Saint Palisade's

[ 8 ]

BEN parked in his usual space outside of RanchPharma's headquarters. 9 AM was approaching and he was dreading clocking into his internship. It was only his second time doing it, but Ben had started to regret accepting it anyway. Everyone regrets something a little at first and then grows to love it. This internship... Ben wasn't too sure about.

Isaiah pulled into the parking lot with Veronica in the passenger seat of their Range Rover. He had sunglasses on, along with pajamas.

"You really had to wake me up at 8:30 for this shit? Why didn't you just drive yourself?" He picked the parking space right next to Ben and pulled in slowly.

"I told you, Blueberry's in the shop." Blueberry was Veronica's blue Astin Martin.

"Whatever. Get out of my car." Isaiah made a shooing motion. Veronica sat still in her chair, mentally hyping herself up to start the day right.

"Earth to Veronica? Get out. I want to go back home and sleep before your girlfriends come and tear up the house."

Veronica turned to look at her half-brother. "They're not gonna destroy the house. They're coming around six anyway. You'll have the entire day to sleep."

He cleared his throat and reached into his driver's side door compartment. He pulled out a brown bag with Veronica's name on it in chicken scratch. He threw it into her lap and gestured for her to get out. "You're going to be late."

"Yessir." Veronica paused before she took the bag and grumbled, slamming her car door and slinging her micro-backpack over her shoulder.

She stood and watched Isaiah back out of the spot, one hand on the wheel and not even looking behind him. The thought of her driving like that scared her. But the thought of Isaiah waking up early and making her lunch scared her even more.

As Isaiah sped away, Ben's white RAV-4 stood out against the blacktop of the parking lot. He had his head on the steering wheel, looking half asleep. Veronica smiled, endeared, before heading inside the building.

"Now, as you two know, you will be responsible for attending all of Mr. Dilt's meetings and providing me the minutes. You will also be responsible for all things intern, such as getting coffee, making copies, and running things between departments. The company is providing you with Chromebooks for your tenure here, and they are to remain in this building." Dilt's secretary extended her arms to Veronica to hand her two gray Chromebooks.

Veronica shook her head and gestured toward Ben. "I don't like being handed things."

The secretary's glance shifted between the two, confused.

"I'll take those." Ben rolled his eyes but took the computers out of Dilt's secretary's hands and held them at his side.

The secretary sighed and sat back down to continue her rundown. "You have two events you must attend today. Mr. Dilt has an important conference call at 10 A.M., both of you will take notes and minutes and report back to me immediately after the meeting. Then, at 2, you will attend the marketing department's confidentiality meeting. You don't have to report to me for that but I suggest you pay attention."

"One hour for lunch, right?"

"Always. You may be dismissed."

Ben and Veronica sat at the makeshift desks close to the building's grand window. Ben and Veronica faced each other, setting up their laptops and exploring the machines.

"So we have nothing to do for two hours? You best believe I will be napping." Veronica kicked her feet up on the desk, suddenly unsheathing a lollipop and sucking on it.