Losing Herself: Surrender Read Online Free Page B
Author: Alicia Roberts
ID card. “It’s a guest pass to use for the day. You and the other intern, plus the three new recruits get one of these each. HR should give you a proper card by the end of the day.”
Emily nodded, and headed over to the 32 nd floor, where she was meant to meet Jim, the head of HR. It worried her that they’d hired two interns – as if they expected one of them to fail. She also didn’t like the idea of three people being hired directly as employees. Maybe her mother was right, maybe being an intern was just about working for free. When they hired employees, they hired them directly.
***
Just before 8:30, the three new recruits showed up. Emily felt relieved to learn that Jessie, Michael and Aaron were network security experts and were being brought on the help increase server security at Alpha.
A few minutes later, the other intern showed up. He seemed friendly, smart and hard-working, and Emily had no doubt that he’d be a great employee. Unfortunately, his name was Brandon, and Emily understood what Nate had meant by his off-hand comment in the elevator. Brandon and Emily were both liberal arts majors, and would work in the investment analysis department.
Jim arrived just before nine. “You guys’re making me look bad,” he joked, and ushered them all into a small conference room. He introduced them to a junior HR executive, Stacey, who’d be in charge of their orientation.
A few hours later, the five new recruits had sat through a brief presentation on Alpha, and a presentation on client profiles. They’d had their photos taken for ID cards, and then they’d been given a tour of the office. Alpha Investments occupied six floors of the building, and Stacey introduced them to a bunch of people whose names Emily promptly forgot.
After lunch, they were given folders to read, and Stacey left them alone in the tiny conference room. The five of them chatted about their lives instead of reading the boring material in the folders, and just after four o’clock, Stacey reappeared with their brand new ID cards.
“You may as well go home,” Stacey said, “It’s probably the only day as an Alpha employee that you’ll get to leave early. Emily, Brandon, go meet John Byrne on the 35 th floor tomorrow morning – you’ll report to him for the next couple of months. Jessie, Michael, Aaron, you’ll be reporting to Vikrant Patel tomorrow morning, and he’ll show you over our existing server situation. Ok then, guys – see ya.”
***
The next day, Emily and Brandon met John Byrne, who was an Investment Analyst. John explained to them that this year, Alpha Investments had decided to recruit intern analysts from non-quantitative backgrounds, to get a different approach to investment decisions. He then gave them about five years’ worth of investment reports and analysis to read through over the next couple of days, and went back to his own work.
Emily found the reports incredibly boring and quite dependent on accounting spreadsheets. But she slogged through them anyway. Most nights, she would take the files home and stay up to finish going through them.
Despite the fact that she was staying up late to finish her reading, Emily found herself heading off to work early. She always tried to get to the atrium by seven, and sat there for a while, reading through the reports, and waiting.
She tried not to wonder why she was waiting for Nate. She was scared of the answer, and didn’t want to think about it. Nate walked through her floor once or twice a day to meet other employees and go to meetings, and it always gave her a thrill to see him from the distance. He never looked at her or walked directly past her cubicle, but Emily hoped he knew she was there.
On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, Nate must have arrived late to work. Emily didn’t see him, and headed up to her floor by 8:30. On Friday morning, Emily’s heart leapt as she saw Nate heading towards the elevator at 7:15. But she stayed rooted to her
Emily nodded, and headed over to the 32 nd floor, where she was meant to meet Jim, the head of HR. It worried her that they’d hired two interns – as if they expected one of them to fail. She also didn’t like the idea of three people being hired directly as employees. Maybe her mother was right, maybe being an intern was just about working for free. When they hired employees, they hired them directly.
***
Just before 8:30, the three new recruits showed up. Emily felt relieved to learn that Jessie, Michael and Aaron were network security experts and were being brought on the help increase server security at Alpha.
A few minutes later, the other intern showed up. He seemed friendly, smart and hard-working, and Emily had no doubt that he’d be a great employee. Unfortunately, his name was Brandon, and Emily understood what Nate had meant by his off-hand comment in the elevator. Brandon and Emily were both liberal arts majors, and would work in the investment analysis department.
Jim arrived just before nine. “You guys’re making me look bad,” he joked, and ushered them all into a small conference room. He introduced them to a junior HR executive, Stacey, who’d be in charge of their orientation.
A few hours later, the five new recruits had sat through a brief presentation on Alpha, and a presentation on client profiles. They’d had their photos taken for ID cards, and then they’d been given a tour of the office. Alpha Investments occupied six floors of the building, and Stacey introduced them to a bunch of people whose names Emily promptly forgot.
After lunch, they were given folders to read, and Stacey left them alone in the tiny conference room. The five of them chatted about their lives instead of reading the boring material in the folders, and just after four o’clock, Stacey reappeared with their brand new ID cards.
“You may as well go home,” Stacey said, “It’s probably the only day as an Alpha employee that you’ll get to leave early. Emily, Brandon, go meet John Byrne on the 35 th floor tomorrow morning – you’ll report to him for the next couple of months. Jessie, Michael, Aaron, you’ll be reporting to Vikrant Patel tomorrow morning, and he’ll show you over our existing server situation. Ok then, guys – see ya.”
***
The next day, Emily and Brandon met John Byrne, who was an Investment Analyst. John explained to them that this year, Alpha Investments had decided to recruit intern analysts from non-quantitative backgrounds, to get a different approach to investment decisions. He then gave them about five years’ worth of investment reports and analysis to read through over the next couple of days, and went back to his own work.
Emily found the reports incredibly boring and quite dependent on accounting spreadsheets. But she slogged through them anyway. Most nights, she would take the files home and stay up to finish going through them.
Despite the fact that she was staying up late to finish her reading, Emily found herself heading off to work early. She always tried to get to the atrium by seven, and sat there for a while, reading through the reports, and waiting.
She tried not to wonder why she was waiting for Nate. She was scared of the answer, and didn’t want to think about it. Nate walked through her floor once or twice a day to meet other employees and go to meetings, and it always gave her a thrill to see him from the distance. He never looked at her or walked directly past her cubicle, but Emily hoped he knew she was there.
On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, Nate must have arrived late to work. Emily didn’t see him, and headed up to her floor by 8:30. On Friday morning, Emily’s heart leapt as she saw Nate heading towards the elevator at 7:15. But she stayed rooted to her
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