“There, there,” she said, patting my shoulder. “I promise you, you’ll get used to it.”
* * *
The first weekend of my internship I had wallowed in bed the entire time, eating Sour Patch Kids and watching Cameron Diaz movies. Seeing as how texts and Facebook posts from my friends had started to drop off, I figured I needed to spend this weekend back in the land of the living. Friday evening, getting home at a remarkably early 8:00 p.m., I returned two weeks’ worth of missed calls. After begging for forgiveness and promising to do better, I cajoled my two closest friends into margaritas and Mexican food at Los Amigos, a run-down college hangout four blocks from my house. My plan was to get sloshed on margaritas, then stumble home—the perfect “college girl gets snatched by a serial killer” scenario, but at twenty-one years old, it sounded like a reasonably good plan.
At 9:30 p.m., dressed in a blue sundress and heels, my hair loose and makeup subdued, I wrestled through the line outside the bar and made my way inside. My skin was paler than usual due to my recent inability to spend any time outside, but I still turned a few heads. I saw Olivia and Becca perched at a high-top in the corner. The bar was filling up, and it took a few minutes of squeezing through people to get over to them.
“Hola!” I said enthusiastically, giving them both hugs before climbing onto one of the stools. They both had ridiculously huge margarita glasses with goofy straws in front of them, and I looked around for the waiter. He came over shortly, took a cursory look at my ID and then disappeared to get us some queso and chips. Becca didn’t wait long to start chewing me out.
“So, seriously,” she snapped, glancing at her imaginary watch, “it’s been almost two weeks since we’ve seen you. Unacceptable!” She slapped her well-manicured open palm on the table to emphasize her point.
“Go easy on her, Becca,” Olivia chided. “She’s working—something you wouldn’t understand!” She shot a playful smile in Becca’s direction.
Olivia was right—working was something Becca would probably never understand. Her wealthy parents and their generous funding pretty much guaranteed Becca an easy ride to whatever wealthy husband she’d eventually marry. With Becca’s perfect body, classic bone structure and disarming personality, she had basically won the genetic lottery.
Olivia was more like me—from working-class parents, barely surviving on student loans and part-time jobs. I was especially tight at the moment, due to my full-time unpaid internship. We were all prelaw students, but I was a semester ahead of them, and therefore the first to undergo the intern experience.
“Really, Jules, how’s it going?” Olivia said.
I shrugged. “So far, it’s a lot of menial work. My boss is okay, just a complete workaholic.”
“Oh, please!” Becca said. “Tell me what he’s really like. Is he Mr. Sexy-Aggressive Attorney, or the nerd you’d like to bang some freakiness into?” She grinned at me across her margarita.
“Uhh...neither. Try happily-married-plus-I-wouldn’t-hook-up-with-someone-at-the-office sexuality. If that even exists.” I smirked at her, taking a big swig of my drink.
Olivia laughed, and Becca’s eyes rolled. She leaned forward and pointed at me. “Don’t give me that high-and-mighty routine. You make it a profession to tease half the men in this town into drooling oblivion, and leave them high and dry. Don’t tell me you would pass up the opportunity to have the upper hand in the office.”
I pasted an offended look on my face. “Why, Becca! I can see why you think it’s easier to ‘actually’ have sex with guys, but I enjoy the chase more than the actual rewards. If I slept with every guy I made out with, can you imagine my reputation? Not to mention I’d be pregnant with six kids!”
Olivia cut in. “Sweetie, you have a reputation anyway—as the biggest tease this side of the interstate. There’s not a guy on campus who doesn’t know your game by now.”
They were right in their harassment. I teased guys all the time—got them worked up to the point of excitement and then stopped the action. My methods may have been frowned upon, but it allowed me to preserve my relative innocence and get a confidence boost at the same time. “I assure you, there are plenty of guys on campus who have yet to find out about my teasing ways. I’m not going to fuck guys just because they’re worked up.”
Becca snagged a chip, dipping it into the cheese, and shrugged at me. “At least suck them off, Jules. Then they’re not left hanging, and you can sorta retain your moral high ground.”
“Becca, then she wouldn’t have the power over them. She wants them to continue wanting her. Wants them to imagine ‘what could have been.’” Olivia nodded knowingly.
“Oh my lord—are we done with my pysch evaluation?” I asked. “Why does it matter that I’m a tease? I don’t see us giving Becca the third degree when she decides to bang half the lacrosse team!”
Becca was in the middle of a strong rebuttal when I felt an arm slip around my shoulders. “Hey, beautiful,” a voice said in my ear. I pulled back and stared into Todd Appleton’s face.
“Todd!” I said, surprised to see him out of the office. I hadn’t seen much of him in the past two weeks since I was banned from entering the East Wing. He had stopped in once or twice, but I’d always been too busy to chat.
“This seat taken?” he asked, gesturing to the empty stool.
“Not at all!” Becca said, smiling brightly. She flipped her brown hair over her shoulder and leaned forward, flashing Todd her best megawatt smile.
I looked to Olivia for approval, and she rolled her eyes good-naturedly and smiled agreeably at me.
Todd introduced himself to my friends, and then slid onto the stool. He motioned for the waiter, and then leaned back, drumming his fingers on the table. Grabbing a handful of chips, he turned to me.
“All the interns have been going out a few times a week,” he said, biting down on a chip covered in cheese. “You should join us sometime.”
I shot him a look. “Sure, I’ll just swing by on one of my three bathroom breaks.”
“Oh, so Julia’s been ignoring you, too?” Becca said, leaning forward and showing her ample cleavage.
“Aw, I’m just kidding her,” Todd said. “I know that her attorney buries her under work.” He brushed the back of his hand gently down my arm, sending a shiver through me. I moved away, catching myself before I smiled at him. Flirting is fine, but I’m not about to take it further...even though you are so damn hot!
Becca shot me an inquisitive glance and I sent back a “he’s all yours” look. The waiter swung by with a platter of dirty glasses and plates, and Todd put in a drink order.
“So,” I said casually, “what’s it like working for De Luca?”
Todd snorted and nodded enthusiastically. “It is awesome. The guy is an absolute animal! You should see him in the courtroom. He rips these guys to shreds!”
“The courtroom?” I interrupted him. “You’ve been to court?” This is bullshit! Todd gets plush hours and courtroom experience?
“Yeah! He took me with him last Monday. It was awesome!”
Five minutes with Todd and I was already a little sick of the word awesome. Maybe I was just bitchy about my current situation. Either way, I tried to appear cool and offhand. “What was going on there Wednesday?”
“Wednesday?” Todd’s