Miss Intern

2. We Meet Again

Smoothing the jacket of her suit, Debby smiled at her reflection, much satisfied.

She got to her workplace and stood outside, admiring the building before her. She could imagine designing buildings as lovely as this and her heart swelled with longing.

"A beauty, isn't it?"

"It is." Debby smiled graciously at the young man beside her.

"Jordan." He introduced, holding out his hand which Debby shook.

"Debby."

"An intern?" He asked, curiosity lighting his eyes.

"Yeah, starting today."

"Likewise. Shall we?" He asked politely, holding the front door open as Debby walked through.

"Thank you." She whispered as they walked towards the receptionist. They were ushered into a waiting room where they waited for fifteen minutes before two other interns arrived with a prim lady right behind them.

"Good morning," She started as the four of us stood. "I'm Amelia Gonzales. You're welcome to the company, expectations are incredibly high, I thought you would like to be reminded of that." She finished with a sharp gaze at each of us. "If you would follow me, I'd give you a tour." She added, spinning on her heels without a backward glance.

Debby tried to maintain a placid expression as she heard Jordan and the second guy mumble before hearing someone whisper, "Hi."

"Hi," Debby whispered in return to the tall blonde who had walked in earlier.

"I'm Julie," She introduced herself with a smile, ignoring Miss Gonzales who kept speaking while walking about.

"I'm Debby."

"Am I a boring tour guide?" Miss Gonzales turned abruptly, directing a reprimanding look at Debby and Julie.

"No," they mumbled and she huffed before rapping her knuckles on a mahogany door. A muffled "come in" was heard before she swung the door open.

"Damy," Miss Gonzales called with a sweet voice as Julie drew back in shock. "How are you?" She continued in a sing-song voice which Julie shuddered to.

Biting back a smile, Debby had a feeling she would get along with Julie quite well. She was a bit curious as to who could evoke such sweetness but Miss Gonzales was between Debby and the object of her affection.

Once Miss Gonzales turned to face them, the smile on Debby's face disappeared. In its place was shock because Damon Scotch couldn't be sitting on the office chair staring right back at her.

She tried to morph her expression into one of nonchalance but she knew she had failed. If he remembered her, he showed no sign. Debby was sure she hadn't changed much since the last time they spoke at that restaurant three years ago so it was either he erased her from his memory and couldn't remember her or he had decided to pretend like he didn't know her.

"... Okay." Debby heard Miss Gonzales say when she snapped out of her thoughts. "Now that I've introduced him to you, it's your turn. You can all let him know your names." She finished, turning to Damon once more.

"I'm Debby Amore." Debby introduced herself once it got to her turn, daring him to acknowledge her.

Wordlessly, he looked at Julie which prompted her to introduce herself.

Very well, two can play the game.

"Alright. You'll be working closely with Mr. Scotch and I so I'll work with two of you and he'd do the same." After perusing our faces briefly, she continued, "Julie and Brent would work with me while Debby and Jordan would work with Mr Scotch."

The slight drop of Debby's heart in her stomach was the only rebuttal she could offer. She wouldn't give Damon the satisfaction of seeing her squirm. Since he had put their history behind him, she would do well to do the same. "That would be all. Julie and Brent, let's head to my office."

Julie gave Debby a 'help me' look before trudging behind Miss Gonzales. Turning away from Julie to let her smile break free, she found Damon– Mr Scotch– looking at her and froze. He didn't look away.

"Welcome to the firm." Damon started, holding Debby's gaze as he added, "Professionalism is our topmost priority."

Accepting the subtle challenge, Debby held her head high, "Thank you, professionalism is our watchword."

Unaware of Jordan's questioning look, they sized each other up till Damon broke eye contact. Debby blinked away at the thought of him being more handsome than she last remembered.

"You're free to familiarize yourself with your new environment for an hour. After that, we'll get down to business." Damon said, momentarily looking at Jordan before facing the blueprint on his desk.

It took all of Debby's will not to run out of his office. Imagine her luck! Dianna wouldn't let her hear the last of it.

"I'm heading out but I'll be back in time," Jordan said before walking towards the staircase leading downstairs. The only place Debby could think of spending her 'break' was the library Miss Gonzales had shown them earlier but she doubted they had the sort of books she enjoyed. It wouldn't hurt to try, she thought, heading straight for the library.

Damon let out a frustrated groan. He had tried–  but failed– to convince himself that Debby's presence in the company didn't affect him one bit– it did.

He had the sinking feeling he'd regret not checking the prospective interns' lists one day and apparently after two years of doing just that, he was about to pay the price for his nonchalance.

What was she doing here?

He had granted her wishes, stayed away to make her comfortable and moved on– even moving far away to ensure there was enough distance between them physically and emotionally. Especially for his good since he was a besotted fool.

Glancing at his clock, he noted the five minutes left till she returned. He had to maintain the distance and he was off to a good start. They would only be colleagues. Friendship was not an option because he knew fairly well that it was the best soil for love.