The Internship

Chapter Twenty

"Their names please?" The woman asked, giving a sweet smile.

I looked at Mitch, nodding my head, as if to let him know it was okay.

"Right, um okay. Well Travis Bush, Callie Jacobs, Colin Andrews, Peter Rosch, and Lucy," he said.

"Do you have a last name for Lucy?" The woman asked.

"No, I didn't know her as well as the others."

"Alright, we'll see what we can do. We'll try to find the names you've given and see where we can go from there. Thank you both."

"No, thank you," I said before standing up. Mitch followed suit and we both shook her hand before walking out of her office.

"You were right, I feel a lot better now," Mitch said as we walked to my car.

"I'm glad but I bet I feel better about this than you."

"Oh! can you take me to the office?" He asked.

"On the weekend?"

"Scott, I am up to my waist in work. If I don't get some done now, I'll be a stressed mess this week and you don't want to deal with that."

I looked at Mitch. He had bags under his eyes that even his concealer couldn't cover, he still had a limp and bruise that hadn't been explained, and he had definitely lost weight. I didn't want him working, I wanted to baby him and make him feel better, but I also didn't want him to become more stressed during the week.

"Okay, sure," I found myself saying. I didn't know if I'd done the right thing.

"Thanks!" He said before pecking my cheek.

We drove to the office with Beyoncé playing from my car's speakers. His hand was holding onto my available one, a tradition that we'd started during drives.

"Do you need me to come in and help? I don't really have anything to do today," I said as we pulled up.

"No, I'm all good. Thank you for the ride and helping me tell someone. You're seriously the best." He kissed me. "Can I call you later? Maybe dinner?"

"Yeah, that's fine."

"Alright bye, love!"

I waved and watched as he walked off, trying to hide his limp.

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"One more!" Kirstie said. We were at the gym and doing push-ups with her sitting on me.

"Ugh, done!" I said as she got off and I rolled onto my back.

"Can you please tell this story again, I don't think I understand," she said while passing me my water bottle.

"They came and trashed his apartment and tried to burn it. They could've killed him, K. But that doesn't explain his limp and bruise."

"So there's more to the story?"

"I think so, yeah."

"He'll tell you when he wants to, Stringbean. He's definitely not the person to push, no one knows his edge and I'd hate for you to accidentally push him off."

"I know that you're right but--ugh! It's just so frustrating. I want him to be able to trust me, you know?"

"Oh honey I've known him for almost half of my life and I still get shut out. Get in line."

I smiled and tossed the water bottle back at her. "Come sit on your throne, princess. It's time for round two."

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