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“You’ve been doing great work lately. Mr. Ashland has been impressed by your assignments,” Brittany told me as she moved to stand in the doorway of her office. She had a cheery smile on her face like usual.
I couldn’t recall a time when Brittany wasn’t smiling. She must’ve loved her job. The only way I could see myself enjoying a job here was if I didn’t feel anything for Tyler. Working here near him was torture already because the last thing on my mind was work when it came to him.
“That’s great. I’ve been working hard,” I replied. It was nice that he had been looking at my assignments. His criticism struck me harder than anyone else’s, so it was nice to give my ego a little bit of a break from the beating it had already received from him.
“I can tell! I sent today’s assignment to your email already. It’s mostly research, but it’s important for you to know the market through and through,” Brittany told me.
I nodded, feeling grateful to have something to focus on today. I had to get my mind off Tyler. Market research wasn’t the most interesting thing in the world to think of, but at least it would consume my mind. “Of course. I’ll get started on it right away,” I said, taking a step closer toward my office. I couldn’t wait to disappear inside it for the rest of the day, blocking everything else out. I typically wasn’t a hermit, but I believed I needed some sort of timeout today. I couldn’t be trusted around certain people.
“Great! If you need anything or have any questions, let me know,” Brittany quipped before ducking back into her office.
I lingered in the hallway for a moment, wishing that I could go home and hide out. Eventually, Tyler would come to work today, and I knew that was probably soon. I didn’t know if he would make an effort to come see me or not. I didn’t want him to ignore me, but maybe that was the best thing.
I sighed and headed into my office to get started on my work for the day, letting the memory of last night slip to the back of my mind. Focusing on my work actually helped until none other than Tyler suddenly appeared at the doorway of my office.
“Where did you run off to this morning?” Tyler asked with a faint smirk on his face. He tilted his head at me curiously as he leaned against the door frame.
My eyes shot wide open as I jumped up from my desk. Didn’t he know that Sara was right next door? I grabbed his arm and yanked him into my office, shutting the door behind him. No one could know what happened last night between us, especially Sara. She lusted after him, so I couldn’t imagine how pissed off she would be if she found out that I received a little special treatment last night.
“No one can know about us,” I told him in a hushed voice. I didn’t feel like getting an email from HR. What if my university got involved? I could kiss graduation goodbye, and it could be hard for me to get another internship or even a job in the future if this got out to the wrong people.
Tyler didn’t look fazed as he peered at me.
“Why are you so worried about what other people think?” he asked me.
I narrowed my eyes at him. I didn’t feel like dealing with his careless attitude. This was serious. He could get in trouble too!
“Because I don’t want us to get in trouble,” I said pointedly. I wasn’t trying to be uptight or anything, but we had to be cautious. This was more than some fling. There was weight to what we did because of our titles, our working relationship. I knew that he wasn’t blind to that. He wasn’t an idiot.
Tyler scoffed and shook his head at me. “Instead of worrying about what other people think, you should be focusing on your work. You’re here to learn, not to listen to gossip,” he told me in that firm voice of his that made my chest tighten. “Besides, I don’t kiss and tell.”
“I didn’t say you would. But we should just forget about last night and move on,” I muttered as I looked away from him. Making a clean break seemed like the least messy option for us. I didn’t want any bad blood between us or any more complications. Things were already complex enough.
Tyler nodded at first, starting to step away from me, but he paused. Instead of walking away, he stepped closer to me, tilting my chin up to force my eyes to meet his.
“You really want to forget what I did to you last night?” he asked me.
I swallowed hard. I thought that we would agree to go our separate ways. That was the best decision for both of us, but he didn’t seem to care.
