Page 2 of Cerulean Truth
Cursing him in silence, I tried to remind myself why I was even doing the assignment, which was harder to do after spending two days straight sifting through porn within the confines of a cramped cubicle.
However, I was compelled to keep my eyes on the prize. Despite my relatively brief tenure of almost two weeks at this particular internship, I possessed an unwavering conviction that this law firm represented the path to my future—at least for the next decade.
Hence, my awesome task of sifting through hours and hours of porn, not because my personal life needed some extra spice—to be honest, it did, though watching porn wasn’t going to fix that—but because one of the clients was facing allegations of involving a minor in one of her adult films, and we had to verify every face in every movie she ever produced.
Which was rather challenging since the camera usually doesn’t really focus on faces…
I briefly glanced at the carefully arranged photographs beside my computer, hoping they’d provide me with some much-needed motivation: One of them featured my parents, beaming down at me during my childhood, their love and unwavering support evident.
The second one portrayed each of them succeeding at only twenty-one years old in their respective fields. Oh yes, my dad won a Nobel prize for some scientific breakthrough at twenty-one and my mom shook hands with Nelson Mandela as a twenty-year-old humanitarian volunteer.
Meanwhile, I was a twenty-three-year-old virgin lookalike—apparently—hadn’t finished law school yet and was only on my third internship of the year in a prestigious law firm, where I was spending my days watching porn…none of which were earning me either prestigious awards or earth-shattering org—handshakes.
I really wanted my parents to be proud of me. Of course they loved me unconditionally and all, but they were both like Mensa-smart and Mandela-ambitious. To say the shadows they casted were long, would be an understatement.
“Hey Emma,” Moby Dick’s big head reappeared, and I sighed.
“What now?” I asked through gritted teeth.
“Did I tell you how I just got back from the most fabulous weekend in Vail? The skiing, the chalet, the whole experience—it was truly extraordinary.”
I raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. “Oh, how wonderful for you, Jason. Another expensive getaway you can later write about in your inevitable autobiography.”
Moby chuckled, clearly pleased with himself—and failing at grasping the basic concept of sarcasm. “Well, you know, I do believe in living life to the fullest. I work hard but I play even harder. Speaking of which, have you seen the watch I bought recently? It’s a limited edition, worth a President’s ransom.”
I sighed, my frustration mounting. “Congratulations, you’ve managed to reduce your entire identity to your socio-economic situation. Had you ever read a book or two, you might’ve had something remotely interesting to say.”
Jason’s smug expression faltered as he furrowed his brow. “Books? Who needs books when you can have all this?” He gestured to his designer suit. I swallowed back some unprompted bile.
My tone turned cutting. “Can you at least spell ‘unfuckable,’ or did you just pose as a model for the concept and left it at that?”
Jason's face shifted through several shades of red, leaving him speechless for the first time since we'd met. My lips curled into a victorious smile as I’d finally silenced the idiot. Or maybe he simply struggled to grasp my jab, given the use of a few difficult words…
I rose from my seat and headed to the bathroom, phone in hand, ready to FaceTime Lisa, my closest friend. She was a petite, stunning blonde who seemed oblivious to both her beautyand intelligence. She dedicated an excessive amount of time fretting over others' opinions, and her communication skills, to put it gently, left much to be desired. But beneath it all, she possessed a kind and nurturing heart, prioritizing others' well-being over her own.
“What’s up, babe?” she greeted me at the first ring.
“Trying to get rid of my daily annoyance,” I grunted back.
“Moby douching out his own insecurities again?” She rolled her eyes.
I glared at her in a way that conveyed all my irritation.
"Isn't there anyone else you can talk to? I mean, how many other lawyers are there anyway?" she asked, her brow furrowing.
I replied tentatively, "There are something like over three hundred lawyers and at least double in supporting staff..."
"So, why are you only socializing with the office's resident jerk?"
I hesitated for two seconds to tell her the truth.
"He's the only one who'll talk to me," I confessed, my voice tinged with shame.
"Oh, sweetie, you know that's all in your head, right? You are awesome, sweet, and, by the way, very pretty. It's simply…sometimes you come across a little...uh, firmer than you intend."
"Did you mean to say 'arrogant' but decided to soften it with 'firm'?"
She let out an exasperated sigh. "You know very well what I mean. Now tell me more about your internship, but I swear, if you so much as mention Moby, I'll call him up and ask him out on a date for you."
