Page 9 of Sincerely Yours, Anna Sherwood

The woman, despite being slim and petite, dressed in a tailored pair of black trousers and a high-necked black sleeveless blouse, cuts an imposing figure as she comes to a stop near the projector, her hands on her hips. Her ash-blonde hair is cut into a short and severe bob that adds angles to her face. Her lips are painted deep red, and her only other makeup appears to be a precise flick of gold eyeliner.

She looks like she would tear you to pieces with a wave of her hand.

‘Alright, then,’ she announces. ‘Looks like everybody’s here, so let’s get started! Welcome to Arrowmile! My name is Nadja. I’ll put you all through some completely humiliating exercises later to learn all your names – the “hi, my name is—, and these are my three biggest goals for my time here” kind of thing. But first, I’m going to make the most of your undivided attention and talk all about myself.

‘My role here is Senior Client Partner, meaning I work a lot with our customers in the B2B area, listen to feedback from focus groups, do the graft when it comes to outreach and new contracts … A couple of you will actually be working with me this summer, you lucky ducks.’

Nadja winks, which looks totally menacing, and there’s a polite ripple of laughter. I notice a few peopleshift in their seats like they’re praying they’re not one of her ‘lucky ducks’.

She continues, ‘But outside of that role, I’ve taken a special interest in our internship programme – I think it’s one of our best initiatives, and I’m not just saying that because I was one of the people who spearheaded its creation a few years ago. I love seeing all the talent that comes through our doors each summer that we can foster. We take only the best and brightest. You’ve all worked hard to get to this point – and we expect that same attitude from you while you’re here. I want to see you all going above and beyond; don’t think that you can sit back and take it easy now you’re here. With any luck, some of you might even do a good enough job that we’ll see you back here again after you graduate. So don’t let me down!’

A pause, for dramatic effect, and another deadly smile. This time when Nadja looks around the room, she locks eyes with each of us individually, as if to really drive home her ‘it could be you!’ point. It feels more like an ‘it won’t be you!’ threat, but I sit up straighter and weather her gaze when it lands on me.

Tension thickens in the room, and I hardly dare look at any of the others. The Arrowmile internship is tough to get onto, but their graduate placements are evenmore like gold dust. They only take on about ten people each year – and very few interns make the cut. But they have one of the most competitive salaries going, an impressive rate of graduates-turned-senior managers, and Arrowmile itself is so widely respected as a company that I’ve heard if you’ve worked there, you’ll waltz into any other job afterwards.

Life-changing – as long as it all goes to plan.

Nadja carries on her introductory speech, telling us that our placements here have been selected based on our applications and interviews – roles where they believe we’ll thrive, be challenged, get the most out of this experience. The scheme is designed to push us outside of our comfort zones. We’ll have a ‘buddy’ allocated in our department to be a regular point of contact outside of our managers, and no question is too small or too silly – although, as Nadja says it, some of the interns look around haughtily as if wondering who will be the first to have a terrible question, like it will be a nail in our coffin. Tasha and Monty exchange self-confident smirks, while Elaine turns so pale she looks almost grey.

By the time Nadja wraps up telling us about the company’s history and departmental structure, she announces that it’s time to find out what our placements are.

And just as she brings out a sheaf of papers with the details on, there’s a knock at the door. Next to me, goes-by-his-last-name, table-dancing Burnley lets out a quiet, frustrated groan. His leg is bouncing wildly under the table; he catches my eye long enough to huff at the interruption. I pull a face back, on the same page.

But it turns out we have no right to be annoyed at the delay, because then Nadja declares, ‘Ah! Our illustrious leader! Topher, come in, come in – I wasjustabout to put this cohort out of their misery and let them know where they’ll be working.’

The interloper in the doorway laughs good-naturedly. ‘Ah, let them stew a little while longer, eh? Hi, folks. Topher Fletcher. CEO and founder of Arrowmile Inc.’

Heads spin, the room turning as one to gawp.

Tasha and two of the boys shoot to their feet, reminding me of being at school and having to stand up when another teacher came into the classroom. A few others (me included) start to follow suit but Illustrious Leader/CEO Topher Fletcher laughs again and waves us down.

He looks like any other guy. His brown hair is thinning, greying around the temples; wrinkles around his eyes and mouth give away his age. He’s wearing asuit, but it’s dressed-down, casual, with a tie but no cufflinks, the top button undone. He takes off his glasses and balances them on top of his head as he smiles around us.

He’s ordinary, and unremarkable. Somehow, it’s disappointing.

What did I expect, though? That he’d have a town crier go before him, ring a bell and announce his presence, or maybe that he’d be surrounded by some glowing white light and that justseeinghim would make me feel inspired, driven, awed?

‘Which one of you is Freya?’ he asks, and a tentative hand creeps into the air. ‘Ah – brilliant. You’ll be shadowing me, Freya. Attending meetings, reviewing reports, all that jazz.’

Again, heads turn as one, this time pinning a stout brunette girl to the spot, a few seats down from me. Her cheeks turn bright red but she nods enthusiastically, all at once honoured and horrified. A couple of people look jealous; some look relieved.

‘Well, don’t let me keep you!’ booms Topher Fletcher. ‘Best of luck for your first week, everybody – I’m sure I’ll see you around and about the office. My door is always open!’

He raises a hand in farewell and strolls out. Whispers start to circulate – Burnley mumbles to me,‘God, that guy isso cool,’ – before Nadja claps her hands together to motion for quiet.

‘Now! On to the good stuff …’

In a spacious, corner section of the eleventh floor, I join the ranks of the Project Development team as a Junior Coordinator. My new boss, Michaela, Senior Project Development Partner, left me a shiny new HP laptop and vanished into a meeting.

It’s been six hours since I walked through the doors of Arrowmile Inc., and I am …

Still terrified, but also raring to go. Even if the only thing I’ve done so far is log on, change my password, painstakingly craft my new email signature, and scroll through a few documents Michaela left in my inbox for me.

I’m excited about my role – the team is basically responsible for reviewing ongoing projects for new products and initiatives; they make sure everything is on track, ‘value-adding’, shut down anything thatisn’tworking, and act as a bit of a go-between among all the other teams involved in making things happen at Arrowmile. My role is going to involve a lot of reading documents, chasing people for information, checking over financials, and pulling together slide decks for the more senior members of my team to present at meetings.

Except, obviously,Iintend to be presenting those slide decks before the summer’s over. I’m sure once I find my feet and get the hang of things, I’ll be able to ask Michaela if I can step up and give it a go. Wearesupposed to be going above and beyond to prove ourselves, after all.

This is what the summer’s about: working my butt off, doing a good job, and getting a glowing recommendation at the end of it – or, even better, a job offer for after I graduate.

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