AllFreeNovel
Share Us
***
When she arrived at the office, her father wasn’t even there yet – just his personal assistant, Garrett, who looked over her outfit (very unsubtly) and took her to the breakroom to show her how to make the coffee.
“Half the time they want you to go out and get them something anyway, but just make it, and the assistants will drink it,” Garrett explained.
“Will they give us money to go get Starbucks or something?”
“Rarely. If they ask you to get them an Americano or latte while you’re out, save the receipt and I’ll reimburse you with petty cash.” Garrett leaned back against the desk. “But mostly, you don’t have too much to worry about for the first couple of weeks. Get things when they ask for it. Take things where they want them. Ferry messages back and forth with papers, mostly. They can text for everything else.”
His eyes dropped to her shoes. “And those are gorge, but you’re gonna want to wear more comfortable shoes from here on out. In fact, no one is going to care if you come in a clean blouse and a nice pair of jeans. Just no holes or anything.”
Jessica raised a brow. “Dad—Er, Mr. Billings made this sound like it would be a lot more formal.”
“He’s wrong. I have to be formal. You have to be neat, clean, and timely.” The phone rang, and Garrett reached behind him to pick it up. “I’ll try to make sure they don’t trap you in any meetings or piles of paperwork until you’ve been here a while. It’s a learning curve, but it’s not too steep, honestly, if you have good organizational skills.”
“Good morning,” Garrett chirruped, “you’ve reached Billings and Cash, LLP. This is Garrett. How can I help you today?”
Jessica was a little mesmerized by how fluidly the greeting rolled off Garrett’s tongue. Like a song, almost.
***
By midmorning, Jessica had discerned that gofer-ing was her primary duty with the company. She’d gotten breakfasts, picked up copies from the printer, taken checks to the bank, and come back with two trays full of various specialty coffees.
The job wasn’t so bad. It seemed boring but easy, and the people were friendly. Well, mostly. Some of the accountants had gotten grumpy with her for things like not knowing where someone’s office was or having to be shown how to fax something (who faxed instead using email anymore?), but on the whole, her day hadn’t been bad. At least she was getting paid, which was more than she could say for most interns her age.
Jessica could roll with it. Disappointment would fade, and there would be other opportunities. Or so she told herself. In the meantime, she would keep up with her latest Sarah J. Maas audiobook while flitting all around town.
“Hey, munchkin,” her father said as she appeared in his doorway. “How have they been treating you? I’m sorry I haven’t been around to show you the ropes.”
“No problem. I’ve got this. Garrett’s shown me everything I need to know, and it’s no worse than waitressing. Probably better, honestly.” She entered and dropped into one of the wide chairs in front of his desk.
“I’d take you to lunch today, but we’re really slammed.”
“Isn’t tax season over?”
“Generally, but we have a lot of clients who filed for extensions, and we need to take care of them. Plus, we took on a new start-up last week, and their books are a mess.”
Jessica took off one of her shoes to massage her arch. She smiled at the way her father’s eyes, deep brown like her own, crinkled at the corners as he studied the papers before him. He was so hardworking. She was really proud of him, especially lately. In addition to co-leading this firm, he was the CFO at an independent studio, and they had gotten one of their films nominated for an Oscar last year.
“So, raincheck?” Allen looked up at her questioningly.
“Of course. Whenever you’ve got the time. I’m but a mere intern here,” Jessica teased. “When you have need of me, just call.”
Allen looked up at her with a wry smile. “How about I get you dinner after we’re both off? I’ll be in the office later than you’ll be expected to stay, but I can give you a call.”
“That sounds great.”
“Be thinking about where you want to go.” He picked up a pile of papers from his printer and started flipping through it, making circles and crosses on each page. “And now, I have a job for you.”
“Oh?” Jessica put her shoes back on and walked around the desk.
“I’m going to have you send this over to Brent Sanderson at the movie studio. He’ll need to sign these and send them back to me today. If he can just hand them back to you, all the better.”
