Who Needs Professionalism?

Untitled Part 1

Lovino checked his watch, adjusted his jacket, and re-checked his phone for about the seventh time since arriving at the large, and very intimidating building that was the Jones Corporation. Over the past several weeks, he had sat through many interviews, filled out an almost absurd amount of paperwork- taking some creative liberties on his academic success, and spent way too much time bugging his professors for recommendation letters. Now he was just moments away from having it all pay off.

"Mr. Vargas?"

Lovino glanced up and rose to his feet as a woman dressed in formal business attire walked over to him, her heels clicking against the tile floor.

"You're the summer intern for the Advertising Department, correct? I'm Anri Maes- a receptionist for the department. I'm sure you'll be seeing me a lot throughout the summer."

"It's a pleasure to meet you then, Mrs. Maes."

Anri cracked a smile, waving her hand off to the side. "Anri's just fine. And I'm very sorry for your wait, I actually have no idea where Mr. Carriedo is. I'm assuming he decided to take a long lunch break but-" She shrugged. "I can take you to his office to wait, if you'd like. I'm sure it would be a lot more comfortable than waiting out here."

"If you'd be so kind." Lovino said, "Lead the way."

Anri lead Lovino through a maze of cubicles, pausing by the occupied ones to introduce the new intern. Eventually, they reached a door, marked with an elegant nameplate reading Antonio Fernandez Carriedo.

"Here it is." Anri sifted through her keyring, selecting one and unlocking the door. "He shouldn't be too long now, but if anything changes, I'll come and get you. Have a lovely day, and I hope to see you around!"

Lovino waved before entering the office, and allowed the door to click shut behind him. He plopped down on a comfortable looking chair, and let an overly confident smirk cross his face. He had nailed the whole first impression thing- polite language and a good posture really paid off. Now all he had to worry about was the Advertising Department Head. He wasn't too worried though. If his turtle-filled office had anything to say about his personality, getting on his good side would be a piece of cake. "Seriously though" Lovino mumbled, "who the fuck decorates their office with only turtles?"

"Well for starters, I do."Lovino about tipped over in the chair, scrambling to get a look at who had intruded on his narcissism secession. His eyes landed on a man who was fairly tanned,and had semi-disheveled hair. "You're-"

"Antonio Fernandez Carriedo. Your boss for the summer." He said, taking a seat at his desk.

Lovino gulped, straightening his posture. "I'm Lovino Vargas. Your summer intern."

"Oh, I know who you are. At least, I thought I did. You know, companies usually like truthful answers when it comes to applications and interviews. Some of the things you told us during our interview process didn't really match up with what your professors told me about you."

Lovino clenched his teeth. Clearly, sleeping during lectures had other detrimental effects- besides the professors being pissy. "I can explain-"

"No need." Antonio cut him off again. "I don't want excuses- I want someone who's good at marketing. I want someone who takes creative liberties with pretty much anything. I want someone who's not afraid to pull a few strings in order to sell a product. In other words..." Antonio smiled "You're perfect for the job."

Lovino's jaw dropped. He was pretty sure that in any other case, being found out about lying on pretty much every aspect on the hiring process would get him kicked to the curb, or worse. "Excuse me, but what the fuck kind of department are you running?"

"That's the spirit!" Antonio got up, and patted Lovino on the shoulder. "I think you'll fit right in. Oh- but keep quiet about the whole inaccurate application thing, the higher ups won't be too happy with me if they find out."

"No shit. And why would I say anything? I'm without a job if this falls through." Lovino brushed his boss's hand away and stood up. "So are you going to show me my workstation or not? I'm here to work, not to talk."

"I mean, I can if you want to, but what's wrong with talking?"

"Nothing. I just..." Romano scratched the back of his head. "Don't really have much to talk about. Besides, why talk when I can show you what I can do?"

"More of an action-oriented guy, huh? Alright, show me what you got." Antonio pulled out his chair, grabbed a packet of papers, and motioned for Lovino to come over. "You have at least some experience with image editing, right?" He handed the packet over to Lovino.

"Yeah." That one one of the few things that he didn't make up in his application.

"Good. That packet contains information regarding a new product that this company's putting out, hopefully by the end of summer. I'm going to task you with making a brochure about the product to hand out at our next company conference. Make them fairly easy to understand, but professional looking. Think you can handle it?"

Lovino nodded, sitting down at Antonio's desk, and began typing away. Antonio didn't leave his side all the while, so it wasn't long before Lovino caught whiff of his cologne. And it smelled damn good. He took a chance and peered over toward his boss, whose eyes were glued to the screen. In all honestly, he didn't look too bad either. His tan gave him a nice glow, and his hair wasn't as messy as Lovino first thought- granted it was still messy. Suddenly, green eyes met his.

"Lovino? Do you have a question or something?"

Lovino jerked his gaze back toward the computer. "N-no! Why are you looking over my shoulder anyway? I'm not some little kid!"

Antonio chuckled, backing off "Sorry, sorry. I was just making sure you'd be able to handle the editing program ok. And you're doing better than ok, actually- i'm impressed."

Damn. Now Lovino couldn't smell the cologne anymore. "Whatever- i'm done."

"Hm?" Antonio glanced over as his printed produced a copy of the brochure. He quickly looked over it, and looked back to Lovino, grinning. "This is perfect!" He exclaimed.

Lovino stood up from the chair, stretching. "It's nothing really. I-" Lovino didn't have time to finish, as he was bombarded with a hug from his none too professional boss.

The display of affection only lasted a second before Antonio stepped back, a smile still plastered on his face "I'm gonna send this off to the higher ups- be right back!" Antonio quickly left the office, letting the door slam behind him.

Lovino let himself fall back on the desk chair, a bit too flustered for words. Eventually, he mumbled, "The fuck kind of Department Head is he?"