The Intern (BWWM)

Chapter 30

Rachel?

The woman Carter previously had an office affair with?

The woman who was basically the former Leilani?

"Thanks for helping me."

Leilani soon realized Sally's apology wasn't because she was sorry. It was because she had already started formulating her plan for revenge.

And to do something as cruel as bringing back his former mistress? Leilani chose the wrong day to be late.

To her, Rachel looked better. Rachel was more sophisticated, more experienced, look and smelled like wealth. How would she ever compete?

She needed to speak to Carter.

But before him, she needed a few words of encouragement from her best friend.

At her desk, she quickly texted Noelle, praying that she'd respond in a timely manner.

Leilani: I want to tell him. What do I say?

It took eleven minutes, but Noelle responded

Noelle: Girl just be honest!!

Leilani: I'm scared

Noelle: Of what? And for what

Leilani: What if he fires me

Noelle: Who cares? You're leaving anyway

Well, Noelle was right. She'd be so far away, hopefully her mind would follow too.

Leilani locked her phone and walked slowly towards his office door. She stopped in front and watched the Do Not Disturb sign vanish. Carter was readily available.

Knock. Knock.

"You're welcome to enter."

Now face-to-face with Carter, Leilani couldn't help but feel like a sack of potatoes. So much weight was on her shoulders. And it didn't help that she looked like a bag of trash today.

"Good morning, dear." Carter greeted his leading lady with a cheery smile.

Sadly, it went away once she realized she was empty handed.

Where were the manuscripts?

Leilani hadn't yet found her words yet. Really the only thing she needed to start with in that moment was "good morning." She was being too complicated for her own liking.

"Do you have the manuscripts?" Carter had noted: for the first time, Leilani had walked into his office, early morning, with no completed work to hand him.

Do I have the manuscripts?

"Oh, um. I'm sorry," Leilani started to choke out.

Immediately, Carter sensed that something was wrong. His next inquiries were brought to a halt when the two were interrupted by an uninvited perpetrator.

Sally.

"Mr. Vanderbilt, I have Rachel's paperwork ready for you." Swiftly, she waltz passed Leilani and nearly slammed a packet of papers onto his desk.

Was this revenge?

Leilani thought the mini torture was over.

But then Sally turned to her.

"Leilani!" Sally was enthusiastic to see her.

They were just in the break room an hour ago. The conversation was short but this new acknowledgement of Leilani's presence was unnecessary and Leilani felt the storm coming.

"How was Friday? Did the date go well with Zach?" Sally asked sweetly.

Leilani had to think fast. She needed to do some serious damage control.

She had opened her mouth to speak but she should've know Sally was just going to shut her up.

"Oh, you know what? We can talk about it later, okay? Mr. Vanderbilt definitely isn't one of the girls." Sally giggled. Not a nice, harmless giggle. This particular giggle was sinister.

Once Sally exited, Carter and Leilani both stood in his office completely blindsided and dumbfounded.

Did that really just happen?

The silence was broken by Carter clearing his throat.

"Out of my love and respect for you, I'm going to give you the opportunity to be honest with me." Carter told her.

"Carter, I can explain."

He held up his hand for her to stop.

"Not right now. You look stressed. Just go home. I'll see you later on this evening."

He kept his head down, not wanting to look much further into anything. He didn't want Leilani speaking too soon.

Carter just wanted her to come back to him with a clear mind so they could sort everything out. His woman didn't look like his woman when she stood before him. He'd analyzed her appearance. And one thing he had learned over the past few year of dealing with women is that when they appeared frazzled, their mind was too.

It also helped that Carter had a daughter of his own.

And Carter loved Leilani more than she knew. Nothing really phased him at the office anymore.

After the Rachel scandal and the lies that came with the rumors, he really couldn't care any less. Rachel was a liar. Sally was her accomplice.

Who fakes a pregnancy?

He trusted none of those women in the office.

Except Leilani, of course.

Carters meeting with Rachel was quite useless. Somehow Sally had reminded Rachel that her leave office absence had came with a loophole Carter had never heard of but was at no liberty to go against.

Besides, Rachel wasn't really back. She wouldn't be returning back to his office directly. She'd be working under Glenda as a secondary secretary in the main lobby.

Nowhere near his office.

Matter of fact, Rachel's desk was so far away from Glenda's that it would take a mile and a half for Rachel to formally relay any messages.

That meant phone calls and e-mails only. No face to face contact, no coy good mornings, and no interference with his and Leilani's relationship.

Carter was doing the right thing.

Or so he prayed.

Carter wanted to ensure that Leilani had nothing to worry about and her feelings wouldn't be in jeopardy in regards to their relationship.

Rachel was regrettably his most notorious mistake. And by keep that demon of a woman away was the best thing he could do.

Legally, he couldn't fire her because Rachel hadn't really done anything wrong. Carter also couldn't fire Sally because she hadn't done anything wrong either. However, he knew now that he would have to keep a watchful eye on Sally. Any screw up, and by the grace of the good man above, he would send Sally flying out of his company on the broomstick she crashed in on.

Carter just wanted to protect Leilani.