Something About You

Chapter 12

Waking up early for the first day of my internship was more difficult than I anticipated. Staying out late with Claire for most of the weekend has drained my body physically. I need to catch up on sleep, but I find it hard to knowing that reality is far better than my dreams. I have the mental capacity to stay up for hours and hours, but my body is telling me otherwise. I have to be at work by 8:30 but, luckily, the office isn't too far from home. I brush my teeth, take a shower and for what I thought was going to be an exciting day, I feel tuned out; I want to be with Claire all summer.

One benefit of this summer internship is that I only work four days a week so that leaves my weekends flexible. I get myself dressed; the company said to dress casual and comfy. This internship is mostly computer science and engineering. I go downstairs to see my dad making himself a protein shake.

"Ready for a big day?" He tosses things into a blender.

"As ready as I'll ever be. Not sure when I'll be home but if I don't make it in time for dinner, could you put it in a container for me?"

"You got it. Eat something before you go."

I grab an apple and a bottle of water from the fridge and walk out to my car. As I'm driving to the office, I get a text from Claire.

"Good morning! I'm at the airport now so I'll get in touch when I land. Have a good first day at work ☺"

I already miss her. I set my phone down and think about our conversation at dinner last night; she really has made a huge impression on me. Because of this one girl, whom I've only known for a few days, I find myself questioning my life's plan and the fact that maybe it's okay that life doesn't have a plan. She makes me feel a way that I've never felt before: alive. She makes me want to do things I would have never seen myself doing a year ago, or even a month ago. She makes me want to explore the world, find meaning to things, fall in love with everything and step out of my boundaries.

This girl has influenced me more in the three days I've known her than anyone has my entire life. It's something we all dream about; an awakening in our souls. An awakening in the way we see, touch, smell, hear and taste. I have been awakened by Claire Emerson. My whole vision of life has been altered because of Claire Emerson.

I pull into the parking lot and type out a response to her, "Safe travels back to the Big Apple. Talk soon."

I walk into the building and ask for James Pitt, he's going to be my supervisor all summer. Just a few minutes go by when a tall, dark haired gentleman walks to me wearing khakis and a white cotton polo shirt. By the freckles on his skin, he seems to be from an Irish descent.

"Parker Layton, it's a pleasure to meet you." He reaches out his hand to shake mine.

"Mr. Pitt, thank you again for this opportunity. I'm excited to be spending the summer here."

"Call me Jimmy," he seems incredibly friendly for a boss. "We're excited to have you join the team. Follow me and I'll show you around before we get into paperwork."

I got a tour of the building, filled out some paperwork, found my workspace and got an ID badge. I look at the time on my computer. 10:15. Still have a long way to go but I keep myself occupied meeting members of my new team, other supervisors and bosses, and get familiar with all the projects going around. As haunting as Claire is, I still enjoy keeping myself busy and find the people I work with to be more sociable than most software engineers I've come across in school.

I end up losing track of time and realize how starving I am; I take a late lunch around 2 and occupy myself on my phone. A few texts from Megan, my friends, and Claire.
"Just landed in the greatest city in the world. I realized I haven't asked you if you've ever been? And what's your email?"