Offices and Orchards (A New Adult Sweet Romance)

Chapter 1

The conference room table was large and heavy, made of dark wood, built to last. Various scratches were visible all over its surface, proof of the work that had been performed upon it and the meetings that had occurred around it. It gave the otherwise bright and airy room a feeling of seriousness. Five college students sat quietly around it, waiting for the meeting to start as the sun of a Monday morning in August streamed through the windows, landing on the grey carpeted floor of the meeting room. Autumn Barnett, the only high-school grad of the group, sat upon one of the charcoal-colored leather chairs which matched the carpet. She wrung her hands together in her lap, willing her palms to dry up and trying, but figuring she was failing to appear as relaxed as she would have liked the others to think. It was the first day of her internship as a junior advisory officer at a financial firm in Harvest Hills, Vermont. To say that she was nervous was an understatement.
Staffordshire and Wells had offices all over the country, and even a few international ones. Working here was her dream job. She had been so proud to get the internship, but now that she was here, she couldn't stop wondering if she was enough. Good enough or smart enough. She knew she was hopeful enough at least. Maybe even determined enough. You can do this. You can do this. She repeated the mantra. Exhaling, she stole a glimpse around the room.
The windows on one side of the meeting room permitted views of the neighbouring buildings, the sun glinting off of the glass. On the other, the glass wall was frosted on the bottom half, and fully transparent on the upper half, showing the tops of various work-spaces, and beyond those, the doors to offices and other meetings rooms, Autumn supposed. The projector facing the front of the room was attached to the ceiling, and its screen was currently stored away, leaving visible a whiteboard mounted on the bare wall flanked by large potted plants. The wall at the back of the room was also bare, save for a photograph with an intricate, gilded, golden frame around it, exhibiting two people in country clothing with their arms around each other's shoulders in a display of friendship. They were standing in front of a farmhouse in a forest or an orchard of some kind. Autumn had sneaked a peak at the golden plaque underneath on her way in; it was an image of Mr. Staffordshire and Mrs. Wells, the founders of Staffordshire and Wells. I wonder if I'll be ever to get to that level some day, she thought to herself. So that my photo is on the wall of a company I founded. She exhaled again as quietly as possible, still nervous. This was basically the kind of meeting room that she had always hoped she would find herself working in. But the uncertainty kept creeping in. nothing could distract her from the feeling that she wasn't enough.
Under the photo frame was a small side buffet, also made from dark, heavy timber, upon which was laid coffee and food. The scent of freshly-baked goods had reached her nose the moment she had entered the room. There. Focus on that impressive spread, she told herself, her stomach rumbling in agreement. There was a basket of croissants, the steam from the oven was still rising off the top, another with danishes and muffins, and two pitchers of what she thought looked like freshly pressed-juice on ice next to a fruit tray decorated with carved fruit. Not a bad distraction, she thought, as she imagined biting into the peach slices. Fresh, summer fruit was among her favourite foods. The vice grip she held on her own hands loosened at the same time and she enhanced the distraction from her nerves by thinking about the juice and the croissants.
Although it felt like forever to Autumn, she had probably only been sat down for two minutes when a man in his mid-thirties wearing a navy blue suit entered through the glass doors and went to the front of the room. He was followed by a good-looking woman with a short, dark blonde, messy bob wearing a cap-sleeved black dress with red pumps and a bright silk scarf who sat down next to him, and a second man, also in a navy blue suit. The first man, tall, slim, wearing a pink business shirt with beige pants and a navy blazer, addressed the group of interns sat around the table. "Welcome to you all! We are very pleased to have you all here at Staffordshire and Wells. I'm William Staffordshire Jr., one of the managing directors here at the Harvest Hills branch. This here is our managing director of operations, Ms. Melora Cardiff," he gestured to his left to the woman he had entered with and then to his right, "and this is Mr. Thomas Bradwaithe, our director of finance". He looked at each of the people at the table, making eye contact with all of them as he spoke. "Here at S and W, we only hire one type of person: someone we know that can live up to our very high expectations, and someone who will fit in and contribute to the S and W family." His hands held the top of one of the leather chairs. "This is the same for our interns as well, and you all made the cut. Congratulations!" He pulled out the chair and lowered himself into it. "We really do want you to feel like you're part of the S and W family here. We strive to create an environment that goes beyond being just a workplace, and one that you want to contribute to everyday. It's a special place to work."
Autumn nodded agreement in response along with the rest of the group, her heart racing with excitement and pride for making it here. But now she was even more nervous. Why had they selected her? Did she stand out over other applicants? How could they tell if she was somebody able to contribute? Or even fit in? What was it about her? She began to question herself, the doubts creeping back in.
"It's particularly special to me to be here, because Harvest Hills is where Staffordshire and Wells was started, by my father. Mrs. Wells on the other hand, you might not meet her for awhile, she travels around, and is currently in London." Mrs. Wells! It was a woman? Autumn blinked in surprise. She thought it was misters stafforshire and Wells. "Speaking of which, some of you may be interested in doing so yourself, and you will be pleased to know that we often have opportunities for projects all over the country, and overseas in London, Tokyo and Paris and we are currently opening an office in Sydney, Australia." Autumn's heart leapt up into her throat. Sydney, Australia? Autumn had always wanted to go to Australia. An image of her sat next to Mr. Staffordshire on the plane flashed into her mind. This was followed by an image of her surfing on Bondi Beach. She forced these images out of her mind, and refocused on Mr. Staffordshire. "With that said, I have some particularly exciting news to announce, something that we have never done with our interns before. One of you, if you want to, at the end of your internship here, may be selected to assist on a short-term project at the new branch in Sydney. It'll be a chance to put all of the skills you have acquired throughout your internship to the test." Autumn's heart raced even faster. An opportunity to go to eternally-summery Australia being announced on my first day? This seemed too good to be true. But one of the reasons that Autumn had applied to intern at S and W was the opportunities it could offer her. So she gave a small smile and nodded. Taking a peek at the others, they seemed equally as excited if the wide-eyes and suppressed smiles were anything to judge by. No, don't get your hopes up. There's just no way you'll be able to get it.
"We'll have more information available after your orientation, but, even as interns, you are all eligible to apply. The best part is, this is in addition to being awarded a summer job for next year." He looked around at everyone, and Autumn was certain he kept eye contact with the others a little longer than with her.
"I'm going to pass around a book. It's a history of all of our employees. When you sign your name inside, it represents the start of your S and W journey, not only as an intern, but as an employee. That's how we see you for the next three months. Part of the family." He smiled, his lips curling up to reveal very white, straight teeth. "With that said, I'll just leave you all to your welcome breakfast. Introduce yourselves to each other and relax. You'll spend the rest of the day on orientation and I'll come by to your departments to meet you properly later on. Enjoy, and once again, welcome to S and W." A few thank-yous were murmured and a thin, tall man who had slipped in during Mr. Staffordshire's talk got up to hold the door open as the executives left the room. The tall man then followed them out, catching up to Mr. Staffordshire and appearing to relay information to him from a clipboard: His assistant telling him about meetings and plans, Autumn supposed.
"And so it begins," A good-looking sandy-haired guy in a grey suit said, moving from his chair to look down at the book. "Staffordshire and Wells Employee Log." he removed a pen from inside his jacket's inner pocket, probably a fancy pen he had made sure he would have on him just for such occasions, Autumn thought. "To be honest, I didn't think some of you would make it," he said condescendingly, throwing Autumn a look. "So modest," Autumn muttered to herself. Well, he hasn't changed at all. Still entitled, no regard for others. One of the popular jocks at high school I bet. Autumn looked away, her chest tightening up in dislike.
He, Harvey McIntosh, was the only downside to this internship. Autumn knew of Harvey because they had been in the same group at the group interview stage of the application process for the internship. They had learnt very quickly that they had very little in common and did not get along.
Harvey laughed at his own stupid joke. Try and tone down the sarcasm, he told himself. She definitely hadn't realised he was just messing around. He had been pleased to see her when he had walked in that morning. Autumn Barnett. The beautiful redhead with the wide green eyes, and the full soft lips but who never smiles. He thought that if she just dropped the snobbiness, they could actually be friends. More even, if he was lucky, but every time he tried to talk to her, it came out stupid-sounding and she never got his jokes. It had been so difficult to talk to her at the interview stage. He gripped the pen his proud dad had given him as a congratulatory gift for getting the internship and went to sign in the book.
"We actually had to work to get here, McIntosh, thank you very much." A tall young woman with dark brown, straight hair, olive-skin, and chocolate eyes said to him and grabbed the pen out of his hands. "Whatever you say, Reid, but we're basically in the same position now." The brunette smiled at him with mock sweetness. "That might be, but we definitely didn't get it in the same way now, did we?" Harvey McIntosh shrugged, not taking her bait. The others could not tell if they were teasing each other or not and neither were they sure of what Reid was getting at.
"Just don't pay any attention to her," he informed the rest of the group. Autumn looked back and forth at the two of them; maybe she felt the same way about Harvey as did Autumn. Amber signed her name in the book, and handed the pen back to Harvey, smiling sweetly "Anyway, I'm Amber Reid everyone," Amber and Autumn had also met back at the interview stage, but Autumn figured she wouldn't remember her. "You might know me already, I'm Harvey McIntosh," he announced to the group. "We met before, didn't we?" Amber said to Autumn. "Yes, I'm Autumn, it's nice to meet you," she said politely, quietly. The two girls shook hands.
"So, what floor is everyone on?" Amber said loudly, with all of the confidence. Autumn looked down at her personalised orientation package that had allowed her to find her seat at the conference table when she had first come in, flipping to the first page. "I'm on seven. You?"
"Great. Same here. We'll be able to have lunch together. Once we finish putting McIntosh in his place," Amber gave Harvey a playful nudge.
"You're all talk, Reid," McIntosh retorted, with a small smirk on his lips. Autumn figured their familiarity with each other was more than just from interview day, because it seemed they did indeed know each other, "But by all means, feel free to lunch while the rest of us work. It won't be you getting the job next summer." He nudged her back.
"Work hard and smart, Harvey, you'll soon learn how to do that from me." Amber flipped her hair and smirked at him.
"Anyway, speaking of lunch..." one of the others in the room muttered, walking over to the side table to pick up a plate. Autumn followed his lead. "Hi Autumn, I recognise you from the interview stage. I'm Rusty."
"It's nice to see you again. Congratulations." She reached out her hand to shake his.
"And to you as well. I'm not surprised you got this." He smiled at her, making her cheeks flush pink. What did he mean by that? "You really stood out at the interviews." Her cheeks darkened to fuschia. "Oh! Tha- Thank you." Was all she could manage, certain he was just saying that to be nice. Getting the internship had been pretty competitive. In addition to the normal CV and references, there were report card and essay submissions, group and individual interviews, follow-up phone interviews. A lot of people had wanted one of the five positions that had been up for grabs. And somehow Autumn had gotten one. She was here, but she still didn't feel like she belonged.
In any case, while she was here, she was going to eat. In a few moments, she'd loaded her plate up, her stomach growling loudly, reminding her that it had been ages since she'd eaten. Her breakfast had been neglected due to nerves about starting the internship and meeting all the new people. And about what she would wear, and how she would look. These things always made her nervous. She had decided on a cream blouse and black skirt, very basic, but sensible. Professional.
It was all a bit awkward, Autumn thought, she wondered if the others were as nervous as she. Probably not. Definitely not in Harvey's case. Neither Amber's.
"You going to get food?" Harvey asked the other recruit who had just signed his name."For sure. I'm Arthur Griffiths by the way." They shook hands and Arthur headed over to the food table. Autumn sat down next to Amber, who held a cup of coffee in her hands, the scent of the brew wafting over and up to Autumn's nose. Autumn, who didn't drink coffee, took a bite from one of the croissants to mask the smell. "Can't eat 'til I've had my coffee," Amber took a sip, "Ummm. dark roast and strong."
"Kind of like you," Harvey added mysteriously. They probably dated or something, Autumn thought, given their familiarity with each other. Amber took another sip. "Would anyone else like some?"
"Offering to get everyone coffee already? Seems like you know your way around here already." Harvey said, What a jerk, Autumn thought, glancing back down at her plate.
Harvey caught Autumn rolling her eyes. Argh! She thinks you're serious dude. Just smile at her so she knows you're joking. He flashed his teeth, but she had already looked away.
"The first and last time. By the way, it's the year 2000. We are nearly in the twenty-first century. you shouldn't be making those kinds of comments. Plus I wasn't offering you anything," Amber quipped back. "So Arthur, it's nice to meet you. Do you know what floor you're on?" She reached across the table to shake his hand.
"Yes, I'm on the 5th, I'm in tax and bookkeeping ." Arthur jerked his thumb towards Rusty. "He's in auditing."
"Autumn and Harvey are in advisory and I'm in support." Amber informed them.
The introductory conversations continued and each of the five shared a little bit of their background. Amber, Rusty and Arthur went to different colleges, but the latter two had interned last summer at DAYN, a leading financial firm in the country after their sophomore year. Autumn was shocked to learn that she was the only one of the five who hadn't even begun college. Made her feel even more shy and inadequate when it came to her turn to share her story. "I'm going to be at Newport next year, commerce major. This is my first experience as an intern."
Newport was a coastal city only a few hours away from her hometown. She was majoring in commerce with a minor in international communication. The internship was counting towards first year credit, so she could join straight into second semester classes in January.
"Baby of the group!" Amber said as if she owned the place "Welcome!".
Harvey did not share too many details about his situation, but Autumn knew he had interned at S and W before and that he had connections to the Staffordshires: she had heard someone talking about how he knew the Staffordshire family at one of the earlier application stages. Maybe Amber knew that too, which is why she made the earlier comments about him getting the job there without having to work for it. Instead of talking about himself, Harvey referred them all to their orientation package and schedule for the day, which took over the conversation for the next few minutes as they all finished eating.
"We have about half an hour to go before individual department meetings," Amber stated matter of factly, glimpsing at her watch. "Come on, Autumn. I'll show you to your new workspace." Amber said, refilling the coffee cup to take with her. Autumn was relieved that she could leave with someone, who knew the way.