Inverted Pyramids and Cinnamon Rolls - Chapter 18
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***
A Race Against Time (Part 2)
It wasn’t the response I had hoped for, but I truly needed to go. After mumbling a shy thank you, I ran to his car, hopped on the front seat and drove off.
I had to admit that I was quite lucky in my bad luck. Since my car hadn’t let me down too far away from the offices of The Edifice, it took me less than ten minutes to get there, find the parking that was inside of the building, realize, completely gutted, that I had forgotten all of my material inside my car which was now with Harry, remember that I didn’t have time to get bothered about it, find the lift, reach the ninth floor and run to the front desk. The last thing I perceived, before bobbing my head down to catch my breath, was a gigantic clock behind the lady behind her computer, confirming that I had made it just in time. It was like it had been waiting for me.
The girl at the front desk was polite enough to let me regain my senses at my own pace. My head was buzzing, my body was knackered but fully awake at the same time because of tremendous amount of coffee I had put into my system, and I was out of breath.
I took one last, deep breath before raising my head to the girl, who didn’t seem that much older than me.
“Hi,” I said in a petty smile. “Sorry. My name’s Rachel Brown, I’m the new intern.”
“Yes, Rachel,” she smiled. “I was waiting for you. Glad you made it in time!”
“Trust me, me too. I’m looking for Miranda Splender? She’s the one I’ve been talking with on the phone ever since I got my internship and she told me she’d be the one I would meet.”
“Well, she is right in front of you,” she laughed.
“Oh,” I said.
I couldn’t lie, I was a bit disappointed to discover that Miranda Splender, who I had been eager and impatient to finally meet, was only the receptionist. But I couldn’t act all surprised; Miranda had never told me that she was the editor-in-chef or the president of the company.
“It’s good to finally meet you,” she said as she stood from her chair and shook my hand. “So basically, I’m going to show you around and then I’ll take you to our Assistant Managing Editor, Viola, who’ll then assign your work and explain what you will do for us.”
I smiled widely. I was going to work with the Assistant Manager of The Edifice! I merrily followed Miranda as we walked towards the two beautiful opaque glass doors leading to inside the newsroom, my excitement becoming unbearable. I followed her inside after she opened the door and had to stop after a few steps because of the shock.
The place…was everything I had ever dreamed of.
It was a very vast, modern-looking workplace with wide windows providing the perfect view of London. There was a second floor inside the newsroom that was designed in an open architecture delimited by glass balustrades, like an interior balcony.
I was so struck by the scenery that I hadn’t noticed Miranda was now far ahead of me. I scurried behind her, but still couldn’t help but look all around me. From the reception, you really couldn’t tell that this place could be that big. The thought of having my own personal area inside such a magnificent environment made me feel accomplished.
“Wow,” I couldn’t help but let out.
“Pretty impressive, I agree,” Miranda turned to me. “I’ve worked here for a while now and I’m still amazed every time I cross those doors.”
“Are you sure…will I really be working here? I feel like I’m in a dream.”
Miranda suddenly stopped and pinched my arm.
“Outch!” I yelped, more surprised by her sudden behavior than hurt.
“You are definitely not dreaming,” she laughed. “Come on now, I’ve got loads of things to show you!”
Miranda made me an entire tour of the newsroom. She showed me the integrity of every department, the library and even the restrooms. Her easy-going and friendly personality made me feel very at ease, and I was almost disappointed when she announced that the tour was over and that she would bring me to Viola. But a new type of excitement grew inside of me. I couldn’t wait to meet Viola. I was still quite annoyed that all the material I had prepared throughout the whole night was left behind, but at the same time, I was quite glad I didn’t arrive with a box full of supplies. I would’ve appeared as someone way too eager.
We had to retrace our steps in order to reach the department where all the leader’s offices were located, a pretty secluded area. The leaders were the only workers who had their own private office. When we arrived, our steps decreased slowly.
“The leaders are always super busy,” Miranda murmured. “Sometimes they invite their clients over and have meetings or they’re making important phone calls. That’s why you can’t burst out or make too much noise here.”
“Understood,” I nodded.
We stopped in front of a door in the same style of the ones at the entrance. Miranda knocked three times and waited.
“What,” a voice echoed from the other side.
Miranda opened the door and peaked her head in.
“Hi, Viola, I just wanted to advise you that your intern, Rachel, is here and the tour is done.”
Miranda widened the door so that I could appear under the door frame. I went from excited to very nervous.
Then, I saw her.
She was sat behind her computer, only half of her face visible. She was typing fast on the keyboard and had a very stern expression. She didn’t make a sound or look up to us for at least a minute. For some reason, she reminded me of Mr Miles, which was not a good sign.
“Can’t you see I’m busy?” Viola then expressed in a cold tone.
“But Lynn said –”
Viola abruptly interrupted her. “Lynn isn’t here right now,” she finally raised her eyes to look at Miranda. “So, in the meantime, I’m the one in charge. And right now, I’m telling you that I am too busy. Besides, I don’t even know why you came all the way up here to bother me. Don’t you know where the interns usually work?”
Her bluntness astounded me. She hadn’t looked at me once during her little speech, and I couldn’t help but to stare at her with round eyes.
Oh no.
This couldn’t be happening.
Mr Miles was an angel compared to Viola and her rude behavior.
“But –” Miranda tried again, only to be interrupted again.
“Did I stutter, Miranda?” Viola raised a brow.
This time, Miranda didn’t say anything, simply shutting the door close in front of us. She turned to me.
“Well,” she said, “it seems like the plans have changed.”
I stared at Miranda, speechless. She didn’t even look slightly upset. Without waiting for me to answer, she walked past me. I was quick to follow her.
“I’m not gonna lie, I’m not really sure what you could do now,” she said as we exited the leaders' department. “But, I can at least show you where you will work.”
Still shaken about Viola’s behavior, I couldn’t help but want to bring the subject. There was no way Miranda didn’t think that Viola’s attitude was more than condescending.
“Viola seems very…” I stopped to search for a good choice of words.
“Yeah,” Miranda laughed. “She’s special. But you have to learn not to take everything she says personally. She’s under a lot of stress, especially this week because our president, Lynn, is out of the country for a few days.”
“I…can imagine,” I hesitated with a frown. To me, that was still no excuse to act as discourteously. Manners before everything.
When we arrived to our destination, I was even more disappointed. My desk was in a corner with no windows or people near me. I was secluded from everyone else. There wasn’t even a computer on the desk, which had me even more confused. Weren’t journalists supposed to work on computers? Miranda must’ve caught my expression because she tried to cheer me up.
“Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it. It’s not the best spot, but at least the chair is very comfortable. And, one advantage is that when you’re done with work, you can always bring your laptop and your homework from school. If I remember well, you go to Mumbard, right?”
“I’m not sure to understand,” I said. “Won’t I need a computer for my internship?”
“Here’s the list of everything you’ll need to do,” Viola’s voice suddenly emerged beside us, which took both Miranda and I off-guard. “Every time you come to work you’ll have to check everything you’ve done on the list. Since you’ll only do shifts of four hours, you’ll have four tasks per day to achieve, which are all written in this document.”
She dropped the thickest, heaviest document in front of me, which consisted of at least a hundred pages.
“As for today, you can start with noting the inventory of the supplies for the printing, which is usually made in the beginning of each month.”
She then put on top of the first document the second biggest document on the table.
“It should keep you occupied until five,” she continued. “I’m sure Miranda’s already showed you the printing room and where all the material is hidden?”
“Yes,” I was quick to answer.
“Good, now I don’t want to hear about you until it’s done,” were her final words as she turned around and went away.
I wasn’t even sure she had given me one eye contact throughout her explanations. I looked at Miranda, who shot me an encouraging smile.
“I have to get back in front,” she told me, “but if you want I can walk you back to the printing room?”
I slowly nodded and took my coat off. Then, I took the second humongous document in my hands and followed Miranda, who was kind enough to let me borrow one of her pencils after I admitted that I had forgotten my own material.
The task in itself was easy; first you had to note the numbers of supplies left and then how many you needed for the next order, which was pretty simple as the total amount that each material needed were written. However, it became a real challenge when I found myself having to crouch very low or go very high to reach some storage cabinets. And since the printing room was wide, I had to go back and forth a lot to find all the furniture that were written on my document.
When I was finally done, I was sweating.
I walked to Viola’s office, a little bit nervous at the simple thought of facing her and her stiff attitude again. What if I had done something wrong and had to redo everything? She couldn’t be that heartless, could she?
I arrived in front of her door, held out a shaky hands and gently knocked on it.
No sound.
I knocked again, this time a little bit louder and waited. Still no response. Not even a dry “what”. I tried to look through the door to see if I could perceive any movements, but the fact that the glass was frosted really made it impossible to see anything inside Viola’s office.
With a sigh, I decided to find my way back to my desk and wait for Viola to come to me instead. As I waited for her to eventually show her face and dismiss me, since it was already almost five, I read all the tasks that I would have to do as an intern in the first document.
Halfway through it, I had to accept the evidence: I wouldn’t be learning, practicing or executing anything journalist-related.
I literally had been engaged to do the simple, stupid tasks nobody wanted or had time to do.
It made me want to cry.
I had been waited for so long for an opportunity like this, and now that I finally had the chance to be a part of my favourite newspaper’s company, that was all they offered me?
I stared at the document for what seemed like an eternity, eventually trying not to fall asleep. Being sat alone, in a corner, with nothing to do made me remember very quickly that I was in need of sleep. I decided to focus on something else and watched the other workers instead. Most of them were already gone. I realized how none of them had really paid attention to me when Miranda had been showing me around. No hellos, no nods.
Now I felt depress.
Did I really want to do my internship in this company?
But I had no choice, a voice inside of me whispered. The Edifice was too good for my resume for me to quit on the first day. Maybe things would get better, I thought without any conviction whatsoever.
I checked at the time.
5:10.
Still no sign of Viola.
In a frustrated sigh, I decided to go see Miranda instead and ask her if I could leave. As I arrived at the reception, she was just hanging up and seemed happy to see me.
“Oh, Rachel, I was just about to go see you!”
“Is everything alright?” I asked with hesitancy.
“Yes, I just wanted to tell you that your boyfriend just called and said he was waiting for you downstairs at the lobby.”
I blinked.
“Sorry, my what?”
“Your boyfriend?” she tried again with a little less assurance in her voice. “A boy named Harry?”
“Oh,” I said, “that’s not my boyfriend.”
“I apologize. I guess I assumed too fast.”
“No, don’t worry. I’m just…surprised that he’s there?”
Miranda frowned. “Do you know him well?”
“Yes, he’s a friend of mine.”
“Alright,” she smiled. I had just noticed she had her coat on, as she was ready to leave. “See you on Friday?”
“Yes, but before you leave, I have a question… Where is Viola? I was waiting for her to give her the printing room inventory and I couldn’t find her? I didn’t want to just leave.”
“Oh, Viola finishes at 3h30! Did she forget to tell you?”
In order to tell someone something you had to be willing to speak to them, which Viola didn’t do at all.
I was furious.
Had Viola really forgotten to tell me she would be gone by the time I'd be done? Or was is voluntary? I didn’t know her, but I could feel that working with her was going to be a nightmare.
“It seems like so,” I tried not to hiss.
“I’m sorry about that, I hope you didn’t wait too long?”
I faked a smile. “Just enough.”
“You can give me that inventory; I will put it on her desk tomorrow morning.”
After I executed myself, I went back inside the newsroom to grab my coat and the tasks document. I reached for my cellphone, the only thing I had brought with me, only to see that I had three missed calls and two texts from Harry. The first one had been sent an hour ago and the second one was just sent.
Your car’s ok. I’m coming to get you.
I sighed of relief. At least my car hadn’t totally given up on me.
What’s taking you so long???
I rolled my eyes as I read his second text and hurried back to the reception that was now empty before entering the lift.
Harry was the first person I saw as I arrived on the first floor. He was stood near the front door, scrolling through his phone. He raised his head just as I was about to reach him.
“Harry!” I said, still surprised to see him here. “Why did you come all the way up here?”
He raised a brow. “You really didn’t think I would trust you enough to drive back with my car, did you?”
I scoffed. “What? I’m an excellent driver. But I’m still confused as to know how you got here if your car’s with me?”
“I took the taxi.”
I slowly nodded as I mentioned him to follow me to the lifts. We still had one floor to go before we’d reach the car park.
“How did you even know I was here? Or the time I would finish?” I asked again once we were inside the elevator.
He rolled his eyes. “Why do you ask do many fucking questions?”
I raised a brow, unimpressed. There was no way he was getting away with it.
“I asked Niall,” he finally admitted in a sigh. “Happy?”
“Very,” I smiled broadly.
As we arrived in the parking lot, found his car and drove off, another question tinkled me. I looked at Harry, who was driving with that same perpetuate frown that made me want to look inside his brain.
“Harry…how is that possible that my car works now? I thought the battery was dead?”
“It was,” he replied. “Brought it to the garage.”
“So you went ahead and paid for a new battery for me?” I raised my brows.
“What was I supposed to do?” he looked at me for a second, his expression quite befuddled. “I certainly didn’t waste thirty minutes freezing outside waiting for a tow truck only to leave it to them and just go back home?”
“How much do I owe you?”
He slightly shook his head. “You don’t owe me anything, Rae.”
“But you waited in the cold for half an hour because of me,” I protested. “There’s no way I’m not paying you back.”
He glanced at me once more. “You definitely need to learn how to just say thank you and get over it.”
“Hey…I know how to say thank you. Thank you. See?”
“You’re very welcomed,” he smirked.
I rolled my eyes and hid my grin as I turned my head towards the window. The darkness outside made me remember that I was so tired it was beginning to physically hurt. Making myself more comfortable on my seat, I was just about to close my eyes when something caught my attention.
“Why are we still on the highway?” I frowned. Harry hadn’t taken the exit we were supposed to take in order to head towards our neighborhood.
“Your car’s at the White House,” Harry said.
“Oh?”
“Put it in the garage.”
“So you do hang out over there.”
“Sometimes.”
I nodded.
I changed my idea about sleeping in the car, opting instead to try to keep me awake. Because I knew that once I would close my eyes, waking up would become practically impossible. And now that I knew that I had to drive from the White House to my flat, which was a good twenty-minute ride, I figured that I would need as much energy as possible. I turned up the volume of the radio, which had been playing much more as a background noise until now. Harry shot me a look but didn’t protest, which I was glad for. I crossed my arms and tried to concentrate on nothing more than the music playing.
When we finally parked in front of the White House, I exhaled deeply. We were finally there.
“Left your keys inside,” Harry said.
We exited the vehicle quickly and I followed Harry to the front door, my two documents pressed against my chest to protect me from the heavy, cold wind. When Harry opened the door, most of the lights were already turned on.
I stayed at the entrance while he walked further inside, removed his coat and threw it on the sofa of the first living room. I couldn’t help but look around and feel abnormally small. I was so used for this place to always be so packed, it felt like I was in a new house.
“Why are you standing there?” Harry turned to me. He was in the kitchen.
“I’m waiting for my keys.”
“Yeah but in order to access the garage you have to pass through the kitchen.”
“Oh,” I said as I walked towards him, trying not to spread too much snow on the floor with my boots.
Once I reached the kitchen, I saw Harry look around him with a perplexed look on his face. When he saw me, he stared at me with a blank expression.
“Please tell me you haven’t forgotten where you put my keys,” I said in a weary tone as I put my documents on the counter and crossed my arms.
“I haven’t forgotten,” he replied obstinately as he walked past me and disappeared inside the second living room.
I sighed and followed him to the room. I sat down on one of the couches as I stared at him while he was looking around for my keys like a lost child.
“Oh,” he finally said, more to himself than to me. “Right. They’re in my room.”
“Good,” I breathed out. “I’ll wait for you here,” I added as I settled into the sofa, which I noticed, was really comfortable.
I watched Harry exit the room as I rested my head on the armrest, and, without even realizing it, let myself get lulled by the sound of his steps climbing up the stairs.
***
I opened my eyes slowly. The brightness of the lights in the room made me squint. I rubbed my eyes. First thing I noticed was that I still had my coat on. I frowned in confusion and looked around me, before finally remembering that I wasn’t home.
I had fallen asleep on the couch of Harry’s mansion.
I sat down on the couch as I wondered how long had I sleep. The whole house was oddly silent. I stood up, wondering where Harry had gone. I slowly walked to the kitchen, still a bit drowsy and finally saw him across the room.
He was sat at the table of the dining room, his back facing me. I could see a map on the table, thousands of papers spread around him, with pens and different sized rulers.
I watched him in silent for a few seconds.
Harry must have felt my presence because he suddenly turned around. When his eyes met mine, his eyebrows firstly raised in surprise before turning into a frown.
“Are you stalking me?” he teased me.
“No,” I said in a detached tone even though I could I could feel my cheeks slowly burning red. I walked closer to him. “I didn’t want to distract you.”
I stopped just beside him to have a more precise look on what he was doing. I frowned. I understood nothing.
“I hope you didn’t drool all over my sofa.”
I looked down at Harry, slightly offended at his presumption at first, then embarrassed.
“I’m sorry…” I mumbled. “I didn’t mean to fall asleep. Why didn’t you wake me up?”
“Clearly you needed some sleep,” he shrugged as he took a pen and continued writing some notes on the paper in front of him. “You were snoring when I came back.”
“No I wasn’t!”
“Yeah, you were,” he snorted. “I even have evidence on camera if you don’t believe me.”
I stared at him. “You must be kidding me.”
Harry raised his head and shot me a grin. I rolled my eyes and slowly sighed of relief. He definitely was kidding.
“How long have I slept?” I quickly searched around me for a hint about the time. At least, it was still dark outside, meaning that I hadn’t slept all night and missed tomorrow’s first class.
Harry took his phone on the table. “About three hours.”
I gasped. “Three hours??”
The doorbell suddenly rang. Harry and I both directed our gaze towards the entrance, before Harry stood from his chair quite promptly.
“Finally…” he mumbled to himself.
I watched him exit the dining room as I realized I was getting really hot with my coat and my scarf still on. Harry came back a minute later with a box of pizza in his hands. I instantly felt my stomach growl and my mouth water. I hadn’t eaten in hours.
“Well, I guess I’ll just leave then…” I said weakly as he put the box at the end of the table and proceeded to pick up his sheets on the table to have more space. “Don’t want to bother you while you’re eating.”
I found it really hard not to stare intensely at the box of pizza. The smell was just too exquisite for me to concentrate on anything else.
“Aren’t you hungry?”
I looked at Harry.
I couldn’t tell if it was an invitation or if my stomach had been so loud he was surprised I hadn’t jumped on his food yet. To be honest, I was surprised I hadn’t jumped on his food yet.
“Well?” Harry raised a brow in front of my silence.
“I’m starving,” I admitted.
I promptly removed my coat and hung it on the back of a chair. Harry watched me in silence as I sat down and he promptly went to the kitchen once I caught him staring. He brought back two plates and handed me one. We both served ourselves a slice of pizza silently and Harry sat down right where he had been sat when he was doing his homework, which was just beside me. We ate quietly for a few minutes, and I tried not to appear as too awkward. Now that we were once again alone together, my mind couldn’t stop wandering towards our last kiss. I tried not to, but I kept glancing at Harry from the corner of my eyes, greedy to know what were his real thoughts about it.
He had to have an opinion about it.
I almost sighed in frustration. I really wished there had been a machine invented to read people’s minds. I stared back at my plate, defeated, and continued eating quietly.
“What are you thinking about?” Harry said beside me.
I turned my head to him. His brows were slightly furrowed as he held a small, inquisitive grin.
“I was actually thinking about what you were thinking,” I said bluntly.
“Is that what’s made you bounce your leg against mine for the last five minutes?”
I looked down at my foot and widened my eyes at the sight of it as I felt myself blush. I automatically stopped my movement and looked back at Harry with a petty smile.
“Sorry… Didn’t realize it was your foot.”
“I didn’t know I had that kind of effect on you,” he sneered at me.
I scoffed. “Don’t get it twisted!” I was quick to object. “You just…always look so thoughtful, it makes one wonder.”
“Thoughtful?” he repeated.
“Yes, but then you never talk so it’s hard to seize you.”
“You’re trying to seize me, huh?”
“Stop mocking me!” I hid my face between my hands, really embarrassed by the turning of the events.
He snorted. “No but I’m curious, what’s bothering you so much?”
I looked at him, quite off-guard. I really couldn’t bring the kiss up now, could I? It’d sound like I fancied him. Which I didn’t.
“Um…your…family? You’ve never mentioned them.”
“You want me to talk about my family?” he raised an eyebrow, not really buying it.
I nodded with a lot less confidence than intended but there was no turning back at this point. I wasn’t going to talk about that kiss.
“Does that mean you’ll tell me about yours too?”
I lowered my gaze and stared at my hands. He had a point.
“My parents both own a business company that they think me and my sister will join one day,” I was astonished to hear Harry say as I looked back at him. “Which we probably never will. My sister graduated with an Interior Design diploma a few years ago and has no intention of being part of the family business and I just hate business... so there's that. There’s not much to say, honestly. Since my parents travel a lot we don’t see them often anyway.”
“Why don’t you like business?” I asked.
“Cause it’s too shallow. You don’t get to learn or create anything…It’s just a big money-making machine.”
“Have you told that to your parents?”
He scoffed. “Trust me, I’ve been trying to for the past twenty years. They just can’t get no as an answer. Next thing you know, they’re buying you a car and a million-dollar house to make you see the kind of life you’d have if you followed their steps.”
I frowned. “It’s as if they’re trying to…buy you.”
He shrugged. “They just don’t think I’m capable of anything else.”
A wave of compassion passed through me as I simply couldn’t get my eyes off Harry. I knew he was trying to act as laid back as he could be, but it was impossible that it wasn’t affecting him. It made me want to reassure him, but I knew what kind of response I’d get from him.
In a weird sort of way, I also felt like Harry opening up a little more to me had crashed a wall between us. In an odd way, I felt closer to him. I suddenly wanted to know more about him. I wanted him to share his favourite color, his favourite food. His fears and his hopes. And I wanted to listen to him talk for hours. Like a real friend.
“Don’t look at me like that,” he rolled his eyes.
“Harry…” I almost murmured. “I want to try something.”
Harry looked at me very curiously but didn’t say a word.
I turned my whole body towards him and moved a little bit closer to him. Harry scanned my every move but remained still on his chair. I was starting to feel very nervous under his stare, but I forced myself not to look away as I raised two shaky hands and slowly brushed his cheeks. I paused for a second, trying to capture Harry’s reaction. He looked surprisingly calm. His eyebrows were shaped into a pensive frown and his eyes kept alternating between my lips and my eyes. I grabbed his face and pulled. He obeyed and his body leaned towards me. The only thing I could hear was my heart pounding in my chest. I looked at his lips and captured them in a slow, shy kiss. Harry’s reaction was unhesitant as he instantly wrapped his hands around me and responded to my kiss with much more fervor.
It was his turn to pull me towards him as he tilted his head and deepen our kiss. Our chairs were now so close I didn’t know where to place my legs as they were getting tangled all over his. Harry decided to handle the situation as he grabbed my waist, took me in his arms and sat me on him. His action took me off guard and I fell on him, which made me giggle softly against his lips as I readjusted myself correctly.
I couldn’t get my hands off his hair as Harry held me close against him. His tongue kept sliding smoothly around mine and his breath was warm. I truly couldn't think about anything but Harry. Harry's hands that were gently caressing me. Harry's sweet lips that were massaging mines eagerly. Harry's natural warm body pressed against mine.
It wasn't until I felt that same burning sensation I had felt last time, at the pitch of my belly, that I fully realized our position and abruptly broke the kiss. We were both panting. I looked at him with round eyes, astonished by the fact that I had lost control over myself so quickly. I let go of my grip on him as if he’d burned me and got off of him so swiftly I almost fell again.
“I have… to go now.”
I spoke in a rushed and stuttering voice. I wasted no time grabbing my coat and scarf on the chair I was originally sat on. I put them on quickly without being able to look at Harry. I had never felt more embarassed. This wasn't meant to happen!
“Your keys are on the little table next to the sofa you fell asleep on,” Harry said in a very monotonous tone.
I nodded quickly without addressing him a look and nearly ran to the second living room, where I spotted my keys instantly. When I turned around, Harry was at the entrance of the room, his arms crossed against him. I froze.
“I’ll show you where the garage is,” he said, again with no emotion.
I nodded and followed him as I kept my head low. I truly didn’t know how to handle what had just happened.
As we arrived in the garage, I simply walked past him and jumped into my car. Harry then opened the garage door for me and I turned the engine on, which easily groaned to life. Before I left, I allowed one glance at Harry, who was looking at me intensely.
My cheeks turned red and I looked away as I moved the car out of the garage.