Chapter Sixteen
Kat
A few weeks after Dean left for Florida, I started my internship with Silvia at The Locker Room. I was so excited for this opportunity. It was supposed to be the job that would take me closer to a future in sports broadcasting. But all of my plans have gone to shit. I do nothing more than make coffee, photocopy documents, and order lunch for my boss.
My initial vision for this internship was completely different. I thought we would get the chance to at least research topics for articles and write the occasion blurb. Yeah, not quite. Because of my dad, Mr. Hopper, the editor-in-chief, had requested me personally. Most people would say I lucked out. I get to intern for the top dog. But my new boss is a real pain in my ass.
“Katherine, get in here now,” Mr. Hopper screams through the intercom on my desk. He yells so loud I swear the phone trembles along with me.
Shiiittt….
My blood boils from his shrill tone. Mr. Hopper is the only person alive who calls me Katherine. When I first corrected him, he said he wasn’t a fan of nicknames or foolish girls and ignored my request to be called Kat. I’m not his biggest fan. I doubt he’ll ever be mine. I think he secretly hates my dad and chose me as his intern just to punish him. Well, I’m the one who’s getting the shit end of the stick here.
I rush into his office with a notepad and pen in hand. “Yes, Mr. Hopper?”
He looks up from the stack of open books in front of him. Grayish black hair falls in front of his eyes. “Order my lunch.”
“Sure,” I say with a forced smile. “What would you like?”
His phone rings and I stand there, waiting as he raises his finger for me to hold on. I do this a lot. Sit and wait for some asshole to tell me what to do. My dad says you have to work your way up the ladder, but I’m starting to wonder what exactly I’m even learning here, apart from how to order food.
Mr. Hopper growls into the phone at the person who has the unfortunate pleasure of speaking to him. Five minutes pass before he scrawls his order on the top of a takeout menu and throws it at me. The paper falls to the floor at my feet. Tears rush to my eyes, but I force them down. I can’t let this jerk see me cry in front of him. So, I bend down to pick up the menu and leave his office in a hurry.
Once I’m at my desk again, I can’t stop myself from letting it all out. I lean forward, my head between my legs under my desk, sobbing like a baby. This is so unlike me. Why the hell am I crying because he acted like a dick? He does this every day. Even though I don’t like it, I’ve gotten used to it. My emotions are so out of balance lately. I miss Dean more than normal. My heart aches whenever I think about him and the distance between us.
Needing to hear his voice, I remove my cell phone from the desk drawer and dial his number. It rings and rings, the call going to voicemail. He’s been so busy this past week with his training schedule. We haven’t had a lot of time to talk since he started working with his new team. I knew this would happen. My mother went through this with my dad, and so did I. But I couldn’t stop myself from falling for Dean. He had me the second he said hello all those years ago. I just didn’t know it until it was too late.
“Dean, it’s me,” I say into the phone. “Again. Call me, please. I need to hear your voice. I miss you.”
I hang up and then place Mr. Hopper’s order. Staring down at the screen, my heart slams into my ribcage when it lights up with a new text message. But my excitement slowly dissipates when I see it’s from Silvia instead of Dean.
Where are you? I whisper to myself. Why aren’t you answering my calls?
Dean promised to call me every single day. I’m not normally so needy, but anymore, I feel like I’m in physical pain. This is what my mother warned me about. Being so far away from Dean is killing me. I never wanted to feel this way about anyone for this reason.
Silvia: I’m in hell.
Kat: So am I.
Silvia: Come save me.
Kat: I wish I could. Dickface is in a shit mood.
Silvia: Can you sneak out?
Kat: No, his food will be here soon.
Silvia: Meet me at the bathroom on the seventeenth floor on your break.
Kat: K. See ya then.
Thirty minutes later, Mr. Hopper’s food arrives. The scent of fried onions fills my nostrils, causing my stomach to turn. Until today, I liked onions. But now, my stomach is revolting, the chunks rising from the back of my throat. After I take the food into Mr. Hopper’s office, I run to the bathroom as if my life depends on it. I’ve always had a weak stomach. My dad thinks it’s because of food poisoning I had as a kid. But this is something else.
I make it to the bathroom without spilling my guts onto the floor. My stomach feels like it’s at war with the rest of my body. After I finish puking, I sink to the floor and wipe my mouth. What the hell is wrong with me? I feel like death, my belly in so much pain I can’t think straight.
I text Silvia, and she appears a few minutes later. She enters the last stall, holding out her hand to help me up. I take it, my body so weak I have to grab her shoulders to regain my balance.
“What happened to you, babe? Did you eat bad fish or something?”