Nick didn’t even look fazed. “Enough to keep my life together. I’ll let you borrow some. You obviously need it,” he smirked at me.
“Alright, alright,” Hannah scolded us before motioning for me to continue. She was definitely the mom of our little group. Nick was the brother that I never had. Together, we were a dysfunctional family, one that I wouldn’t trade for the world.
“Oh, this is one of the best parts. You wouldn’t guess who also got the internship with me,” I said as I sat up more. I was dying to share this news with them today.
“Who?” Hannah asked, her eyes widening with interest.
“Sara Deland,” I replied, watching both of their faces explode with shock.
“I would quit. She’s going to make your life hell,” Nick muttered as he shook his head.
“I can’t quit. I need this internship to graduate,” I sighed as I leaned my head back against the couch and stared up at the ceiling, which had some random hairline crack in it. I didn’t want them to update the apartment, though. They would just raise my rent, which I was barely affording as it was.
Hannah and Nick shared a sympathetic look with one another. They wanted the best for me. They were able to secure internships last semester at great companies. Nick leaned toward tech, while Hannah ventured closer to the health and medical field. Every kind of business needed marketing professionals.
I didn’t have a certain field in mind. I just wanted to help out businesses that had good morals and goals. The dream would be to start a company with my closest friends, but that would take a massive amount of work and funding. For our capstone class together, we got to pretend we could actually pull it off by developing a business plan together, but that was probably as far as our idea would go.
“Hey, if you can handle this bad first day, you can handle anything, including Sara,” Hannah told me with a comforting smile. She took my hand that held my drink and lifted it closer to my lips.
I laughed softly and took a long sip of my drink, feeling the faint burn of alcohol sizzle down into my stomach. I wished that my recounting of today ended there, but it didn’t. I hadn’t even gotten to the best part yet.
“I faced another issue today,” I replied.
“The boss, right?” Nick asked me.
I nodded with a sigh. I loathed the idea of running into him again. It didn’t help that my office wasn’t far from his. That increased my chances of crashing into him again, and I was sure that I was going to get fired if I crossed him another time. He must be a perfectionist, someone that didn’t believe in mistakes or second chances.
“I ran into him and spilled coffee on him,” I said quietly.
“Oh… Madi,” Hannah sighed. Even she couldn’t find a silver lining in that situation.
“Good. Humble him,” Nick said as he nudged me with his shoulder. “Hey, this stuff happens to everyone.”
I gave him a pointed look. “Did you spill coffee down your boss’ shirt on the first day of your internship too?” I asked him.
Nick held my gaze for a few seconds before breaking out into a sheepish grin.
“No. I’d probably never do something like that,” he chuckled.
I groaned and covered my face with my free hand.
“I’m just waiting for that email telling me that I’m fired. He was so mad at me,” I told them. I was grateful for Brittany sticking up for me against her own boss, but she only had so much power against him. If Tyler wanted me gone, I would be gone, and I wouldn’t be able to fight his decision.
“You’re not going to get fired. It was an accident,” Hannah assured me as she gave me a comforting squeeze.
I felt a hint of comfort before my phone buzzed on the coffee table in front of us. My blood ran cold when I saw Brittany’s name on a new email. That had to be it. I was already done for. Tyler was so offended that I spilled coffee down his fifty-dollar shirt that he had me fired. Sara would be ecstatic to have him all to herself.
“No matter what that email says, we have pizza and alcohol,” Nick reminded me.
I let out a long breath before grabbing my phone off the coffee table. I opened the email notification and let my eyes skim over the message.
Madison and Sara,
What a great first day! It’s wonderful having you two on board. All of your paperwork will be processed this week, so look out for your first paycheck at the end of the week. I hope you enjoyed touring the building today and meeting some of your fellow colleagues. Tomorrow, the actual work will begin. Come prepared and rested!