The secretary's office was a pressure cooker. But as an intern, Evelyn's tasks were simple. Secretary Harper gave her the easy stuff. Sorting files. Copying documents. Preparing meeting rooms. Making coffee and tea. Greeting guests. The same boring routine, day after day.
She was careful and diligent. Even with simple jobs, she did them well. She wasn't good with office software. So she studied at home after work. She asked Secretary Harper when she didn't understand. Soon, she handled everything smoothly.
The other secretaries started giving her work too. Deliver this document. Pick up that bill. Copy these papers. Evelyn never said no. She was free anyway. Helping out was no big deal.
But even simple things could go wrong.
Today, Evelyn was copying files for Secretary Parker. Halfway through, the copier's inkjet broke. The copies came out blank. Evelyn stared at the papers, confused.
"Secretary Parker, the copier is broken!" Evelyn turned to her.
"Call the admin department. Get someone to fix it." Secretary Parker didn't look up.
"Okay." Evelyn went back to her desk. She found the admin department's number. She asked them to send a repairman.
But her copies were only half done. She needed to finish the rest. The secretary's office had two machines. One was automatic. The other was semi-automatic. This stack of papers was double-sided. On the semi-automatic machine, she had to do it manually.
Evelyn tried printing the first side. Then she figured out how to feed the paper back in for the second side. She struggled for a long time. Finally, she copied and bound the rest. She handed it to Secretary Parker.
"Evelyn, have you sorted that data yet?" Secretary Baker asked.
"Which data?" Evelyn blinked.
"The one I emailed you this morning!"
"I haven't checked my email yet. I'll do it now." Evelyn hurried back to her seat. She opened her mailbox. She found Secretary Baker's email.
At noon, Emily called. Evelyn was still sorting the data. She had no time to eat. She told Emily to go ahead without her.
By the time she finished, it was almost afternoon. The staff cafeteria had nothing left. Evelyn ordered takeout. A hamburger and a coke.
Takeout couldn't be delivered upstairs. So Evelyn went down to get it. She was about to step into the elevator when someone called her name.
She turned around. It was Emily.
"Did you eat out at lunch?" Evelyn smiled.
"No, I just went to deliver a brochure. You haven't had lunch yet?" Emily followed her into the elevator, eyeing the takeout bag.
"Not yet. I just finished." Evelyn answered.
"Why is your office so busy?" Emily asked.
"A little." Evelyn shrugged.
"I used to envy you for getting into the secretary's office. Now I don't. You're too busy to even eat." Emily complained.
Evelyn laughed.
Emily's floor came. "I'll call you tonight. Gotta go to work!" Emily waved.
"Go ahead." Evelyn nodded.
She carried her takeout out of the elevator. She ran into Alexander Sterling, who was about to leave.
"Hello, Mr. Sterling!" Evelyn smiled, then winked playfully.
"What's that?" Alexander looked at the takeout bag in her hand, frowning slightly.
"Uh... snacks!" Evelyn answered quickly. She felt proud of her fast reaction. If she told him it was lunch, the consequences would be serious.
Alexander didn't say anything else. He stepped into the elevator.
Evelyn sighed in relief. She walked into the company with her head down. Before she reached the small reception room, her phone buzzed with a text.
"Write a review when you get home tonight."
Evelyn stared at the message, stunned. "Why?" she replied.
"Ask clearly. Write two."
Evelyn almost choked. Did Alexander see through her lie? Was she not allowed to eat snacks for dinner?
She pouted. She sat down in the reception room. She opened the takeout bag. She ate her hamburger angrily. Poor girl. Only a hamburger and coke for lunch. And she got caught by Alexander.
After finishing, she burped. She cleaned up and walked out. But she saw Ethan Sterling coming.
Evelyn lowered her head. She pretended not to see him. She tried to walk past.
But Ethan asked, "What are you doing here? Looking for my uncle?"
Evelyn whispered, "Can't you pretend you don't know me? I'm interning here!"
Ethan froze for a second. Then he burst out laughing. "You're interning here?"
"Yes." Evelyn resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Was it that strange? Why did Ethan look at her like she was an alien?
"Working with my uncle?"
"No. I'm in the secretary's office. If you see me later, just turn around. Don't mention my relationship with your uncle!" Evelyn warned.
"What relationship do you have with my uncle?" Ethan's face changed, confused.
"None."
Ethan turned his head and looked at her. The corner of his mouth lifted. This was going to be fun.
Evelyn went back to her desk. She continued working.
At three in the afternoon, there was a high-level meeting. Evelyn went to the meeting room. She checked the multimedia equipment. Was it working? Were the whiteboard pens and eraser ready? She made sure nothing would go wrong.
After checking, she went to the tea room. She prepared tea and coffee. Since she started interning, she handled these chores. But even so, she worked hard.
The meeting ended. She went in to clean up. Secretary Parker was called into the office by the special assistant. Evelyn was wiping the whiteboard. She turned her head. She saw Secretary Parker come in with a gloomy face. Her heart thumped. What happened?
"Secretary Parker—"
"Evelyn, how do you do things? I asked you to copy some documents, and this is what you give me? Don't you know this was for the afternoon meeting? Even if you're just an intern, you should be serious. If you don't want to do a good job, if you just want to muddle through, I suggest you leave as soon as possible!" Secretary Parker threw a stack of papers in front of Evelyn, her voice dripping with sarcasm.