The Intern

Chapter 5

As I stood before the looming building the next morning, I felt the urge to pee my pants. I wasn't known to be anxious. In fact, I was the calm one of the family, especially considering my mom was our resident panicker.

But this... this was different.

I heaved in a breath, hitched my purse on my shoulder, and forced myself to move forward. Walking through the glass doors made me feel sick. Suddenly I didn't know where to go or what I was doing. Oh God, people are looking at me. Where do I go?

"Hi, welcome to Fabled Publications. Can I help you?" I looked to my right to see a young man sitting behind the desk.

"Yes, hi, I'm Talia Parker. I'm here for the spring internship at Close Up."

The man smiled before reaching to his right. "This is your temporary name badge, that's your key to getting into certain areas. You'll get an official, permanent one after your orientation. Close Up is on the thirteenth floor. Once you get on that floor, you'll go straight through the glass doors and check in with the secretary there. Any other questions?" I shook my head, taking the card from the man. "Alright, you have a good day."

"Thanks, you too!" I made my way to the elevator doors, following everyone's lead by swiping my card across the sensor. I've never felt more official.

Punching the button that read 13 once I was in the elevator, I made my ascent. Suddenly, I felt like I was going to vomit. Relax, Tal. Dream job. This is your dream job. Be happy. Pulling on the edges of my blazer, I plastered a smile on my face that quickly disintegrated. Yeah, your dream job until you screw it up.

The elevator eventually came to a halt and I stepped out. A tall, glass wall greeted me with frosted letters that read Close Up! A stylish woman went through the glass door, barely looking up from her folder of papers. Another lady strutted by, pulling a pen from her bun and scribbling something down on a giant poster, before handing it off to a man who came rushing out the door towards the elevator. Towards me.

"You lost?" He asked me, probably noticing how I had barely moved forward.

"No, I'm here for the internship," I told him, pointing to my name badge. He did a once-over and I scowled at him.

"Right," he let out a single breath of air that resembled a laugh. "You better get in there then." He quickly moved around me. Pulling my blazer and brushing down my skirt, I made my way to the front desk and introduced myself.

"Welcome to Close Up! I see you already have your badge, here's your folder," she passed me a sleek black folder with nothing but the words "Close Up!" and "Talia Parker" written on the front. "The other interns are waiting in the Conference Room B to your left. Georgia will be be in in ten minutes."

Thanking her, I made my way to the conference room. Just like everything else on this floor, the walls and doors were glass, the fixtures a crisp silver, and I instantly felt like a stiff lawyer walking in with my blazer. Everyone in the room was wearing trendy, fashionable pieces. There were four people total sitting in the room and as I came in, nobody said a word as I came and sat at the closest empty chair. The guy across from me was reading Close Up! and I could tell it was their most recent magazine. By the way his forehead was scrunched up, I assumed he was probably reading the article about making your heels comfortable. The girl next to him had short, black hair in tight twists and her neon top was a stark contrast against her dark skin. She had her folder open, flipping through each page, and writing her moleskin notebook. She looked effortlessly chic. There was another girl next to her in a pale pink sweater and she was scrolling on her phone. I caught a glimpse of the Pinterest app opened as she pinned a wedding dress. The last person was the guy beside me who was wearing a blue and yellow striped tie and I was trying to decide how I felt about it, when another girl burst through the doors. Her blonde hair was in a disarray as she hurried to straighten out her skirt.