The Billionaire and His Intern (A Christian Romance)

Chapter 1: First Impressions

Arielle stood in front of the tall AMI tower with a slim briefcase in hand. It held all of her credentials, reports, and her résumé. A crowd of professional looking adults were walking in and out of the building as she barely mustered the strength to step inside. It was intimidating to say the least. She took a deep breath and walked inside along with the rest.

This is for you mom, she thought.

She walked over to the open elevator that already held two more people than it's recommended limits. She walked in bravely nonetheless. An unwise decision, but she was much too excited to care. The elevator went up, climbing past each number until reaching the floor 107.

By that point the elevator only had her on it. Everyone else got off by floor 89. She wondered why she needed to go up so high, but it was included with her first day instructions.

Ding! The elevator rang out loudly. The strong steel doors opened and she feigned confidence while strutting out. She looked around and her eyes landed on an older lady at the front desk. Her hair hung to her shoulders speckled in various shades of grey and white and thin glasses sat on the bridge of her nose.

"Hi," Arielle called out to the secretary. "My name is Arielle Burnes. I'm the new intern." Arielle showed the secretary her ID and upon seeing it, the secretary nodded in approval.

"Oh!" The older lady smiled. "Hello there Arielle, my name is Susan Davis, but you can call me Sue. You must be here to see Alexander Marquee. He's in his office. I'll let him know you're here." Susan grabbed the landline in front of her and clicked a button towards the top. "Mr. Marquee, your intern is here." Susan smiled at whatever Mr. Marquee said in return before placing the phone down.

Arielle's eyes widened dramatically. "A-Alexander?" She stuttered out.

Susan looked over at her with concern. "Yes, are you alright, dear?"

Arielle attempted to compose herself and cleared her throat before nodded quickly. "Yes. Yes, I'm okay."

The older lady continued to look her up and down. The girl was clearly frightened, Susan thought. "Okay," She responded with a gentle expression. "His office is down the hall. I'm excited to work with you." She said with a smile before ushering Arielle towards the large doors.

"Thank you, you too." Arielle nearly squeaked. She had thought that she applied to be an intern to one of Alexander's favored employees, but not Alexander himself.

Her small hands knocked at the large and noticeably dense doors. She could hear shuffling about in the room before hearing his voice. "You can come in!" A deep voice beckoned. She gulped and smoothed down her flowy a-line skirt before pushing open the door.

Her breath hitched in her throat as she saw a handsome man sitting behind a large wooden desk. He looked much younger than she would have expected for a CEO. His hands were holding various papers. Just a quick look at him made it apparent that he was rather large and strong man.

Her eyes went to his pristine suit. Any man would plead to know who his tailor was. It fit him well. It was not obnoxiously tight nor excessively baggy. It was appropriate and he wore like it was made for him because it most likely was. His dark hair slightly curled and had such a shine to it. Everything about this man seemed perfect and Arielle didn't know how to handle that, so she gulped and looked away. She could not be distracted by appearances.

Because she looked away so quickly and without truly looking into his eyes, she didn't realize Alexander's gaze on her. He took in how she was dressed. She was clothed rather modestly. The skirt she wore was long and it flowed along her legs beautifully. It did not cling to her skin and seemed to be made of a pleated, ivory silk. It looked like something only the rich could afford, but he had never heard of nor seen this woman before. He was almost certain that she was not rich.