Elina Wainwright - Circle

Armie was the dumbest asshole I had ever seen in my life. His arrogance made me want to laugh and cry. But the only thing I did was get angry. His pompous tone made me wonder what I was actually doing here. Do I have to work with him for seven months? God forbid!

«Do you understand?» he asked sternly.

«Du yew andestend?» I mocked him in my head.

«Yes,» I just let it out.

I swear, one more second, and I hit his own little head on the table.

«When will you be ready to begin?» he took the bottle from the table and began to drink water from his throat.

«Tomorrow,» I said.

«F*cking cool,» he replied.

Swear words? Again?

I struggled to control myself so I didn’t smack him in the smug face with my bag.

Yes, I swear, too, but there’s a time and a place for everything.

«You are free to go,» he said, and I stood up.

«Goodbye,» I said, and without waiting for him to answer, I left the office.

Oh, my God, what was that!

I walked outside and ran into Richard, who was lighting a cigarette.

«Will you?» he picked up the cigarette.

«No, I don’t smoke, thanks,» I brushed it off.

«And you look like you could use it right now,» he took a drag.

«Armie’s an asshole,» I said into the air.

«Armie?» Richard wondered.

«My mentor.

«Ah,» just said the guy and took another puff.

«I’m thinking of going to Jerome and asking for a change of mentor,» I confessed. I don’t know why I’m telling him this, but I need someone to talk to right now.

«And what happened?» Richard asked.

«Armie is arrogant, pompous, swears a lot, and I’m sure in the future it will end with one of us stomping the other to death.»

«What?» Richard laughed.

«Armie is as tall as a sixth grader. You’ve seen it,» I remarked.

«Well, yes, I have,» The guy nodded again.

«So, have you seen Jerome? – I inquired.

«It’s a mistake,» Richard observed.

«What?»

«To go straight to Jerome. Be patient.»

«Be patient? I look like that kind of person?» I was starting to get annoyed with his tone, too. I hate the endured people.

«You want to leave at the first conflict. What about fighting and all that?»

«Let’s leave the fighting to the fighters. I’m not in this internship to be sworn at by Mr. Little Pants,» I said carelessly.

«Weakling,» he scratched his chin.

«What?» I wondered.

«Don’t go to Jerome. He’ll tell Armie, and he’ll get even angrier. And they won’t change your mentor.»

There’s some truth in what he said on the one hand. On the other hand, I’m too stubborn, and if I get it into my head, I’ll do it. And, plus, no one dares talk to me in that tone of voice like Armie did.

«We’ll see,» I parried, heading back indoors to find Jerome.

«Bye, Beauty!» Richard shouted after me.

«Screw you, asshole», I thought.

«Can’t anything be done?» I was indignant.

«I’m sorry, but no,» Jerome answered me.

«But he’s sexist, chauvinist, and I’m pretty sure he eats babies for breakfast,» I objected.

«Don’t exaggerate,» the man brushed it off.

«He talked to me like I was a piece of shit,» I continued to insist on my point.

«Lindsay, I know who Armie is, believe me. But I really can’t help it,» Jerome continued sympathetically.

«Why the hell did you slip him to me anyway?»

«You said on your form that you were non-conflicted.»

«But that’s no reason to shove the most conflicted people into my mentor,» I protested.

«I’m sorry,» the man smiled weakly.

«It’s a hell of a setup,» I stomped my foot like a little girl. «And I have to work with him for seven months straight?!»

«You’ll see him a couple of times at most. Just send him your works to listen to, and that’s it.»

«Which he will bring lower than the floor,» I raised an eyebrow.

«Take it as a challenge,» Jerome tried to cheer me up.

«The only challenge I had planned to do in this town was to call a pizza delivery guy to my house, because we live in the damn suburbs. Pizza, you see? Not a chauvinist boss.»

«Should I apologise again?» Jerome kept smiling.

«If I burn his office to hell, promise you won’t sue me.»

«I swear on my heart,» Jerome put his hand over his heart.

As soon as I looked away, I got a message on my phone.

«What the deuce is that?» I wondered aloud.

«I added you to the conversation with the interns. You’re all new in town. So I thought you might want to get to know each other and unwind.»

«Okay, that’s not a bad idea,» I agreed, and cooled down a bit.

I got another notification. This time I was added to another conversation. Apparently, the new conversation didn’t include Jerome.

«Hi!» – Chris typed into the new conversation.

«Hello!» – Diana picked up.

«Oh, we have a new girl», – typed some Danielle.

«Shalom», – I typed back and walked out of Jerome’s office.

«I suggest we get together tonight and mess around», – Dan suggested.

Everyone in the conversation was in favour.

«Lindsay, are you in?» – Chris asked

To be honest, I didn’t want to be there. I found the company of my peers boring. That was almost always the case. I had my own social circle, of course, but mostly they were intelligent and advanced for their age. These guys didn’t seem that way. Plus, I had to figure out how to communicate with my mentor without breaking his neck the second time I met him.

«I’m sorry, but I won’t be here today», – I typed and slipped my phone into my jeans pocket.

As soon as I stepped out, a Lexus LC500 drove past me (yes, I have a fine taste in cars for a girl without a license). My sister’s Tea Prince was kind of driving it. I definitely don’t like him…

***

«I don’t envy you, sis,» Lizzie said, applying mascara to her long lashes

«I don’t have the strength to do anything,» I mumbled into my pillow.

«And Richard is not as bad as you think. Yesterday he was pretty cute,» The girl started defending the boy.

«You only feel that way because he turned your head. He called me a weakling. Although I was just expressing my desire to assert my boundaries.»

«Maybe you misunderstood each other?»

«Maybe I should smash your rose-coloured love glasses?» I retorted.

«Malignant,» she showed me tongue.

«Infantess,» I snapped.

«That word doesn’t even exist,» she was indignant.

«Come on,» I got out of bed. «You already know very well what it means.»

Lizzie only rolled her eyes in response.

***

The whole evening I lay on the bed and did nothing. I wanted to go back to my home in Canada. There weren’t as many worries about stupid bosses and foolish acquaintances. I dialed my friend Camellia to tell her everything that had happened to me in those two days. She supported me better than Lizzie, even though she wasn’t my sister. Thank her for that.

«And remember, you can do it all. It’s always hard for newcomers at first,» she continued.

«What about the golden rule of beginner’s luck?» I smiled sadly.

«Well, it’s not over yet, my friend. You’re going to beat everyone out there,» she replied cheerfully.

Amen…

We chatted for a few more minutes and then said goodbye.

As soon as I hung up the phone, messages started pouring in with pictures from that conversation with the interns.

I noticed Chris, Diana, some other guys and Richard in the photo. No, not really.