The Billionaire's Intern

Richard's POV

I glanced at my watch the moment my car pulled to a stop. HANSLA stood magnificently in front, with sharp cerulean colors that reminded me of the ocean Dad used to take me to when I was young. I had specifically chosen that color, while building my company; an enterprise that has gotten me featured in Forbes Magazine, as the youngest tech billionaire to ever do it.

In all, I had my Dad to thank for this feat. Growing up, we visited the beach a lot, my Dad would hold my hand in a strong grip and we would run to the shores, tapping our feet in the wet sand. Afterwards, we would play a game of tag and then sit on a blanket not too far from the shores, so we could watch the ocean.

Dad would chatter like a magpie about his childhood, the good old days when he was a chess champion, but my favorite story of his was how he had met Mum. She passed away when I was six.

Dad described her as sassy with a sense of humor, eyes that would put one in their place, and lips that would have them jumping into her arms. He called her the moonlight in his darkness, and his face would always gleam with each mention of her name, Hannah.

Each time he spoke of Mum, I wondered what it would feel like to have someone be my home and peace.

I had smelt her perfume before I saw her, a flowery scent mixed with fresh morning dew. She flashed a smile toward my direction, but I threw my face away hastily walking to the elevator. "Emotions were a sign of weakness, and weakness would never get you where you should be," that was Dad's favorite quote. He had said it was written in a Bible Gran had given him, but I knew Dad all too well and Gran would rather crochet the whole day than quote bible verses, she had been catholic but not a devoted one.

Charlotte had me wondering from the very first day, that her muscles ached from all the smiling she did. She was an intern and had been among the company's latest recruiters. I had heard a worker call her name during break period, and it had stuck like a leech in my memory. Like a Cheshire cat, Charlotte would flash her teeth here and there each time I saw her.

"Was it a thing she did or was it a me thing?"

She was always smiling and to top it off, her dimples were beautiful. Not that I would ever tell her though. As I passed, I took a whiff of my scent, and wasn't going to let anyone pick up on me getting intimidated by the scent of flowers. And just as I had done that action, my cologne hit me, a reminder that I hadn't forgotten to wear it.

"Good morning sir," Her voice had a lilt to it. Damn! Charlotte, must you always be so happy? I walked towards the elevator and pressed the button. Pretending to have not heard her, I checked my watch. I needed a little distraction, cause I didn't want her invading my thoughts. Swiping my key card on the door, I was immediately met with cold air mixed with a flowery scent the moment I stepped into my office.

The pile of documents awaiting my approval graced the desk, while the shelves filled with programming courses, gleamed with pride. Everything stood out and so did the light dent on the swivel chair. I made a mental note to tell the maintenance to handle it.

Dropping my bag, I took a drink of water from the fridge, before a knock came on the door and in a second it was already open.

"Good morning sir, I wanted to remind you about the document you need to sign, so I can get it across to Flintpay." Fred cracked his knuckles, a thing he was fond of. He was the only one who ever spoke like this to me, in a casual way probably, it was because of the way we had started. He didn't flinch back when I was being snobbish, and he probed whenever I refused to talk.

My forehead creased and that's when it struck me. I had forgotten all about it last night. "Oh that, I will see to it."

"Ok and also, the meeting will be starting in an hour. I just wanted to remind you."

I chuckled, "Are you my secretary now?" I ran my hands through my hair.

We both laughed.

When Fred left, I brushed through the documents on my laptop, I had a few minutes and I wasn't going to waste any more time. Tuning out intrusive thoughts of Charlotte that had already begun making their way into my head, I began coding.

And just then, the alarm went off. I hurried for the documents and bolted out the door. My secretary greeted me and I acknowledged her by raising my hand. A look of surprise crossed her features and I realized what I had done.

I have always had a standoffish demeanor around my workers, didn't smile much and tried not to interact for too long either. So whenever I made even the slightest gestures, the Guinness Book of Records added a new feat.

Ignoring her, I walked towards the board room. There were already five seated in the room when I arrived, Fred had his eyes cast on me the entire time I had walked in. That man sure admired me, that I knew.

"So uh," Fred pointed towards the empty seat left, "Who has this?"

He had barely finished speaking before the door opened, and a flowery scent wafted through. I rolled my eyes inwardly.

"Good afternoon everyone." The bubbly sound of her voice filled the room. Charlotte.

I was squirming inside, Charlotte had no idea what she was doing to me, her voice was sending shock waves of arousal down my spine. I tried to think of something else, to block her out of my thoughts, or else it would end in a catastrophe and thankfully, Sandra stood to speak to her.

Richard's POV

"You're late." Sandra had told Charlotte. She was used to picking on people, and Charlotte just happened to be a victim today but she was right. Charlotte was supposed to have been here even before I came in.

"Can we discuss those later?" I butt in, interrupting Sandra before she turned what was going to be a meeting into a lecture. "Let's begin already."

When it was Charlotte's turn to speak, I watched as her eyes scanned the place. She was trying not to give too much away, but was failing at it at the same time. She bit the insides of her lip now and then, something I figured she must do a lot, when she was anxious. She looked calm and collected, "Why was a meeting having her all worked up?"

She looked towards my side, our gazes locked for a second before she threw her face away. If I was doubting that she was nervous, I was certain now. I had faith in her that she could hold her own, and that was exactly what she did.

Each of us had presented, but it seemed as though more questions were thrown towards Charlotte after her presentation. I sat silently all through, watching as she fought them off. She tried to maintain her composure, but I could see through her facade. A little more and she could burst out crying.

"It's still under review, we would have to take a much better look at it. You know this already, don't you?" I asked Fred and he nodded in agreement. If he did, why was he now making Charlotte look stupid, explaining the whole thing?

Charlotte was stunned, her eyes said it all as they locked with mine. Beads of sweat had formed on her head, and those knuckles had turned white. I could sense her unease and I watched as she relaxed, heaving a sigh of relief. Poor Charlotte.

And just as the meeting had started, it ended. I was relieved to finally get a break for about two minutes. Thankfully, I had diverted their attention away from the project I hadn't been able to complete. They had wanted to talk about it too, but I waved it off. We needed to be fully prepared, if we were going to start going the Artificial Intelligence route.

We had plans to launch a social media app, sometime later this year, and we had hoped it would compete with Facebook in a short amount of time.

I was the first to leave the room the moment the meeting was over, and I had never felt more relaxed since the day began. It had been hard keeping my eyes off her. She was elegant in every way, from her voice to the way she sauntered with her steps. Her skin was delicate and her lips were so inviting. I smacked my head

"Excuse me?" Charlotte suddenly spoke, behind me catching me off guard.

Ignoring her, I hastened my steps. She tried to match it but kept falling behind. I was close to the elevator and she knew I was going to take it. I pleaded inwardly for her to stop, I was hoping she'd get the memo that I didn't want to talk to her, but did that stop her? Not!

"Excuse me? Sir Richard?" My heart skipped a beat, at the sound of my name escaping those lips that I desperately wanted to kiss.

"I would like to thank you-"

I pressed the button on the elevator and watched as it slid open. Charlotte had stopped a few steps behind me, finally getting the obvious signal, Leave me alone.

She watched me get in, and a look of disappointment crossed her features, as she watched the doors close. In those remaining seconds of the doors closing, I stared at her trying to capture the tiniest details on her face. This was the closest I had ever been with her. She had a faint scar on her temple that I never noticed until now.

"I wanted to-" She had opened her mouth to speak and that was it, the doors closed and I didn't hear another word she said.

***

Charlotte's POV

My hands were nailed to a fist under the table, when Fred disclosed the news to me. I was going to be presenting at their next board meeting, but he seemed to have forgotten that I was only an intern. Although I had graduated high school at the top of my class, and had gotten accepted at both Stanford and MIT but had chosen to attend Cambridge instead, I was still shy at heart. All these feats and I was nervous to give something as simple as a speech. My thoughts had faltered at the thought of him also being there, Sir Richard but thankfully the meeting had gone well.

Sir Richard had come to my rescue, if it weren't for him, I could have teared up in the room. I had tried thanking him but he had given me the cold shoulder. I shrugged it off as him probably having a bad day, but I believe a little thank you could have gone a long way.

It was Saturday morning and I was curled up on my bed, it was that time of the month again. My periods are not always an exciting moment for me, there are days where I would want to throw up and magically on some other days, I won't even feel a thing.

Thankfully, I had a lot of time to rest my head from all the work. I had made a cup of chocolate to ease my cramps as I proceeded to work on a program, but he crossed my mind, Richard, the sophisticated snub.

I had never had anyone treat me that way. I was always the outstanding one amongst my peers, I would receive comments about my hair and face, even on days when I didn't wear makeup.

I now believed the rumors about him, the other interns had been right. He had a lackadaisical attitude with his colleagues, barely kept a conversation and never really showed emotions. Each time I smiled at him, he would always return it with a stoic expression. Nevertheless, there was something about him that intrigued me. It was his charisma, he never really mingled with the women in the office although, the ladies threw themselves at him.

He remained calm and collected as he went by his day job, so he never noticed the way I stared at him when he wasn't looking. When we went downstairs to have lunch, I would watch as he ate his in silence. Fred would be flirting with the ladies but not him, he would remain quiet with his purple headset on. He went around with that headset a lot, everywhere, except the meetings.

Whenever the ladies talked about him, there was this tinge of jealousy that stirred within me. Sir Richard was good-looking for his age, his body stature underneath his clothes was an undying witness to a possible workout session. I had once wondered what he did for cardio, did he jog in the mornings, or perhaps he worked out in the bedroom at night, with his bulge peeking out of his pants?

I stopped myself. I usually felt horny during my periods and this wasn't right to think about. "Sir Richard would never be mine."

Charlotte's POV

I repeated it thrice, hoping that my brain would get the memo and reset. Yes, he was handsome; he probably got the ladies with a snap of his fingers, but no, he was older than me and probably had a hot girlfriend somewhere ready to take me down with a rifle.

Speaking of rifles? Did he hunt?

A wave of cramps made its way through me and I fell on the bed, cuddling up in a fetal position. Taking deep breaths, I tried to focus on something to distract my mind from my ailing body, but all my thoughts went back to him again.

My phone rang, and I reached for it; swiping the home button away, I placed it to my ear. There was some shuffling in the background, as though there was a struggle to pick up the phone.

I sat up on my elbows, concern evident in my voice. "Hello?"

"Hi! sis."

I felt a bit relieved that it was Diana, my little sister. We were both five years apart. Mum had her after sixteen hours of labour, and thankfully, both of them had pulled through. I didn't give her any trouble when it was my turn. Mum had said that she had gone to the hospital and a few minutes later came out with me. Diana's story was far more touching because Mum almost had a haemorrhage.

"How are you? How's everyone?"

"What's wrong with you? Why do you sound like that?"

I was thankful for a sister like Diana, we always had each other's back. We could tell when the other was trying to mask pain, grief or even hold back excitement. "It's that time of the month, D."

"Oh shit, sorry about that."

I shut my eyes, her voice was soothing. Diana lived with my parents while I had chosen to move out, to pursue my dreams of being a programmer. Dad had wanted me to be a nurse, while Mum had shrugged when I told her I had an interest in tech.

"Whichever path you decide to take, I'm here to support you each step of the way." Her words had brought tears to my eyes and we shared a hug.

"Mum wanted to know if you'd be coming home for Gran's birthday next week. She had asked me to call you although, I had told her to do it herself-"

"D, I'm sorry." My shoulders slouched. We never missed Gran's birthday and this was her ninetieth bash.

"Charlotte but it's her ninetieth birthday."

"I know, I know, I feel so terrible. I wish I could make it, I do, but D, I have worked here, and I just started; I don't want to lose this. You know how much I have been wanting to get into Hans Tech."

There was silence on her end. I didn't need to see her face to know she was disappointed.

"D?"

She remained silent but I could hear shuffling in the background, a bit of muttering and whispers. I couldn't make out what it was, but I guess she was whispering to someone.

"Diana?"

I heard more shuffling before she answered. "It's ok, Charlotte; Gran would understand." And the shuffling sound was back again.

"Is everything ok there?" I asked out of concern. I had reasons to believe that Mum was also in the background. "Mum says it's ok."

Ditto, my suspicion was finally proven.

"Say hi to mum for me. "I love you, Mum!" I yelled at the phone hoping Mum would hear it.

I heard the sound of laughter, it was Mum. Diana, still chuckling, asked me the question I had been dreading for months now.

"How's love going for you sis?"

I grimaced not just at the question, but from the cramps that had resurfaced. "My love life is going well."

"Hmm." The shuffling sound returned. I was able to piece things together, realizing that she probably did that so she could whisper my words to Mum when she asked.

"You know what, D, why don't you just give the phone to Mum? Let me tell her instead."

"Well um...." She hesitated.

"Never mind, anyways, my love life is good and it's so sad I won't be making it home next week for Gran's birthday. Could we talk later, D? I really would need some rest right now."

"Yeah, it's ok, Mum says she loves you."

I yelled those same words back before the line hung up.

Diana was a nosy one; growing up, she used to rat me out to Mum a lot, even in the slightest things.

When I was ten, I reminisced about the wallpaper accident. It had poked out from the wall and my curiosity got the best of me. Letting the intrusive thoughts win, I tugged at it gently first, but the second tug had been a bit rough; I ended up ripping an entire section of the wallpaper out.

Mum had scolded us, but she didn't want to let it go so easily, she had asked for the culprit to step forward. I leaned back in my chair, trying to wait out her anger. The best thing she would do was yell, but Mum proved me wrong. She threatened to take Diana's toys and my Harry Potter books away before Diana bailed, outing me as the culprit, and of course, I got grounded.

My body craved rest but I had work to do. I was learning the Python language. Moving out was the best thing that had ever happened, I had freedom, could bend and break some rules and to top it all, I had time to rest without having to worry about making dinner back at home. I wasn't lazy, I was just tired of most things. Mum would always complain if my bedtime was past ten. She would scream and remind me that she worked harder when she was my age, woke up earlier too, and still made good grades.

When I moved here, I applied for internships in a lot of tech companies, but only Richard's accepted me. One would say I had privilege since I was white, but at the end of the day, it all boiled down to the person in question and if they were willing to take you in.

I had barely studied before the soft caress of sleep called me, a soft lull pulling me to its bosom and I gave in.

When I opened my eyes again, the sun had gone down and my curtains were drawn up. From my house, I could look into the neighbours. If I squinted more, I would tell what type of couch they had. I drew the curtains down before flopping on the couch.

Getting into a comfortable position, I turned the TV on.

The news reporter was giving live updates on the tech progress in London. He was in front of a building. At first, I didn't see it, but when I looked closer, I could make out that it was the company I worked for. A feeling of pride swelled in me. I was living the dream. My phone shone immediately, making a notification sound. It was a text from my colleague.

"Sent! Have a lovely night, Char."

My smile faltered as a familiar, well-built, six-foot-tall honcho crossed my mind. I turned up the TV volume, I wanted no distractions.