The Intern

Chapter 10

Anger rushed through me the moment my knees had hit the floor of the elevator. Who the hell did that short little asshole think he was? What gave him the right to send some middle-aged dick with an obvious leather-fetish to ruin my night further? Sure, I'd been an hour late and even I could admit that didn't look good, but I had hoped he would have given me at least five seconds of his time to explain myself. I was agonized moments before, but I was furious now and I refused to curl up and scream my lungs empty in some desperate form of self-pity. That wasn't who I was. I would not cry over him, but I wouldn't avoid him either. I would kick his fucking door down if I had to. I needed him and the night he had promised me. I needed him in my system as badly as he needed to get me out of his.

And like hell was I going to back down now.

The elevator may have been slow, but it had barely made it to the second floor by the time I had made up my mind. I punched the button and was shoving my way out the doors before they even had the chance to open all the way. I didn't have time for something that would take me up to my floor and back down at a snail's pace. I wasn't giving him the opportunity to sit there for more than five minutes, smug with the false knowledge that he had won. I would show him that he couldn't jerk me around this way and play with my emotions as he just had. I may have been willing to submit to him in his office, but I was nobody's bitch to be toyed with.

I ran down the steps like they were some smooth steep incline, taking them two and three at a time as I braced myself on railing for leverage. I had made it out into the lobby with just enough time to see the retreating form of the leather-clad asshole Levi had sent to harass me. I wanted to punch him in the back of the head, but I decided to save my anger for the one who actually deserved it. I ran after the wannabe Levi, pushing my way out of Trost's doors and into the street. I watched as he walked up the steps leading to The Wall and then he ducked inside of the building, disappearing from my view.

I was there a moment after, struggling against the burn in my lungs to speak to the woman that had whipped me before, "Where is he?"

"Who?" She drew out the 'o' in a playful way that made me think of a sassy owl. She knew exactly who I meant, but it was obvious she was going to make me work for the information.

"Levi," I spoke the word on an exhale, still recovering from my marathon run. Once again, I realized that I would have to start working out if I was going to have any hope of keeping up with this man.

"Sorry!" Her voice rang in a playful singsong tune that conflicted horribly with my current mood. "There's no Levi here tonight."

The emphasis she put on his name was all the information I needed. "The Corporal. Is he here?"

"Why yes indeed-y. But!" She held up her crop and then playfully bopped me on the nose with it. I tried to keep the murderous intent from my eyes as I stared at her, and she grinned wider at the attempt. "Unless you suddenly aged oh, I don't know, four years in the past three days, I can't let you in."

I was not in the mood to play around and responded in a snapping tone, "Yea, I did. It's a new experiment they're working on. Insta-grow. Now let me in."

"Experiments!" She squealed as she clapped her hands together and practically bounced in place. It looked like she were some teenage girl swooning over a piece of man candy, and the reaction wouldn't have fit properly on anyone but her. Somehow she seemed like the mad scientist type. "Oh, I know you're kidding, you little tease. But oh! If you weren't we could talk about it all night!"

I had no doubt she could talk until sunrise, but I didn't have the time to find out. "Come on, Hanji, just let me see him."

"That's Mistress Hanji to you!" She corrected with another tap of the crop to my nose and I wrinkled it instinctively. Then she paused, blinking, "Wait, how do you know my name?"