The Arrangement

Chapter 2

After about thirty minutes of touring the entire building and stopping for introductions here and there, Nickolas, Rebecca and I wait in the conference room for our mentors.

Rebecca sits two seats away from Nick and I, with a sour face as she scrolls through her phone. I can already tell she's gonna be a problem. Nick fiddles with his tie and lanyard nervously. "So... Nick. Where are you from?" I ask Nick sensing his need for a distraction.

He looks at me with surprise that I'm... talking to him? After a few seconds he recovers, "I uh... I'm from M...Manchester." He says, "where are you from?"

"I'm from here, born and raised in London." I reply with a kind smile. "When did you move here?" I ask him.

"Uh.. like a month ago. Coz... I applied for the apprenticeship and university just in case." After I nod for him to go on he continues. "I did my undergrad and honors then took a gap year to travel and stuff."

"Oh that's cool! Where'd you travel to?" I ask interested.

As Nick tells me about his travel adventures and we make conversation, three older looking people walk in, they're probably our mentors.

There's two men in suits, both average height, one's around mid 40's and the other late 30's. They both have brown hair and basic features. In front of them is a tall woman, who looks 30 ish and has dark red hair. She looks gorgeous, like a damn model. She's wearing a white pencil skirt, pink blouse and white heels.

"Hey newbies!" She says energetically as she looks each and of us up and down, scanning us head to toe. Her eyes linger on me for a moment longer than the rest.

"I'm Victoria Collins, this is Ryder and Jackson" she introduces herself and the two men. They all take a seat on the opposite side of each of us. Ryder in front of Rebecca, Jackson in front of Nick and Victoria sits in front of me.

She goes on to welcome us and allows each of us to introduce ourselves. She speaks in a friendly tone to me and Nick but has an unamused face when speaking to Redhead Rebecca. I'm guessing she can sense Rebecca's unfriendly demeanor.

The seating plan was on purpose since they each sat in front of the apprentice they will be mentoring for the next year.

That means Victoria is my mentor... I don't know how I feel about that. I mean I'm glad I don't have a man as my mentor or else I'd for sure request for another. But at the same time she kind of looks intimidating and I feel like I'm gonna make a mess of myself each time I'm around her.

After a while of more talking, we all get up and are escorted to our individual mentors office. From what I've learned, Victoria is a shareholder of the firm and is also a solicitor. Just my luck I get someone who's basically like a boss and could fire me in seconds.

I'm guided by Victoria, to the elevator where her office is on the highest floor. It's where the CEO and owner, Alessandra Romano has her office too.

From what I've heard, Alessandra never speaks to anyone below, and only ever takes on high profile cases. She barely leaves her office during work hours and has been described as "cold, serious, distant but extremely career driven." According to an old friend of mine who used to work here.

Victoria walks alongside me with her hand on my lower back. At first it made me stiffen up since I'm still getting used to physical touch from people.

"So darling, tell me a bit about yourself." Victoria says in a smooth tone as we stand in the elevator, going up.

For some reason the pet name makes me blush but I try to hide it. "Well I uh... I don't know. What would you like to know?"

"Where are you from? Your hobbies and interests. Which university did you go to? Do you have a pet? Anything and everything. I'd like to get to know the person who I'll be spending four days a week with, right?" She asks.