Roommates

PART 14 : assisant managing director

Sienna's P.O.V

"Well?! How was it?!" Peyton asked me excitedly over the phone.

"It went pretty well, I basically ran a few errands and listened to the directors have a meeting, and then the editor told me I could go home."

"And was it totally like Devil Wears Prada?!" She squealed.

"No!" I laughed. "I'm not an assistant, they're showing me what it'd be like if I were to work there and what they do, and I ran the errands with an assistant to get perspective on the different kinds of jobs all the people in the company have. Plus everyone was really nice, or at least they seemed to be."

"Wow! So cool, I can't believe you got so lucky! I bet you won't wanna go back to college in the fall!"

"I think you're thinking of yourself!" I laughed. Peyton could never decide on a major, she has done Psychology, Linguistics and Entrepreneurship in the time I have done three years of Journalism, and I also took a minor in Management. Her head was completely in the clouds, and she knew the longer she stayed in college, the longer her parents would treat her like a baby and give her anything she wanted, so she was happy with that.

I said my goodbye to Peyton as I entered my apartment building. By the time I made it to my front door my mother and my sister had already texted me multiple times asking how my day went. I made a mental note to reply later, as all I wanted to do was take off my clothes, have a shower and get into my pyjamas. I was exhausted after following Jackie Mayer's assistant all day. Jackie was the chief editor of MOD Magazine and I was surprised I was even allowed to talk to her directly on my very first day.

She was actually quite nice, although you could tell she was deadly serious about her job. She had several assistants doing very important things for her at all times, and the one I got to follow, Lydia, usually did things like oversee photo shoots and help Jackie choose articles to put in each issue of the magazine. There were other assistants in charge of other things, and just like in the movies, there was one assistant, Ava, who brought Jackie her coffee and made sure a cat was organised to chauffeur her anywhere she wanted to go. After my initiation, I would be the new Ava, and if I did that job well I would progress to the next assistant, who did things like answer calls on Jackie's behalf and send out letters to important people.

You had to start at the bottom to eventually be where Jackie is now. But, when I get my degree she told me that I would definitely get a job like Lydia's straight away, she was Jackie's right hand woman and helps Jackie to make decisions. After a few years I'd then be able to become a curator or a co-editor or head of one of the sections of the magazine, and I would have my own assistants then. It was all very exciting and I was eager to show Jackie I was more than capable of becoming someone like that.

There were other interns there in different areas of the magazine, such as a girl who was interested in design and how the magazine looked, and a girl interested in the accounts of the magazine and managing the budgets of all of the elements needed to create it. It was nice not to be the only new person in the building today, it definitely made me feel less stressed.

When I got in Jessie was there, and she ran straight over to be and pulled me down onto the couch to talk about my first day.

"It was so interesting!" I beamed.

"I'm so glad you enjoyed it!" She beamed back.

Jessie did modelling as a sort of job, but she was popular online as well as I discovered after posting a photo with her on Instagram and gaining thousands of followers in the space of a few days. She did deals with lots of brands to promote them and got paid for it. She was also in college studying Economics, which she was pretty interested in.

"We should go for dinner to celebrate your first day!" She said excitedly. I wanted to tell her I was pretty tired and wanted to go to bed, but I didn't want to let her down, she was so excited. I reluctantly agreed and she immediately called up Chelsie to come along. We had gotten fond of Chelsie after getting to know her a little better, and it was nice to have created a little group with the two of them and Quincey.

Chelsie asked if she could bring her friend Morgan along, and we said yes. Jessie told me she knew Morgan from college as they were in the same one.

"She's nice! She's not the brightest bulb but she's so friendly!"

I went into my room to get changed to go out. I gave Jessie a lend of a cute camisole and some skinny jeans and heels as she said we were going somewhere fancy that Morgan had suggested.

I had finished getting ready before her, as she went to talk to her mystery man for ages on the phone while I was changing. I decided to wait for her in the living area and to text my sister and mother back

To : Mom
I had a great first day, going out for dinner with a couple of friends now, I'll call you when I'm home.

I knew she would want to call me to hear exactly what my internship entailed as she was super nosy about it. She had always assumed I would go to college and then get a job in her or my father's company. Which, mind you, wasn't even a real job, because they both owned their companies entirely, and plus my father inherited his from his father, my job would probably be something like "assistant managing director" or something like that. The job would entail answering emails from suppliers and re-ordering anything needed. I would have a few assistants too, so anything I had to do and didn't want to I could pawn off to them, that's what my sister did. She didn't even know what she was doing, she just worked there to make them happy, but I was a lot more stubborn than her. If I got a good job I wanted it to be because I was good at something and I deserved it. Not so I didn't look like a useless offspring who would one day own the company but have no clue what to do with it.

My mother wanted us to be educated but also wanted to baby us. She wanted control over our lives and to protect us. She wasn't rich growing up and so when her company got big and she became wealthy she wanted us to have the life she never had. But that's not what I wanted, not at all.