Willa & the Extraordinary Internship

CH. 15

By the time Willa's workday ended, she was never so eager to leave. Meeting Nate had thrown off her entire day and she was suddenly hyper-aware of every move Paige made, whether it was pacing in her office or shouting instructions to Willa through the walls. Helping him had seemed like the right thing to do, so why was she jumping at every noise and flinching whenever Paige said her name?

The moment she got inside her car, she had her phone out. "Maryam?"

"Willa!" Maryam couldn't disguise the relief in her voice. Even though she'd reached out to Willa the day after Cyn's blow-up, Willa had found it hard to forgive her best friend for supporting Cyn.

"I'm glad you called," Maryam began cautiously, letting Willa take the lead.

"Do you wanna grab a drink with me if you don't have anything to do after work?"

Maryam didn't want to because she'd had an incredibly long day at work thanks to some mismanagement of a colleague's which had resulted in a very angry client and several fires which she had to put out, and on top of that, her mother had called her to tell her that her very young, very ugly cousin had gotten engaged. Translation: if that cow can find a man, why can't you? 

"Sure," Maryam said, trying to inflect some energy and pep into her voice. "That sounds perfect." She was just glad that her friends' quarrel wasn't resulting in a divide between her and them, and if that meant sucking it up and throwing back a few drinks with Willa, it was a small price to pay for friendship.

The two girls met at an upscale art deco cocktail bar near the accounting firm where Maryam worked. Willa, who had a boyfriend, hadn't changed out of her work clothes. Maryam, on the other hand, was very much trying to attract a mate, so she had hurried home to change into a slinky purple tank top and slim-fitting black jeans which clung to her hips and tapered legs like paint.

"I feel so underdressed," was the first thing out of Willa's mouth when she saw her. She glanced down at her ripped-at-the-knees dark wash jeans and white cardigan.

"At least they have pearls," Maryam said, giving the faux-pearl buttons on Willa's cardi a flick. "That's classy."

Willa rolled her eyes good-naturedly in reply as the two girls entered the bar. Immediately, they were enveloped in dim light. "Over here, I see some tables," Willa said, gesturing to Maryam. The bar had a 1920s vibe to it, from the old-world cabaret stage to the dark wood and brass seating scattered around the room. Art hung on the walls with little placards below with the artist's name, contact information, and price tag.

And then she froze. Right in front of her was Luke Derwent, smiling over the rim of his cosmopolitan as he stood at the bar with a gorgeous woman sitting next to him on a bar stool.

"Mother may I," Maryam breathed from behind her. "Don't look, this totally hot guy at the bar just smiled at me. Should I go over there?"

Willa could only watch in frozen shock as his hand reached out to touch his companion's shoulder in a light caress, moving slowly and sensuously down her arm. It made Willa's skin tingle just watching. The woman had a riot of golden-brown curls which were gathered into a messy bun at the nape of her neck, just a few tendrils loose to frame her face. She was smiling back at Luke and leaning into his body like it was second nature.

"Willa! I know I said don't look, but I wasn't being serious," Maryam hissed. "Whenever someone says don't look, obviously they want you to!"

Willa wasn't even paying attention, barely listening to the words. All she could focus on right now was the way Luke leaned in, hovered just centimeters away from the woman's lips with his eyes still open, and then closed the distance between them, his hand moving to the woman's waist.

Maryam followed Willa's line of sight. "Oh my god, Willa," Maryam blurted out. "Is that...?"

It would be so easy to save face and lie, to tell Maryam of course it wasn't Luke! Maryam had only met him a handful of times and she wasn't even his friend on Facebook. She hadn't gazed over all his pictures like Willa had. If she lied, Maryam would never have to know Luke cheated on her.

Luke ruined Willa's train of thought when he looked up, right at her. Willa waited for dawning horror to appear in his eyes, or even better, self-loathing and shame. Even recognition and realization. He did none of those things. Instead, he just turned his attention back to the woman, leaning closer and replying to something she'd said.