Chapter Text
Shane Hollander likes to be organized. He keeps a daily planner. His planner is divided into a checklist. Breakfast at 6 a.m.—check. Exercise at 7 a.m.—check. Call mom and dad at 8 a.m.—check. Pack briefcase at 9 a.m.—check. Head to the office for my first day as an intern at 10 a.m—check. Meet the boss… that one hasn’t been checked yet. Checking the last one off his to-do list felt important, because he would like to meet the person he would be working for. Just over a week ago, Shane was hired as an intern at Rozanov Incorporated.
It is a publishing company. The job requires he revises unpublished books, articles and other publication material, then email them to his boss, Mr. Ilya Rozanov to be further evaluated for publishing. “That should be fairly easy”, Shane implied when Svetlana, Rosanovs secratary assistant, explained the objective of his new internship. They were walking down a long hallway, Svetlana's black heels clicked on the marble floor, hips swaying, and she walked with determination, as Shane followed, three steps behind her.
She walked really fast for a woman in heels. She led Shane to his office. “This is Mr. Rozanovs office, but he is to not be disturbed, unless you have been ordered into his office—understand?” Svetalana said, gesturing at the huge office door with a silver placard that says, ‘Mr. Rozanov’ and ‘CEO’ under it. Shane gulped. His pink cheeks turned pale. He wondered why his boss had to be so mysterious.
He wanted to meet him. It was only fair he knew Shane, since he hired him. Wouldn’t he want to meet his new hirees? Shane wondered. This mystery made Shane’s stomach churn. He didn’t even know what his boss looked like or his persona. He wondered if he was kind, ambitious or cruel. Shane settled with the last one. Only a cruel boss wouldn’t want to meet his new intern.
Then Shane wondered, maybe it was for the best, just in case he didn’t impress Mr. Rozanov, at least he didn’t have to face him, maybe he’d just fire Shane with no further examination or criticism. Svetlana picked up her pace again, wordlessly she began walking further down the hall, but for a minute Shane lingered by Rosanovs office. Knock. Shane repeated in his head. Just knock. but the sound of Svetlanas heels echoed through the empty hall like a ticking time bomb, that snapped Shane out of it. Svetlana turned, noticing Shane still lingering outside Rosanovs office.
“Mr. Hollander,” She snapped. Shane swallowed. Suddenly his throat felt dry. “Uhm—sorry, I’m coming,” he said. He walked toward Svetlana. She picked up her steady pace again, as they both took a turn into another hallway, then to an elevator. Once the elevator beeped, and the silver doors opened, Svetlana and Shane entered.
Svetlana pressed the second floor button. The building is a skyscraper, and the company has three reserved floors. “The first floor is the welcome desk, the second floor is for interns and staff, and the third floor is reserved for Mr. Rosanov,” Svetlana said. Shane nodded.
Really, the entire floor, reserved just for him? Shane swallowed again. He felt sick. He was trying to convince himself that his boss wasn’t a dick, just distant and highly remotely reserved. He was also trying to find the dignity to not dart out of these doors as soon the elevator opened to find a trash bin to barf in.
He regretted eating a full plate of waffles and eggs this morning. ‘Breakfast is the most important meal of the day’ Shane always says, but he regretted that once his anxiety started swelling up in his chest and belly.
There was a long silence as the elevator went down. Shane wrestled his motion sickness, and it dinged once they reached the second floor. The doors slid open. “This is the second floor, where you’ll be mostly,” Svetlana said. Shane followed her into the hallway.
This one wasn’t empty, it was busy and jam packed. The staff were walking back and forth, carrying important loads of stuff, and the noise of phones rung off the hook in their office cubicle spaces. “Damn,” Shane said. He hadn’t meant to say that out loud.
“Don’t worry Shane, as long as you’re persistent here and you get your work done, this’ll get easier,” Svetlana said, flashing a bright grin at Shane. Suddenly she didn’t seem so serious. She was nice. That warmed Shane. At least she isn’t mysterious and severe like Rozanov is. “Thank you,” Shane said. He grinned and nodded. Svetlana led Shane to his office, then she went back up the elevator.
He wondered if she was going to Rosanovs office. Perhaps they are fairly acquainted with each other, since she’s his secretary. She probably does more important stuff than Shane, like managing Rosanovs calendars, schedule, preparing spread sheets, or… Shane didn’t want to think about the ‘or’. He checked his watch—11 a.m.
Then he laid his office supplies down on the desk, aligning them out of habit. He flipped open his planner and stared at his checklist. Meet the boss. No check mark. Not yet. He let out a slow breath, closed the planner and loosened his neck tie.
The determination that had carried him this far had thinned into something heavier. The idea of meeting Mr. Ilya Rozanov no longer sparked excitement or enthusiasm.
Right now, he focuses on the more important tasks at hand. He opened his laptop and he viewed submitted manuscripts, catalogs and editorial pages. Suddenly, he received an email. He opened it.
From: Ilya Rozanov
To: Shane Hollander
Subject: Important meeting.
Mr. Hollander, meet me in my office. Tomorrow. 6 a.m.
“Shit…”