"Please, have a seat," he said and led us to his desk.
"Mark, thank you very much. When I'm finished, you'll be in charge of showing them their stations."
The wonderful Mark nodded and left the room. I watched his butt moving in sync and laughed to myself.
"You know..." Mr. Aideon sat down, unbuttoning his suit jacket, and smiled at us. "It's a great honor for me to have you both in my company, specifically speaking with me now in my office."
"Are you being modest, sir?" I asked provocatively.
"Modest?" he feigned shock. "I might be talking to two potential scientists." He played along with the game.
"You're not," I said.
"Now you're being modest, Miss Rose."
"You can call me Scarlett, sir."
"Very well then, Scarlett and..." he looked at Theo, unsure.
"Theodore, or Theo," Theo said.
"Yes, Theo. As you may already know, PMC is in partnership with several universities, and well, we give the opportunity for the most outstanding minds from these universities to do an internship here, because, of course, it enriches the resume."
"As well as being a job opportunity," Theo said.
"Exactly."
He looked at Theo and then at me.
"I hope you take advantage of the internship. You'll be working under the supervision of Mark, the gentleman who brought you here. You don't need to be concerned; at first, it will be basic tasks and things you've seen before. When we see that you can handle a heavier workload, we will also adjust your responsibilities accordingly."
"I have a question." He looked at me expectantly. "What exactly do you get out of this?"
"I'm not sure I understand," he smiled.
"What are the exact advantages of having the best students interning here?"
"Well, it's a great benefit for you..."
"I'm sorry, but that's not what I asked." He looked at me as if glimpsing a wolf under a sheep's skin, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw Theo sweating.
"I see." He placed his arms on the desk and looked at me seriously. "We can say it's a strategy; it gives our company more recognition."
"But do you hire the interns?"
"Not always," he said simply.
"Not always," I repeated.
"We can't hire everyone, also because some, I'm sorry to say, seem to be only dedicated to their studies. In practice, they know absolutely nothing, hence the advantage for you—it gives you experience."
"I understand your point, sir."
"We are ready to start the internship, Mr. Brown," Theo said with a very serious look.
"Then, I hope you enjoy the internship once again," he said, standing up and buttoning his suit jacket, and we stood up with him. Without warning, the wonderful Mark entered the room and waited for an order.
How submissive.
We left the room of the also wonderful Aideon and walked toward a wide and immense corridor. In that sector, there were several rooms, but they weren't as busy as the ones near the CEO's office.
"You will work under my supervision, at first on basic tasks like filing documents, entering files into the system, and doing basic calculations," he said as we turned left in the corridor.
"This one here," he pointed to another elevator, much more chic than the one Theo and I had been on. "This is the administrative area's elevator; in this case, for some of the employees on this floor, but you can use it too. I know very well how the other elevators get crowded and slow."
We nodded.
"These are the emergency stairs. If something happens and the elevators are not available, use them. It will be a real drag, twenty-four floors, but it's always better to be cautious."
I looked at the ajar door and then looked back at the wonderful Mark's butt.
"And here," he opened the door to a very large room with two properly separated desks, very well-equipped with computers and everything else, two bookshelves filled with books, and another with several document folders. "This is your room. I hope you can work as a team." He turned to us, and I once again glimpsed those penetrating eyes behind his glasses.
"Of course, sir," Theo replied.
"Well..." he seemed to have finished. "Oh, and one more thing," he seemed embarrassed. "On the twenty-second floor, there's a specific area for socializing with other employees, a cafeteria. The coffee machines are also there, in case you want to eat something."
"Do you go there too, sir?" I asked.
"I'm sorry?" he looked at me, confused.
"You said it's a space for socializing; I wanted to know if you also socialize with the other employees."
"Ah." He seemed to understand. "Not very often," he said, embarrassed.
"And how do I socialize with you, sir?" I asked, and he once again looked at me with doubt.
"Oh, what... what she's trying to say..." Theo rushed to say. "Is that she doesn't want to be a stranger here... and... and she wants to get to know everyone," he said, slightly blushing.
"I see..." he looked at me and smiled. "You certainly won't be a stranger to me for very long."
I looked at him expectantly.
"Well, you'll be here for two months, so it won't be possible for you to be strangers to me."
Ah.
"Well, I'll be supervising you, but I've already explained everything in a PowerPoint plan on your computers. If you have any questions, just call the reception; they'll inform me, or you can go to my office. It's on the right side of Mr. Aideon's office."
"Will you be available to receive us at any time, sir?" I asked in a very sweet voice.
"Yes, if it coincides with business hours."
"And if..."
"I think we're... ready to start, sir," Theo interrupted me.
And without anything else to add, he left the room, and like a mere human, I stared at his backside.
"I... I don't understand what you're doing, Scarlett," he said, walking past me and sitting down at the first desk on the left. And I sat at the other.
"Getting to know our supervisor, as you said yourself, I don't want to be a stranger to him," I said with presumption as I sat down and turned on the computer.
Theo didn't answer, and I smiled to myself. It seemed my plan was starting to work perfectly.
Four hours had already passed. My butt ached from sitting so much. I was watching Theo work. He was completely focused on the computer, and it was a great distraction. It was sexy. I couldn't believe the urge I was feeling to do indecent things with him right there, sitting in that chair, totally naked, or maybe just leave him with his tie.
I chose to stop thinking about it and got up from the chair and practically swaggered to the door. Theo pretended not to look, but I knew he was.
When I left, I walked to the luxurious elevator that Mr. Mark said we could use and pressed the button for twenty-two. It was relaxing. A background music was playing, and from the twenty-fourth to the twenty-second floor, no one tried to get in, although it was only two floors.
When the doors opened, I saw a floor completely different from the one I was on. This one was much more lively and crowded. There were many more rooms than there were on the floor above. People were walking back and forth. I just walked straight, without asking anyone anything, but I knew perfectly well that at some point, I would need to stop and ask where the cafeteria was. If I was going to have my butt planted in that chair, I would need a coffee, and probably one for Theo too. It would be a wonderful way to talk to him, because he had decided to ignore me again.
I was walking and distracted when I bumped into someone, and that person, I think, was more distracted than me. She fell. I looked down quickly, and a very cute girl was on the floor. I knelt to help her up.
"I'm so..."
"Oh, no, miss..." she said, interrupting me without even looking at me. "Oh my God, I'm so sorry, I was just a little distracted. I wasn't looking ahead..." she was picking up some of her papers that had scattered on the floor. I grabbed one and stood up. "I'm really, really sorry."
She got up without my help and took the paper from my hand and, for the first time, looked at me. She had very bright green eyes and beautiful skin, but... she seemed very young.
"Oh my God..." she murmured when she looked at me.
"Hello," I said, smiling.
"I... I... uhm... I'm so..."
"No, I bumped into you too. I was also distracted."
"I just... I..." she didn't seem to be stammering when she was picking up the papers from the floor. "I was going to... to the cafeteria, and..."
"Oh, good. I need someone to show me where it is, if it's not an inconvenience for you, of course." I smiled.
"No!" she said quickly.
"You can't take me?"
"No! I mean, yes! Of course, I can take you there. The 'no' was because you didn't need to apologize."
"Oh, okay," I said, smiling at her. "Shall we go?"
She looked at me as if I were a jewel and blinked several times.
"Hello?" I called, and she seemed to return to reality.
"I'm sorry."
"You really love apologizing," I laughed.
"No, I just..."
"How about we go to the cafeteria?"
"Yes, of course."
We walked in silence. We passed by some open, closed, and ajar doors. There were a lot of people talking on their cell phones. I don't know what area that was, but it was very busy.
When we finally arrived, it was a very large place, with a lot of tables. There were even people there eating, and it smelled like food. I went toward the coffee machines and got two cups. One was for me and the other was for Theo. I saw the girl who came with me leaving the other machine and going to sit at a table. When I finished, I was about to leave, but I looked back at the girl, and she was alone. I don't know why, but I felt bad about that, and I went to sit with her.
I would stay there until I finished my coffee.
"Hello again," I said when I sat down, and she almost spilled the coffee on her papers.
"Damn it!"
"You're a bit clumsy today, aren't you?" I smiled and took a sip of my coffee, and she sighed.
"I'm sorry, it's just that..."
"You didn't even do anything this time, so why are you apologizing...?" I hesitated. I didn't know her name. "What's your name again?"
"Anaïs... Anaïs," she said, blushing.
"Anaïs Anaïs?" I asked, confused.
"No!" she said abruptly and then blushed. "Just Anaïs."
"Well, Anaïs, I'm Scarlett," I said, shaking her hand in greeting.
"Of course you would be a Scarlett," she murmured, blushing.
"I'm sorry?" I asked, not understanding what that meant.
"Oh, I didn't mean to offend you. It's just, well, I'm sorry, you're very beautiful, and you're being very polite. You're even keeping me company, and no one here has ever talked to me, and your name is as beautiful as you are, and I... well... that's why I said you're a Scarlett."
I smiled. She was being cute.
"How old are you, Anaïs?" I asked, taking a big gulp of coffee.
"Uhm, I'm nineteen."
"And you work here?" I asked, astonished.
"Oh, well, it's not really working. It's an internship. I came to ask for an internship. Actually, I'm already interning, so I shouldn't speak as if they hadn't already given me the internship," she said, flustered.
"Ah, I understand. Well, congratulations on getting it. It must be wonderful to have been accepted here, isn't it?"
"Yes, it really is." I smiled as I took my last sip of coffee.
"Well, it was a pleasure to meet you, but I need to get back to work," I said, standing up with Theo's coffee, and she stood up abruptly too.
"Uhm, you work here?"
I looked at her, holding back a smile. "Of course, I work here. I mean, I've never seen you here, and..."
"I'm new."
"You don't work on this floor, do you?"
"On the twenty-fourth."
"On the twenty-fourth floor, like the CEO?" she asked in disbelief.
"Yes."
"Ah."
"Well, I need to get back," I said, turning around.
"Thank you so much for talking to me." I turned around, smiled, and winked at her. She blushed.
This girl reminded me of someone.
When the elevator doors opened, I was walking distracted and turning the corner, but looking back at a blonde who had dyed her hair blonde—a very bad dye job—when I bumped into someone again and fell, spilling the coffee all over her, or rather, him.
"Shit!" I heard, and it was definitely a 'him'. I looked up and saw Mr. Mark with a pained expression.
"Oh my God... Mr. Mark, I'm so... I..." I quickly took the pocket square from my blazer and tried to wipe where I had spilled the coffee. On my knees, I tried to clean his groin, and he instinctively placed his hands over his 'little friend'.
"What..." both of us turned in sync and saw Theo looking at us, confused.
Oh.
Theo didn't say anything. He seemed to pretend he had forgotten something and went back to the room.
"Scarlett, please, get up," the wonderful Mark said, embarrassed.
"I apologize again, sir. I was completely distracted. I didn't see you." He just nodded and moved away from me, toward his office, probably.
When I returned to the room, Theo didn't ask any questions. In fact, he just went back to ignoring me. I sat down and returned to work.
When work hours ended, Spencer gave us a ride to the apartment and said he would come pick us up and drop us off every time, per Mr. Aideon's orders. I had nothing against it, and neither did Theo. We went up in silence. When we entered, he went straight to his room.
A long week of Theo's silence had passed, and I was running out of ideas on how to shamelessly throw myself at him. He wasn't cooperating at all, avoiding me, running away from me as if I were the devil in disguise.
It was Friday, and I was heading to the cafeteria again, and Theo also left the room. I didn't know where he was going; he didn't say. He just walked behind me. When we were near the elevator, I noticed the doors were almost closing. I walked quickly, almost falling because of my heels, but the door was held open in time. It was the wonderful Mark who held the door. When I entered, Theo came in after me. He adjusted his glasses and greeted us.
"Good afternoon, Scarlett and Theo!"
"Good afternoon, sir," we said in unison.
"Which floor?" he asked.
I thought about which floor I would say I was going to. If I said I was going to the twenty-second, I wouldn't have quality time with him. And Theo didn't answer where he was going either, so I was quick.
"Ground Floor." He looked at me and Theo in surprise.
"You too, Theo?"
"Yes, sir," he said, and I became even more curious. What was he going to do on the ground floor?
"Ah, I'm going there too." He pressed the first button, and we rode in silence, listening to the background music.
When we were on the nineteenth floor, the panel lights started to fail as well as the elevator lights.
"What..." I was asking when the lights finally went out and the elevator stopped.
"Shit!" I heard the wonderful Mark swear.
It was completely dark. I couldn't see anything at all, but I knew that the wonderful Mark was in front of me, on the left side, and Theo was behind me.
"You don't need to panic, I'll..." he hesitated, and I heard movements on his side. He was moving, and then he had his cell phone in his hand.
"I don't have a charge..." he whispered, but even so, I saw his face now illuminated by the faint light of the cell phone. He was typing and then put the phone to his ear. It was so silent that you could even hear the person on the other end.
"Thomas... the administrative elevator broke down, yes... me and two other employees are stuck... yes... on the eighteenth floor... yes... and..." He didn't finish speaking because the faint light from the cell phone disappeared completely. He hung up.
"Well..." he sighed. "Now we just have to wait." He said, and I felt him leaning against the elevator wall.
"How long will we be here?" Theo asked.
"I don't know. It will depend on how long it takes them to fix everything."
"I..." I said, taking off my heels without making any noise. "I hope they get here early."
I would clearly take advantage of the situation.
"While we wait, why don't you tell me how the internship is going?" I couldn't see him, but I noticed he was forcing conversation so we wouldn't have an uncomfortable silence.
"Yes, of course, sir. I've found it to be a great wonder," I said as I stepped out of my heels and walked backward in light, graceful steps.
"I hope so. I'm happy you haven't brought up any questions yet. It seems you learn fast."
"Oh, you can't imagine how much. I haven't had any difficulty, but I don't know about Theo, maybe?" I asked when I started to feel Theo's breath behind me, and I kept backing up.
"I haven't had any questions either, sir."
"What do you think of the internship so far, Theodore?" by his voice, he seemed genuinely interested.
"I..." he hesitated when he felt my butt against his groin.
"Yes?" Mr. Mark asked again.
"I... uhm..." he tried to move away from me, and I pinched his hand. "Damn!"
"What's wrong?" Mark asked, alarmed.
I turned and whispered as low as I could in his ear.
"Shhhhhh..." I couldn't see his expression, but he seemed to have agreed.
"Noth... nothing. I just... I thought I felt a bug crawling on me."
"A bug?"
"It's just that Theo is terrified of the dark, sir," I said.
"Ah, I hope he's not having an attack now."
"No, he's not. Sometimes, he just needs human warmth, reassurance."
"Ah, since you know each other, perhaps you're the right person, Scarlett."
"Yes, sir," I said, turning my back to Theo again and pressing my butt into his groin.
"Theo, I was enjoying hearing you talk. Maybe that can calm you down too," I said, bringing his hands to my chest, and he didn't try to pull them away.
"I... I'm finding the internship interesting." He said as I slowly moved his hands over my blouse, on my breasts. He sighed, and I felt something against my butt waking up.
"Interesting how?" I asked sweetly as I made his hands make circles over my blouse and bit my lower lip.
"I... uhm... I've never... imagined that working would be so different from studying." He said when I moved his hands under my blouse.
"See? Isn't it?" I felt Mr. Mark smile.
I took his hands to my nipples, squeezing them, and I pressed myself more against his member.
"Yes..." it came out almost like a moan, but I saw that he controlled himself.