Page 71 of Nefarious
About that. I know I said I wasn’t going to get involved with anyone—and I really haven’t!—but I have been having fun. Two of the hottest guys in the office are both competing for my attention. I’d love to tell you more than that, but then I’d have to kill you ha ha.
I’m exaggerating a bit. That one guy, Anthony, took me to a movie on Thursday, and then on Friday, we hung out talking. He’s so much nicer than I expected. He wanted to go out again on Saturday, but I’d already made plans to go out. And I really wish I could tell you about that, but it’s confidential. You might guess it though. *cheeky grin*
And I know you’re going to chastise me for playing when it was so hard to get into this program, but if you were here, you wouldn’t blame me. I’m at the top of my group. I’m the only one who has mentored under both Val AND Dane. Val even took me on the live trading floor before anyone else. They seem to have a lot of confidence in me. If Dad wouldn’t disinherit me for it, I’d probably apply to work here next year. I’m a shoo-in for the guaranteed job they offer. But I may have convinced Anthony to apply at R&M next year.
How odd that I’d be working for my dad at Val’s and Dane’s old company. It almost feels like a betrayal. Maybe I’ll use my new credentials to go work somewhere altogether different. Maybe Solly?
Also, for your information, when I asked Val about dating Anthony, she encouraged me to pursue whoever I wanted to. Isn’t she the coolest?
Suffice it to say, I’m enjoying my internship.
And it does make me feel a little guilty, knowing you’re there buried under summer school homework. You should have those headaches checked out. You could be overworking.
I promise I’ll check in regularly.
Ta,
Selena
Val paced behind her three interns. Matt yawned and dropped his chin onto his hand, propped up on his elbow. Blake slumped in his chair and sighed. Selena crossed her legs, staring intently at the monitor as she clicked through screens answering all the questions and moving on. It was obvious when she finished the test because she made a gesture like an atomic bomb had detonated on her keyboard. The girl had become arrogant in such a short time. Val could use that.
“Let’s take a ten-minute recess.” She needed a break, too. She’d spent the morning filing paperwork and overseeing a particularly brutal staff meeting. She’d come to realize that she was going to have to find someone else to run the internship program because every year, her regular underlings began to mutiny in her extended absence. She’d dealt with the slight insurrection, but now her mind was split between the internship and the fires that might start burning out of control.
And they were only in the third week.
Matt and Blake bolted from the room and headed down to the smoking area. Val considered following suit, but she was sick of those two. What she wanted was a stiff drink. Maybe she’d pay a visit to Dane. She moved toward the door, but Selena stopped her.
“Val, I wanted to thank you for your advice last week.”
“Oh?” She paused and then decided to come take a seat next to the girl. “So did you end up having a fun weekend with Anthony?”
Selena blushed. “No, actually. We just hung out.”
Stupid boy.Val was glad to hear it but wondered why Anthony would choose to hang out with Selena rather than come home with her. She realized she was tapping her finger and stopped. “So he wants to move slowly, is that it? You’re dating?”
“I don’t know what he wants. I enjoyed spending time with him, and he asked me out again for Saturday, but I turned him down. I’m trying to figure out how best to let him down without hurting his feelings.”
“Wait. You managed to hook him, but you’ve lost interest?”
“I don’t know. I’m still interested in him, but I met someone else and—”
Val tilted her head as if this were news to her. “That was sudden.”
Selena’s smile was bursting off her face in the way of someone hiding the best secret. “Not really. I met him earlier. I never thought he’d be interested in me. But he was.”
“Someone in the program?”
Selena shook her head. “He doesn’t work with me.”
Val snorted without meaning to. The girl was learning to lie and not badly. “So what’s he like? Cute?”
“Beyond cute. He’s sexy.”
This had surpassed Val’s tolerance for suffering. “Well, I’m glad things worked out. But how did my advice help you?”
“I got the attention of two different guys I like because I let them know how I felt. I wouldn’t have had the courage to be so obvious without your words of wisdom. And now I have to figure out which one I prefer.”
Val bit her tongue. Selena seemed to think she was shopping for non-perishables. She couldn’t know that when she turned Anthony’s invitation down on Saturday, she set a ticking time bomb on that potential relationship. “Well, good luck deciding. Is there any reason you can’t just see them both?”
