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I opened the menu quickly and ordered a pasta dish that sounded good. When the waiter left, I took another drink for courage and spoke.
“I can’t thank you enough for the incredible opportunity it was to work with your creative team and get to present in a pitch meeting. I learned so much, and I know it’s good experience going forward in my career. And I also know that it’s impossible for me to work on the marketing campaign itself because of school and my job. I’m sure you can explain it to Meredith and she’ll be more than satisfied with the work REM does for her company. I really only contributed the concept and a couple of notes on the logo…”
“So you only did most of the work on the pitch,” he said wryly. “I’ve thought about the situation, and I think there’s a way to handle it so that you can work on the campaign. That will satisfy Meredith since she demanded it, and me because I agreed to her terms.”
“That’s really kind of you,” I protested, swallowing around the lump in my throat, “but there’s no way your staff is going to want to work around my crazy schedule. I’m not off most nights until nine or ten, and I have eight o’clock classes on the mornings I’m not working. When I don’t have class, I’m doing a nine-to-ten-hour shift at the diner. I just can’t accommodate the time commitment for the project. I’m sorry. It was really flattering that she even asked for me to be included since I’m a student,” I said, perilously close to tears.
“You were instrumental in creating the pitch that secured a high-profile client for REM, Hailey. Don’t diminish your contribution. I thought perhaps an internship would solve the problem. You would have the time to devote to the project, and—”
‘I’m sorry,” I interrupted. “That is an extremely flattering offer, and I’m honored, believe me. And I know I interrupted you, but there’s no way. I have to work, so I can afford to live. I can’t give up working at the diner. I wish I could, but it’s impossible. Please, just—stop trying to solve this when it can’t be done,” I said, my voice going softer as I fought back tears.
Valiantly I took a drink of wine and squared my shoulders. I wasn’t going to cry in the nice restaurant with the handsome man who took me for a celebratory dinner. I just wasn’t.
“It could be arranged as a paid internship to alleviate the time conflict of doing paid work at the diner. That should offset the cost of your lost wages. I spoke to my hiring manager about it after you left, and although we haven’t taken interns often in the past, it isn’t unprecedented. As a matter of fact, I have taken on an intern in the past who now works for me.”
I gaped at him. There was no way this was real.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“I am astounded. This is fairy tale stuff,” I said, just wonderstruck, too overjoyed and stunned to guard my words. “This is better than a glass slipper or an enchanted rose. It’s the thing that fixes all my problems and that just doesn’t happen in real life. It takes someone with a magic wand, magic words to create some impossible solution. There’s no way I’d ever expect to get a paid internship especially not at REM. And I could give up the fifty hours a week at the diner where I have to go elbow deep in the grease trap and scrub the urinals in the bathroom.” I gave a near hysterical giggle. “Oh my God. You just offered me the internship of a lifetime in this fancy restaurant and I’m talking about urinals. I really need to stop talking now.”
I looked at him, feeling so lucky and so embarrassed and overwhelmed. His eyes, those dark wicked eyes, were just dancing with suppressed laughter. His shoulders even shook a little like he could barely contain it.
“Go ahead and laugh,” I said, half exasperated. “I’m all over the place. I know,” and I shrugged.
Rick burst out laughing so hard that it shook the table. I grabbed my quivering wine glass and took a drink to steady myself. He looked younger and so handsome and carefree, like I could imagine him running barefoot on a beach someplace. His dimple was just magnetic. So sexy that I almost choked on my wine. My entire body thrummed with excitement and gratitude.
He finally took a drink of his water and composed himself. “Should I take that rather unusual stream of consciousness speech as an acceptance of the internship?” he said.
“Yes, absolutely. It seems like I can’t form a regular sentence right now. I’m too happy and just shocked that you would even offer me this opportunity.”
“Your concept was instrumental to securing the account with our new client. Meredith was very impressed with you. My team is ready to take you on board and teach you the ropes. I think you’ll find the experience very instructive, and your perspective will improve the execution as well.”
“The experience itself is going to be unreal, no offense, but getting to shadow and observe your team has been more educational than anything I paid for at Berkley.”
“Real world, boots on the ground learning is crucial and I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the possibility of becoming hired as part of the team when you graduate. It’s not a guarantee, but it’s certainly a likelihood if your work is of similar quality to what I’ve seen so far and your collaboration with the creative team remains positive.”
“A job?” I breathed.
“Are you going to talk about urinals again?” he smirked.
I laughed, dropped my face into my hands and laughed with relief and joy. I wiped my streaming eyes with the napkin just as our food arrived.
I tasted some of the most mouthwatering food, but I was too excited to be very hungry. Rick was telling me about a restaurant he went to in Italy, and how the scallops here were just as good but in Italy they were served with squid ink pasta. I was on cloud nine over the internship and could hardly concentrate. He was so interesting and well-traveled, which made him even more dashing. Everything seemed to be happening in a dream.
Being there at a beautiful restaurant having a lavish meal by candlelight, being the focus of his attention and getting to listen to him talk of his travels and to joke around with him, flirting and bantering back and forth like I was in some old Hollywood romance, that kind of glamorous fantasy. By the time I declined dessert, I felt like everything was golden and lit from within. I’d only had one glass of wine and plenty of water, enough delectable food to make me feel stuffed.
When we stepped out into the cool evening breeze, even that was a pleasure. I thanked him. He walked me to my car, the perfect gentleman.
“My assistant will email you with the details of the internship. I’m sure it will be a great opportunity for REM as well as for you,” he said.
“Thank you again. I mean it. This changes everything for me,” I told him.
“Everything is going to work out. You’ll see. You don’t have to worry,” he said. I laughed at how absurd that was.
“I worry all the time. That isn’t going to stop. But this helps a lot. This has been the most magical day.”
“You keep talking about magic, about fairies and glass slippers. I’m not sure why you don’t think you’ve earned this and that you deserve good things to happen for you,” he said so seriously that I went still.
