It's harder to drag myself into work today despite the coffee. My sister's counsel was not at all as uplifting and hopeful as I expected. I'm basically left with the same thoughts and options as before, except now the words 'romance novelist' are floating around in my head.
As if I can afford to start thinking about a romance novel. I need to focus on my internship at Möbius. I need to focus on being professional. Becoming an ad executive has been the entire focus and determination of the past four or five years of my life when I studied for it!
"Good morning Aurora," Laurel says when I walk through the doors. She may have pronounced my name wrong, but I'm impressed that she attempted it at all today. She usually just calls me 'you.'
And then I notice that Laurel seems to be looking a lot more chic today than usual. She always dresses really nice, but there was clearly more effort put into today. Red lipstick makes her mouth extra pouty, and she is wearing really high heels. I glance down at my flats and wonder if I should start doing the unimaginable and wear heels again.
"You look awful today. Are you coming down with something?" She squints and then puts her hands up, waving them in front of her quickly. "If you are coming down with something, stay away from me. I don't want to catch it. And don't bring anyone coffee. You can spend the day in the file room."
"I'm not coming down with anything." I roll my eyes. "I'm just having a hard time sleeping."
"If this job is too much for you, then I completely understand. There are so many people lined up for this internship opportunity…"
"No, no. It's not that at all. It's other things. It has nothing to do with work. When I'm here, that's all I'm focused on. There is no need to worry." And then I quickly make my way to my desk before she can come up with something else to question me about.
Great, so Laurel noticed that I'm not looking like myself. It's finally getting to me. It's finally wearing me down.
"Auraya," Jay says with a big grin, greeting me for the day. "Oh." His smile falls. "Are you not feeling well?"
I groan and drop my bag on my desk. "Yes, I am feeling completely fine. I just need a good night's sleep is all."
"What's keeping you awake? I have these neighbors, every night it is either a party or they're playing loud enough music that it makes the walls in my dining room shake. And my other neighbors have a dog who yaps at every single little noise. He's just yap! Yap! Yap! Yap!"
"What is Jay yapping about?" Cricket comes by with a grin. "Auraya, Lawson has requested you bring him coffee."
She winks at me and stays by Jay's desk to chat while I get up and fetch the coffee for the COO. The handsome, sexy, emotionally vulnerable COO.
While I'm at the coffee and espresso station, which is comparable to a water cooler in many ways—if it's not me getting coffee for everyone, they're getting it for themselves and gossiping all the while—I overhear a few of the other women in the office talking in hushed whispers.
"Sexy Dexy is coming by the office today."
Sexy… Dexy?
"Don't let anyone hear you calling him that, Ash." But they both giggle. "And he isn't just coming by, he's going to be working here now with Mr. Lawson. There's already an office set up for him."
"That one on the end in the corner? Damn, that's too far. If he had one of the center offices we could stare at him all day." They both giggle again, and since I have already prepared Lawson's coffee, I can't stay and eavesdrop any longer.
When I get to Lawson's office, I'm still unsure about whether to knock or just go in. It's awkward, because all of the office walls are made entirely out of glass, so you can see directly in. He knows I'm there with his coffee, but is it still appropriate to knock? Or…
He waves me in with a small smile.
After carefully setting his coffee on the desk, he gestures to the chair in front of him. "Please, have a seat."
This is the first time he has ever asked me to sit, and now I feel like I've been summoned to the principal's office.
"I'm so sorry about your father."
"Thank you," he smiles. "Auraya, I would like to ask you a favor."
"Oh." I scoot forward in my chair. "Of course. What can I do?"
"My father has asked Alexander here, because he thinks he is the best candidate to take over the company." His already somber face draws further down as he stares at his desk, avoiding looking at me. "Seeing as how my brother has never taken much of an interest in Möbius Media whilst I have been here everyday," he chuckles and rubs his chin, "it is clear that our CEO is not in his right mind."
I sit, stunned, not knowing what to say. This news is tragic and awful, but… this is also insider information that he should not be sharing with me. We aren't even that close.
"I feel like I can trust you," he glances up at me, fidgeting with a pen on his desk. "I am going to ask you to keep an eye on Alexander while he is here."
"Keep… an eye on him?" My brows tent upward. What the hell is that supposed to mean? Am I to be a spy?
"Yes. I know you were hired as an intern and have an impressive array of accomplishments coming out of University, and I don't mean to diminish any of that by giving you this task. If anything, this role is one of the most important in the company right now. If my father names Alexander the CEO, it could very well be the end of Möbius."
"So… what would I be watching for?"
"My brother is not the most… professional," he smiles sadly, and it's clear this is a polite way of saying something else. "If he does something unbecoming of a future CEO, then I can take that to the board. And since the board is above my father's head in terms of decision-making…"
I nod, understanding this logic… but also not liking this at all. In fact, it makes me nauseous. Why would he ask me to do this? It's putting me in a very uncomfortable position.
I like Lawson, sure, but I'm an intern! And this sounds like all kinds of family drama. Because if Alexander is as bad as Lawson says he is, wouldn't the board already shoot down the idea of making him CEO without needing further evidence?
"Can I trust you with this?"