The Intern

Chapter 6

By the time I clocked out of the office, my feet were bleeding. Zoe had given me a pair of electric blue heels to contrast the fitted orange blazer. She let me keep my white button down which I was thankful for. My watch read ten after five and I figured a coffee was in order. Navigating my way through the subway and down bustling streets of hundreds of people making their way home, I eventually reached The Pearl. The strong coffee aroma filled my nose as I made my way to the counter to order. Once my order was taken, I grabbed a seat and shot Eva a text saying I'd be home within the next hour.

Zoe had warned me it was only going to get busier from here on out and I couldn't imagine what the next couple weeks were going to entail. We spent the majority of our day going over terminology and the filing and going over names and faces. I'd be impressed with myself if I could remember a fraction of the people I met today. My coffee was placed in front of me, steaming and enticing as I gingerly took the heels off, inspecting my blistered feet. Luckily for me, Zoe had loaded me with pointed flats and various heels to try for the next couple weeks as well as a couple of staple pieces to work around, ordering me to do some actual shopping in the next few days. She was determined to figure out a signature style for me, while I didn't really care. I was at Close Up! to work. Nothing more, nothing less.

"Man, you need to bandage those up."

My head flew up to the sound of a voice being directed towards me.

"Timothy," I said, once I saw the familiar musician from yesterday. He wore a giant, ratty hoodie today and some nasty looking baseball cap.

"Sorry if I scared you. It's Talia, right?" I nodded. "I just thought I'd say hi to my biggest fan." He beamed at me and it was unsettling how attractive I found his smile when everything else looked like... well. That.

"Biggest fan or only fan?" I teased, taking a small sip of my coffee.

"Ouch!" He clutched his heart, seating himself across from me. "I've only known you a day and you're laughing at me?"

I shrugged. "I don't know, you seem like the kind that doesn't mind."

"I don't, I just find it refreshing to meet someone who can tease me and not think that there'll be consequences."

Quirking an eyebrow, I dared to ask why there would be consequences. Was he hypersensitive or something?

"Uh, I don't know," he admitted, scratching the back of his head. "I'm not sure exactly why people think I'll lash out or something. It's crazy, honestly. If someone does tease me, they typically start backtracking before I can tell them that what they said was funny."

I eyed him carefully before speaking. "You're a fascinating guy, Timothy." I wasn't sure why I said it, but then again I wasn't one to think too much about what I said.

"Why do you say that?" He placed his elbows on the table, leaning forward. Behind those glasses, his eyes were grey — nearly matching his hoodie. I felt like I'd never seen such interesting eyes.

"I'm not sure. You just don't add up in my head."

He seemed to be studying me as intently as I was studying him.

"Add up how?"

I breathed out a laugh at his questions. He wasn't going to get that information out of me. There was no way I was telling him that his rags for clothes didn't match up with his attractive face and perfect musicality. Whichever way he took it, I don't think it would go down well.

"Nevermind me. I'm just being weird." I waved my hand as if waving away my odd statements. "How was your day?" I asked instead.

He didn't look ready to move the conversation along, but he resigned and leaned against his chair. "It was alright. I worked on a few new songs that I hope to perform here again."