Chapter 6
SIX
While I don’t have any fancy or formal attire, I decide it might be better to go to the internship as I am rather than give the impression of being well-dressed, only for them to see the real me the next day.
So, I opted for a black pair of jeans, my trusty black Converse shoes, and a black Henley. My hair is washed, shining, and looking good. I apply my makeup carefully, adding eyeliner and a dark lip tint.
But first, I have to endure my classes, and my anxiety keeps growing, causing me to tap my knee incessantly. The guy next to me keeps scowling at me for making the repetitive noise, but shooting him a scowl of my own makes him stop.
After class, Professor Summer waits for me at the door and offers a warm, encouraging smile.
“You’re going to kick ass, Carolina,” she says with unexpected enthusiasm.
My eyebrows shoot up. I’ve never heard her speak like that before.
“Say hi to Sophia for me,” she adds with a wink before walking away, leaving me wondering who the fuck Sophia is.
The busy main building of the NYPD is a large square structure bustling with activity. Feeling overwhelmed and unsure where to go, I take a deep breath before I get to the reception desk, where an older woman sits.
“Excuse me,” I say. “I’m looking for the Crime Analysis Unit.”
The lady looks up at me from her seat, furrowing her brows. “It’s not open to the public or tourists,” she curtly replies and quickly looks down again.
“Actually, I am starting my internship there today. Carolina Costa.”
She gives me a once-over, scanning me from top to bottom. “Wait a moment,” she says, reaching for the phone.
I glance around, trying to look calm despite my heart pounding in my chest. Laughter erupts from a group of guys nearby, drawing my attention.
A state of shock has me almost dropping my backpack when my eyes catch those of a man in the group. It’s Martin Del Moro, the person who tormented me throughout high school, walking down the hallway with two police officers. He’s wearing an NYPD uniform too.
Martin is tall and, to be honest, quite good-looking. He has dark brown hair and brown eyes that give off a distant impression. But he caused me so much pain and treated me horribly. Even in a million years, I would never find this awful person remotely attractive.
As our eyes lock, I notice a flicker of recognition in his, followed by a sly grin and a wink directed at me. I respond with a bored expression, though deep down, my heart pounds with fear rather than excitement now.
I had no idea Del Moro had become a police officer. His dad is a detective and works for the NYPD, but I didn’t keep tabs on him after high school. I was just glad to be rid of him.
The shock of seeing him pulls me back to one of the crude encounters with the man.
The sun feels warm on my skin as I sit in the high school courtyard, alone as always. I’m lost in my thoughts, scribbling in my notebook, when a loud, obnoxious laugh breaks my concentration.
I glance up and immediately recognize Martin Del Moro strutting by with his usual entourage. They’re all laughing at some story he’s sharing.
“Yeah, man, maybe I really should get tested for STDs with all the sex I have,” Del Moro brags, and his friends howl with laughter.
I can’t help but roll my eyes. I know I should keep quiet, but the words just tumble out. “You can’t get an STD from your own hand.”
The courtyard falls eerily silent. Del Moro freezes, his face contorting with anger. His friends exchange glances, the tension palpable.
I immediately regret my outburst. My heart races, and I mentally prepare for the confrontation, letting my mask of indifference fall over my face.
Del Moro slowly pivots to face me, his eyes icy. “What did you just say, fatty?” he hisses out, taking a step closer, trying to intimidate me.
I swallow hard, trying to find my voice. “I said—”
“I heard what you said,” he snaps, cutting me off.
He leans in so close I can feel his breath on my face.
“Jealous, Costa? Because no one could ever control their gag reflex long enough to touch you?” I scowl at him.
“You’ll need two hands for my package, but it needs a fucking forklift to get to your pussy under all that. ” He gestures to my stomach.
“Yeah, you’ll need two hands for sure. One to hold the magnifying glass and one for the tweezers,” I retort, crossing my arms over my chest.
“You fucking bitch.” He spits, grabbing me by my shirt and pulling me to him. “You better watch your back, Costa. Or I am gonna make your life a living hell.”
As if it wasn’t already.
His friends snicker, clearly enjoying the spectacle. I feel trapped, my eyes darting around, searching for an escape.
With a smug smirk, Del Moro lingers for a moment, letting his threat hang in the air. Then, he lets go of me and, with a final menacing glare, turns and walks away. His friends trail behind, their laughter echoing mockingly.
“Ah… you seem like a lost newbie,” a sweet voice says from my right, pulling me back to the present.
I desperately hope this department is large enough that I won’t have to see him often. I don’t want this to become another season of the hell I endured.
I turn my head, gazing slightly upward to meet a pair of pretty dark brown eyes and the beautiful face of a young Korean woman with long, dark hair and fair skin. “Hey, I’m Sophia, and you must be Carolina, my new intern, right?” She extends her hand for a shake.
Her hand is delicate in mine as I shake it. “Nice to meet you,” I say. “I apologize for being late. The security check at the door took longer than expected.” I grimace, disappointed in myself for making a bad first impression.
“Oh, don’t worry. I already guessed as much. We’ll get you a badge as soon as possible.” She turns to the woman at the reception desk and asks, “Margaret, could you start working on a badge for Carolina, please? We’ll be down in my lab if you need anything.”
Margaret responds with a smile, her previous grumpy mood nowhere to be found.
“Let’s go. I’ll show you where the magic happens,” Sophia whispers to me, waggling her eyebrows.
She seems genuinely nice, and having a friendly face around here is more than I could have hoped for, even if she seems overly outgoing.
We navigate the building, and I’m certain I’ll get lost when navigating on my own during the first few months. When we finally reach her lab, Sophia opens the door, and my eyes widen at the sight before me.
“There, in the back, is the office area with our desks. Yours is right next to mine. We’ll use them for analytics or regular computer work,” she explains.
Pointing to the left side of the lab, she continues, “Over there, we have all our equipment and chemicals. If you need something and can’t find it, please let me know. ”
I take in the surroundings, and I get all giddy inside.
This is amazing!
She gestures toward the lab tables in front of us and says, “And here we have my babies. Our laboratory equipment. You’ll be working with specialized tools to perform various analyses on biological samples.
We have gas chromatography, liquid chromatography, mass spectrometry, and spectrophotometry systems, and other analytical instruments specific to toxicology, some so new you may not have heard about them yet.
” As she talks, I can’t stop my mouth from dropping open in awe.
“This is—” I begin.
Sophia interrupts me with a smile. “So cool, right?”
I nod in response. “Really cool,” I manage to say.
“Susanne mentioned that you’re a bit of a geek like me and maybe a bit socially awkward too. So, it looks like we’ll get along well.”
A huff escapes me. Well, it seems Professor Summer isn’t afraid to speak her mind.
“I can’t wait to try everything,” I say.
Sophia’s face lights up.
As the day wears on, I realize Sophia is truly a gem. She’s incredibly kind and full of quirks. Maintaining my professional distance and reserved demeanor becomes increasingly difficult as I catch myself relaxing and enjoying her company more and more.
I genuinely want to be friends with her, to have a level of comfort at work. However, I remind myself that she is still my boss, and it’s important to maintain appropriate boundaries.
After a while of working in comfortable silence, Sophia breaks it by asking, “You’re in your last year, right?”
I glance up from what I am doing, answering, “Yes, that’s correct.”
She nods. Then, with a curious expression, she asks, “And can you see yourself working here?”
“Absolutely. More than just that, it has been my dream to work here. It’s the reason I chose to study this subject in the first place.”
A smile crosses her face. “That’s good to hear.
You know, I just got promoted to the youngest team leader in this department.
I can assemble my own team now. I’m aware that you and your classmates will soon be searching for jobs after graduation, and I don’t want you to consider other options. I want you to be part of my team.”
My eyes widen in disbelief. “Me? But we’ve only been working together for a few hours.”
Sophia smiles. “I have a good sense of people, and I see potential in you. I believe in your abilities and what you can bring to the team. You have a lot to offer.” I’m taken aback by her confidence in me.
“You don’t know how many incompetent people I’ve worked with so far,” she says with a chuckle.
“I can see that you know what you’re doing.
You handle the equipment with care, you clean up after yourself, and Susanne spoke highly of you.
She’s a good friend of mine, and I trust her judgment. ”
I’m about to open my mouth to thank her when the door opens and two officers enter without knocking.
I mend my face into my usual bored expression and stand straight.
The taller of them, he’s maybe six foot one, is an attractive guy with short brown hair, longer on top, some dark stubble, full lips, and brown eyes.
He crosses his muscular arms over his chest and grins at me.
I steel myself. It’s almost always the too-hot-to-be-true guys that are the meanest.
He looks me up and down, commenting, “Oh, look, another one with way too many brain cells.”
My hackles rise, but I keep my face and tone bored when I answer, “Why, you need some?”
He looks at me with comically wide eyes before he starts to chuckle.
The guy beside him laughs out loud, and I turn to him. He is a bit shorter but still tall at maybe six feet and appears Korean, like Sophia. His black hair is tousled, making me want to push it out of his dark eyes. He smiles a beautiful smile at me, dimples showing, and handsome as hell.
He is still cackling when he asks, “Marry me?”
I look at Sophia, hoping this whole thing didn’t just make a negative impression. But all I get in response is a dismissive eye roll and an annoyed huff. “Carolina, the one just proposing to you is my younger brother, Josh, and the dumbass next to him is his partner, Clay,” she introduces.
Clay steps toward me, extending his hand as if he wants to shake mine. Yet, his hand swiftly retreats when I give it a critical look, crossing my arms over my chest.
“I was going to say it’s nice to meet you… but now I’m not so sure anymore.” He smirks.
Josh says in a kind voice, “Don’t mind him. It truly is nice to meet you, Carolina. Are you the new intern?”
“Yes, and she’s also my new teammate. I just hired her after graduation,” Sophia says. I turn to her, and she shoots me a grin.
“That’s awesome,” Josh says, his eyes full of interest as they lock onto mine. “We came to ask Sophia if she was down to grab an early dinner with us. You’re more than welcome to join. Looks like we’ll be bumping into each other more often now anyway.”
I don’t eat in front of others when I can avoid it. And let’s be real, I doubt I can afford the places they eat at.
“No, thank you,” I say.
Sophia searches my face before she nods. “Maybe next time. But grab your stuff and head out with us. Don’t want you getting lost in the maze already.”
“It’s only five,” I point out, double-checking my phone. Sophia had told me we’d be working until five thirty.
She just shrugs and says, “We should take it easy on day one. Feel free to head home.”
I’m not going to argue with that. Maybe I’ll have enough time to grab something to eat for Howie and me before my bar shift begins at six thirty.
I pick up my things and trail behind them out of the room. They’re chatting between themselves, so I hang back, but I catch how Josh shoots me a look over his shoulder.
As we reach the front desk, Sophia stops, and Margaret gives her a friendly smile.
“Did you have a good day, dear?” Margaret asks.
Sophia replies with a beaming smile of her own. “I did, thanks! How about you?”
The elderly woman nods in response, and Sophia leans in slightly over the counter. “Did you have a chance to make a badge for my newbie?”
I frown, catching Clay’s smirk out of the corner of my eye.
“Not yet, but I can whip up a temporary one for now. Was it… Karen?”
Clay laughs, hastily covering his mouth with his hand when I glare at him. On the other hand, Josh openly grins at me, clearly finding this funny too.
“No, it’s Carolina Costa. She’s the new intern in the forensic toxicology department,” Sophia corrects her, and Margaret begins typing my name into her computer.
“Ah… there she is,” she announces before printing something.
She passes me a sheet of paper with a QR code.
“This is your temporary badge. You’ll need it to get in until I can get your permanent one sorted.
Keep it with you at all times, and don’t lose it,” she instructs, her voice taking on a stern note that was absent when talking to Sophia.
“Thank you,” I mumble, turning toward Sophia. “So, same time tomorrow?”
She pulls me into a hug, catching me off guard. She laughs when she sees my surprised face as she pulls away. “You better be here!” she declares before heading off. Then she calls over her shoulder, “Let’s go, boys. I’m starving.”
Clay grins and salutes me, then turns to follow Sophia. But Josh hangs back for a moment longer.
“Have a good evening, Carolina,” he says, smiling. There is a tingle in my chest, but I just nod as he also heads off.
I take a deep breath.
This is going to be interesting.