The Accidental Honeymoon

by Alice Toby

  “Oh yeah. I think I did talk to him.”

  “Alright well, good luck,” the office manager tells the young intern as she leaves the conference room. Karin almost wanted to call out for help. She didn’t want to be left alone on the Fourth Level.

  Karin looks around the conference room, hoping that someone will come by and at least talk to her. For the next twenty minutes, the young intern keeps herself glued to the Aeron chair while wondering what she should do next. Finally, after half an hour, Author walks into the conference room.

  “Hi, Karin.”

  “Author?”

  “Yes. I should formally introduce myself. I am Author Stevens, General Counsel of Emperor. We will be having a meeting in here in about twenty minutes. You know how to set up a room for a meeting right? Stationary, phones, pens, snacks?”

  “Yes.”

  “Alright. We will be having about twelve people in here momentarily.”

  “Excellent. I’ll get right on it.”

  Karin snaps into “meeting” mode gathering all the pens, pads, and conference call phones necessary. Fifteen minutes later, the first meeting attendees trickle in. Karin begins to recognize a few of the people. Right away, she spots the President of the company, Michelle Ackner as well as the Chief Technology Officer, Liam Vogel. Karin’s hands start to shake. These people are famous by Silicon Valley standards. The room fills up with ten people. Some of them are wondering out-loud what the meeting is about. Several of them appear a bit agitated as though the meeting has been called at a moment’s notice.

  “I want to have you on a plane tonight,” a very familiar voice booms from outside of the room. Karin snaps her head up. She knows that voice. It belongs to Ryan Wilde. The Ryan Wilde. The CEO and founder of Emperor Technology. The twenty-eighth richest man in the world.

  Ryan strolls into the conference room. Karin just stares at him as though he were a statue come to life. She is struck by the casualness of his dress. Clad in a faded jeans, a black T-shirt and red New Balance sneakers, Ryan looks more like a frat boy than one of the most powerful men on the planet.

  Author closes the door to the conference room. All eyes focus on Ryan Wilde. “Alright. Is everyone here?” Ryan asks.

  “Yes,” Author replies.

  “Here’s the deal. I’m sick and tired of having Wall Street conspire to kick me out of my own company. They pulled that shit on Steve Jobs back in the 80s, that’s not going to happen to me. So I’m going to propose a merger that will bring some Blue Chip credibility to the company.”

  “Who are we going to merge with?” the President of the Company asks.

  “International Business Systems.”

  “IBS?!” one of the execs exclaims.

  “Exactly. We are now the same size as them. But IBS is not growing as fast as us. I’m sure the IBS shareholders would welcome our high-growth and fresh blood. Author is going to New York on my jet to propose the deal. Before he does, I’m giving anyone in this room a chance to speak their peace. Does anyone have any objections?”

  “IBS is a pretty conservative company. They deal mainly with corporate clients and pretty staid databasing,” Liam replies.

  “And we can help them update their technology. And IBS can get those Hedge Fund idiots off my back. Do you really want some corporate raider to come in here and tell us how to make our products?! That would be the death of us.”

  “I’m all for it,” the President of the company tells her CEO. “I just want to make sure you are ready to deal with the scrutiny. Mergers can be brutal, Ryan. You’ll have to get approval from both Emperor and IBS shareholders.”

  “I’m ready. Trust me. Yes, I know I come across as immature. But I’m ready to show the world my grown-up side.”

  That response is met by some good-natured laughter from the room. For the first time, Karin feels comfortable enough to crack a smile. At just this precise moment, Ryan looks over at the young intern and motions towards her. “Who is this?” the CEO asks.

  Karin freezes. She doesn’t know if she is supposed to answer.

  “This is Karin. She is an intern from first floor.”

  “Oh, well. Welcome,” Ryan tells the nervous young Karin as he extends his hand to her.

  Karin nervously shakes Ryan’s hand. “Glad to be here.”

  “Alright, Author. Take my plane and get to New York. I want to get the ball moving on this.”

  Minutes later the meeting breaks up. Ryan walks around the room as his personal assistants shuffle inside to collect the CEO. Karin stares at the CEO, carefully taking in his every motion. She never thought she would actually see the man who was named as Time magazine’s Person of the Year at age 28. At the very least, she has one great story from her internship.

  Karin carefully follows Author around as he prepares for his trip to New York. “So what should I do while you are gone?” the intern asks.

  “Stay on the fourth level and have the conference room ready for any calls and meetings. Right now, you are the only non-management member who is aware of the proposed merger so you need to keep everything hush-hush.”

  The second question Karin wanted to ask is when she can clock out. It’s not that Karin wants to leave at 5 p.m. She is just unaware as to what her official hours are at the moment. Nevertheless, Karin continues to be at management’s beck and call. When Author leaves the office at 7 p.m., Karin finds herself somewhat aimless and confused. Her one contact with management is on a private jet to the Big Apple. And she feels a little too self-conscious to walk up to one of the senior execs and ask if she could go home for the night.

  A couple of more hours pass as Karin tries her best to not feel awkward in the belly of the Emperor Technology executive suite. She looks down at her phone and begins to check her e-mails.

  “Hey Karin,” a voice bombs over Karin’s ear. She looks up and turns around. Standing right behind her is Ryan.

  The young intern is so rattled that she nearly drops her phone. “Yes?!”

  “We have some panini sandwiches and salads in the conference room if you’re hungry.”

  For a moment, Karin is not sure how to respond. Here is the CEO telling her about panini sandwiches and salads. Ryan’s approach is so casual that it completely catches her off guard. She nervously stands up and responds with, “That sounds great thanks.”

  The CEO walks away. Karin can feel the blood vessels throb on the side of her head. “Calm down. He just told you that there is dinner in the conference room. It’s no big deal. Go have dinner and relax,” Karin tells herself. She gets up from her chair and makes the walk to the conference room. Inside, she is rather surprised to see many of the senior execs sitting around and eating casually. Karin figures that each person in the room is worth at least a hundred million dollars. Some much more. She is rather bemused to see such wealthy people eating sandwiches that can be wrapped in deli paper.

  Karin inspects the spread of various chicken and tofu sandwiches. She grabs a chicken panini and a bottle of Snapple Ice Tea. The intern sits down at the table and begins to eat. As she bites into her sandwich, she sees Ryan standing off to the side eating his sandwich. There is something about the scene that mesmerizes Karin. She just stares at Ryan - this young CEO worth well over ten billion dollars - eating a sandwich like a college undergrad in a university cafeteria.

  The intern continues to stare. Ryan catches her looking at him. Karin freezes. The CEO walks over to the intern.

  “So where are you doing your studies?” the CEO asks.

  “Oh, um. I don’t go to school.”

  “Really?”

  “Well, um. I dropped out.”

  “Well, I dropped out of Harvard my sophomore year. It seemed to work out for me,” Ryan jokes.

  Karin laughs as she nervously tries to take a drop from her Snapple Ice Tea. Ryan picks up a napkin and wipes his mouth.

  The brash young CEO spins around and looks around the room and booms, “Alright everyone. I’m taking off. Go home, ge
t a good night’s rest. We’re going to be busy as hell the next few weeks!” Ryan then looks down at Karin and nods with a smile. “Have a nice evening,” he tells her.

  “Thanks!”

  Karin couldn’t feel more relieved to have a normal conversation with Ryan. She drives home with an euphoric lightness in her head. When she gets back to her apartment, she wants nothing more than to share her day at Emperor Technologies with her two roommates. However, Karin knows that one slip of the tongue could cause big problems at her internship. Instead, she goes to bed with the whirlwind of emotions dancing in her head. She is nervous. She is excited. Her body won’t allow her to fall asleep. Finally, fatigue overrides her excitement, allowing Karin to slip into a deep slumber at a little after two in the morning.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Karin wakes up at 7:30 a.m. and for the first time is genuinely excited about heading to the office. She is still buzzing about her meeting with Ryan. While the intern knows that her odds of interacting with Ryan are not good, she still feels some excitement at the chance of seeing him again.

  Karin breezes into the office at a little after eight, grabs a coffee and heads to the fourth level. The young intern can’t help but notice some of the other employees staring at her yellow “golden card” which grants her access to the super-secretive fourth level of the building. She truly feels that she is part of something special. Though, deep down, Karin knows that she is just there to deal with boring administrative work.

  Right before the door opens, Karin checks her reflection in the bright polish of the elevator walls. She checks her hair and straightens out her blouse. The doors open. Standing right in front of her is Ryan.

  “I want the prototype in my hands in 48 hours,” the CEO barks to a couple of his engineers. “Don’t sleep, don’t eat. I want the thing in my hands,” Ryan demands as he walks into the elevator.

  Karin smiles and meekly squeaks out a “Good morning, Ryan.” The CEO, however, is much too immersed in his conversation to notice the young intern. Suddenly, all of Karin’s anxieties are back.

  He didn’t even notice me. Of course, why would he care. He is the freaking CEO of the entire company. I’m just the intern. I have to stop pretending that Ryan and I are friends or even acquaintances. I need to concentrate on simply doing my job, Karin tells herself. The intern takes a seat at a chair inside the conference room. She checks her e-mails and then proceeds to simply sit and wait for her orders.

  ****

  Today is Ryan’s “Engineering” day. The young CEO likes to spend one day each week working closely with certain departments at Emperor Technologies. On Mondays, it’s product design. Tuesdays are dedicated to working with the Marketing and Sales People. Wednesdays are reserved for production and distribution. Today is Ryan’s Engineering day. The 36-year old boss holds his informal meeting with his engineering heads in the hallway as he munches on a breakfast bar.

  “Alright, send me the updates on the prototype. Remember, I want it in my hands in two days!” Ryan demands. The CEO makes his way back up to the fourth level. He checks his watch. It’s 9 a.m. Pacific Standard Time. He knows that his man in New York is in a meeting with the bosses at IBS. He is anxious to hear about how the merger proposal is going.

  When Ryan gets back up to his office, he checks the tech blogs and sees his exploits on his yacht are still front page news. He is also somewhat bewildered to discover that a couple of the Russian models he spent time with are taking interviews and detailing what happened during Ryan’s hedonistic trip to St. Barth’s. The young CEO shakes his head. He turns on CNBC to find himself the subject of even more news about his infamous Caribbean trip. After watching himself on the news, he turns off the TV and decides to let out some steam by doing a succession of push-ups.

  As the young CEO continues his impromptu workout, he hears his desk phone buzz. Ryan snaps to his feet and presses the intercom button on his phone. “Yeah,” Ryan barks.

  “I have Author Stevens on the line,” Ryan’s personal secretary answers.

  “Send him through.”

  A click of the phone is followed by a chime. “Hello, Ryan?” Author answers.

  “Hey Author. What’s the news?”

  “I just got out of the meeting with IBS.”

  “And?”

  “They are definitely interested in merging the two companies.”

  “Excellent!”

  “There is just one hitch.”

  “What’s that?”

  “They don’t want you to be CEO of the combined company.”

  “Dammit!”

  “Look, Ryan. They have concerns about your behavior.”

  “Do they have concerns that my company’s stock has tripled in the last 12 months?!”

  “Their management would love to make you the CEO. As you know, their CEO wants to retire. But they don’t think they could get the shareholder votes with you as the head of the merged company.”

  “Alright. I’m going to have to figure something out.”

  “We could hire a PR company to re-do your image.”

  “Perhaps,” Ryan considers as he paces around his office. “You did a good job, Author. Get back here and we’ll figure something out.”

  “Will do.”

  “Alright. Have a safe trip.”

  Ryan hangs up the phone and plops himself down on one of the several red bean bag chairs in his office. He squeezes one of his many stress balls before chucking it across his office.

  ****

  Karin is in an awkward position. It is already lunch and no one has given her anything to do. Figuring that it’s safe to go grab something to eat, she makes her way down to the cafeteria. The intern grabs a thin crust slice of spinach and mozzarella pizza with a side of cottage. She wanders over to an empty table on the far side at the cafeteria. As the young intern attempts to make her first bite into her lunch, her attention is distracted by several sets of flailing arms. Karin looks up and sees the entire table of interns waving at her. Karin points to herself as if she is asking, “Are you gesturing towards me?” All seven of the interns nod and motion for her to come sit with them.

  Karin makes her way to the intern table. Before she can sit down, she is peppered with questions.

  “What are you doing on the fourth level?”

  “How did you get that assignment?”

  “Have you seen Ryan?”

  Karin is not exactly sure how to answer. She is under strict orders not to reveal anything that she has seen and heard.

  “Yeah. I am helping on this project,” Karin answers cryptically.

  “What project?” one of the interns presses.

  “I can’t talk about it,” Karin responds.

  “Have you seen Ryan?”

  Karin can’t help herself. She answers with a smile. “Yes.”

  All the interns raise their eyebrows.

  “Did he talk to you?” another intern asks.

  “Yep,” Karin answers. Now everyone as the table leans into her with their undivided attention.

  “What did he say to you?”

  “What is he like?”

  Karin smiles widely. “Oh we just chatted while having dinner.”

  There is a mixture of awe with a sprinkling of jealously. Here is the one intern who is currently not attending any school. She seems to have been plucked out of nowhere to work closely with the most famous legend in Silicon Valley.

  “I hate you,” one of the interns tells Karin in a half-joking manner. Now the young woman is starting to feel uncomfortable. She quickly finishes her lunch and retreats from the table. As Karin walks into the elevators she decides that this is the last time she will ever have lunch in the cafeteria. “From now on, I’m just going to sequester myself on the top floor,” she tells herself.

  The doors open. Karin walks out and finds Ryan riding a skateboard up and down the hallway. That brings a smile to the 21-year old’s face. Karin is an avid skateboarding and snowboarding addict. It was her k
nowledge of snowboards that landed her a sales position at the Northface store. Karin’s dedication to outdoor sports even had her seriously consider a career as a professional snowboarder. Being on a board is the one place where Karin feels most confident. The intern watches the CEO attempt to kickflip the skateboard over. Ryan stumbles and nearly knocks himself onto the ground. Karin can’t help but giggle at watching the CEO botch such a simple trick.

  “What’s so funny?!” Ryan calls out loud enough to make everyone’s head turn in his direction. All of the blood drains from Karin’s face. She realizes that her involuntary outburst may have just cost her the coveted internship.

  “I didn’t mean to do that,” Karin confesses.

  “I can execute a simple kickflip; watch,” Ryan boasts as he attempts the trick again. The young billionaire flips the skateboard over and nearly falls on his face. Karin covers her mouth with her right hand, trying to conceal her laughter.

  “Oh, so you think you can do better than me?!” Ryan challenges.

  Now this is one challenge Karin does not fear. Since the age of seven, she has been jumping sidewalk curbs and flipping skateboards much to her mother’s consternation. “I can try,” Karin answers.

  Ryan pushes the board towards the young intern. Karin confidently gets on the board and skates down the hall. She executes a perfect kickflip. Then she proceeds to skate backwards and execute another kickflip. The CEO looks at the young intern with amazement. “Holy fuck. You’re good!”

  “Thanks.”

  “What else can you do?”

  “I can do a 720 kickflip.”

  “Bullshit.”

  “Really, I can do it.”

  “You can flip that board twice under your feet?”

  “I’ve done it before.”

  “This I have to see.”

  Karin skates down the hall and jumps about thirty inches up in the air. The board spins twice under her feet. She comes down right on the board, executing a perfect landing.

  “That’s crazy. I’ve never seen that outside of a competition.”

  Karin kicks the board up into her hands and returns it to Ryan. For the first time, Karin not only feels equal to the legendary CEO, the young intern experiences a burst of superiority. “I’ve been on a board before I was on a bike.”