Page 30 of Semi Sweet (Working For Love #1)

“A lright, interns. We’ve assigned each of you to an editorial assistant who in turn works for each of us,” Chloe explained. She called out each partnership before she got to her own charges. “Olivia, you are going to be working with my editorial assistant Tasha.”

A stylish woman with silky dark hair and tawny skin waved at me as the pairs broke off into various parts of the room.

She had a file folder in her perfectly manicured hands.

I thought about how my nails were broken and uneven because of years of grocery store tasks and biting them because of how people had treated me there.

“Excited to meet you,” Tasha said as we shook hands. “I was an intern once.”

That bit of information excited me. I sat in the chair across from her. Tasha pulled over a small table on wheels as I asked, “What would you like me to do?”

She opened the folder and put what looked like typed letters on the table.

“I typically read query letters and take notes. If I like them and they follow Chloe’s guidelines, I go back and read the three chapters they submitted with their letters.

” Tasha handed me about half of the small stack.

“What do you say we split the pile and we can discuss what we liked and didn’t like before lunch? ”

I nodded excitedly. “Sounds good to me.”

I got a pen and clipboard from a nearby work station. I could barely contain my excitement as I prepared to read the first query. I was finally doing something in the publishing industry!

In a town of vampires, a werewolf chose to stand out….

I blinked and cocked my head as I read the pitch about a fantasy world where the infamous beasts were attempting to live in harmony, but I found the whole concept a bit confusing. I wrote a large question mark on the page before I placed it in what I deemed would be my no pile.

The next one was different. It was a high fantasy where the main character was taken to a castle against her will and forced to become a queen. It reminded me of Beauty and the Beast , so as retellings were very popular, I made my notes and put it in my yes pile to discuss with Tasha later.

After reading my entire stack, I was surprised there were many more papers in my no pile than in my yes one.

It sobered me a bit because I’d been in people’s no pile before and now I saw how easy the choice had been.

“So what did you think?” Tasha asked several minutes later when she had her two piles finished.

“It’s very subjective,” I admitted.

“Oh, absolutely,” Tasha replied. “We always remind prospective authors how our tastes are not everyone’s and that they may have better luck with a different press or agent.”

That thought made me feel hopeful. Somewhere out there was someone who would love my stories and want to make me a success.

I shared the handful I found promising before Tasha shared her own list. She talked about one where high school students were being used as hosts for government bioweapons that I would have bought immediately.

Tasha hadn’t read the sample chapters yet.

“Okay, we narrowed the list down. We’ll read the attachments after lunch and submit the best ones to Chloe in the afternoon.” Tasha got up and led me towards the kitchen where several other people were getting ready to eat.

I clutched my brown bag tightly–in all the excitement of the first day of my internship, I’d forgotten about it.

I sat down and took out a container of shrimp tempura and rice, a nice chopped salad, and a little white box similar to the type I’d looked forward to in my Cash Value Market days.

When I opened it, I was greeted by the sight of a chocolate cupcake with orange frosting and a small wedge of the candied fruit placed on top.

“Wow, did you make that?” Tasha asked as she pulled out an apple and a sandwich.

My face felt warm as I stared at the lot. “My roommate did, actually.”

“Holy crap, are they a chef or something?”

“He’s a pastry chef, specifically.” The shrimp tempura had been our dinner the night before.

Sean was still trying to prove he was Japanese.

The cupcake had been one of the flavors he’d been planning on trying when he was still sending them anonymously, but I wasn’t close enough to Tasha to share all of that.

“I’m sorry, a man did all that? If you’re not taking advantage of all he has to offer, can you send him my way, please?” Tasha motioned to her subpar lunch before she burst out laughing and I politely said I'd see what I could do.

When I saw she was absorbed in her phone, I placed my brown bag in such a way that provided a bit of privacy. I’d seen a slip of paper in the cupcake box the minute I’d opened it up.

I thought I was done with poems;

Guess I was wrong.

Hope your first day was great

But not too long.

See you at home.

I had no doubt Sean would make Tasha swoon, which is why under no circumstances would I tell him about her. Was that wrong?

***

I rode the train back towards Sean’s apartment, though seeing as how I’d referred to him as my roommate earlier, I wondered if it was appropriate to call it my apartment as well.

I was thinking about how exciting my day had been and I felt like I could do anything.

When I heard the announcement that the station closest to my childhood home was next, I actually considered collecting my things and stopping there.

Did I have the nerve to confront my father after so many years?

Could I do it without Sean? I contemplated just going to the edge of my street, maybe trying to catch a glimpse of my old townhouse until I could get more courage to move closer.

Eventually I’d work up the nerve to go further–maybe I’d luck out and I’d bump into one of my sisters or my mother.

“Now arriving at Federal Street. Now arriving at Federal Street.”

I couldn’t move. I’d heard that announcement for years.

It was the stop I got off to go to the store when I’d started living with Evan.

I realized that my hesitation wasn’t necessarily about seeing my father, but more so about running into Evan.

It was irrational and stupid. He never took the train, but there was that small miniscule chance that he might see me as he was getting chauffeured around.

I’d been so careful to hide where I went, almost like I’d turned into a ghost. I didn't want to wreck it by trying something I probably didn’t have the nerve to follow through with.

The doors opened and people got on and off, but I stayed rooted to my spot.

I’d joked about needing a therapist, but I was starting to believe I really did as the train continued towards the stop for Sean’s complex.

At least I knew Evan wouldn’t come to this part of Denver.

I collected my things and got off the train.

“Hey!” I called as I let myself in. The smell of baked goods wafted through the apartment as I locked the door behind me.

“Let’s hear it, Miss Intern,” Sean replied from the kitchen.

When I joined him, I was shocked to see dozens of fancy sandwich cookies in many colors on plates and a sink filled with dishes.

“It was awesome. I got to recommend some manuscript samples to an editor. I also got to weed out some that made me feel much better about my writing.” I made sure to omit the part of the day where my coworker had wanted Sean’s contact information, not that I thought he would act on it.

I looked at the scene in the kitchen. “Did you bake on a day you had off?”

Sean nodded. “I like to try things I can’t do at the store.” He grabbed his phone from a nearby counter. “I remember why I haven’t made French macarons since college.”

“Why’s that?”

“They’re a pain in the ass.” He placed the phone in front of me to show me a picture. “I had wanted to make these for you, but the first batch of feet weren’t cooperating.”

I gasped when I saw the photo of the fancy cookie shaped like a cat from the anime I’d been watching. “YOU ARE NOT A REAL PERSON,” I exclaimed.

“Not true!” he countered. “I would have had these baked to perfection and decorated before you got home if I was as great as you say.”

I rolled my eyes and hip checked him out of the way so I could sample one. If it was less than perfect, I couldn’t tell. “I’m going to gain a hundred pounds living with you.”

“So what’s the plan?” Sean asked as he started to do the dishes.

“This is my last early day for a bit,” I explained. I was headed back to my classes, as the end of the semester was approaching and I’d worked too hard to give up now. “I was going to see if you wanted to go on a weird little Hale sister adventure. Or at least a version of it.”

Sean looked at me like he didn’t understand. He still put on his coat and followed me out of the apartment, but not before cleaning the kitchen and giving Bear his dinner so he wouldn’t be too unhappy while we were gone.

“What’s a Hale sister adventure?”

“When I lived at home, whenever we were about to do anything new or potentially nerve-wracking, my sisters and I would try to celebrate the night before. Make happy memories so you’d feel less nervous in the morning.

” I explained as I recalled. “The night before the first day of school. Before Allie went to college out of state. The day before the SATs.”

“If that’s the case, why didn’t we do this yesterday before your internship began?” Sean asked.

I found myself blushing. “It’s dumb….”

“I doubt that.”

I let out a sigh. “Tomorrow I will resume the part of my life that was there when I was still living with Evan. I’m sure it will be fine, but I’m nervous. I thought maybe an extra cheesy burger and my favorite convenience store ice cream would help my anxiety slightly.”

Sean seemed to reflect as he walked beside me. I wondered if this was where he finally decided I was nuts.

“You know you are incredibly strong, right?”

I scoffed. “You know you are incredibly biased, right?” My face went red as I added, “You’re trying to woo me.”

“Excuse me?” I risked a glance at him to see that his voice sounded serious, but his face was flushed, though amused. “I have not even begun to ‘woo.’" He used air quotes. “As I have been saying, I am a gentleman. You just say the word and I will show you the meaning of woo.”

I was so tempted to ask him for the specifics of what he had in mind, but knew that would not help the situation at all. Instead, I replied, “You have so much confidence in me. I’m not used to it.”

We arrived at the fast food restaurant and I offered to pay for our triple cheese burgers and fries. I explained that you didn’t eat it in the dining room, you took it home and ate it once you bought the ice cream at the convenience store.

“We used to eat it on our front steps. Makes the fries mushier and I’m obsessed with mushy fries,” I explained once we were back on the street.

“So what’s the deal with the convenience store ice cream?” Sean asked. “There are a lot of places where you could buy a pint.”

“We could walk there and back without my dad getting too nervous. Plus, their cherry chocolate chunk is the stuff dreams are made of.”

I was prepared to pay for the sweet treat when we found the same chain as the one near my childhood home, but Sean insisted.

We walked back to the apartment and decided it was too cold to eat everything outside, so we were back on the couch with a singing competition show in the background.

I was content eating my mushy fries and cherry chocolate chunk ice cream.

I was happy that while I was reliving a tradition of my past, I was changing it, making it new. I’d eaten two macarons, too.

“You know what is the most frustrating part about this college thing?”

“What’s that?” Sean asked while he savored his burger.

“I didn't want to be a marketing major. Evan had his hand in that, too.”