The Intern (BWWM)

Chapter 1

Leilani sat in the waiting room at Vanderbilt Publications. She'd had her legs crossed elegantly, her now clammy palms gripping her writing portfolio, causing a slight dent. She was so nervous. She used her index finger to feel around the edges of her hairline, hoping there weren't any flyaways ruining the neat look of her bun.

Leilani checked the time on her watch, which she had secured around her left wrist. Professional. She was fifteen minutes early and couldn't help the heavy feeling on her chest. She needed to give herself a pep talk.

"Excuse me, ma'am?" Leilani said nervously, standing up and making her way over to the receptionist desk. 

"Yes, how may I assist you?" 

Leilani took a quick glimpse of the receptionist name tag and what she looked like. The woman had porcelain skin, golden blonde hair which had been combed over and pinned back into a low bun, she wore a cream colored silk blouse, and black bottoms. The receptionist also wore a matching pearl set. The name on the desk read: Glenda.

"I was just wondering if there was a restroom I could freshen up in?" Leilani asked, sweetly. Glenda nodded and pointed to a mahogany door behind her desk.

Once inside, Leilani placed her black tote bag on the sink and placed her portfolio inside, not wanting to damage it. She grabbed her make up bag from inside her purse and rummaged through it, fishing out oil blotting pads and her trusted nude lipstick.

After touching up her make up, she backed up a bit, doing a slow twirl as she checked her outfit. Leilani has opted for a rosy pink pants suit. The bottoms were straight legged, stopping above her ankle, a matching blazer, a white blouse with small black polka dots, and black flats.

"You can do this, you can do this..." Leilani told herself. "You need this." She whispered repeatedly, popping in a fresh Altoid after.

Just as Leilani exited the bathroom, a bit less anxious than she was before, she watched Glenda interact with a red headed man looking too well put together.

"Where is this girl?" The man questioned, irritation laced in his voice. 

Leilani quickly walked over to the two, hoping to appease whoever this man was. She was certain the questioned pertained to her as she was the only one in the waiting room.

"Hello, my name is Leilani Jones, I..." she began her brief speech but was rudely interrupted by the man. 

"You kept me waiting." He stated, turning his back to her. "Let's get this over with." The man quickly instructed as he stomped away. 

Leilani shared a straight faced look with her before she jogged behind the man.

She met him in his office, which was at the end of the aisle, exactly eight feet away from the empty clear glass cubicles. Being as though it was only 7:55 in the morning, Leilani gathered that the day must not have started yet for the employees.

The name on the office door read Carter Vanderbilt, CEO. Leilani nearly pissed herself once she read the name. She kept the boss waiting?

Another thing she noticed was the difference between his office and the cubicles. Mr. Vanderbilt's office was not clear class like his employees; but instead, more of a foggy type of style. When she looked through the office enclosure, she couldn't see anything. Pretty cool. Leilani thought to herself.

"You can take a seat there." He instructed, huffing as he ran his hair through his red hair before taking a seat in his office chair. 

The blinds were closed but Leilani saw the sunlight shining through, signaling that there was mostly likely a big glass window behind it.

"Well, do you have anything for me?" Mr. Vanderbilt asked Leilani, who's eyes had been studying the structure of his office. 

She snapped herself back to reality and nodded quickly, opening up her purse and handing Mr. Vanderbilt her portfolio.

Mr. Vanderbilt skimmed through her resumé, her short stories, letters of recommendations, and a few other papers she had written. Leilani found it hard to read his facial expressions. 

"This is good. Not great." Mr. Vanderbilt let out, after the dreadful silence.

Leilani's heart frowned.

"However, I am in need of some serious assistance with the junior writers publication for my company." Mr. Vanderbilt informed Leilani, her eyes lighting up at his words. 

Was this her chance?

"It's very rigorous work. Late nights, early mornings." Mr. Vanderbilt continued. "But, an internship like this is the opportunity of a lifetime."

Before Mr. Vanderbilt could say another word, Leilani stood up and began thanking Mr. Vanderbilt for the opportunity. 

"I am very excited to work here. You will not be disappointed." Leilani squealed.

Mr. Vanderbilt stood up, still straight faced as he was not amused by Leilani's excitement. He reached under his desk, revealing a stack of papers separated by full folders. Leilani's smile depleted as he handed her the papers.

"These are the manuscripts for a few of my junior authors. You will read, edit, and revise them. You have until 4:30pm this afternoon in the office. You are welcome to stay here until 8pm if need be. But, these must be done by the 8am tomorrow morning. If you can't complete these, don't return." Mr. Vanderbilt broke everything down for Leilani.

Yes, the job was already proving to be very demanding but she needed this. 

"Okay." Leilani nodded, her limbs going weak as the weight of the packets bore down on her arms.

Mr. Vanderbilt showed Leilani to the empty cubicle she would be working in. There was a phone, computer, and small printer for her.

"One more thing," Mr. Vanderbilt thought out loud to himself. 

"Yes?" Leilani wondered. What else could he possibly want me to do? Leilani thought. 

"You are to specifically and only address me as Mr. Vanderbilt." He instructed.

Leilani nodded in understanding and turned to face the work in front of her. She rummaged through the desk drawers where she found highlighters and red ink pens.

She noted the time on the digital clock next to the phone: 8:17. 

This was going to be a long day.