We Who Are Broken (UNDER CONSTRUCTION AGAIN)

3 - Evelyn

CONTENT WARNING: The following chapter contains a brief flashback of rape and sexual assault. I will underline this section so you can skip it if you need to. You will not miss any major context.

After suffering through two early morning classes, I was anxious to go to my internship. It was still syllabus week so nothing was too hard yet. Still, I struggled to keep my eyes open through the professor's mind-numbing introductions. At least the internship would provide something to stimulate my brain.

I followed the directions on my phone to my internship and completed the short walk across campus, doing my best to keep from getting sweaty. The California heat was a drastic difference from the cool Chicago air and my skin had been feeling the effects.

I found myself standing outside the building, staring up at the logo on it: Stone Records. It was a recording studio and record label and I had miraculously been hired as an intern. Why they chose me, I had no idea, but I wasn't going to question it.

I took another moment to steady my breathing before walking in. The building smelled of lemons, having been freshly cleaned. I made my way up to the front desk where a plump woman was parked.

"Hi, I'm Evelyn, I'm here for an internship," I told her.

"Okay, one second, sweetheart," she replied. She had a thick southern accent and kind eyes. She pressed a couple of buttons on her computer then offered me a kind smile and told me to wait a moment.

I looked up, taking in the height of the building. There had to be at least 20 floors, all viewable from the lobby.

I heard the elevator ding and a handsome, middle-aged man stepped out. He was wearing a gray suit, perfectly tailored, and had gelled back his black hair. He made his way over to me and offered me his hand. I took it and he gave me an overly firm handshake.

"You must be Evelyn. It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm David Stone and this is my company," he told me as he ushered me over to the elevator.

"Nice to meet you, Sir," I replied, struggling to keep up with his quick pace.

He hit the button for the eighth floor and the elevator whirred into motion.

"I'll be communicating with you a little bit, but the company has grown a lot over the last few years, so I mainly handle stuff outside the office on a daily basis. My son helps me run the business while I'm doing other things, but the company is pretty self-sufficient. Anyway, you'll be answering to him for a good portion of your work and he'll more or less be your boss," he continued as we stepped out of the elevator.

"Okay, awesome," I replied as he opened the door to the main office hallway.

"He goes to the same college as you, but he does this in his spare time," David explained quickly as we weaved through the hallway. There were framed photos all over the walls of famous people who had done business there. We finally arrived at what I assumed was his son's office and David opened the door.

"Jake, I want you to meet Evelyn Strickland, the new intern. Evelyn, this is my son, Jake," David said.

It took everything inside of me to keep from screaming when I saw the beautiful, dark-haired boy from last night.

You've got to be kidding me.

Jake gave me a knowing gaze, recognizing me instantly.

"It's nice to meet you. Take a seat," he said with his soothing voice, not breaking eye contact with me. I shakily sat down in one of the chairs facing his desk.

Another man appeared next to David in the hallway with a coffee cup in his hand.

"Your coffee, sir," the man said nervously.