The Intern - Full Submission

© 201
2
by
TARA LAWS

All rights reserved.  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means – electronic, mechanical, photographic (photocopying), recording, or otherwise – without prior permission in writing from the author.

This book is a work of fiction.  Names, characters, places and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used factiously.  Any resemblance to actual events, places or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

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about Tara
at:

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Alexandria could see the Whitson Engineering Services building from blocks away.  The large steel and glass structure was an architectural masterpiece and projected the billion dollar image the company was worth.  The men that worked there were some of the best engineers in the country and she had been fortunate to even be interviewed by them for an intern position.  She had been damned lucky to actually be hired.  Today would be her first day of work and she was extremely nervous.

She had spent nearly two hours last night deciding what to wear and then another hour this morning second-guessing her decision.  She had wanted to look regal and sophisticated, but didn’t want to be labeled as anything less than professional on her first day.  When you were going to work in a mostly male dominated industry, it was best not to set yourself apart from the boys.  In the end, she elected to stick with a simple black skirt, a plain beige blouse and sensible shoes. 

She completed her look by pulling her long auburn hair into a loose knot and donning her glasses rather than her contacts.  She looked smart and efficient, which was the image she wanted to convey.  It would be bad enough that she was the only female intern hired this year.  She would have to work twice as hard to earn a permanent slot on the staff.

The receptionist led her to the human resources department where she filled out all of her paperwork and was directed to a large office on the fourth floor.  “Each intern is assigned to a specific engineer, Alexandria.   You will be working with Drake Whitson.”

Alexandria felt her heart suddenly pounding out of her chest.  Drake Whitson was the son of the owner of Whitson Engineering.  He was in his early thirties and already an accomplished engineer with a multitude of patents and engineering marvels credited to him.  On one hand, she was excited to be able to learn from him.  On the other, she wasn’t sure if she could measure up to his high standards.

They arrived at the door to his office and her escort knocked softly on the frame of his open door.  “Drake?  I have your intern here.  Her name is Alexandria McCord.  She recently graduated from the Georgia Institute of Technology.  I’m going to turn her over to your care,” she told him.

Alexandria was mesmerized for a moment.  He was beautiful.  His sandy hair was clean cut on bottom with a shock of loose sun streaked curls on top.  His piercing blue eyes were looking her up and down.  A perfectly chiseled jawline and high cheekbones completed the wonderful features.  His soft, full lips were more than a little inviting.  The Armani suit and silk tie he was wearing looked as if they were form fitted to his long, lean body.

“Alexandria?” he asked again. 

She realized that she had been in a trance for a moment and he was speaking to her.  “Oh, I’m sorry.  Yes?” she replied.

He let out a low chuckle.  “I asked if you want to go see your office.” he told her.

“Oh, yes…definitely,” she responded, trying desperately to regain her composure.  She was sure she was flushed.  Her heart was racing. 
Get it together, Lexi
,
she thought to herself as she watched him walk around his desk and toward her.  She thought she was going to hyperventilate as he placed his hand on her back and walked her to a doorway on one side of his enormous office.  It led into an adjoining office with a small desk and bookcase.  While his office was impeccably decorated with various prints of Deviance’s engineering drawings, hers was completely bar other than the two pieces of furniture, a phone, printer and computer.

“This will be your office, Alexandria.  You may requisition whatever office supplies you need from Claudia in inventory and you may decorate however you see fit.  I only ask that it be tasteful and fit in with the general atmosphere of the building,” he told her.

“Lexi,” she replied.

“Excuse me?” he said.

Lexi felt so retarded already.  “Everyone calls me Lexi,” she clarified.

“Ah, good.  That will be much simpler,” he said with a smile that revealed two incredibly enticing dimples on his cheeks.

Lexi just nodded at him. 
Speak, Lexi, speak
, her mind screamed at her. 
Snap out of it already.

“Okay, Lexi.  We have a meeting in
five minutes.  I would like
you to put down your things in here.  You should be able to log into the computer using your first initial, last name and last four of your social
security number
.  Your password will be the same and you will need to change it to something else once you are in the system.  Do not write it down and do not give it to anyone.  If you lose it, you will have to walk down to the IT department and request a password reset in person.  They will require your full name, full social security number, mother’s maiden name, a retinol scan and a drop of blood in order to process it for you,” he said without a hint of a smile.

Lexi looked at him and smiling awkwardly.  “Hmmm, that’s going to be a problem with my glass eye,” she said solemnly.  He looked startled for a moment and she could see him trying to get a better look at her eyes without appearing to be looking at them.  She winked at him and laughed
.  Ah, that’s better, Lexi,
she thought to herself.

He laughed.  “Well played, my friend,” he told her.  “Now, get yourself set up on the system and meet me in my office in five minutes.  I will need you to take notes during the meeting.  We will discuss your responsibilities afterward, for now you just need to know that your job is to learn from me while keeping me straight.  You are my best defense against not fucking up,” he said blithely.

“Yes, Sir,” she said.  He raised an eyebrow in her direction and smiled. 

“Yes, Sir, indeed,” he said to no one in particular as he walked back into his office.

Lexi sat down at the computer and got logged in without an issue before walking into Drake’s office as instructed.  “Mr. Whitson, are we ready to go?” she asked.  He looked around over his shoulder.

“Is my Dad here?” he asked.  “I’m Drake.  Don’t ever call me Mr. Whitson.  I’ll think my overbearing father is behind me and shit my pants,” he said.

Lexi wasn’t sure if that was supposed to be funny or not, so he just smiled faintly and nodded in his direction.  “Yes, Sir,” she said.

“I like the Sir bit, you can keep it,” he said as he got up and walked around his desk.  “Let’s go, Lexi.  Lock and load.”

Lexi had no idea what to expect.  Drake had handed her a small steno pad and a pen as they walked out of his office.  She felt very nervous as they stepped into the large room filled with other members of the engineering staff.  She didn’t see anyone else that looked like an intern in there.  Drake patted the seat beside his, indicating that she should sit there.  She sat and looked around, all doe eyed and trying to figure out what to do with her hands.  She settled for resting them on the steno pad.

The meeting was more or less just a standard staff meeting.  Apparently, she was the only intern in attendance.  It became evident that Drake seemed to run the show.  She watched as he accepted or vetoed the ideas of the other engineers.  Lexi wondered if it was just because his father wasn’t at this meeting.  Whatever the case, she was struck by his ability to quickly comprehend their projects and ideas and make a decision as to whether he felt they were on track.  Many of the men were older and she could tell they didn’t like someone so much younger rejecting their thoughts, but they all seemed to respect his decision.

She also noticed that none of the men seemed concerned with whom she might be, even though Drake had not introduced her.  Perhaps they had already been briefed on who she was.  Once the meeting was over, none of them bothered to linger even long enough to speak to her.  Granted, she was no one for them to be concerned with, but common courtesy usually dictates that at least some of them would take a moment to welcome her.  She snapped out of it when she heard Drake speak to her, “Lexi, come.”

“Let me see your notes,” Drake said once they were back in their office.  Lexi cringed.  She had thought she would have time to clean them up before he viewed them.

“They, um, aren’t…I don’t think you can really read them,” she said.

Drake cocked a single eyebrow up at her and then stood facing her, looking over her face as if trying to assess something.  “I can’t read them because you are not providing them to me for that purpose, Lexi.  Please hand me your pad,” he said politely.

Lexi looked pained but extended the steno pad out towards his waiting hand.  He took it from her with a furrowed brow and began to read the notes she had written down.  Lexi was mortified.  She watched his face as it solemnly skimmed down the page.  He looked back up at her with pursed lips.  “Please tell me, Lexi…which of my esteemed colleagues is “Mr. Bulldog” and which one is “Mr. Weird Mole?” he said without a hint of a smile.

Lexi turned beat red.  She felt as if her entire face was on fire with humiliation.  Due to the fact that no introductions had been made and there was nothing to indicate the staff member’s names, she had settled for a description of each of the gentlemen that she would remember when she saw them again.  She had intended to get someone to take her around for introductions,  since Drake had not yet afforded her that opportunity.  Then, she could put their names together with the way she remembered them and clean up the notes.  Drake’s demand to see the notes immediately had been unexpected and now, horribly embarrassing.

She stammered a bit, “I…I’m sorry.  I had not intended for you to see that.  I just did not know their names and was going to figure that out before typing up the notes,” she said, trailing off a little at the end.

Drake looked her up and down.  “I see.  Fair enough, Lexi.  Please go up to the fifth floor and look for Mrs. Silicone.  She should be at the first desk you see as you exit the elevator.
  Tell her that I would like
her to take you on a tour of the building and introduce you to everyone you will need to be familiar with.  Take this with you,” he told her, handing back the steno pad.  “You can make corrections to the notes as you go,” he said.  He waved her away and sat back down in his chair.

Lexi slumped her shoulders and left the office.  She was beside herself.  She wasn’t sure, but she thought she heard a chuckle as she walked down the hall and got into the elevator, trying to regain her composure.  When she stepped off the elevator on the fifth floor, she saw a large glass desk sitting in the center of the room it opened into to.  The lady sitting there was a bleached blonde wearing a red dress that seemed a bit too snug for her.

Lexi approached the desk,” Yes, are you Mrs. Si…,” she hadn’t got the words out of her mouth when she noticed the small nameplate sitting at the front of the desk.  It said, “Rebecca Robinson, Executive Assistant.”  Lexi looked at the woman, noting her enormous fake boobs. 
Mrs. Silicone
. 
He was making fun of her notes that she had given him.  She was so glad she hadn’t finished saying it.  She let out an involuntary chuckle.

Mrs. Silicone pursed her lips at her.  “Can I help you?” she asked impatiently, scowling at Lexi.

“Yes, I’m sorry.  Drake Whitson sent me up here to ask if you could take me around the office and introduce me to everyone,” she said.

Mrs. Silicone’s frown immediately transformed to a large smile.  “Why, of course!  You must be his new intern, Alexandria,” she said.

“Please call me Lexi,” came the reply.

“Okay, Lexi.  Well, let’s get going,” she told her.  Mrs. Silicone buzzed another office and announced to the person on the other end that she was giving a new employee tour and would return shortly.  Then, she stood up and she walked Lexi around the entire building telling her who everyone was, what he or she did there and any gossip about them that she felt pertinent.  By the time they finished up, Lexi had replaced the descriptions in her notes with all but one name.