The Intern

Chapter 4

"Knock it off. You looking like a fucking puppy dog."

I tried to stay consciously aware of the fact that I was bouncing in place, but my brain had long since gone home for the night and my nerves were set on vibrate. I fidgeted with my fingers and reminded myself that Corporal was taking me up to his apartment to talk about another man. Nothing else would be happening, no matter how many sexual fantasies my virgin mind dreamt up. I had never realized how actively horny my mind could be until this night, and it was the perfect explanation as to why I was jiggling like a bowl of jell-o. My sudden bout of stationary hopscotch was a vain attempt to alleviate any boner that might pop up to say hello.

"I had a lot of coffee," I muttered in a pitiful attempt to disguise the fact that I was as giddy as a schoolgirl about being invited to his room. I wanted to kick myself for reacting this way to a man I barely knew, and filed the thought away for later. A personal ass kicking-it was necessary at this point.

"Aren't you a little young to drink coffee?" He said, raising one eyebrow as he watched me bounce. I could hear the teasing lilt in his voice and it stung almost as much as the dig at my age. "Sure it wasn't candy? Get lost in Willy Wonka's ass for a day? Taste his everlasting gobstoppers?"

"That's gross."

"Since when do I ever say anything tasteful?" he shot back and then leaned into the familiar corner of the elevator.

"Not once since I met you." I shrugged. I didn't add in the fact that it was his crudeness that drew me to him.

"And never once before," he said with a passing glance at the floor number that was slowly ticking by. "I hate this thing. What a crappy elevator. I take faster shits than this thing moves."

I wasn't sure what sort of look must have crossed my face then, but whatever it was had amused him to the point of a small chuckle. Which was saying something for him, considering his face rarely changed at all. "You look surprised, kid. What, have you never heard anyone talk about taking a shit before? Are you one of those prudes who claims not to fart?"

"No," I muttered and shifted a little. I had never heard anyone older than me talk in such a crude way. Of course, I was used to those adults being teachers or holding other positions that demanded a certain level of class. Obviously Corporal didn't come from the same walk of life, and I hadn't exactly expected him to talk in a way that was well-mannered. However, I had hoped that my first trip into his apartment would have been a conversation that didn't involve bowel movements. What a romantic. Shits and farts.
"Good. I can't deal with people who walk around with a stick up their ass."

"You don't seem like you can deal with people in general."

"That's true," he agreed and the corner of his mouth twitched. "There are only a select few that I tolerate."

"Like the girl at The Wall?" I asked and then promptly clamped a hand over my mouth. I didn't mention that I had gone past his club and I wasn't planning to do so, but the word vomit had decided to come up and ruin that secret.

"Didn't I say you were too young to go there?" he chastised and the icy tone coloring his voice was unmistakable. I lowered my hand back to my side and opened my mouth to speak, ready to defend myself, but he cut me off, "Seriously, if I get shut down because your kindergarten ass just had to see what I do for a living, I will give you the beating of your life."

"I didn't even go inside!" I exclaimed defensively and then quickly lowered my voice when his eyes narrowed, "I mean, I wasn't even planning to go there. It just sort of happened."

"How did you 'just sort of' go to The Wall? Nobody 'just sort of' goes there."

"Well, it's right by Trost. I actually had no idea that it was so close, and I never come from that direction. Not at night, anyway." I added the last bit because it was true. There were certain parts of the city that you just didn't walk through after sundown, and that street was one of the few that made me uncomfortable when it was dark and I was alone.