Page 61 of New Girl in the City
“Ah, don’t I know it.”
I laughed and leaned up, kissing his cheek. “I’ll see you after work,” I told him. He caught my hand before I could move away and raised it to his lips, kissing my knuckles.
“Have a good day, Princess.”
“You too,” I replied before I turned and set off into my building. I didn’t know who I passed on the way in, or how I got to my desk, but when I did, I was still smiling. I still had a smile on my face when Claudia entered my office.
“Hey, I saw you getting cozy with hot stuff downstairs. How’s that going?”
“Great,” I told her, looking away from my email to tell her, “he’s my boyfriend now.”
“Holy shit! When did that happen? Why didn’t you text me?” Claudia pushed the door shut behind her and pulled the seat in front of my desk closer.
“This morning. It just happened, there’s no way I could have texted you.”
“Lies. You could have sent me a message in the elevator.”
I shook my head at her. “You’re a wild woman. Aurora and you are going to have a ball together when you transfer to Twin Forks.”
“Ah, that, yes, thank you for the new best friend recommendation. I’m really excited about her, but I promise not to forget that you are my first love.”
I raised a hand to my chest and winked at her. “You give me such joy. Such fidelity.”
“Always and forever, baby.”
* * *
“How’sthe new intern working out?” I asked Lydia while I was taking a stack of paperwork from her.
Lydia raised a hand to me. “She’s amazing. I’ve never had a harder worker. I am eternally grateful. Can we please hire her now?”
I let out a relieved sigh. I had gotten Madison settled in her desk a few doors down in the shared office space, but I hadn’t been able to check on her. I was worried that maybe throwing her in without more hands-on attention was a bad move, but it couldn’t be helped with my workload. I’d given her to Lydia and hoped for the best. I was happy to see that my decision to bring Madison on with us was a good move, not only her, but my team.
“Good, that’s perfect.” I leaned closer to her. “You haven’t heard anything from that dick she was seeing, right?”
I was content to let it lie. So long as Madison was. But that didn’t mean I wouldn't drag that man to hell if she asked me to.
“Not a peep. He hasn’t shown his stupid face on this floor either since we brought her on.”
“Thank god.”
She nodded. “That’s what I’m saying, but-- oh, hey, Madison.” She raised a hand in a wave, and I turned to see the intern in question coming around the corner with a stack of folders in her hands.
“Hi there! I just got done with all of these and I’m all ready to work on the next set you gave me. I should have them done by Wednesday if that's okay?”
Lydia gave her a thumbs up. “That’s ahead of schedule so please, keep up what you’re doing and stay golden, baby.”
Madison beamed at her and ducked her head in acknowledgement. “Thank you. It’s so nice to, ah,” she hesitated, her eyes darting between us and she cleared her throat, “it’s just so nice to be appreciated. The whole woman vibe is something I didn’t realize I was missing.”
I smiled at her and tipped my head in acknowledgement. “We’re happy to have you here, Madison. Thank you for all of your hard work.”
Her fingers interlaced as her hands came up in front of her and she pressed them to her chest. “Thank you for the opportunity,” she said and rocked back on her heels, “I’m going to go get to work on those files before I say anything cringey or cry, or,” she waved her hands with a weak laugh, “you know, something like that.”
I could understand how she was feeling. Any woman who had been in her position did, but that didn’t mean we knew exactly what to say, so I just raised my hand in understanding. “I get it.”
“We both do,” Lydia said quickly, and Madison nodded jerkily before she turned on her heel and left for her desk. Lydia and I were quiet and then I said, “I would never, for anything in all the world, wish to be 22 again.”
“Same,” Lydia agreed.
