The Perfect Intern

Chapter 34.

Dante

Why did I care so much?

Trick her.

I should've known what he meant.

I let her leave in tears, thinking I hate her.

All because of him.

He forced himself onto what belonged to me. Right in front of me at that. And I did absolutely nothing.

How could I-

"Dante, do you want to take ten?" Karina asked, worriedly.

The conference table was surrounded by board members and they all looked to me for a new design for the opening in Miami. However, it was obvious my mind was elsewhere. I couldn't even allow myself to sleep last night.

I was the only one standing as I looked down at their design ideas spread across the head of the table. My hands were placed onto the table and I spewed questions about what Nicholas had done, leaving them all confused.

"No, no, I don't," I told her. They can't know I'm off my game. Just choose a design, Dante. Circle one. Harrison's design is nice, but Susan's is bigger.

Bigger cost more.

Cheap isn't in SEO's vocabulary.

One design.

My thoughts came quickly as I scratched my head with the pen in hand and frantically looked over all six lay outs. Karina stood next to me with her arms folded and when she noticed I was having a hard time she approached the table.

"Okay, everyone," she echoed through the room as I heard her hands clap together. "We're going to take a lunch break while Mr. Acosta decides on the design in peace and quiet."

They all stood up one by one and headed for the door, but I didn't stop. I couldn't stop.

"So many unanswered questions," I spoke to myself in a low voice, hurriedly.

"Dante, you don't have to figure this out right now," she said, placing a hand on my arm in an effort to get me to stand up straight. "You don't have to answer to any of them."

I snatched my arm away from her and ignored her words while I continued to look at the blue prints as she said my name again.

Why can't I figure this out?

This should be easy, especially for me.

April. April. We open in April. April is a warm month so bigger building is the option. Buildings don't get hot, though.

"Lance's building. That's- that's the one. Must be the one," I tapped on the blue print that my mind seemed to aim at, but my doubts still remained. So much pressure. Pressure. Pressure. That's all it is. "No, that's not the one. It's not the one. Why is it not the one?"

Karina said my name again in a more stern voice, but it only pissed me off. I slid the papers off the table and threw the pin down, exasperatedly. "Damnit! What?"

Instead of answering, her eyes just went wide and she stared at me blankly.

Maybe this was bothering me because I wasn't able to get to Nicholas. But what's stopping me now?

"You know what, I have to- I have to go," I told her, going for the door, but she rushed to block my escape.

"Okay, Dante, you need to calm down." Her hands hovered in front of my chest as she stared up at me.

She was almost half my height. Did she really think she could stop me?

My eyebrows furrowed in response. "Don't tell me to calm down. I am fucking calm."