SS NYM Ch 5

It’s a good thing Meri showed up when she did; Athena has ten complex coffee orders to fill. Athena is a genius, so keeping the orders straight is no trouble. Carrying ten coffees, however, is a little much for one person without a special box or tray, which she does not have. So Meri is already being helpful to Warmer Media Group.

Fascinated, she hurries along behind Athena as she breezes through the offices, taking the coffees to Very Important People, some of whom spare a glance for Meri. None of them seem to pay much attention to her, which she recognizes as a good thing. The fact that these people take Meri in stride means that she’s not standing out. Fitting in at a place like this is not easy. Meri has passed the first hurdle: being well-dressed and attractive.

Athena is everybody’s intern, but she mainly works for a lady named Tess. Tess is a partner in the Warmer Media Group who serves as liaison with a major television network. Tess isn’t quite chubby, just soft. She’s Meri’s mother’s age and an impeccable dresser. She seems nice, but distracted. It’s obvious that she takes Athena for granted, and orders her around without hesitation. She’s not mean about it, it’s just jarring.

Soon, Meri gets to see just how deep Athena’s responsibilities go. She doesn’t just get coffee and take messages; she fills in for Tess on things that Tess doesn’t want to do.

Meri finds herself sitting in a corner of a massive boardroom while Athena sits at the table, playing Tess’s role at a shareholder meeting.

It’s the most stressful thing that Meri has ever seen. The amount of trust that goes into this is staggering. An intern in this position cannot make a mistake. Athena manages to look as though she’s handling it gracefully, but she must be a blubbering mess on the inside. An internship is necessary to get a job here, but fetching coffee does not prepare one for this work. When an intern makes a mistake, she’s out. The company wants people to know this before they apply.

Athena doesn’t get to eat lunch, so Meri doesn’t either. They work nonstop through the day, rushing around the building and doing anything asked of them from proofreading documents to taking phone calls.

It’s well past six, and finally some of the executives are starting to leave. Tess is putting things in her briefcase. She turns back to her desk and glances at her computer.

“Shit,” she says. “Athena, we got a problem.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Athena is immediately at Tess’s side.

“I wasn’t paying attention. I have to go. Can you cover this?”

“Of course,” Athena says automatically. Meri twitches. Less than twenty minutes ago, Athena agreed to cover something else for the executive down the hall. She’s just double-booked herself. She made a mistake.