The Do-Over(52)
Author: Suzanne Park

 

He added, “I studied my ass off for that exam, but I still can’t believe it got me into the top ten. I think they’re taking two interns from Carlthorpe. I hope it’s both of us.”

 

It would be fun to work with Ethan. He was easygoing and smart, and he did his share of the group project work without slacking off. In fact, all my group project teammates were reliable, helpful, and intelligent. I’d lucked out.

 

I received my badge from the guard, peeled the backing, and put the sticker on my blazer.

 

“After you,” Ethan said, gesturing me to lead the way to the second elevator bank, which took passengers to floors 25 to 49. The elevator dinged as soon as I pushed the button, suggesting that luck would be in my favor that day. I took an eager step forward when the doors opened, then remembered to let everyone out before entering. I’d almost forgotten my elevator etiquette.

 

I backed up into Ethan, who yelped when I stepped on his foot.

 

“I’m so sorry!” I yelped back, turning my head to offer him an apologetic smile.

 

“If I didn’t know you were a nice person, I’d say you were trying to literally stamp out the competition, Noona.”

 

I laughed. There was that noona thing again. But it was fine with me: he was ten years younger, and as handsome as he was, he just wasn’t my type somehow. Did I mention he was ten years younger?

 

Just when I thought the elevator was clear for entry, two more people stepped out. To my dismay, I knew one of them.

 

“Oh, hello, Lorrie. What a surprise.” It was Cameron O’Hara, walking up to me with an extended hand. “How’s the book coming along? Is the next bestseller releasing soon?”

 

Although he got my name wrong, which wasn’t so bad given that I myself was terrible at names, the thing that set me off was that he knew the writing wasn’t going well from our last event together, and I couldn’t tell if it was just conversation fodder or he was trying to get under my skin. Either way, I didn’t appreciate it.

 

With a stoic face, I managed to say, “Nice to see you again, Chad. But I’m off to a meeting. Let’s catch up another time.” Or rather, let’s not.

 

“It’s Cameron.” He glanced at my name badge as he held the door open for Ethan and me to enter. “Oh, you’re Lily. That’s right. You’re off to Solv? I was just there, discussing an enterprise cloud project with the head of development. Who are you going to see?” His voice spiked with more intensity and one-upmanship than genuine curiosity, like he was demanding to know information that was none of his business.

 

My mouth went dry. I was here for an internship interview, and if he found out . . . shit. He would have the power to instantly turn my world upside down.

 

Ethan glared at Cameron. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but I have an urgent meeting to attend and you’re holding up my ride.” He pressed the door close button, and the elevator shut in Cam’s face. I heard him mutter “Asshole” through the steel doors.

 

My heart pounded a million beats per minute. While I caught my breath, Ethan said to me, “That guy gave me serious dick vibes. And last thing I needed was for that dick to dick around while we should be checking into Solv. The earlier we are, the better. We show initiative and make Carlthorpe look good when we’re both here early.” He smirked and repositioned the sliding shoulder strap of his leather laptop bag. “I got your back, Noona.”

 

“Thank you,” I said, finally getting my voice back. I couldn’t stop replaying how unlucky I was to see Cameron here, but at the same time, I had to thank the stars I hadn’t seen him earlier in the lobby: he would have heard Ethan or me check in, asking for the intern hiring manager. He would have known everything, or figured it out eventually. And thank God Ethan had been able to read the situation to know that Cam was bad news.

 

Ethan and I exited the elevator, checked in at reception, and took seats in the waiting area.

 

“Are you nervous?” he asked.

 

I nodded. “Did she tell you what type of roles they were interviewing you for?”

 

“She said they’d consider me for development too, but I needed to sharpen my coding skills.”

 

We learned light programming in our class, but because the course emphasis was more on spotting, identifying, and editing efficient and smart code rather than advanced code development, passing a programming interview would take a ton of extra practice and training since our class barely scratched the surface. But I could see Ethan doing this in his spare time, especially if it meant opening opportunities for working at Solv or similar companies.

 

The door next to the reception desk opened and a young man wearing clear plastic glasses that looked like hipster safety goggles emerged. “We’re ready for you two. If you could follow me, I’ll take each of you to your first meetings.”

 

I passed through the door and held it open for Ethan.

 

Ethan was dropped off first. “Ready, Lily? You got this. But wish me luck.”

 

I offered a reassuring smile. “Luck is just a mix of preparedness, timing, and opportunity. You have the holy trinity. You’ll do great.”

 

“Thanks. I know you will too.”

 

We waved at each other as we headed to our separate interview rooms.

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter Twenty-Six

 

 

The pool was freezing. The icy temperature was enough of a shock to my system to prevent me from constantly thinking about whether I’d get the internship or not.

 

A week had passed. Still no word.

 

According to the sign posted on the doors of the gym, the heater had malfunctioned overnight but maintenance had fixed it an hour ago. Allegedly. So the good news was no one else was in the water with me and it was warming up. The bad news was my teeth were chattering, and Beth was full of hyped coach energy.

 

“The heater’s working, it’ll take a while though.” Beth blew her whistle. “Kickboard time, Lee!”

 

“D-d-d-do you really need that whistle? We’re the only ones here.”

 

She blew it again. “You asked me to help, and this is how I help. Now go kick!”

 

Sergeant Beth scared me, so I did as she requested. I kicked to the other side, then grabbed the edge.

 

The shrill whistle echoed as Beth blew it while walking around the pool. “Go two more laps back-to-back and then you can rest. You need to be able to do a full seventy-five yards without any breaks.”