The Intern (BWWM)

Chapter 6

It was Monday. Exactly 2 days since the company gala. Exactly 2 days since she had danced with Mr. Vanderbilt. Exactly 2 days since they locked lips.

Leilani didn't know what to expect walking into the office. She hadn't heard anything from Mr. Vanderbilt. She assumed maybe he was keeping quiet so he could just fire her as soon as she walked in today.

Leilani had decided to wear a skirt suit. It was red, her blouse was white, and her heels were white as well. This time, she wore her hair down in the loose waves like she did at the gala. It wasn't intentional, the hairstyle had stayed intact and she didn't feel like taking a comb through her head.

When she made it to the office, her heartbeat began speeding up. She stopped at her desk first, not ready to address Mr. Vanderbilt just yet. Leilani dropped her briefcase and purse, plopping down in her desk chair, burying her face in her hands.

Leilani was about to pull out her journal but was stopped when Mr. Vanderbilt called her into his office over the intercom. She swallowed hard and stood up, walking slowly to the office.

"Good morning, Mr. Vanderbilt." Leilani greeted him, weakly. Seeing him again did something to her. The site of him gave her butterflies and made her palms sweaty.

At the site of Leilani, Mr. Vanderbilt couldn't help but stare. For some reason, his thoughts and how he viewed her had changed. He found her to be more breathtaking. And he couldn't stand it. This wasn't like him. This was going against everything he had promised himself.

Mr. Vanderbilt took a deep breath and focused his attention elsewhere. His current task at hand was giving Leilani her purse that she had left at the gala on Friday. "The gala dropped this off this morning," he spoke as he dug around in his desk drawer for something. Shortly, he revealed the silver clutch that Leilani used to accessorize her outfit.

"Wow, I had totally forgotten about that." She revealed. Honestly, she had. The only thing inside the purse were breath mints and lip gloss. Leilani reached over, taking the purse from his hands. Their fingers touched, a little static shock surprising them both. "Thank you." Leilani states.

Silence lingered in the air between them. "Um, do you have anything for me?" Leilani asked, hoping for something to keep her occupied. Mr. Vanderbilt laughed foolishly. "Oh, yes. I can't believe I almost forgot." He lifts a relatively thin, yellow folder, and passes it over to Leilani. "This is it." He tells her simply. She grabbed the folder, quickly smiling at him as she exited his office.

Leilani wondered if they would ever be able to address the situation. It wasn't like it was bad. Well, was it? She locked lips with her boss. So, maybe it was bad? It didn't feel bad...

When 5pm rolled around, Leilani's work was done and she was headed to the elevator.

"Hey, Leilani! Wait up." Sally's voice called after her. Leilani stopped the elevator doors from closing to see her work pal. "Hey, Sally. What's up?" She greeted her. "Nothing much. A few of us are headed to the penthouse for after work drinks. Did you wanna join us?" Sally invited her. Leilani shrugged. "Sally, you know I'm underage..." she trailed off. Sally giggled. "So what?"

At that moment, Leilani whole heartedly felt that "so what". Sally was right. So what? So what she kissed her boss? So what she had a little bitty crush on him. Who cares? As long as she kept everything to herself, she didn't think it was too bad.

Leilani soon realized that the Penthouse was actually an entire top floor in the company business that had been turned into a company bar. It was dim lit, jazz music played lowly through the speakers, and served food.

"Wow. I would've never thought this would be here." Leilani said to Sally, who had already had them at the bar eating cashews and sipping martinis. Leilani had taken off her blazer and gotten comfy. "Mr. Vanderbilt had it built for whenever he wanted to schmooze his business partners. He's over there in the corner with them now, actually." Sally noticed, pointing in their bosses direction. Leilani followed Sally's finger, watching Mr. Vanderbilt interact with two other men in a secluded section.

Leilani realized that she was staring too hard when Mr. Vanderbilt caught her gaze. They analyzed each other for a long two minutes before Leilani brought her attention back to the olives she had began eating. She wanted the feelings she was developing to go away. He was twice her age for crying out loud!

"You okay, girl? You look glum." Sally noticed. "I'm fine..." she lied. Sally sucked her teeth. "Let's talk about it." Sally suggested, sliding another drink into Leilani's face. "Nothing... it's just this guy. I don't get him." Leilani made sure she was vague, but detailed enough so sally wouldn't ask too many questions.

"Well, go on. Drink and speak." Sally encouraged. Leilani took a big gulp from her martini and told a brief summary of Friday nights events. "Wow, and he's put you on his shit list now?" Sally inquired. Leilani shook her head, "I guess so."

After two and a half hours of drinking, Sally headed out and Leilani found herself trapped at the bus stop, rain pouring down on her. She had no umbrella as she used her leather briefcase to cover her head.

She looked at the time on her watch, noting that the next bus wouldn't come for another fifteen minutes. She couldn't go back inside because the janitors had locked up the place for maintenance. "Great." Leilani muttered, miserably. There she was, halfway intoxicated and being attacked by rain.

Nearly in tears, Leilani saw a black limo pull in front of her. The screeching of the breaks had caught her attention. The windows rolled down and Mr. Vanderbilt popped his head out.

"Can I give you a ride?" He asked her, smiling weakly.