She had a point.

My people skills had never been my strongest suit. I was always rubbing people up the wrong way, being too direct, expecting too much.

“All right,” I said. “We’ll give her a month, that okay with you? We’ll see how things go by then?”

Josie nodded.

I was about to leave, but turned to ask her, “Where is she from?”

“Kansas, can you believe?” Josie smiled. “Some small town where all the stores close after dark.”

I could believe that.

Very much so.

“She’s not Amish, is she?” I ask.

“Amish?” Josie looked confused.

“Or maybe of the Mormon faith?”

“Not that I know of, why?”

I couldn’t say that I thought she was a prude or uptight or simply so old-fashioned that the sight of a decent red-blooded male body was enough to send her into a tailspin.

“Nothing, never mind,” I nodded at her and left.

A few days later, I was working late when Belle came into my office, striding towards my desk like some kind of power woman on steroids. Who did she think she was?

She shoved her phone in my face, showing me pictures of naked women. Before I had time to look at them properly, she’d whipped back her hand and shut down the device with some kind of flourish, saying something like that we were even now. Only then did I realize that she’d been showing me pictures of herself.

That was her, naked.

I wanted to see them again.

It was hard for me to imagine that those breasts were underneath that top and that that body was somewhere inside those tailored pants. She always dressed so conservatively at work. She usually had a jacket on and even her arms were hidden away.

“Can I see those again?” I asked and the color rose in her face, her eyes flashing at me furiously.

“No, you cannot!”

“Why not?” I asked. “You showed me once, why not show me twice? I’m willing to show you mine again if you like?”

I wasn’t really serious about dropping my pants in my office, I mean, I was trying to make a joke, to show her the humor in the situation. But it had the opposite effect. She glared at me, her dark eyes glowing like coals. I had the feeling she wanted to put me in my place, or something. Little Belle Scuziak from Who Cares, Kansas. Only just left home for the big city, convinced that life was fair and that hard work, determination and a feisty little attitude was all you needed to succeed. I bet she loved those stories of waitresses throwing tantrums and being snatched up by film directors and cast into big blockbuster movies.

But real life wasn’t like that.

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