Rules Of Love

It always seemed that whatever I picked to wear always ended up being impractical.

Today, for example, on the day I was starting a new job I thought it looked quite cool out so I decided a thin, two layered blouse with a cardigan was suitable to go under my jacket.

It was only when I got out of my car into the roasting heat and then realised I couldn’t park anywhere near the building that I realised it probably wasn’t such a good idea to wear them after all.

The fact that it was my first day and I was sweating with nerves anyway really wasn’t helped by the heat.

By the time I’d reached the reception, my cheeks were bright red and I could feel the sweat patches developing under my arms. I could feel my hair dampening and my makeup was streaking.

The worst thing is that I couldn’t do a damn thing about it.

I would’ve taken my jacket off but my sweat patches were way too developed to risk showing people. I just prayed I had a cubicle so I could get into it and take my jacket off. If I didn’t have one I’d just have to hope they had hand dryers in the bathrooms that maybe I could use to lessen the God-awful stains I could feel.

The receptionist looked at me like an absolute idiot when I smiled at her. She was probably wondering what the hell I was wearing when she had a fan on full, directed at her face.

“Can I help you?” The redheaded girl smiled regardless of how stupid she thought I was.

“Yeah, hi,” I replied timidly, “It’s my first day here. I’m interning,”

“Who for?” She raised both her perfectly plucked eyebrows.

“Uh...” I winced slightly. God, what was his name?

She stared unsurely at me for a second. I think she was trying to figure out whether I was trying to get past the turnstiles when I wasn’t authorised or I was genuinely that stupid.

But I was genuinely that stupid.

“I can’t remember his name. I’m sorry, I’m absolutely awful with names. I know I’m here to intern for the advice column though,” I offered meekly.

“Ethan Marshall,” She said.

“That’s him,” I clicked my fingers.

She nodded, “Just bear with me a second,” She held up her finger and picked up the phone. I listened as she just checked with Ethan that I wasn’t actually some random person trying to slip past security. She looked up at me after she’d hung up before she went into a box on her desk and pulled out a card. She handed it over to me, “Okay, the elevators are broken and you’re on the third floor. Ethan’s is the only office in there. It’s at the back of the room,”

I smiled gratefully, “Thanks,”

What I really thought was ‘great- stairs’. I was hot enough as it was, adding exercise in the form of six flights of stairs wasn’t going to help.

I was severely thankful for my high metabolism because I really am exercise-phobic.

The second I stepped out onto the third floor, I felt like everyone was staring at me- wondering who I was, sizing me up- and it was severely unnerving.

The office was at the back of the room, like the receptionist had mentioned, and the amount of noise people on the floor were making died down as my feet got closer to the office. It was how I gauged how much authority he had.

A shaky sigh left my lips as I knocked on the office door.

“Come in,” A deep voice quietly echoed through the wood.

Steadying myself, I twisted the handle and stepped inside the room. I smiled lightly and closed the door behind me.

“Ah, Madeline,” Ethan’s dark eyes set upon me and he gestured for me to come over, “Good morning,”

“Morning,” I replied meekly.

He stood up from his oversized chair and rubbed a hand over his short brown hair before he scratched the greying stubble on his face, “Okay, so you’re interning in the advice column, right?”

I nodded, “Yes,”

“Wonderful. Well, we have three advice columnists. Two write for Dazzle and one writes for Glamour. Can you learn from watching or are you a more hands-on kind of learner?” He asked.

“Either really,” I shrugged.

“If you can learn just from watching then that’s perfect because I can put you with Glamour. Because there’s only one writer she needs the help but she doesn’t have time to let you do it for yourself, you see?”

Another nod, “Yes,”

“Okay, so I’ll take you to meet our columnist,” He gestured for me to follow him and led me back out onto the floor. We made small talk as he took me to the middle of the room and we turned into a relatively big cubicle.

“Leanne,” Ethan spoke up.

The brunette groaned loudly, “Ethan, I’m doing it now! You can’t expect me to give advice to fifteen people in ten minutes,” She spun around on her chair.

“It’s not about that,” He rolled his eyes, “I’m here to deliver an intern,” He placed his hand on my back and urged me forwards, “Madeline, this is our resident smart-mouth and reader-loved advice columnist Leanne Walsh,” He gestured for her to stand up, “Leanne, this is Madeline Russell, your new intern. You know the drill. Look after her,” Ethan simply stated before he wandered off again.

I watched him go before I looked back unsurely at Leanne, “Hi,” I smiled.

She returned the gesture and sat back down in her seat, “Hey. Uh...” She scratched her head lightly, “Okay so, I don’t really know what to do with you...” She winced slightly, “Sorry. I’ve only had one other intern and I was working with two other girls who took care of him back then,”

“Oh right...” I shifted my weight.

“Uh, right, do you want a cup of tea or coffee?” She offered.

I contemplated this for a second. I wanted a drink but hot drinks probably wouldn’t help my situation. I was still sweating and it showed no signs of slowing down. Even the air conditioning wasn’t doing much good.

“Could I just have some water?”

She nodded, “Yeah of course. Come on, I’ll show you where the kitchen is,” She got back up from her seat and guided me towards a little kitchen near the back of the room. She flicked on the kettle and poured out a glass of cold water for me.

“Thanks,” I smiled.

She began making her tea up, “Aren’t you like... Really hot?” She questioned, raising her eyebrows at me cautiously.

I nodded unconsciously, “Very,” I added.

She stifled a laugh, “You can take off your jacket you know,”

“I’m fine,” I contradicted.

She sent me an odd look, “But you just said you’re too hot,”

“I’m not really that hot actually,” I lied.

“Madeline,” She began.

“Please call me Maddie,”

“Sorry, Maddie,” She restarted, “I don’t mean to worry you, but I can see you sweating and your make-up is starting to streak,”

“Shit, is it?” I panicked, holding a hand to my damp forehead, “Sorry. It’s unprofessional to swear,”

She shook her head with a light laugh, “It’s fine, just don’t do it in front of anyone who looks older than me,” She reassured, “Why don’t you take your jacket off?”

I sighed lightly, “Uh... The thing is, I thought it looked really cool out today so I figured I’d need extra layers. And it was quite cool when I left but then I got here and it was hot. I had to park really far away from the building and walk here in the heat. Then I had to walk up the stairs. I’m absolutely boiling but I can’t take off my jacket because I have sweat patches bigger than Texas under each arm and I’m certain that nobody needs that smell in their office,”

Leanne stared at me with her stunning bright blue eyes for a second before she let out a quiet laugh, “Aw, Maddie,” She tucked some of her thick dark hair behind her ear, “I quite like you, so I’m going to help you out,” She flicked off the kettle, “Come on,” She made her way over to me and linked my arm, “Jesus I can feel the heat radiating off you through your layers,” She noticed.

“Imagine how I feel,” I muttered.

She chuckled lightly and led me out of the department and up to the fifth floor. There was a considerable atmosphere change between the two floors. The sizing up I felt on the third floor was ten times worse on fifth.

“What department is this?” I whispered.

“Fashion,” She answered, a knowing look on her face, “Horrible isn’t it? That feeling that everyone’s judging you,” She mumbled back.

I nodded, “Yeah,”

“They’re not all so bad but they’re fashion journalists- They can’t help it,” She shrugged as she headed for the back office and knocked on the door.

“Come in,” A female voice called through.

Leanne pushed open the door and tugged me inside, “Hey,” She greeted, closing the door behind her.

The office was huge, decorated with stylish furniture and beautiful fashion-related photographs adorning the wall. The furniture, however, was covered in clothes and shoes.

“Hey,” A rather pretty girl sported a grey pencil dress and a knockout smile, “Oh, hello,” She greeted me.

“Hi,” I smiled.

“Lyss, this is Maddie- She’s interning for me. Maddie, this is Alyssa, the head of the fashion department,” She introduced.

“Nice to meet you Maddie,” Alyssa waved slightly at me before looking over to Leanne once again, “So what brings you up here so early? I know you come up early for your lunch but three and a half hours is a bit drastic,” She joked.

Leanne rolled her eyes, “We have a bit of a disaster that you can help with,”

“What kind of disaster?” She frowned.

“Lose the jacket, Maddie,” Leanne said to me.

I looked unsurely at her before slowly unzipping my jacket and taking it off.

“Oh, wow, okay... I see your problem,” Alyssa gasped, “I didn’t even know anyone could sweat that much...” She folded her arms over her chest.

“We need a make-up touch up too,” Leanne mentioned.

“I think we need deodorant first,” was the reply. She went into her desk and pulled out a bottle of deodorant, throwing it over to me. My hand shot out and caught it.

“Thank you,” I smiled gratefully before generously spraying it beneath my shirt.

Alyssa then went routing through the piles of clothes on her furniture, searching for something appropriate I assumed, and emerged a minute or two later with a stunning white blouse, “Aha. I knew I had something in here somewhere,”

“Don’t you always,” Leanne said.

“Yeah because I’m awesome,” She shrugged.

I laughed and took the blouse as she handed it over to me, “Thank you. It’s gorgeous. I’ll wash it and bring it back tomorrow,”

Alyssa waved her hand dismissively, “It’s a freebie, forget about it,”

“Oh I can’t do that,” I shook my head.

“I’d take it, Maddie, freebies are a rarity- Especially from the fashion department. And that’s Prada,”

“Seriously?” I gaped.

The two girls nodded, “Yeah,” Alyssa said, “All the clothes in this room are worth about... Thirteen thousand dollars all together,” She confessed.

“Whoa. I think I’m interning in the wrong department,” I kidded.

Leanne laughed, “I know. The best we’re going to get is everyone’s problems dumped on us,”

“Sounds like so much fun,” I rolled my eyes.

Alyssa chuckled, “We’ll go and get a drink while you change, sweetie. Be back in a minute,”

Leanne sent me a smile as they left the room.

I smiled to myself as I changed my shirt.

I realised that I was really going to love this job.

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'Waking Up, Waking Up To A New Day'

Tamar