After that greeting session with the new colleagues, George calls me and Jake to his office, along with the department head and the section head, giving me the idea that there are two layers of superiors under George that we also have to report to.
Inside his office, he briefs us about our jobs and what he expects from us.
Once we're back at our desks, I find myself already consumed in lots of reading. There are many documents to study.
I glance at Jake, and he seems to be lost in his own world too, putting some notes on the papers he's reading.
"Hey." Sarah's voice startles me as she emerges in front of my desk, and I stand up, facing her.
"Hi, Sarah. How can I help you?" I ask, expecting her to ask me to help her with some works.
She chuckles. "Nah. I'm not here to drill you, girl."
I raise my eyebrows in question.
"Do you like K-pop?" she asks.
I'm dumbfounded. "Y-yeah?" I do like it.
"Finally!" She hugs me tightly, almost making it hard to breathe. "Now I've found someone who would finally understand me when I talk about my boyfriend, G-Dragon."
She pulls away, and her eyes are twinkling. Oh my, she's a really funny person.
G-Dragon is a legend, though. But I must say that it's a bit unexpected. I thought that she was going to say some younger visuals like Taehyung from BTS or Sehun from EXO.
"OK. Back to work. We have plenty of time to fangirl later." She winks and walks off, leaving me standing here with mouth opened.
I can hear Jake chuckle lightly from his desk. Sitting back on my chair, I sigh before shifting my attention back to the documents.
A while later, someone else emerges in front of Jake's desk. He's black-haired, green-eyed, tall and looks young -- probably just a few years older than us.
"Man, I missed the grand entrance, didn't I?" He smirks at Jake. "I got a meeting earlier with the clients."
Jake stands up, looking surprised at the newcomer before they give each other a one-armed hug with a handshake, like they are friends who haven't meet each other for a long time.
"Dude, long time no see. How --" Jake is speechless. "You work here?" he asks in disbelief.
The guy laughs. "Can't be more obvious, can it? I was about to tell you when I first heard that you're the new intern, but I guess it would be fun to make it a surprise."
Jake shakes his head in disbelief while the guy turns to look at me.
"Lais, this is Liam," Jake introduces him to me. "He's my senior in high school, two years older than us. We joined the same football team. Liam, this is Lais, my internship partner."
Oh. I don't really remember all the members of my school's football team, but he looks somehow familiar.
I stand up and shake hands with him. "Lais." I smile.
"Pleasure to meet you, Lais." Liam smiles before glancing at his wristwatch. "Anyway, I gotta report to the boss first. See you later, man," he says to Jake and walks off.
From then, time goes by quietly, Jake and I busy with our assignments. Sometimes, he drags his chair toward me to ask some questions about my documents, and I answer him briefly.
He's the one who makes more effort to have small talks, though, and I hate myself that I'm unable to be as friendly as I would toward other people.
After about an hour, Sarah comes by again, her bag on her shoulder.
"How's it going, guys?" she asks. "I just want to let you know that the office will be empty because most of us will have a meeting outside with the stakeholders. Are you good?"
"Yeah, we're good," I say, and Jake nods in agreement.
More hours pass by, and now it's time for a lunch break. I'm closing my notebook when Jake approaches me.
"Hey, do you want to grab some lunch together?" he asks. "I mean, I'm still a clueless newbie here, but I saw some restaurants downstairs that looked pretty good."
Oh, no. What do I do?
It's common sense for us to have lunch together because we're new colleagues and the rest of the team are out of office.
Normally, I wouldn't think twice for an answer.
But now, I'm just not...ready.
"I'm sorry, Jake," I say, trying to sound as polite as possible while gathering my purse and phone. "I already have another appointment," I lie, giving him an apologetic look.
"That's okay," he says although I can hear the slight disappointment in his voice. "It's cool."
"See you later." I smile before walking off.
I walk out of the department and take the elevator to the ground level. Once I reach the lobby, I step out through the glass door and breathe the fresh air outside.
My chest is heaving up and down while I'm trying to calm my heartbeat.
I should be professional, shouldn't I? Jake is trying to warm up to me, and I'm not helping at all.
Now that I face him again, I should treat him like nothing ever happened between us, but why is it so hard?
I pant, placing my hand on my chest. I think that I need some time.
I just need a little bit of time, and everything will be fine.
I sigh, watching as Lais walks toward the elevator. My plan to warm up to her disappears into thin air.
I guess that I'm just going to grab lunch by myself.
While I'm stepping out of the department, I bump into Liam, who is also on the way to the elevator.
"I thought you joined the meeting outside?" I ask.
Liam shakes his head. "Nah, I'm not involved in the LNG negotiations. Where are you going? Lunch?"
"Yeah," I say as the elevator door opens, and we step inside.
"Let's go, man. I'm starving," Liam says, inviting me to join him.
When we arrive at the ground level, he suggests an Italian Restaurant, and I follow suit. A waitress leads us to our table, and after we finish ordering the foods, Liam starts the conversation.
"So how are you feeling now that you've got accepted to work here?" he asks.
I sigh. "Good. Awesome, actually."
Indeed, I'm really grateful for that.
"Really?" Liam smirks. "I know how that felt. You should be proud, man. I mean, even though in your case, it's just for temporary. You'll learn a lot here."
I know that I shouldn't take his words personally, but I can't help but feel a hint of sarcasm in his voice. Somehow, his smirk seems more like a sneer.
Temporary. Yeah, I know about that. I'm just an intern, while he's already a permanent worker.
I shouldn't think ill of people, but this reminds me of what happened two years ago when I was drinking with him.
Back then, I felt the same sarcasm when I told him that I'd just got the scholarship to Boston due to my achievement in football.
Or maybe it's the fact that I still haven't forgotten about how he put something in my drink and dropped me on the street during the prom night.
I don't even want to remember what happened after that. Those countless nightmares.
While waiting for our dishes to arrive, we talk about some stuff he's been working on in the company before he changes the topic to something else.
"Man, the girls would kill me if they knew that you're here with me." He rolls his eyes. "They would be thrilled."
So he's still actively socializing with the other graduates from our high school. Sadly, I haven't got any time to do that. Things have been pretty hectic in Boston.
His sentence makes me scoff, though. "The girls? Who?"
"Julia. Becca. Victoria," he mentions some names. "They're all here in Houston, pursuing a degree here, except Vicky. She's working in a law firm."
"I see." I remember two of the names. I can't remember all the names of the girls that I fucked.
"How about your new intern friend? She seems like a good girl."
I don't respond to that, knowing that he still hasn't finished his sentence.
"It's always good to have a new face here. Most of the women in our department are already married, and the ones that are still single aren't attractive enough." He laughs. "It's good to finally have young eye candy. You know, fresh meat."
But I don't find it funny. I know about Liam's reputation, and I know that we're just the same. But at least, I play differently.
"She looks like she wants to do her best in here, and I don't think that what you have in mind will help her," I say curtly. "Don't give her trouble, Liam. The last thing she needs is you distracting her. She seems like a genuine and hardworking person."
"Come on, Jake," Liam says, a laugh escaping from his lips. "I was just kidding. Geez. You're acting like you don't know me." With that said, he shakes his head in disbelief.