“Something real,” I repeat with a smirk. “What does that mean ?”
“Well I can’t go home with just an internship, now can I? Internships are supposed to turn into real jobs .”
“Sometimes they do, sometimes they don’t. You think your internship went well? You got promoted just like that ?”
“I think my internship went amazing ,” she answers with a twinkle in her eye. Does she have to flirt like this? “I definitely think I got promoted. I’m practically running the place now .”
I can’t help but chuckle. She really is adorable. “Okay then. A real job. Doing what ?”
The jet lifts into the air, leaving the ground behind. Leaving all of last week behind, just like that .
“Well, do you have something in media? Television? Movies? It is California .”
“Hmm… not really. Television is kind of a dying industry. I do have a small company that does videos, like short dramas. Web-based .”
She raises her eyebrows at me. “Like soap operas? Like daytime television ?”
“Yeah, I don’t know if that really exists anymore,” I laugh. “But I think you might like it, now that you mention it. It’s right downtown, as a matter of fact. They have been doing really well, and I know they just lost a couple of production people. Would you be interested in trying something like that ?”
“It sure sounds like a good start,” she says. I search her eyes, looking for a trace of the woman who was in my arms just this morning. Anything. But no .
“Okay then,” I say finally. I guess it’s all settled .
The jet lands again in about thirty-five minutes, which goes by so quickly. The taxi is waiting on the tarmac when we get there, and we deplane, chatting in a friendly but awkward, albeit professional, way, I suppose .
She looks up at me for just a moment before she gets into the taxi, pushing her hair back from her forehead with her hand. I see fifteen years of her, all layered at once. The young girl, the teenager, the young woman, the vixen, and now the savvy negotiator who just talked me into giving her a pretty great job even though I don’t even know what her major was in college .
“All right, then,” she says brightly, smiling and squinting in the glaring sunlight. “See you soon, Boss !”
She ducks into the taxi and the door thuds closed. As it rolls away, I wonder if I’ve done the right thing. My stomach clenches .
I mean, I don’t know what else I could have done. I’ve never done anything else but say goodbye, over and over again .
So why is this one so hard ?
Chapter 34
AVA
“W ait, this is where you work?” Bea asks, her eyes widening. We go through the revolving glass doors and end up in the wide, marble-lined lobby. I let her look around for a couple of seconds and drink it all in. It’s not my building, like I didn’t build it, but I do still feel pretty proud .
“Yep, this is the place! Fourteenth floor. I’ll show you my cubicle !”
“Oh good, a cubicle,” she repeats wryly. “I’ve never seen one of those before .”
We step into the elevator and I thumb the button for the fourteenth floor, sliding my shiny new access card through the slot .
“Be nice, Bea,” I scold her gently. “It’s just a start. Everybody gets in on an entry level, don’t they ?”
“Not everybody,” she rolls her eyes .
I make a face, cringing. “You didn’t find anything yet?” I ask carefully .
She shakes her head, her lips pressed into a tight line .
“I can’t believe it,” she sighs. “I must’ve given out two hundred resumes, and only three interviews. Still nothing .”
The doors slide open and we walk out into the reception room. The receptionist looks up and smiles from behind her glass desk .