A few minutes later Ms. Statham came by to give me a new assignment. It required me to be out of the office for the next two days and work over at the mid-town office rather than the downtown office. I felt a sense of relief because I wouldn’t have to worry about running into the gorgeous stranger for a couple of days. As quickly as the relief hit me, it vanished and I felt a pit in my stomach. The train. I would probably see him on the train. I decided to change my train schedule to an even earlier train so as not to risk running into him. I stayed at work for another couple of hours and then I headed home.
Chapter 3
The next morning I took a different train to the mid-town office. I was the only intern chosen to work on the assignment at the mid-town office so I hoped that meant that they saw something special in me. I planned to work my butt off. I pushed all thoughts of the gorgeous stranger out of my mind and focused on work. But during my breaks I found myself imagining his hands on me again. He knew just how to touch me, hold me, squeeze me, and I wondered when I would feel his hands on me again. I was getting lost in my thoughts when an admin gave me a huge file folder to work on. I had to prepare spreadsheets and a report giving analysis of one of the company’s biggest investments. I think they wanted to see not only if understood what they did, but also if I could explain it to other people. I was so excited. This was the most hands on assignment I’d had so far. I really liked that this company was very hands on with the interns. I was getting a chance to see what it would be like to have this position as a salaried employee. I didn’t have to do any grunt work and I liked that.
I was working on preparing my spreadsheets when a first year associate in the financing group stopped by my cubicle.
“Hi, I’m Stacy. Sarah, right?” Stacy had been assigned to check my work and help me if needed.
“Right, hi.”
“So how is everything going? Do you have any questions about anything?”
“Not yet. I think I’m OK so far.”
“Just to let you know, the spreadsheets and report you’re preparing are going to be shown to Mr. Hunter. So make sure you triple check all of your numbers.”
I really appreciated her telling me this. “Mr. Hunter, as in the CEO of the company?
“Yes, apparently he wants to wrap up the internship program early this year. The other two interns were sent to two of our other offices and given special assignments as well. This is only my first year so I remember how grueling the internship program was. I can tell that you have an incredible work ethic which is one of the many qualities they are looking for. I love this job and if they hire you I think you will love it too. Good luck and let me know if you need any help.”
“Thanks Stacy, I appreciate it.”
Mr. Hunter was going to see this and he wanted to end the program early this year! Suddenly I was nervous. I wanted this job more than anything so I poured myself into the project. I worked until 11:00 pm and I was exhausted. By the time I got home I just collapsed on my bed and went to sleep.
I arrived early the next day and jumped right into working on my project. I had to turn in a rough draft to Stacy by 11:00 a.m., and I was done by 9:30 a.m. I went to her office and she checked over my numbers and analysis.
“Sarah, I am really impressed with your work. Hang here for a sec while I go show this to my supervisor.”
She had a beautiful office and she was just a first year associate! I wanted this so badly I could taste it. I looked around at her pictures as I sat and waited and imagined, just for a minute, that this was my office. I was going to have the same thing but better. I could feel it. Stacy came back with her boss’s boss, Jim Parker, who was a partner, and he asked me if I would present my findings and analysis at the partner’s meeting the next day at the downtown office.
“Did you say partner’s meeting?” I was a bit nervous and confused.
“I did. We have been really impressed with your work these past few weeks and I think you hit the nail on the head with your findings. It takes most people weeks to figure out what you were able to figure out in less than two days. Your supervisor will be notified and she will attend with you.”
“I would be happy to sir.”
“Oh, sir is not necessary. Just Jim is fine.”
“OK, Jim. I would be happy to attend the meeting.” I loved how laid back and yet buttoned up this company was. Partners made millions of dollars a year and he wanted me to call him by his first name. I loved it.
When I got back to my cubicle I had to restrain myself because I wanted to jump up and down and scream. I was going to present in front of the partners! There was no way I was going to screw this up. As I sat at my desk my mind wandered to the gorgeous stranger again. I was so busy the past several hours that I didn’t have time to think about him very much. I was actually happy about that because it showed me that I was able to focus when necessary and nothing was going to keep me from getting this position. I decided that, until this big meeting was over, whenever he would pop into my mind I would just push him out. My ultimate goal was to be hired at the end of the internship so I had to stay focused.
When I got home that night I practiced my presentation in front of the mirror eight times. I felt good about it by the time I went to bed. I went to bed early so that I would be well rested and alert the next day.
The next morning I felt really good about my presentation. I’d gotten up early, I wore a new suit and didn’t have a hair out of place. I wanted to look like a picture perfect professional in front of the partners. I wanted them to see that I fit with the look of the company. I took the early train again and I wasn’t even thinking about the gorgeous stranger when I walked up the stairs to the second level and I stopped dead in my tracks. What was he doing here? This isn’t the time that he takes the train! I felt weak in the knees just looking at him. I was suddenly acutely aware that I looked silly standing at the top of the landing just staring at him. He just sat there with a sexy smirk on his face. I instantly felt embarrassed about our previous two encounters and looked down at the ground. Not today. Today is too important. I have a huge meeting to think about. I glanced up at him and he was watching me with amused interest as I stood there like an idiot. I quickly snapped out of it and sat down. I pulled out my report to go over it again. Please, please leave me alone today. I don’t think I have the strength to resist you and I have to do well at this meeting.