The Intern: Vol. 3

by Brooke Cumberland

  “All right, you lovebirds. Call me later. I want to know all the details,” I pause as I pull up to the dorms, “well, perhaps not all the details. Just the part where he proposes,” I tease.

  We say our goodbyes and I text Katelynn that I’m outside waiting for her. She skips giddily to my car, a smile plastered on her face.

  “Someone’s excited.”

  “I’m actually really nervous,” she admits.

  “Don’t be. It’s going to be fun. Just like a back to school party. Plenty of opportunities to meet new guys.”

  “You mean plenty of wackos to ask how many children of theirs I wish to bear.”

  I burst out in laughter at her concerned expression. “I swear, you attract the crazies.”

  “I actually did meet someone online from campus,” she admits, biting her lower lip.

  “You did? Who?” I ask excitedly.

  She clasps her hands tightly on her lap, not looking directly at me. “I-I’m not really sure. We’ve been chatting for the last few weeks. We both figured out we go to the same campus. We’re supposed to meet tonight actually. He’s going to be there.”

  “Oh, my god!” I screech. “What’s his name? What does he look like?”

  “I don’t know.”

  I turn and face her, narrowing my eyes. “You don’t know? You didn’t think to ask those questions or what?”

  “Well…I know his username. I stopped giving out my real name because there were so many psychos. Once he told me he’d be coming tonight, I told him to wear a red shirt so that if I went I could spot him.”

  “Katelynn…what if ten different guys are wearing red tonight?”

  “That’s also why I’m wearing red.” She points to her own shirt, raising a brow.

  “How’s that going to help?”

  “Just trust me. I’ll know when I see him,” she replies confidently.

  “Hmm…a hopeless romantic? I like it.” I grin.

  The party is in full force by the time we arrive. There’s a ton of people we know, so we stay amongst them most of the night. Later on, I spot Brandon and decide I should apologize to him in person.

  I tap him on the shoulder nervously, not wanting there to be any tension between us. We’re bound to run into each other on campus this year.

  “Hi,” I say weakly as our eyes connect.

  “Cecilia! Hi!” He engulfs me in a hug I wasn’t expecting. I wrap my arms around him as he squeezes me. “How’re you?”

  He releases me and I stare at him stunned. He looks great, and I’m beyond ecstatic he’s not upset with me. But he’s almost too excited.

  “Hey, Brandon. It’s great to see you.”

  “You look great, Cecilia.”

  “Thanks, you too.”

  Awkward silence.

  “So look—”

  “You don’t have to explain anything to me, Cecilia. It’s okay,” he says genuinely.

  “I just feel like I owe you something…I feel horrible that I hurt you. Like I deserve for you to be really mad at me. Yell at me. Tell me what a slut I am. Anything.”

  “You’re anything but a slut, Cecilia. And really, yes, I was upset, but the more I thought about it, I was really okay. I don’t want someone to be with me if they don’t want to be with me.”

  I swallow, pained that I couldn’t love him the way he loved me. “Wow, Brandon. You’re really too nice to me.”

  “I’m glad you’re happy.” He smiles wide. “You look really happy and you deserve it.”

  “So do you.” I smile back.

  “Yeah…” He brushes his hands down his shirt, teasingly. “Being dumped looks really good on me, don’t ya think?”

  He’s laughing and the next thing, I’m laughing with him. It’s such a relief to know we can continue the school year without any hard feelings.

  One second he’s looking at me, the next his eyes flash to something behind me. His jaw tenses, his eyes freeze in place, and his body stiffens.

  I turn around to see what’s behind me when I notice Brandon staring directly at Katelynn. I look back at him to notice he’s wearing a red shirt.

  I gasp softly, putting the pieces together. I look again and see Katelynn’s eyes linking with Brandon’s.

  Holy shit.

  I can’t help the stupid smile that appears over my face. What are the fucking odds?

  Katelynn nervously walks over, unsure of where she should look—at me or at Brandon. From their stunned faces, neither of them expected it to be them.

  “Shit…” Katelynn finally says.

  “Yeah…” Brandon says, brushing a tense hand through his hair.

  “I-I really had no idea, Cecilia. If I had—”

  “Stop it, you guys.” I smirk, looking back and forth between them. Their chemistry is palpable—obvious attraction between them. “I can’t think of two better people for each other. So don’t stop on my account,” I assure them both. “My ex-boyfriend and my old roommate. Who would’ve thought?” I smirk wide. They both relax, smiling back at each other.

  Brandon hung out in our dorm room countless times during our sophomore year. Before Brandon and I were dating, he’d wait for me in my room with Katelynn until I got out of class so we could go study and work on our project. Now that I think back, they always got along great back then, too.

  I excuse myself and reassure them both that I’m perfectly fine with whatever they decide to do. I chat with a few other friends, giving them their privacy, and then Katelynn texts me and says she’s hitching a ride home with Brandon.

  Me: I want details later. Unless he ends up asking what paint color you want your master bedroom.

  Katelynn: I always share the good deats with you.

  I smile, thinking how happy I am that I know she’s found a good one.

  Katelynn: Red.

  Me: Huh?

  Katelynn: Bedroom color ;-)

  Me: Oh god. Of freaking course…

  I shake my head and smile. Red.

  Katelynn: Lol. Love you, Cecilia.

  Me: Love you, too.

  I was going to tell her not to hurt him because he’s already been hurt. But I don’t want him to hurt her either. So they just better make it work so I don’t have to hurt either of them.

  I leave the party and head back to Bentley’s—or rather, my house. It’s still early, so I plan to surprise him with a little special surprise.

  After I park in the garage, I strip off all my clothes before entering the house. I lay my clothes on the floor and tiptoe down the foyer to find Bentley.

  He’s passed out on the couch, the remote still lingering in his hand. He looks stunning the way he’s laid out in his half un-buttoned shirt and dark, ripped jeans. His hair lays loosely on the pillow in a messy kind of way.

  I slowly peel the remote out of his hand and set it on the floor. I brush a finger along his jaw, so strong and chiseled. I push his hair back off his face and admire all of him.

  I lay next to him, wrapping my arm around his waist. I lean up and kiss his lips softly, not wanting to startle him. He stirs briefly before recognizing my lips and begins kissing me back. He brings a hand to my arm, pulling me on top of him. His hands brush down my body, his eyes popping open as he realizes I’m completely naked on top of him.

  “Well, that’s the best fucking wake up call ever,” he growls.

  I wiggle my hips against his growing erection. His hips buck to press into mine. I giggle against his mouth as he tries to keep me firm against him.

  “Shh, baby. Let me take care of you.” I lower my body and torturously unbutton and unzip his jeans. I pull him out, hard and ready. I grip my fingers around him and stroke his long length.

  “Mm…god, sweetheart,” he growls, digging his fingers into my hair. I love feeling his arousal grow deep inside me. I love knowing what I do to him. I love everything about this man.

  I work effortlessly, sucking and licking every solid inch of him. I wrap my hand around his cock, stroking over h
is thick vein. My mouth and hand work him hard, faster until he can no longer take it.

  “Fuck! Ceci…god, your mouth…” I accept everything he gives me, letting the heat shoot down my throat as he clenches his fists in my hair.

  I continue licking him until he’s perfectly clean again. I tuck him neatly in his jeans, zipping up and buttoning him back up.

  “I could get addicted to that wake up call,” he taunts as I crawl back under his arm.

  “I’d be happy to feed your fix,” I say smoothly, looking back up at him.

  He smirks his eyes gazing down at me. “I think that’s called being an enabler.”

  Chapter Twenty

  Bentley

  Life with Ceci is natural. She brings out the young side of me. She brings out the playful side of me. Better yet, she brings out the loving side of me.

  She’s helped me in so many ways. Learning how to forgive. Learning how to love unconditionally. Learning how to accept the things I can’t control.

  Kickboxing first became an outlet for me to help me forget. I didn’t want to let go, I wanted to forget. Forget what Hannah did. Forget how badly I loved Ceci. Forget the career I so thoroughly fucked up.

  But nothing could prepare me for this. Not today. Today is all about Ceci.

  July 16th.

  The day of her father’s death.

  I can barely contain the emotions that are flooding through me. I can hardly imagine what’s going through Ceci’s mind. She’s strong though.

  “Sweetheart, it’s all right to not be okay today,” I remind her for the fourth time. She’s putting a façade on, but I can see right through her.

  “I don’t want to be sad.”

  I grab the room key off the dresser and close the gap in between us.

  “I know. But if you need to cry, you can. Let it go…if you need to.”

  We stayed at a hotel last night since we had to travel to Iowa. She was up half the night tossing and turning.

  “Thank you,” she says, looking up at me with a straight face.

  I smile weakly down at her, brushing a piece of hair behind her ear. “You don’t have to thank me. I wouldn’t miss this for anything.”

  “Not for that,” she says softly. “Thank you for everything—investigating it even when I had hurt you, supporting me when I let it consume me, coming with me. Always understanding. I know I come with a lot of baggage.”

  “Sweetheart…” I lean down and brush her lips gently, closing a soft kiss on her mouth.

  It’s been exactly ten years since her dad was shot down and murdered in front of her childhood home. It’s been ten years since she last saw her father. It’s been ten years that she’s been searching for answers, and now today, she’ll be getting them.

  Hopefully.

  My biggest fear is this won’t give her answers. I fear it’ll add more questions. Worse, I fear it won’t give her the closure she needs to move on.

  Spending the last year with Ceci has been perfect. We’ve loved. We’ve fought. We’ve tested one another. We’ve grown closer. Everything about being with Ceci is a life lesson. I never did the relationship thing, but for her, I wanted to.

  But now…I want much more.

  I don’t want this date to be tainted with the death of her dad. I don’t want this date to come every year and her to be sad. I want to make this date a date she remembers because it makes her happy.

  Cecilia

  I rub my sweaty palms down my shorts as we walk into the bank. We called ahead of time and they know we’re coming. Casey couldn’t fly home from California because of some audition and Mom said she couldn’t bear to see what’s in there.

  Part of me thinks she knows, or at least suspects what’s in there. It’s a very legit reason why she hid the code in the first place. Whatever it is, I’m ready. I’ve waited ten years for this.

  “Miss West, I’ll need to see your license, social security card, and birth certificate before I can give you access.”

  I nod, handing everything over to her. I already knew what was expected. I wasn’t going to let anything get in my way of getting inside that box.

  “Thank you,” she says, handing me back all my documents.

  My body trembles as she leads us into the back. I anticipate what I’m about to find. I just want closure. Anything to give me a piece of my father back.

  “It’s been set up for you already on the desk.” She gestures her hands behind her where the metal box is laying. “Take as long as you need.” She smiles genuinely just before walking away and giving us privacy.

  Bentley presses a hand on the small of my back, leading me in. I swallow deeply as I stand in front of the box I’ve thought of relentlessly for the past three years. This is it.

  This is really it.

  I rub my fingers together, hesitating momentarily before entering the code from the post-it note. I hear it unlock and I stop breathing.

  I bow my head, unable to open it just yet. My body is shaking at just the thought of touching something my father had once touched. But I’ve come too far now to back away.

  “I’m ready,” I say, more to myself than to Bentley, but he nods anyway encouraging me to open it.

  The first thing I notice is a manila envelope. There are three of them—one with each of our names—Casey, Nathan, and mine—written on them. There’s another envelope, but it’s much thicker. I grab it and feel pictures inside. I flip it open and am immediately hit with a flashback from my childhood. I flip a few over and realize my father has written something on the back of every picture—over two hundred of them.

  “What are those?” Bentley asks.

  I laugh lightly, scanning through all the silly ones. “Pictures of my dad and us.”

  “You were pretty cute as a child.” I look up and see his grin.

  “I wonder why he has these in here.”

  I flip through some more and land on a picture of my dad and me. It was the last birthday I had with him—my eleventh birthday party. He was standing behind me as I was blowing out the candles of my birthday cake. I laugh lightly to myself as I take in my face—my cheeks pudgy from holding air in just before I go to blow it all out. My dad’s standing behind me smiling, his arm wrapped around my shoulder. God, he looked happy. I had no clue that deep inside he was hurting.

  I quickly wipe away the tear that falls down my cheek. I don’t want to cry. At least not yet.

  I decide to open the envelope that’s labeled with my name. My hands begin sweating again as I hold the couple of pieces of paper in my hand. I set the envelope down and slowly unfold the paper.

  To my Princess,

  I hope you’re reading this on good terms. I have my reasons for making you wait ten years, baby girl. I don’t know if your mother told you about the safe box or not, but I sure hope you get to it soon.

  First, I know you have a lot of questions. I know you were too young to understand. But please know that what I did was to protect you. You, Casey, Nathan, and your mom are my world and I promised your mom I’d do anything to keep you all safe.

  I had to keep that promise, princess.

  I planned my own murder.

  Damn, that hurts to write down on paper. But it’s only fair that after all this time you know the truth.

  I did this to protect you, sweetheart. Please understand that. Please know I’m so upset I won’t be around to watch you grow up, to watch you enter high school, go to prom, get your first car, your first job, your high school graduation, your college graduation, your wedding, and all the babies I know you’ll have. This is my deepest regret, but I made a big mistake. And you didn’t deserve to be in the middle of it. Only I could fix it. The only way was to be out of the picture for good.

  There are some bad men after me, and I know they’d come for you, Casey, and Nathan if I didn’t disappear. Except they wouldn’t stop until they got their money. Money I didn’t have.

  I told your mom to use the life insurance money to pay them off
for good. I also told her to burn the note.

  It was the only way, baby girl. Please believe me when I say I tried everything to fix this and make this right.

  Please know I love you. I love you so much that I’d rather be dead than let anyone harm you.

  I love you, Princess.

  And remember… don’t let one mistake keep you from taking on the world.

  Love,

  Dad

  My knees haven’t stopped shaking since I read the first paragraph. They gave out completely when he confessed he had himself killed. Bentley caught me just in time, but he kneeled down with me as I sobbed through the rest of the letter. I’m not even sure how I finished reading it, but I couldn’t stop. I kept waiting for some punchline, or something else, but it ended and it never came.

  How could he do this to me? How could he plan this and let his own family suffer?

  It didn’t make sense.

  And my mother knew. Or she knew enough.

  I try to put the pieces together, but the sobs continue. My face is covered in my uncontrollable sobs. Bentley continues to hold me as I shake and cry on the floor with him, my fingers gripping the letter.

  “Shh…sweetheart,” he soothes, brushing his hand through my hair. “Talk to me, Ceci,” he pleads.

  My chest rises rapidly as I try to get the words out, but every time I try, a sob releases instead.

  He rubs my back as he keeps me pressed against him, holding me tight. I’m not sure how long we sit there, but he doesn’t release me until the tears have dried up.

  He runs the pads of his thumb under each eye, wiping away the tears so I can at least see clearly.

  “He was in trouble,” I blurt out, knowing he’ll understand considering he already found out about his gambling addiction. “He owed money and didn’t have it,” I continue, trying to remain strong so I can keep it together long enough to tell him. I look into his pleading eyes and say it aloud. “He planned it. He had to die in order to protect us and pay off whomever he owed. He planned everything.” I get the words out, but the tears are right behind them. I bury my head in his chest as he holds me tighter and my body continues to tremble.

  “I don’t understand!” I yell into his shirt. “How could he leave us? How could he leave me when I needed him the most?”