2-Lily
I scan my email and find nothing but spam and a shipping notification. Business notifications, especially job offers, aren’t sent at seven in the morning, yet I still keep checking. The school year is more than a month away, so it’s foolish to expect them to contact me so soon. That doesn’t stop my quaking nerves. This job may only be another internship, but it’s the one I want.
“Did you take your medicine?”
This question has been asked a thousand times. Every morning, I sit down to some yogurt, a cup of tea, and my medicine organizer. It should be a habit, but I still need to be reminded. I can’t even remember to keep the organizer filled; Dad does it for me.
“Taking it now.” I gulp some water, shove the pill in my mouth, and swallow. It’s backward from what other people do, but taking the pill first makes me choke.
“Boone says you’re doing great work. Maddie has been singing your praises to him nearly every day.”
I frown at the pride in his voice. “Thanks, Dad.”
“Don’t thank me. It’s all your doing,” he says. “Boone says you’ve taken on this museum effort alone.”
The internship is not my doing. I didn’t earn it, and I’ve not proven myself. After Sarah Rivers quit her job, Boone’s fiancée, Maddie, was supposed to become my supervisor, which means she checks every few days to see if I’m alive. I’m there because my father is Pete Webb. I may be lucky to have such a great dad, but I didn’t earn it.
“It’s creative work, and I enjoy it.” That much is true. It was one of Sarah’s projects, and now it’s mine. She said I was a natural talent and put me in charge. She should not have. “It keeps me busy.”
Dad frowns before saying, “It’s time for me to go. Care to drive in together?”
“I have a class this afternoon. It’s one of my very last before the final, so I can’t afford to miss it.”
“I’m proud of you, Lily Flower. Your mother would be, too.”
Bragging about me is one of Dad’s favorite activities. It was uncomfortable as a little kid, and now I’m trying to see it for the compliment it is. He raised me all alone, making my success his. It’s also possible he never thought I would get this far, which is fair because I sometimes didn’t either.
My alarm goes off. “Time to go.” I check my phone and still no email.
This is silly. Don’t job offers come from phone calls? A text is too informal, and they won’t send me a letter in the mail. If they did, letters could get lost. That happens all the time. If it’s an email, I might have written my last name with one B instead of two.
Should I call them?
“Lily. It’s time to go.” Dad taps my arm. “Your alarm went off.”
I forgot.
“Oh, that’s right.”
∞∞∞
On her last day, Sarah Rivers suggested I take over her office. It was a nice offer, but I refused. It’s not mine, and accepting it might make Boone Rivers and everyone else think I want to stay. They already don’t know what to do with me. Instead, I spend my days in the museum workroom. It’s located in a forgotten corner, so I’m left alone. Unfortunately, the work won’t leave me alone.
This started as a manageable project, but now it’s a pile of half-finished tasks. It shouldn’t be so difficult. Sarah offered to put me in charge, and I foolishly accepted. It’s updating a few displays and changing out pictures. It’s simple, and I should be able to do it.
I stare at the spread of glossy pictures in front of me. Boone Rivers stares back at me. Even in a photo, his dark eyes judge me. He told Dad I was doing a great job, but he said that to make Pete Webb happy. He wants my father to stick around and thinks flattering me will help. It would make my life easier if he were wrong.
I give up on the pictures and switch to mapping out a new shelf.
Why would someone with no museum curation experience volunteer to do this? At least there’s only one hour to go.
The heavy wooden door creaks open, letting in an overly loud sigh. My lack of productivity must have been noticed, and I’ll be fired. Again.
Thank goodness.
“Oh, it’s you.” My shoulders sag as I sit back on the wooden stool.
Julian’s clothes always look tailored to his frame, and today’s polo shirt is no exception. The top two buttons are undone, offering me a tantalizing glimpse of chest hair. His broad shoulders stretch the material enough to hint at perfectly muscled proportions.
After meeting him last year, I put more effort into my appearance, enough that I almost imagined myself pretty. Next to Julian, I’m still the same sloppy girl he first met.
“It’s me. I started to think you were hiding somewhere.” He looks around the workroom and picks up on the mess. “Perhaps you were.”
I part my hair and braid on one side before starting on the other.
“This is the museum work area,” I say, knowing it sounds lame.
Julian indicates my two loose braids. “I like that hairstyle on you. It’s very-”
“Childish?” Someone told me that once.
He frowns, causing his features to look uncharacteristically stern. “The word I had in mind was flattering.”
I don’t know the proper response. “I adopted them because they help me stop fiddling with my hair. It’s neater that way.”
“Like a nervous tic?”
“Sort of like that.” I put my fingers on my head like matching insect antennas. “You should do the same. It might help.”
“Are you implying I look bad?”
“It wasn’t meant to be subtle.”
“It was a late night, and time this morning ran short.”
Julian’s clothes are always perfect; it’s the rest of him that changes. Some mornings, he arrives freshly shaved, with a faint scent of cologne hovering around him. On others, he arrives scruffy-faced and in the previous day’s clothes. He’s earned my dad’s Lothario nickname.
“I hope you at least thanked her before walking out.”
Julian’s brows draw up with surprise before he bites his lips. Pink splotches appear on his cheeks. “You sound a little jealous.” His word choice is harsh, but I don’t think he means it.
“Of being used for my name or having my name forgotten an hour later?” I shoot back at him. “I prefer to avoid both.” It’s an easy goal to reach. Both options theoretically require me to at least go on a date first, with a first kiss and a first…. everything else.
“Wow.” He steps closer and leans on the work table. “You’ve beaten me at Mario Kart several times now, but that right there was your revenge.” He points at me. “New topic. You ever finish that book I loaned you?”
“I tried.” His forehead lifts, arching both eyebrows again. “I did. At least five times. It was a slog.” A military fantasy is pure misery. “There was a battle in the second chapter. Paragraphs of strategy.”
“You agreed to read it.”
I’m still unsure how we came to this odd tradition of sharing. I tried one of his green smoothies, and he ate a cookie-and-cream milkshake. We declared each of them disgusting before moving on to choosing a documentary. His was depressing, while mine was excruciating. This round is books.
“I skipped to the last page, and it didn’t improve.”
“Quitter.”
“Yes.” If the braids weren’t in, I’d pull my hair again.
Julian’s eyes move, following my motions. The braids don’t always work. I pull my hands into fists under the worktable, where he can’t see.
“Boone and I are both in the playoffs,” he says. The news’ casual delivery makes the changed topic even more apparent. “Two races in so far. Are you coming to the next one?”
“I don’t even know where it is.” I shrug my shoulders. It’s difficult even to remember there is a race. Growing up, NASCAR was my father’s job and nothing else. I hid in his trailer when I was younger and stayed home alone. “What good would my presence be?”
“You could cheer me on for one.”
He’s flattering me. “I need to stay here and finish this.”
“You haven’t done anything this week. Everything is in the same place it was since I was last in here.”
“It’s complicated work. Do you know how difficult this all is?”
“I have a pretty good idea from watching you these past several weeks. You can’t stand it.” Julian’s blue eyes look up at me through thick lashes. If I were someone else, he would flirt, but this is nothing but typical interest. It’s no wonder he comes in looking so messy all the time. “You’re an intern, right? If they aren’t paying you, then refuse. What’s the worst that could happen?” Julian leans back, pretending to cower in fear. “Oh, no, please don’t take the non-existent money from my pretend paycheck. Anything but that.”
Julian’s high-pitched voice is a decent imitation of my own. I burst out laughing. It’s impossible not to feel better when he’s around.
“General strike unless they double my wages,” I joke.
“There you go. Seriously, don’t do this. Make them find someone else.”
“I promised Sarah.”
“She quit.”
“Yes, but-”
“Lily.” His use of my name stops any further protest on my part. “If you don’t want to be here, why are you?”
My father believes this is a favor, and I don’t want to hurt him. “You want to know a secret? I’ll tell you if you promise not to share. No one else knows.”
Julian pretends to zip his mouth and toss any contents over his shoulder. “Spill it. Every secret.”
My secret plans suddenly feel a little less exciting. “You know how I’m going to school?”
“Everyone knows that. I was hoping to hear where you buried the bodies.”
That’s amusing, but I ignore it. “I applied for another internship. It’s only two days a week, so I can graduate at the end of the year. If I get it, then I quit here.”
“Wow. That’s awesome.” For awesome news, Julian doesn’t sound particularly excited for me. “Does this mean Pete doesn’t know?”
“There’s no point telling him if I don’t get it.”
“Wait, hold up. You gave me blackmail material.” He rubs his hands together. “I’m using this.”
“I’m not reading your stupid military fantasy. It’s boring.”
“Not that. Let me think. We’ll do another trade. I’ll get you out of this stupid project.”
“You can’t do that. Sarah was relieved when I volunteered. You didn’t see her.”
“Yes, but she quit. We just talked about this.”
I hadn’t forgotten. “Maddie says she appreciates my effort.”
“Could that be any more vague? Important question incoming. Does anyone talk to you besides me?”
It’s like school all over again. Unfortunately, homeschooling isn’t an option, and Julian is my only friend. “They’re busy.”
“I’ll get you out of this.” He gestures at the room’s contents. “In exchange, come to some races next season. Experience it up close.”
I’ve been to plenty, even if it was a long time ago. There’s also the rest of the playoffs and an extended break to get through first. If my plans work out, this job won’t be mine either.
“It’s a deal.”
Julian grabs my hand before I can stop him, and we shake. My phone alarm goes off, so I use that as an excuse to release him.
He hurt me the first time we met; now, he’s almost a friend. If I’m not careful, he’ll be a good one.
“Lily, your phone alarm went off,” he says.
My spell breaks. “I forgot. That’s my school alarm. It’s time to go.”