Page 49 of Interning For A Billionaire

We’d actually met for lunch today; he’d picked me up in his racy car and we’d driven out to the Waterfront for a lovely meal overlooking the ocean. We’d been back a bit late and had to time our arrival at work. I had gone in first, pretending to have been to the gym. He came in an hour later, said he’d had a meeting.

“I could smell the booze on him when I was in his office just now,” she said. “He never drinks, certainly not at work lunches.”

I bit my lip, we’d shared a bottle of wine at lunch. I had thought it was a bit of a risk, but it seemed as if Michael was becoming far less worried about us being caught. Josie was not as oblivious as he thought.

“It must be fairly recent,” she said. “He was still single at that launch party last month. I’d gone to that thing with him.”

We’d actually started seeing each other by then but he told me he’d need a plus one, and after discussing it, he said he would ask Josie to come along. He didn’t think it was a date, but I had the feeling she might have. She’d gone away, deep in thought, leaving me with a sense of impending doom. I really liked Josie, she was efficient and professional, and I was learning so much from her. I hated the thought that she might like him and felt I was getting in her way. Or worse, that I was using Michael to get a better position at the company, sleeping my way up, in a way.

The whole thing made me feel a little sick.

But the prospect of going to Hawaii took care of that.

Michael told me we’d leave after work on Friday.

“I can’t bring my luggage to work,” I said. “I’ll have to go home first, but I’ll take a cab to save time” I said.

“I’ll send a car to take you home and take you to the airport.”

“I know how to get to the airport,” I said, a bit huffily.

“I’m going to book us a private jet,” Michael said. “It’s faster and more comfortable. The car will bring you straight there.”

“Oh,” was all I could say.

I put the phone down and couldn’t believe my luck. Flying to Hawaii on a private jet, surely it was too good to be true?!

As I left for work the next morning, I heard the door next door close. Ramón came out with a backpack.

“Hey, where you going?” I asked him. He looked a bit worse for wear, his handsome face was drawn, his hair disheveled.

“Julius and I had a fight,” he said. “I think I should leave for a while.”

“He threw you out?” I said, shocked. Of the two of them, Ramón had been my favorite. He was kinder and I loved his sense of humor. He didn’t like drama and was always trying to avoid fights.

“Nah… I’m just going to stay with friends for a bit, give him some time to cool down. Maybe we’ll sort it out,” he shrugged. “Maybe not.”

“It’s just love,” he winked at me. “It’s not like it’s forever.”

“But I loved the two of you together,” I said.

He shrugged. “You know how it is, sometimes things stop working, or maybe they were never really working from the start.”

“You guys always worked, from the start,” I said with certainty.

“I don’t know.”

“I’ll miss you,” I said, giving him a hug.

I watched him leave and again felt that sense of doom. Things with Michael were going so great now, but it was bound to come to an end, wasn’t it? I had a feeling someone would find out about us soon and then the news would be out at work and how would that affect everything?

The dinner with his folks had been a turning point for us. Seeing his father and his dreadful stepmother had driven home the point that there were big differences between us. Even if Michael was not like them, he was used to money and the advantages that brought. Look at how he was trying to fix things with me, by buying me a trip and throwing money at the problem.

But at the same time, I couldn’t help thinking that he hadn’t suggested we go somewhere he wanted to go, some rock-climbing destination, for instance. He wanted to take me somewhere romantic. He wanted to do it for me. I had mentioned once that I wanted to go to Mexico, thatwas why it had been his first choice.

He was the one who had referred to me as his girlfriend first, he’d been the one to say he cared about me. I was careful to avoid any mention of us or our relationship, not wanting to put any pressure on it.

We flew to Maui on the private jet, only the two of us surrounded by all this luxury. I fell asleep and woke up when he kissed my face, “Wake up, beautiful.”

---