From Mine to Ours

13: Nice to meet you, but...

Going into the new week with a positive mindset is nothing really new for me. Nor is bumping into Asher on my way to work. Or the fact that I have a fresh cup of coffee, undoubtedly from Lucy herself, sitting proudly on the middle of my desk.

What is new, however, is the excited humming of Cadence skipping past my cubicle. I'm starting to think that the sunflowers floating around her head aren't in my imagination anymore as she strolls past without so much as a glance in my general direction. However, for some reason I can still tell that even without a shared glance between the two of us, her show of an upbeat attitude is directed toward me.

Well, someone's in a good mood.

As per Sarah's personal request, I've been asked to show the first potential intern around. I was told to meet her in the lobby once she's been checked in at 9am, which gives me another hour to check through some of my emails for the day before my day of touring and guiding begins.

I'm honestly not too sure why they've entrusted me with the task of showing her around. Once she gets a feel for the place, I'm supposed to bring her over to Jack and that'll pretty much be it on my end. Apparently, my name was mentioned during her interview as someone she was inspired by to 'go for it' and I'm absolutely honored, of course, but also extremely nervous of whatever expectations she has of me.

Asher texted me this morning as well, wishing me good luck from all three of them, which definitely took me by surprise. That would probably be an understatement seeing as the shock nearly caused the scorching caffeinated beverage to nearly spill all over my dress pants had I not caught myself in time.

My work phone ringing an hour or so later breaks me out of my work spell and I pick up with a cracking sound resonating from my wrists as they've been elevated in the same position for the past sixty minutes. It's none other than Sam letting me know that she's ready to be picked up and shown around.

Lucy sends me a fist bump emoji on my personal phone and lifts a thumbs up over the wall of her cubicle as I stride over to the elevators. Through inhaling and exhaling slowly while making my way down the levels until I reach the lobby, I just about manage to at least appear calm, cool and collected. For the sake of being true to myself though, I must admit that internally I am neither of those adjectives, but for her sake, I'll pretend that I am.

I notice a woman with bright red hair that stops just beneath her chin first. Having never seen her around before, I automatically assume she's the person I'll be looking after during this early hour of the morning. Her legs bounce up and down rapidly while they cross over one another and her fingers thrum against a folder laid across her exposed knee. She's wearing a black pencil skirt with a fiery red button up and her overall attire kind of reminds me of Sarah, her demeanor not so much.

Before attempting to make a fool out of myself, I make sure to confirm it's her with Sam who simply nods at me and mouths a quick 'you got this' as the nervous woman glances up from her fingers and notices me standing by the counter before I can even walk up to her. Her bouncing legs finally come to a halt and she straightens herself out as I finally make a move in her direction.

"You must be Layla, right?"

Her hand stretches out to meet with mine, "yes, it is such a pleasure to actually be meeting you in person!" I blank at her for a moment since this is the first time someone is recognizing me in-person like this. She actually looks so excited to meet me and I'm not even sure how to react to such enthusiasm other than show my gratitude for her support. Despite the shock to my system at being recognized like this, Sarah has reminded me to remain as professional as possible during the tour.

"Thank you so much, it's so lovely to meet you as well," she nods and lets go of my hand with a broad smile."Welcome to Starlaxy, I'll be the one showing you around some of the floors that you'll probably end up visiting throughout your visit here and then I'll drop you off with my team manager,"