Well, What Ever Happened To Romance?

Chapter 3

"YOU GOT TO FIX BEN COOK'S HAIR?"

"Please shout a little louder. I don't think the entire world heard you," I said, tucking my phone between my ear and shoulder as I opened the Starbucks door.

"Can you blame me? I can't believe that it took you this long to tell me. That's kind of a really big deal." I was talking with my best friend from home, Angie, who was the only person I could confide in over musical-related matters.

"Ang, it's not like we made out. I literally just fixed his hair, made some stupid pun, he winked and waved goodbye to me when he left, and then we moved on with our lives."

"Woahwoahwoah WOAH. Did you just say that he winked at you?"

"Oh my god, Ang," I mutter under my breath.

"I'm going to move past how offended I am that you didn't tell me, and move on to the fact that you actually made CONTACT with the Broadway star that thousands of teenage girls are obsessed with. Do you know how many girls would kill to be in your shoes?"

"As much as I would love to have this discussion, I've got to get my boss's Starbucks and then get to work. Those press releases aren't going to write themselves." I respond, since I'm almost to the front of the line.

"Ugh, fine. But the second that anything else exciting like this happens, will you please let me know?"

"Of course, Ang." We say our goodbyes, and I order my boss's grande Mocha.

I won't lie, I had spent my entire weekend thinking about Ben. It's not even like he had flirted with me. He was literally just doing his thing, and I was doing mine. Maybe that's why I hated thinking about it so much.

But today was Monday, the start of a brand new week. And I decided that I was going to be more career-driven and focused on my internship than I had been thus far. This is what I had come to the city for, and I was not about to let a boy slow me down.

You can imagine how thrown off I was when I found out from my boss that, for the next two and a half months, I would be working exclusively with the Mean Girls cast. No other projects or shows at all, just this one.

.... Shit.

"So this afternoon, we'll be taking the producers and some cast members out to lunch, just to go over some goals for the show's campaign." My boss continued. I could hardly even listen, and I almost laughed in disbelief. Of course, this would happen to me.

Right before we left for lunch, I snuck into the bathroom to make sure I looked ok. I was wearing an olive-colored blouse with a gold necklace, and black pants. It was nothing fancy, but I definitely looked nice. I texted Angie immediately, giving her the same updates my boss had given me, and telling her that I'd be sure to text her after lunch.

Why was I even stressing out about this? There was a possibility that he wouldn't even be at lunch. After all, he wasn't one of the main characters. I was probably freaking out for no reason.

Once again, as I would find myself many, many times in the next two and a half months, I was wrong. Walking into the quaint restaurant, his was the first face that I noticed. After a blur of handshakes and formal introductions, I found myself seated directly across from Benjamin Tyler Cook.

"Wait a minute, you're the one who fixed my hair the other day!" He said, proud of his realization.

I can't help but let out a little laugh in spite of it all. "Uhm, yeah. That was me," I stutter, as awkward as could be.

"How does it look now?" He jokes, running his hand through it.

I look up at his wild light brown curls, pretending to analyze them. "I don't think I could make it look any better myself," I respond, proud of myself for even getting words out.

He giggles, his eyes scrunching up in a way that made my heart want to set itself on fire. "Good," He replies. "That would probably tickle too much."

I find myself laughing again. This time it wasn't an awkward laugh, or a nervous fill-the-space laugh, but a genuine laugh. The kind that makes you want more. Unfortunately, my boss gets our attention, and we begin to get down to business. I try my best to focus on the meeting, but the entire time, I'm far too aware of Ben's presence just across the table from me. God, I wished I could text Angie right now.

"And our intern, Charlotte, will be handling most of the social media posts," My boss says, gesturing to me and snapping me out of my daydream. "She'll also be attending most meetings, helping at press events, and generally just assisting wherever she's needed." I smile as everyone looks at me.

Was this even real life? Was I actually getting paid to create social media posts and attend red-carpet events and talk shows for one of the best Broadway shows of the season, featuring a cute and talented boy that I am totally digging, as much as I pretend that I'm not?

We leave the meeting hastily after lunch, me reminding my boss that she has another important meeting in half an hour. We're a couple feet out of the door when I hear a voice call my name. "Charlotte! Wait up!" Turning around, I see Ben running towards us. "You, uh, left these on the table." He says, handing me my sunglasses.

"Oh wow, I didn't even realize that I had brought these with me! Thank you so much," I say, taking them from him.

"Not a problem. So I'll be seeing you around?"

"Yes, sir. It looks like we'll be seeing a lot of each other," I reply, once again shocked that I was even able to get words out.

A cheeky grin grew on his face. "Good," He says, taking a few steps back towards the restaurant as I blush hopelessly. "It was good to see you, Char. Can I call you Char?"

I laugh like an idiot. "Hmm, I suppose." He smiles at me again before stepping back inside the restaurant. I just stand and laugh for a moment before turning around to walk back to work. When I turn around, however, I see my boss, who I had forgotten was standing there. She wore a massive grin, which told me that she had seen the entire thing. "That might be the most adorable thing I have ever seen," She laughs. I breathe a sigh of relief, knowing that that could have gone very badly. "Look at you. You're still blushing!"

Her saying that causes me to blush even more. "Oh stop," I say, to no avail. The entire rest of my day is filled with nonchalant "Ben and Charlotte sitting in a tree" comments from her.

My entire evening is spent texting Angie, who asks for and analyzes every single detail of the situation. "Char, please wake up and smell the romance. He's clearly into you."

I sigh, my thumbs fidgeting over the screen as I'm not sure what to say. "Idk Ang, I really don't think he's into me. For all we know, he could do this sort of thing to every girl he meets. Besides, I'm only here for two and a half more months, then what?"

"All I know is one day, you'll be mad you didn't listen to me sooner. Just promise you won't turn down the opportunity if it's there?"

I let out an overdramatic groan, even though she can't hear me. "Fine, I promise."

I spend the rest of the night watching Mean Girls (finally, watching movies counted as "doing stuff for work"), and getting all my things together for tomorrow. Oh, and of course, wondering when I would get to see Ben again. It wouldn't be an evening by myself if that wasn't included, would it? 

A/N: Thank you guys for the votes on the last chapter! I'll do my best to get some chapters up this week :) ALSO if you haven't listened to the Mean Girls soundtrack yet, YOU MUUUUUST!