Page 16 of Until We Burn
“If you actually want to pursue this, I’d be interested in working on the documentary with you.”
“I’d love that! When are you able to talk more about the story?”
“Hold on. Let me see.” Nirah takes out her phone. Her brows cinch together as rapid pings break through. “Oh,shit.”
“What’s wrong?” I frown.
She huffs and stuffs her phone back into her pocket. “There’s a tech issue at the office that’s going to impact a big deadline. I’m sorry, Diana. I have to go. But don’t worry! I called in one of my interns, and he’s going to help you out.”
CHAPTER 8
KAI
Out of all theplaces I thought I’d be, the Huang family mansion wasn’t one of them.
I was hoping Nirah wouldn’t need me. But the tech issue at the Pacific Observer was threatening a deadline push. Her instructions were simple, though: Talk to Diana Huang and take notes on the partnership speeches.
I rake a hand through my hair. After that weird conversation between Diana and I on Monday, I don’t even know if she wants to see me. It’s not like I can just leave. No matter how much I want to, I can’t let Nirah fire me from this internship. I have to hold up my end of the deal with my parents so I can stay on the ice.
Pressure presses down on me, winding around my neck like a vise that gets tighter when I walk through the front doors.
“Merde!”
My eyes cringe at the gold light spearing down from the ceiling. It takes a second before I can blink them open and see everything. The chandeliers glow over the spiraling staircase, down to the marble floors, where guests mingle and sip champagne they plucked from the tower in the dining room.
They watch me with narrowed eyes.
I fidget in my suit, my fingers nudging down the collar of my cheap dress shirt. My hands flex and ache for the hockey stick that isn’t there. I’m not on the ice, which means there’s nothing I can do to defend myself from the hits they might lay on me and I hate how fucking helpless I feel.
What if I told Nirah I got food poisoning halfway through and I had to leave? She can’t fire me for that, right?
“Kai?”
I turn around, finding Diana standing at the bottom of the staircase.
Goddamn.
She blazes the way stars do: radiant and unreachable. My eyes trace the curve of her neck where her ink black hair drifts against her cheeks. The bold chandelier light limns over her strapless satin red dress and the gold detailing on her necklace, making her glow like fire.
Shock glints in her eyes. “You’re the intern?”
“Believe me, I’m just as surprised to be here.”
I rub the back of my stiff neck. Diana peers up at me. Concern flickers in her eyes as she frowns.
“Are you alright?”
“Y-Yeah. It’s just really bright in here.”
Diana cocks her head, unconvinced by my lie. But she doesn’t push. She simply reaches out to smooth my collar, and I instinctively lean close enough to hear her whisper into my ear.
“There’s no need to be nervous. Not everyone is as collected as they look.”
“Oh, yeah?”
Diana nods at a bejeweled old lady with pearls in her hair. “I overheard that she bought those out of spite because her husband loves their new chihuahua more than her.”
I snort. Diana smiles and subtly tugs the edge of my collar, steering my eyes towards a couple laughing nearby.
