How Do You Like Me Now?

Chapter 1

The incessant sound of my alarm clock wakes me up this morning and as much as I hate to hear it, a rush of excitement fills my veins because today marks my first official day at Hall Associates, one of the top PR firms in the country.  I groan finally reaching out and turning off my alarm before taking one final stretch and rolling myself out of bed completely.

I blink a few times and take in the sight of my new bedroom. The dark wood floors contrast the deep exposed brick of the walls and the singular small window on the far side lets just enough sunlight in that it won't disturb my sleep.

Moving boxes still cover the floor and I fight the urge to unpack and organize everything right now. The movers that dropped my stuff off yesterday were here until almost 11 last night and after they left I passed out for sake of my own sanity. Moving across the country to a new state is not easy but when I got the call from the head of the marketing department at Hall Associates offering me a full-time paid internship if I could be there in three days. I had to take that risk because I didn't push myself to get to this point for no reason.

I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror propped up against the wall next to my closet and grimace at my appearance. My dark brown hair looks like a rat has moved right in and built himself a mansion and the smudges around my eyes from yesterday's makeup have me looking like I'm half raccoon half batman. At this point, I'm 75%, forest creature.

I pull myself over to one of the boxes labeled work clothes and start to look through all the nicely folded pieces. I shuffle through until I can find a nice skirt, sweater, and jacket that will give me all the confidence I need to nail this first day. And after a well-needed shower, fighting with my hair brush, and a moderate amount of makeup, I finally look ready to go.

Despite the sheer number of flips my stomach keeps doing when I think about how I am really here and really about to take my first steps into the place I've been dreaming about my entire college career.

***

There's something intimidating about walking into a big office building, and that's why I am currently standing outside the main entrance of Hall Associates, looking up. It's like facing a giant head on but the giant is made out of steel beams, glass, and concrete, a lot of concrete.

I don't think I've ever been this nervous in my life and that's really saying something for someone who never strived for anything short of perfection. I guess that's why I'm so nervous. The constant little what-if monsters live in my mind more than anything else.

What if I fail miserably on my first day?
What if I make a total embarrassment of myself?
What if everyone hates me?

The list just keeps going and it honestly gets tiring but the only way I can satisfy their hungry need is to keep everything in line and make sure everything is perfect. Easy right?

"Come on Aerin, get it together, you never backed out of anything before and you can't start now," I mumble to myself, clutching my purse on my shoulder as I start to take slow steps through the doors.

When I push through the tinted doors I'm greeted instantly by the sound of people hurriedly walking through the lobby as they talk to each other as they rush off to meetings or back to their desks. Everything is fast-paced and to the naked eye it might seem like complete chaos but after a closer look, it's actually organized and everyone is in-sync like they're supposed to be. Take that Justin Timberlake.

I walk over to the main receptionist who is sitting at a big desk with a friendly smile on her face, she glances up at me from her computer screen when I reach her.

"Hello" she greets, "I'm Melanie, is there something I can help you with?"

"Hi," I give her a warm smile back, "I'm starting an internship today under Mr. Christianson and was just wondering if you could point me in the right direction of where he is?"