CHAPTER FIVE: 6 MONTHS LATER
1608 Words
The train to downtown hummed with passengers in coats and suitcases. Alina sat by the window, wearing a fitted navy blouse with a white knee-length straight skirt, her hair pulled into a loose ponytail.
She stared out the window and still couldn't believe she was on her way to starting her internship.
The email came on a quiet Wednesday afternoon.
Alina was busy cleaning her tiny apartment, her arms elbow-deep in dish soap, when her phone buzzed on the counter. She wiped her hands with a napkin, half-expecting it to be a reminder of Allen’s next appointment.
But it wasn’t.
Subject: Internship Offer — Wolfe & Troame LLP
Alina took a step back staring at her phone.
She tapped it open.
Dear Ms. Moore,
We’re pleased to inform you that you have been selected for the 6-month Legal Internship Program at Wolfe & Troame LLP. Your performance in the interview demonstrated the professionalism, resilience, and drive we seek in all our associates…
Scrolling through the email she made sure to read every word.
Once she finished she gently placed her phone on the counter.
She just stood there in the kitchen, smiling to no one, a shaky laugh leaving her lips. After everything, the late nights, the debts, the sacrifices, she’d made it.
This wasn’t charity.
This wasn’t survival.
She earned this.
She finally got to her destination and stepped out of the train.
The building was even more intimidating in daylight, all glass and shadows.
When she walked into the 38th floor suite and gave her name, the receptionist smiled and pointed toward a glass-walled conference room.
Inside were four interns, chatting nervously. One girl stood out immediately.
She was hard to miss.
Curvy, with warm dark chocolate skin and a crown of cherry-red curls pulled into a huge puff. Her lipstick matched her hair, bright, confident, unbothered. She was the most beautiful person Alina had ever seen.
The girl, no, woman turned and caught Alina gaping at her.
“Hi! You must be new,” she said, walking over her hips swaying from side to side. “It's written all over your face. The “I can’t believe I’m actually here” face.”
Alina blinked, then smiled sheepishly. “Is it that obvious?”
“Nah, you look absolutely gorgeous. I love your eyes? Are they real? I’m Celeste by the way.”
She held out a perfectly manicured hand.
Alina shook it, a short laugh escaping her lips.
“Alina.”
Celeste looped her arm through Alina’s like they’d known each other for years and whispered dramatically in her ear using her hand to cover her mouth:
“Okay, so here’s what you need to know. The coffee sucks, the real lawyers don’t even look at you till week five, and if you see anyone named Sharon—run.”
“You’re not an intern?”Alina assuredly looked confused.
“I am. My friend used to work here and told me all the deets”
Alina couldn’t help but laugh. Celeste felt like a breath of fresh air. So free and expressive. The opposite of who Alina was.
So for the first time since she got the email, she felt her shoulders relax. It felt nice to have a friend.
Or maybe they weren't friends, she might just be a nice person.
She found her boring or weird.
Bonny hated her. She said she brought a gloomy aura to the room.
What if Celeste-
“Alina.”
“Huh?”, Alina craned her neck to see Celeste staring at her, her big brown eyes clouded with concern.
“I kept calling you. Did you zone out? Is it because it's your first day? You’ll be great. You’ll look like the smart type.”
Alina gave her a broad smile, “Thanks, Celeste.”
“My friends call me Cel.”
Orientation was a blur.
Alina had to learn every name, policy, and title.
PowerPoint slides were watched over and over again, her coffee doing nothing to keep her from dozing off.
Alina sat beside Cel in the third row of the conference room, both of them armed with branded Wolfe & Toame pens and legal pads. The managing associate, a sandy-haired man named Percy, clicked through the presentation like his life depended on it.
“We expect discretion, punctuality, and an obsessive attention to detail,” Percy droned. “You will be shadowing attorneys, assisting with filings, and attending client briefing, only when necessary. Do not speak unless spoken to. You might have been the best in your class, but here, no one needs your opinions. Do not enter restricted floors. And for the love of litigation, office romance is strictly prohibited.”
Cel leaned over and whispered, “Too late, the receptionist asked for my number this very morning.”
Alina stifled a laugh.
They got assigned badges, cubicle numbers, and key card access, though not to the 60th floor, which Percy referred to ominously as “Executive.”
“Don’t ask. Don’t try. Don’t even think about it. There are people who have worked 10 years here and have never been called up.”
Cel raised an eyebrow and scribbled ‘He is talking about himself right?’ in her notebook, then nudged Alina to show it.
Alina bit back another laugh.
Later that afternoon, the interns gathered in the break room where the coffee lived up to its bad reputation.
Alina stood by the window, holding a paper cup but not drinking the coffee, when Cel returned from chatting with one of the older paralegals.
Her eyes sparkled with excitement.
“Okay, listen up. So apparently, this firm has a ghost boss.”
Alina c****d an eyebrow. “A what?”
“A ghost boss. Like, the top guy. Rich-rich. Co-founder. Runs half the building but nobody ever sees him.
Doesn’t attend meetings. Doesn’t spare anyone a glance. Doesn’t breathe air like the rest of us.”
She took a dramatic sip of coffee, grimaced, instantly regretting it, and kept going.
“Rumor is, he only shows up when really big deals go down. He hasn’t been in the office in 6 months. One time he flew to Hong Kong for a merger, stayed exactly thirteen hours, signed a billion-dollar contract, and left before lunch.”
Alina frowned slightly, her lips pressed together as she looked at Cel skeptically.
Cel leaned in, lowering her voice like they were in a spy film.
“I also heard that he is devilishly handsome. Tall. Quiet. Mysterious. Some people say he hates people. Doesn’t trust anyone. Just… does his thing, makes billions and vanishes.”
She grinned. “Girl, I am telling you, if I didn’t have a type already, icy billionaire ghost boss would be it.”
Alina burst out laughing, almost spilling her coffee. She wasn’t the least interested in figuring out who this ghost boss was. She just wanted to do well in this internship so she could get hired.
Plus she hated rich people.
One month passed very quickly with a storm of legal briefs to attend, mountains of paperwork to go through, and coffee that somehow kept getting worse.
Alina was adjusting, more than adjusting. She was doing pretty well. Her work was clean, precise and always on time.
She loved the rush of working under pressure. While others complained about working 8-5, she was just happy to be there.
Then came Friday. The end of another working week
“Ms. Moore?” Her project lead, Myra, called from across the bullpen. “Can you please run these files up to the Legal Executive before you clock out?”
Alina looked up, confused. “Which floor?”
“50th. It's very urgent. You’ll need my card.” She held out a silver badge. “And don’t dawdle. They don’t like being interrupted.”
Alina took the file and the card and walked quickly towards the lift.
The elevator hummed quietly as she ascended. When the doors slid open, the air changed.
Something was different.
She had been to the 50th floor before. This wasn’t it.
The lighting here was softer. The furniture sleeker. A long hallway stretched ahead, lined with abstract art and tinted glass doors. No chatter. No typing. Just quiet.
Alina turned back to the elevator, clicking the button aggressively. She instantly knew she had made a grave error. How could she mistakenly come to the forbidden floor?
The 60th floor.
Percy was going to kill her.
She found the right office: EXECUTIVE LEGAL, PRIVATE FILE DROP.
As she was about to enter the elevator, a voice carried from down the hall.
“No, I'm not interested in the revised offer. I said no. Do it again, and do it better.”
Her back stiffened.
She knew that voice.
The voice was low. Measured. Sharp. One she had burned from her memory.
She turned slowly.
A tall man stood just outside one of the frosted doors, back partially turned. Dark tailored suit. Hands in his pockets. Talking to someone through a Bluetooth earpiece with the same cold authority he had used that night.
He turned slightly, just enough for the light to hit his face.
Alina’s heart rammed into her chest.
It was him.
He hadn’t seen her yet. Not really. But she stood frozen, breathless. The file slipped out of her hand making a soft thud on the floor.
Shit. s**t. s**t.
She knelt to the floor, quickly picking up the file.
As she stood up she lifted her eyes.
His gaze was locked on her.
And for a moment, the whole world went silent.
- Writer
