Tick Tock

three

TIME LEFT: 6 MONTHS AND 1 WEEK 

I quickly left my seat and followed Mr White into his room. I closed the door behind me as he sat down behind the desk. "You wanted to see me, Mr White?" I asked whilst trying to hide the anxiousness I felt. I didn't think I did anything wrong but when he met my eye, I wasn't too sure anymore. 

"It's been about a month since you started interning here right, Eleanor?" I nodded at his question and waited for him to continue. "How has the experience been so far?" He set his gaze on me and my mouth felt dry at the sudden question. I didn't want to say anything wrong that would give him a bad impression. He was my boss after all. 

"It's been very good and educational. I learnt a lot about the field and it's only been a month so I'm sure there is much more for me to pick up." I said the first answer that came to mind, quickly realizing that it sounded a bit too much like a textbook answer. Mr White didn't respond immediately, it made me worry if I sounded insincere or fake. 

"Okay," he said followed by a hum as I nervously bit my lip, silently hoping that I looked more composed than I felt. "I'm glad you're benefiting from your time here. I just wanted to check up on you, seeing as I was put in charge of you." I let out a breath of relief and plastered a small smile on my face. "The workload is not too overwhelming for you?" 

I shook my head, perhaps a bit too aggressively. "No, I've been managing everything well. Everyone in the office is very helpful as well so it makes working easier." I said earnestly and he bobbed his head in satisfaction. 

"Well, that's good to hear. That should be all, you can go back to work." I took that as my cue to leave the room. I quickly thanked Mr White and moved to open the door. 

I walked to my desk and went back to the work given earlier. After I was done with that, I organized the papers and files on my table. My desk was never completely cleared no matter how many times I try to tidy the papers and post-it notes. By the time I was done, Nick called me over to help him with some work. 

"I normally do this by myself but Mr White said I should give you more work." He said as he stacked some papers on his desk. "You just need to refer to these appointments here," he handed me a notebook as he explained. "And send emails to the clients involved to confirm the meeting or appointment." I nodded and took the book he held out to me. "Simple enough?" 

"Yeah, I think I can handle it." I replied and he turned back to his computer, leaving me to go back to my own desk. I looked at the clock and it was already ten o'clock, so I quickly got to work and opened my staff email. I turned to Nick when I realized something, "Hey, Nick?" I heard him mutter a 'yeah' so I continued. "Do I need to sign off the emails?"

"I'll just forward you a sample email for reference." He spared me a glance as he said this and I muttered a quick 'thank you'. 

The rest of the day passed by faster that I would imagine and soon I found myself packing up to go home at five in the evening. I managed to finish everything so I could go home like most employees. "Bye Nick, see you tomorrow." I said as I usually do when I leave, my phone in one hand as I waved goodbye. 

"Bye." He looked up and raised an eyebrow when he saw the phone in my hand. "Well you finished early today." I shrugged and he didn't pry any further. "Have a nice night, Nick." 

"Thanks, you too." I headed home after that, having decided to take a cab this time round. I knew I was being paranoid after the whole Friday incident but you can't ever be too careful. I tried not to think too much about what I saw and what the man said. 

Just as I got off the cab and entered the elevator that would bring me up to my apartment, I received a message. My heart stopped for a second when I considered the option that it was him. I looked at the message and let out a sigh of relief when I realized it was just the group chat.