All This Time // H.S. // A.U.

Chapter Seventy-Three

Spring of Sophomore Year of College

RILEY

"You've done really well, Riley." My mentor, Ena, says, smiling at me.

My chest swells with pride, "Thanks." The past two months have been hard. With school, midterms, work, and this internship, I had barely any time for myself. I was stressed nearly a hundred percent of the time, but I also couldn't get enough. This was something that I wanted to pursue. It was obvious enough to me by the second week that I was good at it, surpassing Ena's expectations easily.

"Have you given any thought to continuing on with architecture?" She asks. She and I had spent many nights talking about my classes and schedule and possible majors.

I nod, "Yeah, I've set up a meeting with my counselor to talk about declaring my majors."

"Let me know if you have any questions. I know a lot of the teachers in the program here, so I can give you the scoop."

I breathe out a laugh, "That would be great. Especially for when I'm signing up for classes over the summer."

"Actually, I wanted to talk to you about an opportunity over the summer." She brings up, adjusting her stool before sitting down across from me. We were in the workroom, pouring over the final blueprints before they broke ground next week.

My attention peaked. If I could get another internship under my belt, that would be an amazing start for my majors.

Ena continues, "I can send you the link for the application, so you can see what it entails. My friend works for a design company and they're looking for full time staff starting in July and go through September for several upcoming projects. It's just in Palo Alto, so no big commute or anything."

"July through September?" I ask hesitantly.

"Yeah, is that not a good time for you?" Ena inquires, "Do you go home for the summer usually?"

"Normally, yeah, but I can change my plans." I say quickly. I didn't want her to think I wasn't serious about this opportunity. One thing I've noticed about a lot of the people I work with here is that everyone is very dedicated to their jobs. People stay late often. Many don't seem to have spouses or are going through divorce. The younger employees and interns are very cutthroat. That last thing I needed was for my supervisor to think I wasn't as dedicated as them.

"Just take a look at the company. If it doesn't feel like a good fit, then you don't need to apply." She says simply. "But if-"

She's cut off by my phone ringing. I scramble to get it out of my backpack, silently cursing myself for not turning the ringer off. "I'm so sorry!" I apologize, blindly hitting a button to make it stop.

"No worries, Riley." Ena laughs, "There's no need to freak out. Most professionals keep their phones on them at all times anyways."

"Oh..."

"Do you need to check it?"

I glance down to see a missed call notification from Harry. It was getting close to eight, which meant it was nearly eleven where he was. Hopefully, I wouldn't miss him tonight and we could actually talk.

"Just my boyfriend. I can call him when I get back home." I say.

Her eyebrow raises, "Boyfriend, huh? I haven't heard you talk about him at all."

"Oh, yeah..." I laugh awkwardly, "I didn't think it was, like, appropriate to talk about him."

She nods, "Sometimes I think school scares you kids into thinking work is one hundred percent about work. Any company you join or job you're hired at has a social aspect to it. They teach you that it's frowned upon, but everyone does it. Why do you think water-cooler talk is a thing?"