The Lovestruck Intern

Chapter Six

A little time spent at the mall had turned into a full on shopping spree, just as Monica had expected it to be. She shopped for both corporate and casual outfits, which included dresses, pants and all the fashionable blouses she could find.

Her bedroom was filled with shopping bags and the sight was aesthetically and emotionally thrilling. With her phone ringing nonstop with ten missed calls from Greg, she considered blocking his number, until he realized what ‘wanting space’ meant. He was buried at the back of her mind and deserved to stay there for the time being.

The next morning, Monica was dressed in one of the new dresses she had shopped for the previous day. Her figure was showing off, and she considered taking it off and wearing something else; maybe a sack that wouldn't show off her hips too much. With a touch of light makeup — lipstick and blush, she was on her way to work.

As soon as she stepped into her office, she could smell delicious coffee, courtesy of Mia. Her office was an open space she shared with four other staff. Shawn was one of them and was most likely going to be declared her work bestie. He had all the funny jokes, and always came to the office with a mean sandwich. The others were Martinez, Alex and Jordan. Together, they made a dream team.

‘Someone decided to come in to work today as a snack. If I wasn't gay, I would eat you up right here and now.’ Shawn teased. He had a mug of coffee in his grasp and there was a little wet stain, possibly coffee, on his neon necktie.

The others looked at her, and collectively complimented her outfit. Shawn offered her a cup of coffee and she drank it like her life depended on it. One of the perks of working at Max Group was unlimited access to coffee.

‘Thanks, guys. Shawn, you're making me shy. Stop it!’ Monica feigned being modest but she wasn't fooling anyone. As soon as she walked out of her apartment that morning, she noticed how heads were turned and necks were stepped on. She was a total diva in that dress.

‘Well, I don't tell lies. Mami, you look good.’ He added, and propped himself on his seat, readying for the day's work.

Office routine as an intern at Max Group was simple. First, she had to write out her to-do list on a sticky note and stare at it for the rest of the day till she ticked almost everything on it. Then, there would be a couple of meetings and other boring stuff she didn't like. Break time was slated for 1PM and then back to work the next hour. After that came more work with providing feedback on test runs on the projects the team was working on and finally, closing time.

Monica sighed and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. She overheard Shawn snapping his fingers and she knew he was about to say something. He was even more of a diva than she was. She enjoyed his company and loved him just the way he was.

‘By the way, you weren't at the gym yesterday, or the day before that. Wait, I don't think I've ever seen you there before.’ Shawn offered. As soon as he was done talking, he commenced watching her from the rim of the mug, downing his coffee.

Monica recalled reading gym access as the extra benefits of her internship, but she had been completely occupied with settling in fine at work and moving out of her old apartment.

‘Oh yeah, I don't know if I'm interested in keeping up with the fit lifestyle.’

Shawn gasped. The others giggled at his theatrics. Monica rolled her eyes and giggled a little too.

‘Take that back. The fit lifestyle is everything, not that you need it anyway. You're smoking hot. But you've got to visit the gym at least once. It's fun and I’d like for you to meet José.’ Shawn said and bit his lip before finishing his sentence.

‘Who’s José?’

‘My boyfriend, remember? He's an instructor at the gym and keeps me even more sweaty when it's time to workout under the sheets.’

‘Stop it, Shawn. You're disgusting.’ Monica giggled, stopping herself from spilling coffee on her new dress.

‘OK, I might just give it a try tonight. What time is it?’

‘At six. You'd better not be late. I won't reserve a spot for you with José. Trust me, he's the best instructor ever. Super hot, too.’

‘Oh, stop it!’

They could be this way all day, but duty called. An email notification box appeared on Monica’s laptop screen. Then, another popped up. She had to be in the conference room in five minutes and it would be for the best if she wasn't a minute late.

To Monica’s surprise, she was the first to arrive in the conference room. The AC was set to a perfect temperature of twenty-three degrees, not too hot and not cold either. Her morning coffee was pumping in her bloodstream and she anticipated a great day.

She was still apprehensive about getting caught, or someone getting to know the truth about her secret. But nothing had happened yet. After digging deeper into the internship programme at Max Group, it was introduced three years before and she was the third beneficiary of the grand offer.

The previous intern, Adebayo Akinkumi, was praised for his excellent grades and why he was the best fit for the job. Amongst the other 1,500 applicants, he stood out and made it to the top of the list. This further bugged her, how had she made it top of the list, if she wasn't as good as the previous beneficiaries?

‘We appreciate deep thinkers and innovative minds at Max Group. I'm sure you must be brainstorming something remarkable for today’s meeting.’ Max interjected. Monica was startled and tried her best to act otherwise but failed. She blushed and tucked her hair behind her ears.

The moment she spotted something in her eyes, she looked away.

‘Nice dress. It suits your skin.’ He said in between pauses. She bit her bottom lip and released it quickly from her teeth. Why was she acting like a fool? Or was it the coffee?

Monica regained composure and said, ‘Um, thanks.’

He was still watching her and when they stood facing each other for what seemed like minutes, Max took a seat and Monica remembered to take hers too. The others joined, and Jesi was present. With her tight face, swollen cheeks and slim frame, she took full control of the meeting and the projector machine.

A bright light emanated from the slides she was presenting. Monica hadn't witnessed a presentation like this one. It was graphic and animated, she almost let out a ‘ooooooh’ but stopped herself. She could feel Max’s eyes all over her, but she ignored him, or at least tried to.

She had taken in his outfit earlier. Dressed in a perfectly tailored suit clung to his broad shoulders and tapered down his lean frame as though the fabric itself had been molded for him. The crisp blue shirt beneath hinted at a body sculpted by the gods; firm chest, defined arms, and a posture that commanded influence, money and power. His jaw tightened with unspoken control. He wasn’t just a CEO; he was the kind of man who could make every woman crave his touch.

Monica shook her head, and when she noticed Jesi watching her sternly, she focused on the presentation slides.

It was a new project pitch on a web video game. It looked exciting and fun just by looking at it. Greg spent all his time playing video games, so watching him punch the keys of the game pad had somehow made her an expert with the experience. This was easily going to be her niche.

‘Instead of making the bad guys aliens in the video game, how about we make them zombies instead? Everybody loves zombies. I mean, The Walking Dead is a perfect example.’ She quipped.

Jesi stared at her wildly, trying to relax her facial muscles. She looked like she was holding back a fart.

‘Well, it took us two months to come up with this pitch. Unfortunately, we can't change it now. Moving on . . .’ Jesi started but was stopped by Max.

‘Actually, I think Monica might be right. Zombies are fun. The gore of their rotten brains, all that blood and weapons must be thrilling to gamers. I love it, Jesi. I think we've got a new idea for our game.’

Jesi looked like she was going to have a seizure now. With the way she held the remote of the projector tightly, it wouldn't be a surprise if it got broken to pieces.

‘Any other incredible ideas, Monica?’

Monica looked at Jesi, and then back to Max. She didn't know if she should continue speaking or keep mute for the rest of the week, with the way Jesi was watching her.

‘Actually, I do.’ She had taken the bait and went all in for it. Monica went further to illustrate how the graphics of the game should look like and how gamers could earn both big and small points.

‘How about the coding for the game? Do you have anything to say about that?’ Jesi said a little too firmly. The others, including Max, had their eyes on Monica. She fell silent and tucked her hair behind her ears subconsciously. This was going to be messy, she didn't have a clue on what Jesi was talking about. This was going to be the end, she could feel it.

‘Let her go easy, Jesi. She's only an intern, remember? Our job is to coach her with the pro stuff and this right here is the pro stuff.’ Max said casually. Monica exhaled and she realized she had been holding her breath the whole time.

‘Good job, everybody. Jesi, back to work. Monica, you're doing great. I hope to see more of your contributions on this project.’ Just like that, the meeting was over and everyone was dismissed. Everyone except Jesi. She just stood there, looking dejected and beaten. Monica wanted to say something to her, but she thought better of it and scrambled out of the room as fast as her legs would let her.

Yukon Gym was the celebrity of gyms in the Upper East Side area. It was more than a gym, actually it was a wellness centre. Shawn had been far too modest with inviting Monica to the gym, when it was a wellness club, with rich, famous and classy folks with at least two plastic surgery histories.

Monica donned a Spandex pants and a small crop top, with the words, toned not stoned emblazoned on it. If she knew it was going to be this luxurious, she would have worn something more fancy, or shopped for new gym clothes.

Well, she was here now and quickly spotted Shawn, clapping his hands at her arrival. Next to him was a tall, brown skinned hunk. That must be José, Shawn’s sweetheart. Together they made a great match, since Shawn’s complexion was as white as bread.

‘Hey, you made it and just in time too.’ Shawn said giddily. Monica looked around at the place one more time and hit Shawn lightly on his chest, his shirt a little too thin and revealing his rock hard n*****s underneath.

‘You didn't tell me we would be working out at the mother of all gyms. This place is massive. I think I spotted Selena Gomez outside.’ Monica swooned.

‘Nah, that's the other gym down the block. But JLo works out here.’ Shawn said, with his tongue in his cheek. She couldn't tell if he was joking, or being serious. There was a high chance he was serious.

‘By the way, this is José, my boyfriend. José, this is Monica, the new intern at the office.’ Monica blushed and José offered a handshake with a firm grip of hands. He was handsome and had the cutest little mole on his chin.

‘Nice to meet you, mía.’ He said warmly. Monica smiled at him and they all soon began chatting about work.

‘Wait, we've got to get you registered. It's a really long process to get it over with.’ Shawn squealed. Monica’s response was the confusion on her face.

‘Don’t listen to him, mía. I'll help you out,’ José started. ‘You see, there are four options to choose from. The first is yoga and Pilates. Next is cardio and body building. The third option is cycling and finally on the list, boxing and kung-fu. So what's it going to be?’

Shawn and José watched Monica rack her brain on what option to go with. She would have preferred if someone did the thinking and decision making for her.

‘I would suggest cardio and body building for you, mía. You've got a hot bod already, what's left is for us to get you toned and ripped. You'll be looking like camarones a la diabla in human form.’

Monica giggled at José's fun and playful nature. He and Shawn were made for each other.

‘OK then. Let's get started.’ Monica said confidently, ready to start her body building journey with her new trainer and work bestie.

Who knew getting registered for an uptown and prestigious gym was such tedious work? Monica had spent more than fifteen minutes filling out paper work and scheduling her workout routine. For the next six months, she was going to be at the gym three times a week. Shawn had convinced her to make it four, but she wasn't cut out for all that sweating and puffing.

It was dark out and the air was warm and homely, inside and out. She ordered a pizza and insisted they weren't stingy with the cheese. Monica was yet to have a proper house warming party like Ellie had suggested. They have both been too busy, and with Ellie trying to get back to school for her PhD degree in Cyber Security, it was a lot of work for her. To make it harder, Billie was tougher than nails, constantly wanting attention from her mama and not wanting to be with anyone else. Monica had to admit, Ellie was strong, and this was what she could never be.

There was a faint knock on the door. The pizza delivery boy, or girl, you really couldn't tell these days, was finally here. She walked excitedly and as soon as she spotted the finely dressed middle aged man at her door, she froze.

‘Um, you aren't with my pizza order. I think you must be at the wrong door.’ Monica said, her eyes wary. The neighbourhood was safe, so a total stranger showing up at your door couldn't mean harm so she remained calm and took charge of the situation.

‘Monica Anderson?’ The man called out with authority, like he was going to give her a knight honour or something majestic.

‘Yes? That's me, I suppose.’

‘A little gift from Mr. Porter. Enjoy the rest of your evening.’ The man propped the medium sized package right there at her door and left, but not without a warm smile on his face.

Max Porter? What was going on?

She hurriedly took the box inside her apartment and there was a little note inside it, alongside five expensive looking dresses. Dresses? Once again, what was going on, Monica thought.

You looked really lovely today in that dress of yours. So, I got these dresses for you. They were specially handpicked by my stylist and he recommended they were the perfect fit and style just for you. I can't wait to see them on you, especially the green one.

From MP

Max Porter had done some shopping on her behalf. In what world was this real? She must be dreaming. Maybe it was actually a box of pizza right there in front of her and she was making this all up.

But she wasn't. This was all real and happening before her eyes.