The Dream Before the Dark ✓

15 | The Dark Descent

JEN HAD AN IMPRESSIVE VIEW of downtown Chicago from her second-story desk by the window, but the knot of nerves in her stomach made it impossible to fully appreciate it. She had made it through the first few hours of work and hadn't catastrophically messed anything up just yet, but there was no telling how the rest of the day might go. She'd just narrowly avoided bumping her coffee cup over with her elbow and making a fool of herself in front of everyone, not to mention damaging expensive equipment.

You've got this, she repeated to herself. You deserve this. You earned the right to be here.

Being the only woman under twenty-five at Walsh & Associates Law Firm was a little intimidating, to say the least. All of the other interns were boys, and to make matters worse, the vast majority of them were seniors whereas Jen was just a sophomore. Landing a position in the IT department of a prestigious company was an impressive feat for any student, much less a girl who was still an underclassman, so she was shocked when she received her letter of acceptance in the mail. Had they mistakenly sent it to the wrong applicant? It seemed so unlikely that they would want her that she nearly hadn't bothered applying, but her faculty advisor had nudged her to do it and reminded her that she had nothing to lose.

And here she was. She was so scared of screwing up that she thought she might vomit, but beneath the fear, she couldn't help but be extraordinarily pleased with how life was shaping up for her. She got to work with cutting-edge computer equipment, people-watch from her little desk that faced the floor-to-ceiling glass windows, and had already met Victor, the well-known and highly-regarded lawyer who co-owned the firm and was now technically her boss, though he'd have extremely little to do with her day-to-day activities. Interacting with him was perhaps the part that she'd been most nervous about, but he surprisingly wasn't quite as intimidating as one would expect someone in his shoes to be. That wasn't to say he wasn't intimidating at all, but he was polite and at least gave off the impression of being human, which was more than she could say for some of the other people around here. He kept pictures of his wife and daughter, who Jen gathered was maybe five years or so older than herself, on his desk. That frankly might have been a mere tactic to get his clients to trust him, but even so, it was much more tolerable than speaking to someone who was as stiff as a robot. She managed not to botch her introduction with him, and he wished her good luck with her internship.

As long as I do really well, she thought as she was leaving his top-floor office. I can ask him to give me a letter of recommendation for my next internship.

She was determined not only to be the first girl to graduate from the Computer Science program at her school, but to also be the first one in her grade and major to land a full-time job. All the boys would be so jealous.

That dream was starting to look more like a reality, and she was starting to feel invincible.

Her ego was taken down a notch (or several) when her mom showed up to have lunch with her.

The interns were given forty-five minutes for lunch and Jen intended to run down to the little cafe on the corner and grab something light. She didn't remember telling either of her parents what her exact schedule was, so she was nothing short of horrified when she took the elevator down to the first floor and saw her mother waiting in the lobby for her.

"Mom!" she hissed under her breath, frantically glancing around to see if any of the other interns were watching. A couple of them had also come down to the lobby, but neither of them seemed to be giving her any of their attention. "What are you doing?"

She smiled shyly as her daughter approached and it was impossible not to notice that she had dolled herself up for the occasion. She wore a long, navy blue coat and had curled her dark hair even though it was under a fur-brimmed hat. She looked like a beautiful starlet plucked straight out of the '40s, but Jen knew that her mom worked tirelessly to be able to afford buying such luxuries just once or twice a year.