"So, have you put any consideration into who you want to be your intern?" Shane asks.

"Not exactly. I was pretty good with the one I had before you insisted on taking her." I reply.

"You'll get over it. She's liking this, anyways. I hardly see her, don't worry." He laughs.

"Not really what I was worried about." I say.

"Yeah, well I know you and I know you would get jealous if I got to sit beside your girlfriend for seven hours every day. Don't worry, she's doing a lot of good work for this company. She was asked to be a part of Brian's team in this app design. I agreed, of course. I think it will be good for her to work beside him. He's a great engineer."

"Wait, Brian asked for her to join his team?" I ask.

"Yes."

"That's weird." I mutter.

"How so?"

"Well, considering he's the only reason she backed out of her own app design because of things he was saying behind her back."

"He talked badly of her?" He asks. "How did I not know this before agreeing to her working on his team?"

"Because I promised her that I wouldn't say anything. That's the whole reason she didn't get her own app in the first place. Her app idea was good. I'm not just saying that because I'm with her, either. I know a good app when I see one, and her app was good. Brian's is good too and a little more something that I would personally use, but her's was good for a newer audience. It would have brought a decent amount of traffic through."

"I was just under the impression that the two were friends. I had no idea." He says. "Is this something I should be concerned about?"

"I don't think so. If he asked her to join his team, then I'm assuming she either forgave him or he doesn't even know that she knows. Either way, just keep on eye on the situation. I don't want any more rumors happening about Natalia."

"She's going to have a hard time, either way. It's unfortunate, but it's the truth. Some of these guys just haven't grown up yet. They truly believe that women are inferior to men. It's pathetic."

"Trust me, I'm frustrated about it. That's something else we need to consider. We need to look into getting our diversity up. There are too many white men working here. It makes our company look bad. It's something I never really noticed, but it's also something that hasn't effected me. We need to hire more women and different ethnicities. I know this wasn't intentional, but we need to start seeking them out and creating jobs for them. I don't want anyone to feel like we only have a certain group of people working here. I definitely don't want the ones who aren't in that certain group to feel less than, either." I explain.

"I love it. Maybe we can start with your intern." He offers. "I'll also look into hiring an intern for all of the other office leaders here. Starting next week, all of you will have an intern."

"Okay, great. You can get those together, yeah?" I say, standing up from my seat.

"Yup. I'll get right on it." He says. "Do you want to sit in on these interviews?"

"No." I answer immediately.

I will never want to sit in on the interviewing process.

"Didn't think so. I'll find someone that I believe is a good fit for you, don't worry."

"I trust your judgement." I say. "I need to get going. I'm going to run down and get Natalia. We have dinner plans."

"Head on out, chief. I'll see you later, I'm sure. Sofia is pumped about the whole cheerleading thing." He says.

"She's been excited about that for awhile now. We still have to go out and celebrate her making the team."

"I know. I keep telling her to pick somewhere but she can't make a decision to save her life." He laughs.

"Trust me, I know." I reply. "I'll see you later." I say before leaving the office.

I know Brian's team is right next to Natalia's old team. I told him previously that I would clear out a new room to make room for the new team, but that clearly hasn't been done yet. With all of the things I've had to do lately, it has honestly just slipped my mind. Now that Natalia is on his team, I'll need to make it a priority.

Maybe I do give Natalia special treatment.

As I approach Brain's door, I knock lightly before entering. I'm not going to wait for his approval to enter. Plus, if he's doing what he's supposed to be doing, it shouldn't even matter.

"Mr. Parker. I wasn't expecting you." He says, standing up from his seat. Natalia is sitting across from him with his laptop on in front of her. She perks up slightly when she sees me and gives me a small smile.

"Grayson." I reply in a cold voice.

"Grayson." He repeats with a nod. "What can I do for you?"

Well for starters, you can get the hell away from my girl.

"I was just coming to get Natalia. Shane needs her." I state.

"Oh, okay. Well...I'll text you? We'll figure out a game plan for the rest of this week. I can get with him if he needs any information on what you're doing." He tells her.

"I'm sure Shane is fine with whatever we're doing." She laughs. "I'll catch you tomorrow." She adds.

"Okay, sounds good. Have a good day. It was nice seeing you, Grayson." He says.

I don't reply as Natalia follows me out the door.

When the door closes, Natalia gives me a look of what looks like annoyance.

"What?" I ask.

"Would it kill you to at least pretend that you don't hate him?" She asks.

"I don't hate him." I reply.

"Okay, well the look on your face says otherwise." She replies.

"I always look this way."

"No, I think I know you well enough to notice the difference." She laughs in reply.

"Oh really?" I smile In reply. Something about Natalia knowing the difference in my facial expressions makes me feel noticed. It makes me feel important.

"Really." She smiles in reply.

"I guess now all I have to do is figure yours out." I reply.

"They're pretty easy to figure out." She says.

"Completely false." I laugh.

"What? Yes they are!" She giggles in response.

"Oh no they aren't. You have a new face for everything. I'll have to sort through hundreds and separate them into piles." I reply.

"Well, guess that means you have to keep me around to figure it all out." She smirks.

"I think you're right." I nod in response. "Good thing I like you." I tease.

"Ha, ha." She replies. "So, does Shane really need me or are you just trying to kidnap me and keep me all to yourself?" She asks.

"Definitely the second option. Shane is trying to figure out where Sofia wants to go for dinner. I'm assuming she already told you." I reply.

"Oh, she FaceTime called me the second she found out. She's so excited. I'm happy for her. It makes me miss dancing."

"Why did you stop?" I ask.

"I had some health issues get worse in college for a short amount of time. It's all good now, but it definitely put a pause on my life. Oh, and my ex hated it when I danced."

"Hated it?" I ask.

"Yeah. He said it was inappropriate." She shrugs.

"But it isn't?" I reply.

"That's what I tried telling him. But honestly, it kind of worked out. I was having some problems with the girls on my team and needed the distance away from them."

"Well, if you ever need to practice some old routines, I'm more than happy to be an audience." I reply truthfully.

"Oh, really? Well, I might just have to take you up on that later tonight." She replies as she comes over and gives me a quick kiss.

Before she can even pull away, I put my hand behind her head to hold her in place.

"Not yet. I don't want this to end yet." I mumble into the kiss.

Despite these words, she pulls back and gives me a soft smile.

I love her smile.

"I don't want my boss to walk back and yell at us again." She laughs.

"He can deal." I say, pulling her in for one last kiss. Just one more kiss, and I'll let her pull away.

"Okay, you can be patient, I promise." She says once I pull away.

"Not for long." I say honestly.

"Okay, so what's the plan?"

"For?" I ask.

"For today." She replies.

"Call Sofia and see if you can get an answer out of her. That, or give her a suggestion on where to go. Otherwise, the girl won't make up her mind until next year." I groan.

"Okay, well I need to change and stuff for wherever we end up going. I'll meet over there or back at your apartment. Either or." She says.

"Okay, that sounds good." I say.

"Do you want me to take you back?" She asks, grabbing her car keys.

"No, I'm going to ride with Shane. He wanted to stop somewhere before to get some flowers." I say.

"Okay, cool. I'll just-" She says, but is cut off by the soft ding on her phone. She looks down at her screen and I watch as her face drops.

"Is everything okay?" I ask, not liking the uneasy feeling I'm now feeling.

"Uhh, yeah." She mumbles in response as she locks her phone and slips it into her pocket. "Just a random number texting me. I think they texted the wrong person." She says with a laugh.

This laugh doesn't match her usual laughs. This one seems forced. This is makes the uneasy feeling stir.

"Are you sure?" I ask.

"Yeah, positive." She smiles. "I'm gonna head out. I'll see you in a bit?" She asks, standing on her tiptoes to give me cheek a quick peck.

"Okay, yeah." I mutter, trying to check the look on her face one last time before she brushes past me with her car keys in hand.

I don't know what it is about what just happened, but I have a bad feeling about it.

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