The Intern

Chapter 5

I knew it was a mistake the moment the word left my lips. The name he had given me was only acceptable in the private, cramped spaces of slow moving elevators, and I didn't need the death glare he was shooting me now to make me aware of that fact. Yet there it was, the menacing look in his eyes that had me certain that he could perform the most nefarious tortures on baby kittens and still keep a bored look on his face. I could feel myself melting under the heat of his stare and contemplated making a quick exit out the nearest window of the high rise.

"What was that?"

Levi's expression altered so quickly that I had to wonder if his face ever looked anything other than indifferent. The irritation was gone from his eyes, replaced with skeptical look that was so condescending it was tangible. My urge to find the nearest escape was no more subdued by his current expression than his previous one. In fact, as I saw a smirk twitch on the corner of his lips, I was sure this look was worse. He was going to toy with me now, in front of everyone, and we both knew there wasn't a damn thing I could do about it.

"I asked you a question, kid," he prompted me once more, and this time he walked towards our little group of interns. I fought the urge to take a step back, determined to stand my ground. "What was that you said? Just now, what did you call me?"

"I..." I dragged the letter out for so long that it sounded like I was readying my pipes to sing a song. My mind raced with all the words that could possibly rhyme with corporal that would get me out of this mess. Nothing was coming to mind. What a horrible word. It had to be a poet's worst nightmare.

"Out with it, kid, we don't have all day to wait for the fucking punch line."

I heard Armin's gasp beside me, and knew he was reacting to the expletive. He had never met Levi before and was completely unaware of the lack of class that the raven-haired midget was capable of exhibiting. I wasn't even entirely certain who Levi was, especially not at this point, but I knew that he had no qualms with cursing up a storm regardless of the people surrounding him. It was almost reassuring to realize I still knew one thing about him. He was himself in spite of the fact that he was in front of his boss and wearing a suit that probably cost more than a month's rent.

I could tell his patience was wearing thin, and I knew without looking that everyone had stopped to stare at us. They were all waiting and I had run out of ways to explain away the name. Why had I opened my mouth and said that word? I knew the answer, of course, as much as I tried to avoid it. I wanted to call him out in front of everyone and make him realize that he had been caught in the lie he'd spun up for the past three days. Whether it mattered to him or not was another thing entirely, but it mattered to me. As stupid as it sounded, I was proud to have dug up any information concerning the man that had occupied my dreams for the past few nights. Now I was back to square one.

"Shit or get off the pot, kid." He said, snapping his fingers in front of my face. I recoiled from the sound like an offended cat and blurted out the word everyone had heard me say the first time around.

"Corporal."

"That's what I thought."

Then why the hell did you make me repeat it, asshole?

I kept the comment to myself through sheer force of will, biting my cheek to give my teeth something to do other than flap me into another problem. He was relishing my torment, and I knew that there was more torture to come. The mischievous glint in his eyes had appeared the instant I said the word for the second time, and I had to wonder once more what the name really meant to him. I had visions of whips and chains, the scent of leather heavy in my nose and his breath hot on my neck as he ripped the word from my lips again and again.