these changes work. Right now, I’m here to consult. We can talk about the VP position when we’re done.”
“You and I both know that there isn’t much that needs to be done about what I have established here. I brought you here to persuade you to join the team.” Rogers got out of his chair and picked up the folder that Julian had a prepared for him.
“I’m a consultant.”
“No.” Rogers paused, rounded the large meeting table, and stood by the door. “You’re more. You’re a businessman. I like the way you think. I don’t need any more marketers or advertisers. I need a vice president. I need someone like you, Julian.”
Before he could even reply, Rogers had already left the meeting room. Once Julian had turned off the projector, he went over to the computer and took out his USB. Then he picked up his jacket that he’d hung over his chair. When he had left the meeting room, he scanned the office floor to see Stephanie’s cubicle empty. He hadn’t seen her since the other night. Once she had gone back into PJ’s, she’d collected her things and went home while Julian had stayed.
Walking up to her desk, he realised that he hadn’t seen her all morning, too, which he found odd. Normally, he’d see Stephanie walk past his temporary office once or twice, but today he hadn’t. He took in her workspace. It was bland. Not a hint of colour or personalisation. She hadn’t made her desk hers at all.
“You okay, Mr Moors?”
Julian quickly spun around to see Stephanie’s internship mentor holding a few folders in her hands. Mona was in her early thirties, with her black hair always pulled back into a bun. There was something off about Mona. She didn’t seem like the type to be an intern mentor. It seemed mediocre for her. She seemed to know more about the company than she let on.
“Mona, is Stephanie on break?”
She shook her head.
“Gone to the records department or something?”
Mona set the folders she held on Stephanie’s desk and then faced him. “She called in sick. Poor girl isn’t doing so well. I told her not to come in.”
Sick?
“Interns don’t have sick leave,” Julian stated.
She squinted at him. “With a father like hers, this intern does. Plus, I like her enough. Rogers won’t notice her missing for a few days. I better get to work on that Taylor account.” And with that, Mona left him alone in Stephanie’s cubicle.
Julian reached into his jacket pocket and retrieved his phone. Then he pulled up Stephanie’s contact and proceeded to text her.
Julian: Blondie, you doing all right?
As he waited for Stephanie to reply, Julian exited her workstation and headed towards his office while he read his messages.
Dean: Julian, mate. Heard you were back in town. I’m heading to Melbourne Central. Wanna meet there for a drink?
Julian smiled at the message his university friend had sent him. Dean had been one of the friends he had gone to Thailand with, along with a few of their other mates and Dean’s eventual girlfriend, Willa. It was on their Thailand trip that Dean and Willa had finally become a couple and confessed that they loved each other. It was sickening how consumed two of Julian’s anti-love friends had become by it. Dean had been there moments after Julian had woken up to find that Stephanie had left. And it was time he told Dean that he had found her once again.
Julian: Sure. Meet you there in ten.
“Julian?”
Dean’s voice had him spinning around and taking his eyes off the almost-completely-risen sun.
“She’s gone,” he uttered.
Dean’s eyebrows knitted. “What do you mean?”
“I woke up and she was gone.”
“What happened to the hammock?” Dean asked, staring at the pieces of mangled rope on the ground.
“I was angry and…” Julian sunk to his knees. “She’s gone, Dean.”
His best friend was quickly by his side. “She could have gone back to her room?”
“She would have told me. She always told me before she left.”
Dean patted his shoulder. “She’ll come back.”
“I took her virginity,” Julian whispered and then gazed at him with blurry eyes.
“Shit.”
Then Julian’s tears slid down his face. “I love her, Dean. I love her and now she’s gone. How could she leave me? She didn’t… she didn’t even say goodbye.”
Julian: Hey, Clara. Do you mind seeing if Stephanie’s okay? Heard she called in sick.
After he had sent the message, Julian scanned the Melbourne Central Lion Hotel Pub to find his friend. Once he spotted him, Julian made