Repetition Compulsion

16.

Sera:

Sera grabbed her bag and all her belongings, then she followed closely behind Abimbola as he walked down a long passageway.

"First things first", Abimbola said. "You are not a regular intern, you're MY intern.  That means you are mine, and you answer to me only. Is that clear?"

Sera gulped as the sense of entitlement and command behind Abimbola's tone send shivers  down her spine. "Okay", she replied, her voice small with an edge of insignificance. 

"You will still be able to graduate at the end of the year with the the rest of your classmates. You will also be able to work around in the other departments so you can get diverse knowledge on the day to day workings of this place."

Sera found herself wondering about the other candidates. Would they be interviewed? By whom? Would they pass? And how would they feel about her getting all this special treatment? She wasn't sure if this whole experience counted as sleeping her way to the top. 

"With all that being said, I have one number one rule", he said, turning back to look at Sera, a fiery look in his eyes." Your discretion is of utmost importance to me, so by the end of the day, you will be required to sign both a contract and a non-disclosure agreement. Do you understand?"

She nodded in understanding.

"I need to hear you say it, Serendipity."

I really wish he would stop calling me that.

She cleared her throat. "Yes sir."

He whipped out his tablet from his briefcase and then continued taking long strides across the hallway.

 "So what's this meeting about, anyway?", she asked in between more pained breaths as she struggled to keep up with Abimbola's power walks.

"Just a routine staff meeting", he replied casually. "I need you to take minutes".

"Well...don't you have an assistant for that?"

He came to an abrupt stop, then turned around, a serious look now evident on his face. "No. That's your job now. You're my personal assistant and my intern. Okay?"

"Okay", Sera replied. 

Then they continued walking and talking.

Sera noticed that there was no hint of uneven breathing in Abimbola's voice, even though he was walking really fast, whilst simultaneously reading something from his tablet and engaging her in conversation at the same time. Sera ,on the other hand was struggling for breath just trying to keep up with his walking.

She wondered if they would ever discuss what had happened between them the other night or if he would ever bring it up. She also wondered if it would be wise for her to bring it up if he chose not to. Would it affect their working relationship? Would the atmosphere be awkward?

They got to an elevator at the end of the passageway, and as soon as Sera got inside, she started taking deep, rushed breaths because she felt like she had just done an hour of cardio at the gym.

When she finally managed to regain her composure and look up, she found that Abimbola was staring at her, amusement written all over his features.

"Sorry", Sera smiled awkwardly, whilst pushing her hair back and looking down to hide her embarrassment. "I'm a little unfit".

He chuckled lightly, and when Sera looked up, she noticed that his eyes were still on her. So she looked back down again because her stomach was churning with nervous excitement. She couldn't for the life of her figure out what was going on, and why or how this was happening to her.