The Delivery Girl

59. IT

Julie

Callen clears his throat and stands at the front of the room.

"Congratulations on making it through the program. I trust you all gained useful skills and knowledge that you will carry with you moving forward. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone's work tonight." He pauses to check his watch. "Guests will start arriving at 4. I recommend you head over after lunch to get ready."

His voice is calm and steady, like nothing is wrong. Like we're not counting down the hours to something we can't yet see. I glance at my phone as a notification from Lawrence pops up. I quickly swipe it away. I already have more than enough to deal with today.

The room quickly clears out as the interns head downstairs for lunch.

"When are you heading over to the gallery?" Callen asks.

"Not till later, Cindy seemed swamped when I ran into her this morning so I'm going to go help her out."

Our poor HR assistant came into the elevator carrying a stack of paper nearly half my size. She'd been tasked with digitizing employee records that had been kept on paper. It took over a year after Callen became CEO to transition everything to digital.

He nods as he begins packing up. "Reception officially starts at four thirty."

"Sounds good. I'm excited."

He reaches over to place his hand on my lower back. "I'm sorry I wasn't able to get you in the program," he says softly. "You have no idea how much I wish you were one of the interns tonight, showing off your work."

Something in my chest tightens, but I ignore the feeling. I don't have time to unpack this right now.

I stand up on my toes and rest my palms on his chest to give him a soft kiss. "You've done more than enough, Callen." I admire the ring on my finger. "Internship or not, you've changed my life forever. I love you."

He kisses the top of my head

"I love you too."

–

Cindy's desk is situated right next to our HR Vice President's office door. "Hey Cindy, how can I help?" I can barely see her eyes peeking above a stack of documents on her desk.

She points to a smaller stack. "Would you mind starting on those? We just need to enter everything in the spreadsheet I'll send to you."

I take out my laptop and open the file. There are already over a hundred rows filled. Staff names, positions, contact details, insurance information. I start typing, letting repetition take over. The rhythm of it slowly calms and quiets my thoughts.

It takes nearly two hours before I finish entering everyone in my stack. "Phew," I sigh. "I don't envy you, Cindy."

She laughs. "Someone has to do these things, I guess." She looks over at my stack. "Could you please shred those? This pile too."

"Of course." I stack her pile on top of mine and pick it up. I'm rudely reminded that I should workout more, my arms are barely strong enough to carry these.

As I turn the hallway, the sheet on the top of the stack slips off and flutters to the floor. I pick it up and pause. It's Ivan's. I realize I somehow didn't know his last name – Tucker. Some friend I am.

Curiosity gets the best of me and I skim it. It's mostly just info about his insurance and health benefits. He has two dependents under him, the twins. However, I notice he had another dependent at one point.