The Editor's Favorite

Chapter 5

By Monday morning I had healed from the hangover of the millennium. I couldn’t help but feel exhilarated as I hopped out of the shower, ready to start my first day of work. A great night with a man, a new job, and clear skin - this was the best Monday ever! 

I got dressed in a tailored navy suit with a pale lavender button-up shirt and my lucky heels. I brushed my hair until it laid smooth and shiny down my back and finished the look with light make-up.

After checking to make sure I had my new keys and all my documents for the usual paperwork, I hurried to make it out the front door when I noticed the flowers in the living room. 

- 

Good luck on your first day! You’re going to kill it. 

XOXO, 

Your BFFs

 -

I read the card as I bent to sniff the flowers and fondle the soft petals. “I love those girls,” I murmur to myself as I gather the bouquet and take it into the kitchen. 

I decided to grab a cab to head to the Woolworth Building in downtown Manhattan, home to The State of the Empire and the location of my new job! The area is bustling with people: tourists who didn’t know how in the way they were, New Yorkers who are always too busy to stop to smell the roses, and everyone else was an actor.  At least that’s what Samantha says.

I enter the building and approach the security desk, they send me up to the ninth floor to get my building pass and await my new manager. The other Empire interns are waiting in this room, but there is no chatter. In fact, there’s an almost hostile feel to the room. From what I can tell, I’m the last intern to arrive and we’re evenly split across genders - five men and five women. The men are dressed to impress with hair cuts donning too much gel, pressed bespoke suits and tasteful, yet expensive watches.  

The women were a mixed bag. One woman looked like she would be more at home at an anime convention with her pink hair, pierced eyebrow, and non-traditional purple pantsuit. The next woman was a tad older than the rest of us and looked like a seasoned professional who walked into the wrong waiting area. The last remaining women could’ve been twins; they wore the same suit, accessorized with tasteful make-up, expensive blowout, Louibutons, and a Birkin. 

“Hello everyone,” a voice shocks me out of my observation. “I’m Susan, the project manager for the Empire interns. Thank you for agreeing to participate in our program. We are putting you right to work. I’ll be assigning you both your team beat and your mentor in the next few minutes. As you know from the reading materials we gave you, you will be challenged here and we hope that you can not only use this as a growth experience but also to continue on with us past the internship. Please make sure you have your badge on you now and at all times.”

She looks down at a clipboard in her hands and starts calling names, one-by-one introducing the fellows to people lining up against the far wall in the room.

“Claudia James.”

I raise my head, hoist my bag onto my shoulder, and head over towards Susan. 

“Claudia, meet Adele.” She says gesturing to a young woman wearing a very interesting jeweled pin the shape of a tarantula. 

I happily approached her with my hand outstretched. “Hello.”

“God. And so it begins,” she turns away from me and rolls her eyes. “I’m not here for the jokes.”

I stare at her blankly, having not a single idea of why she was so angry.

She takes in my blank stare and her demeanor changes slightly. 

“I’m sorry,” she says, almost sheepishly. “I’ve gotten to the end of my wick with the Adele jokes. And it’s made me just a little bit crazier than normal. I apologize.”

Wow, I think to myself. If saying a simple hello to this woman is going to set her on the edge, I may need to tread lightly with her.

“Welp,” she breaks the silence. “I’m going to take you on a quick tour of the building and we’ll end with you meeting Mr. Williams. He likes to meet each of the fellows on their first day.”

The next 40 minutes were spent with her taking me through the whole floor, showing me the different conference rooms, and meeting some of the executives that I’d be working with. We continued walking and arrived at a beautiful mahogany door.

With a gesture from Adele, I raise my hand and knock on the door as she walks into the break room. 

“Come in,” a deep, terse voice says through the door. 

I stepped inside the room with a big smile on my face.

“Hello Mr. Williams, so very nice to meet you,” I said cheerfully as I took a step forward, extending my hand. It took me a second before my eyes traveled the expanse of the carpet to my new boss. Those green eyes. That strong jaw. Those full lips had tasted every part of my body. When I realized who he was, the smile on my face froze into what I’m sure looked like an awful imitation of a smile.

“Darien,” I say in a small shocked voice.