I found you

RAIN

Giggling, I place another flower in his hair. The jet-black colour makes the pink petals stand out more. “You look so pretty!” I cheer happily as I take a step back to admire my work. He is sitting before me.

Obsidian orbs on a slightly tan face stare back at me. His lips are curled slightly at the corners, indicating a smile. “I am glad you think so.” He says quietly.

“You are both pretty and handsome.” I beam at him, meaning it. My words make him smile wider and it makes him look better. I cup his cheeks with my chubby fingers, and lean in to stare into his eyes. They grow a little wider.

“Rain…” He calls my name, sounding a little nervous.

“I like it when you smile, okay? Smile more.” I say. His smile grows wider.

He calls my name again. “Rain…”

“Yes?” I ask happily.

But he just says my name again, this time a little louder and makes me confused. Why does he just keep calling my name? “Rain!”

And I feel his hands reach up to push me, startling me.

“Damn it, Rain! Wake up! We’re going to be late!”

My eyes fly open and I shriek at the face before mine. “Fuck!” I curse at my best friend and roommate, Junior, who is scowling.

Junior simply grabs my blanket and pulls it off me. “Get up! It is already 7.30am. We are going to be late!”

I sit up and stare at him blankly for a second. “Late…?”

Junior is fully dressed in a smart attire, navy blue shirt and black trousers. Then, the realisation comes crashing in. Today is the first day of our internship!

Let me back it up a little bit so that you have some background. My name is Rain. I am currently 22 years old and in the last year of my Bachelor’s Degree, majoring in Communications. This person before me is Junior. He has been my best friend since high school.

From young, Junior has always been shy and had difficulty making friends. I, on the other hand, have always been an extrovert or a noisy asshole, like my friends so affectionately call me.

Junior was sitting alone during the assembly on the first day of high school and no one was talking to him. I felt bad for him. So, I walked up to him and asked to be his friend. He thought I was a little crazy at first but we realised both of us like the same kind of music and anime so we became closer. His family is really nice to me too because I am the first friend he brought home. They are nice to my mother too because my father passed away when I was little.

After high school, Junior and I managed to get into University A together, one of the top universities in the City. Junior’s family is really wealthy. His father owns hotels and his mother is a lawyer. They got him an apartment as a gift and allowed me to stay with him. In return, I help to pay for the utilities with my allowance and do the cleaning.

Now, since it is our last year, we are required to complete a 4 month internship with a company. Thanks to our good grades, we managed to secure an internship at the communications department of a fairly new but top company, AceVine.

AceVine is known to have investment in multiple businesses, from drinking water to movies. We have been excited about this internship to get some working experience and AceVine is really hard to get a job opportunity.

Only top students were chosen for their internship programme. The university told us if we did well, we may be offered full-time employment like some of our seniors had. While Junior would eventually be joining his father’s company, I need this opportunity. I wanted to start working right away after graduation and support my mom back for all these years.

I quickly jump up and shove Junior aside to rush into the bathroom and start brushing my teeth hastily. Luckily, I took a shower late last night and washed my hair. So I will just have to make do with brushing my teeth and washing my face.

Junior leans against the doorframe, crosses his arms and glares at me slightly. “I told you to sleep early last night.”

“Yea…but Muon…got dumped again..and called me…He said you didn’t pick up..Tew too.” I managed to speak as I gargled my mouth at a fast speed. Once I am done, I wash my face making sure there is no toothpaste remaining on my lips.

“We didn’t pick it up for a reason! Since Year 1, Muon is always getting dumped. He will survive through it and find another girl or guy in less than 3 days.” Junior says, sounding exasperated. “You have been spoiling the idiot.”

Muon and Tew are our two other friends that we started hanging out with since the start of university. They are in the same major as us. I managed to get Junior to open up to them and now the four of us are like a group. Muon and Tew found AceVine too stressful and chose other companies for their internship. And Muon, well like Junior says, falls in love fast and gets dumped fast too. The girls or guys he has dated all had one similar issue, they all all said Muon moves too fast. Junior and Tew have given up when he comes back crying but I feel a little bad for the hopeless romantic.

Done washing my face, I grab my towel and wipe it hurriedly before heading to my wardrobe. “He is our friend. I am sure he would do the same for me one day, if I ever find someone…. ****!” I curse when I realise I forgot to iron a suitable attire last night.

Turning to Junior with a desperate look, I am about to ask him for help. But he walks over and sighs loudly. “I already did it for you last night. It’s there.” He points at a set that is hanging at the end of the rack.

Gratefulness surges through me as I pull my best friend into a quick hug. “What will I do without you?” I say dramatically before letting him go. I have said this many times over the past 7 years we have known each other. Junior and I always take care of each other but he is more thoughtful.

“Just hurry up and get changed!” Junior scolds me but he is smiling. “If we screw up this internship, our professor will kill us. I made sandwiches we can eat on the go. We will just have to get coffee later. Hurry, I will wait outside. I got your bag ready too.”

“I LOVE YOU!” I declare as Junior shakes his head and walks out of my room while I change at a record speed into a white shirt and navy blue trousers that Junior prepared.

I pull on a pair of black socks and rush out. Junior is already waiting by the front door of our apartment, holding a brown bag with our breakfast and my black messenger bag. My smart shoes have also been taken out.

“Seriously, what will I do without you?” I slip on my shoes and take my bag from him, slinging it.

“I have no idea.” Junior responses in a teasing tone as he watches while I shut the apartment door and lock it.

As we walk to the lift, Junior hands me an egg sandwich. “By the way, you were smiling widely in your sleep. What were you dreaming about?”

Blinking at him in confusion, I try to recall. I smiled in my sleep? But somehow, I can’t seem to recall the dream. I guess the dream mustn't have been important… but why do I feel a little strange? Oh well, since I can’t remember it…

“I can’t remember what it was about.” I shrug.

“It must have been something really happy.” Junior shrugs. “Maybe you dreamt that you won the lottery or a car.”

“Hah, I wish.” I scoff, biting into my sandwich.

I finish my sandwich just as we reach the basement car park. We walk over to Junior’s shiny, expensive Audi that was a 21st birthday gift from his parents who felt a car is an essential. Don’t get it wrong.

Junior is well to do but he isn’t some pampered prince. He doesn’t really shop, likes to eat cheap and saves his allowance. During our term breaks, he works part-time with me as a waiter so that he could buy gifts for his parents or treat them to meals. That’s one of the reasons why I like him so much too.

“You drive so I can eat.” He tosses me the key and I catch it smoothly with one hand.

“Yes, sir!” I have my licence but am still saving up for my own car. So Junior lets me drive his car from time to time.

We get in the car and I start the engine. I turn to smile at my best friend. “Let’s try not to screw up on the first day, yeah?”

Junior grins at me. “We will need to be on time first, asshole. Drive!”

“Let’s go!”

+++

We made it with 5 minutes to spare. Now, Junior and I are now sitting in a meeting room opposite a Human Resources manager, Mr Chen. He came down to meet with us and brought us up to the second floor. AceVine impressively occupies a whole 7-storey building in the middle of the City. Mr Chen is a middle-aged short man, with a slight protruding belly and a kind smile.

“I will be in-charge of any matter regarding your internship for the next 4 months.” Mr Chen tells us. “So, welcome to AceVine. Here are your ID badges. You will need them for access and identification, so carry them all the time while you are in the company.” He slides 2 badges across the table. Each badge had a lanyard and our photos and names printed on.

Both of us accepted our own badge politely and hung it around our necks right away.

Mr Chen looks pleased and claps his hand together. “Before I bring you up, let me just share with you some information. The salary has been discussed with your university so I won’t go into that. Your working hours will be from 830am to 6pm, unless the Communications head requires you to work overtime to assist on any project. You will be paid extra for overtime. Your head has to sign the overtime form and you can submit the form to me at the end of each month. Clear so far?”

Junior and I both nod and Mr Chen continues, “Your head’s name is Ms Aree and she leads the whole Communications department. She has requested the both of you report to her directly for all work so that she can track your progress. Don’t worry, Ms Aree is nice and she is very experienced. I am sure both of you will learn plenty from her.”

Hearing that, I am a little nervous but also excited. I really wanted to do well for this internship. I glance at Junior and I can tell he feels the same way.

“After 4 months, Ms Aree and I will do an evaluation with each of you. As you may have heard from your university, if your work performance is good, we may offer you a contract to work here after your graduation.” Mr Chen’s words make my excitement grow.

“Come, I will give you a short tour before I bring you to Ms Aree.” Mr Chen stands up and we follow suit. As we exit the room, Junior and I discreetly give each other fist bumps. Something we always do to encourage each other, like before the start of exams.

Mr Chen shares with us as we walk to the lift, “HR and admin are on this floor. You can find me here if you need to. 3rd is sales and procurement, 4th is legal and accounting, 5th is IT.. you can go there if you have issues.. Communications is on the 6th floor and the 7th floor is the CEO’s floor. An important thing to remember, the CEO floor is restricted. He likes his privacy. Only those who have meetings with the CEO are allowed to go up.”

Before applying for the internship, of course research has been done on AceVine and its operations, including information about its CEO, Night.

Night is extremely popular because of how smart and successful he is at the age of 28. I read that his family is wealthy. He studied at Havard Business, graduated with extremely good grades and came back 3 years ago to start AceVine. As though from a novels, he is also blessed with good looks. Every picture of him online shows how tall and handsome he is. Needless to say, he is way out of anyone’s league. Especially mine.

Right… This should be mentioned so you have a little more information about me. If Muon is bisexual, my heart and body has always preferred guys. I have no dating experience but males have always attracted me more. Only Junior, Muon and Tew, my close friends, are aware of my sexual preference. I have never told Mom about this because I wasn’t sure if she would accept it given that I am her only son. Since I am not dating anyone yet, I will worry about telling her when the time comes.

Back to Night. The media says he is picky about dating and only dates really smart and famous people, similar to him. To be honest, when I first saw his picture, I thought he was my type. But I know my own standards so I started to admire him as a role-model. A young entrepreneur… it may be impossible but I hope to be half as successful after graduation to support Mom.

Mr Chen brings us to the 6th floor after giving short tours of the other floors. The moment the lift doors open, it brings a feeling of trepidation. The atmosphere in the Communications Department seems busy and everyone seems to either be rushing about, on the telephone or typing furiously on their laptop. Both Junior and I glance at each other and discreetly give each other a fist bump again. Our professors always say that communications can be really fast paced. We expected this.

“Ms Aree should be in her office. Come on.” Mr Chen leads us across the busy floor, to an office with glass walls. The name Ms Aree, Head of Communications is printed on the glassdoor in black font. We can see an immaculately dressed and pretty lady sitting behind a large desk, typing on her keyboard. Mr Chen knocks and she looks up from her iMac. She smiles as she stands up and gestures to us to come in.

“These must be my new interns. Hello, I am Ms Aree.” She walks around her desk to greet us and we do the same politely. She seems friendly and nice, like Mr Chen is. It will make working here a little less stressful. Mr Chen introduces each of our names to her.

“Well, my work is done for now.” Mr Chen claps his hands together. “I will leave them in your good hands, Aree. Boys, you can find me at level 2 if you have any issues.” We say goodbye to Mr Chen who leaves first. We turn back to Ms Aree, who still has a smile in place.

“Welcome to the Communications Department for AceVine. I hope you will enjoy working here and learn plenty. You have a few seniors who used to work with us and they have all moved on to secure really great opportunities, some overseas.” Ms Aree says as she sits down. She also gestures for us to sit down on the two chairs before her desk.

“For your first week here, it will be your orientation. I have asked Zoey, one of our senior staff, to be your mentor. She is really experienced and you will learn plenty from her. For this week, learn the basic ropes from her. By next week, I will assign both of you to part with some staff for projects or cases to get some hands-on experience. I hope to give each of you your own project by your 2nd month so that we can better evaluate your abilities for your internship.” Ms Aree explains patiently. “Does it sound alright?”

It sounds great actually. I glance at Junior, who looks pleased too. The both of us nod.

“And don’t worry. If you face any issues, you can approach me directly.” Ms Aree adds. “Come, let me show to your desks and I will introduce you to Zoey-”

At that moment, there is a knock on the glass door. We turn to see a man standing outside Ms Aree’s office. He is dressed sharply in a full suit and tie and wearing expensive looking gold rimmed glasses. Ms Aree nods and the man enters, smiling slightly.

Ms Aree stands up right away to greet him. “Ken.” Sensing he might be someone important, Junior and I quickly stand up too out of politeness.

“Sorry, Aree. I hope I am not interrupting anything important.” The man named Ken says, his eyes on Ms Aree.

“No, you didn’t. These two are our new interns, Rain and Junior.” Ms Aree introduces us. “This is Ken, he is the CEO’s personal assistant.”

Personal assistant? Wow, he really is important. Ken turns to us and then his gaze lands on me. His smile falters right away, making me nervous. Shit, he doesn’t like me already? Is there something on my face? ****, is it from the egg sandwich?

Ken keeps staring at me and he seems to be thinking something. It makes the atmosphere uncomfortable. Even Ms Aree and Junior seem confused why he keeps staring at me. Fuck… it is only the first day and I seem to have offended the CEO’s PA.

Thankfully, Ms Aree comes to the rescue. “Um, Ken…is there anything wrong?”

Ken blinks and seems to snap out of his thoughts. “Oh, dear. Sorry. It’s just that you look like someone familiar. Someone I may have known. I am sorry for being rude.” He finally smiles again as he apologises.

Relief washes over me. Okay, so it is nothing bad, I guess. I have a familiar face. That’s all. Ken turns back to Ms Aree. “Anyway, I am here because the CEO would like to meet with you at 1pm. He has some questions regarding tomorrow’s press conference.”

“Sure. I will head up later.” Ms Aree nods before turning to us. “Oh right, we have a press conference tomorrow for our new health products. The two of you can attend to get some exposure.”

“Yeah, it will be a good experience for both of you. You will have a chance to meet Mr Night too, our CEO.” Ken adds. His words immediately makes me excited. I will get to meet my role-model tomorrow. This internship is really great.

“I will see you later, Aree.” Ken smiles and he glances at the both of us again. I swear his gaze lingers on me longer before he leaves the office. I hope it’s really just my face being familiar.

But I don’t have time to dwell on it as Ms Aree says, “Come, let’s go to your desks.”

+++

NIGHT

I don’t even bother looking up from the document I am reading as there is a knock on my office door. From the sound of the knock, I know it is Ken.

“Enter.”

The door creaks slightly as it opens and Ken walks in, stopping right before my desk. “Aree will be up later at 1pm, after your lunch meeting.” He reports to me.

I nod, flipping the page. Usually Ken will leave right away after reporting to me but I realise this time he doesn’t move. It means he has something more to say. I finally looked up at my assistant of 3 years. He has stuck by me since AceVine was founded and Ken is someone I can trust with anything. He knows me inside out and vice versa.

Ken is holding a folder and looking at me with a smile. It seems like he is really happy about something. Ken rarely acts this strangely. I raise a brow. “What is it?”

“I found him.”

His words make me freeze for a second. “You found him?” I ask him in disbelief.

Ken nods excitedly. “He is here. Working in your company.” Ken extends the folder in his hands.

I take it right away and open it. It is a staff profile from HR. My eyes widen as it lands on the photo. It really is him.

“It is him, isn’t it? He is here as an intern in Aree’s department. He is from University A.” Ken says, excitement lacing his tone. “Since you returned, you have been looking for him…”

It really is him. I almost thought it would have been impossible to search for him. But he is really here in my company. This is fate, isn’t it?

“Rain…” I murmur as I smile, tapping his photo lightly. “I finally found you.”

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