The Intern (BWWM)

Chapter 22

Leilani wondered if she even owed Zach an explanation. What good would that do? What good would even addressing it do? 

Leilani watched Zach scramble to pick himself off the floor. Carter began to chuckle but with a very discreet, tough nudge from Leilani it came to a halt. 

They let go of each others hands. "I'll get these back to you by tomorrow afternoon, Mr. Vanderbilt." Leilani told Carter sternly. 

"Thank you, Ms. Jones." He told her, now full on chuckling as he vanished back into his office. 

Carter's laughter stemmed from his knowledge of Zach's attraction towards Leilani. The poor guy was crazy about a woman that was his. Watching him stumble and hearing him stutter around Leilani was comical. Carter and Leilani were serious about each other and seriously in love with each other. 

Leilani mentally shook her head in disbelief at Carter. She too knew why he had thought it was funny but she did have a little remorse for Zach. She didn't want him feeling ill towards her or Carter. 

Leilani was also weary of Zach's upcoming reaction. How would he react? Better yet, how was he going to react? 

Leilani knelt down to help Zach. 

In the the midst of him falling, he'd dropped a cup full of coffee and the bagel he was about to consume had made its way to her feet right along with a few papers. 

Leilani put her work aside and began collecting Zach's belongings. 

"I'm sorry," Leilani began apologizing. Zach looked at her a bit confused but they both knew why she was. 

Zach kept quiet. He appeared emotionless but unbeknownst to Leilani he felt hot with numerous emotions. Zach felt embarrassed, jealous, and pathetic. There was no way in his world or even the world that he would have a chance with a girl like Leilani. And after watching her interactions with their boss: multimillionaire, CEO of one of the worlds top publishing companies, and super tall, hot hunk of a man. It really was curtains for him. 

"If you'd like, I can grab what's left of the mess for you." Leilani tried to offer aide as they had made it back up in the air. 

Zach smiled weakly, really more embarrassingly. He started to think. I mean, this was the least she could do, right?

He noticed the mountain of work she was about to take on. 

He didn't let it phase him. "Yes, please can you clean this up?" Zach didn't wait for an answer. Instead he waltzed away, trying to retain what little dignity he had left. 

The nerve of him! 

Leilani dropped her work off at her cubicle before returning back to the scene of the humiliating crime. She had raided the janitors closet for napkins and dabbed away the spill. 

"What are you doing?" 

Looking up, Leilani was met by Sally. Again.  

Leilani was a nice person. She didn't complain much. She treated others with respect. However, Sally was really starting to bug her. Sure, they had quickly become office besties, but after their morning meeting, Leilani was developing a sort of discomfort around Sally. 

She briefly informed Sally of the situation that had just occurred. Of course, she left out the details about her and Carter's handholding.

"Wow, yikes. How embarrassing!" Sally laughed a little. Why did everyone think this was so funny? She certainly didn't. 

Leilani shook her head at Sally's reaction. She'd cleaned up Zach's mess. Now, she had to figure out how to clean up her own. Her secret-office-love-affair was slowly unraveling. Leilani could feel it. 

"Anyways, a few of us are headed to the Penthouse tonight. I'll give you a ride home later." Sally more-so made this as a statement. She wasn't really asking Leilani to join. She also wasn't just extending an invitation. It didn't feel like one of those you-have-to-be-there's. Sally had just expected Leilani to partake. 

Before Leilani could confirm or deny her later appearance, Sally had already returned back to her cubicle. 

Leilani pulled out her cellphone to text her mother.

Leilani: Hey, mom. Is it okay if I go out after work with a few coworkers? 

Mom: Be home by 8pm. Have fun. 

A few hours had passed and while Leilani had surprisingly managed to make it just through half of the manuscripts. She was getting much better with her editing skills. She was also flying through everything as well. If she kept it up, she could probably be done by noon tomorrow. That would definitely surprise Carter, which made her even more happy. 

As the office lights clicked off and most of Leilani's coworkers rushed to the elevators, she took her time. Leilani placed her finished work inside her desk and packed the unfinished into her briefcase. 

"Hey, gorgeous." 

Leilani jumped, completely caught off guard. 

"I'm sorry, did I scare you?" Carter rubbed Leilani's back, attempting to soothe her. 

Swiftly, she separated the two of them and frantically checked around the office. 

"No one's here. I locked the doors already." Carter kept trying to calm her down. 

Finally, Leilani managed to stabilize her breathing and relax her nerves. "What are you doing here?" 

"I thought maybe we could have an early dinner in my office? Maybe knock out some of those manuscripts. I have some free time tonight." Carter placed her hand in his as he tried to sway her back to his working space. 

Leilani let go, leaving Carter stopping in his tracks. "I'm supposed to meet Sally and a few other people upstairs," Leilani tried to tell him. 

"I ordered steak and sushi..." Carter trailed off, subliminally bribing her. 

Leilani didn't want to just abandon Sally. She did kind of agree to meet them, right?  

"You know it's your favorite..." Carter kept going. "I've got California rolls, spicy crunchy crab, and shrimp tempura." He placed his hand on her stomach. "I know you're hungry. I know you want it." He playfully frowned. 

Leilani was losing her cool. It was clear where she was headed now. And it wasn't to the Penthouse to munch on unsalted cashews and cherries.

She went straight to Carter's office.