Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine

It was finally Monday, and that meant it was finally the time for Skylar to commence her internship at Ian's law firm and officially move into her new apartment. It was the first time she felt like an adult. She had a "job" and was living on her own. It was a taste of what life after law school would be, take away the classes.

She had her things packed, most of it being clothes and books, all stuffed in her car ready to be transported to Burlingame. Skylar would miss Sarah. Even though she had been pretty hostile at first, eventually Sarah started warming up to her. Sarah has even expressed that she would miss her. That really warmed Skylar's heart.

She attended her classes of the day, making sure to focus on her classes and not be distracted by thoughts of what had happened between her and Jason. To say the least, she was very embarrassed. She'd referred to Jason as Ian in the middle of pretty hot make out session that she had actually been enjoying, take away the fact that she was imagining someone else.

Eventually, she would have to face Jason again. She didn't really know how to face him, though. What was she supposed to say? "Oh, sorry for calling you by someone's name!" That just wouldn't cut it. Jason had kissed her because he was attracted to her, and she hurt his feelings. She was inevitably attracted to a man that was off-limits to her. Great. Just great.

Micah, the other intern, approached her during their first class together. He had on a smirk and eyes that glinted with something not so nice.

"Hello, Skylar," he said. "I heard you're the other intern."

"That's right," Skylar said, not really paying attention to him.

"I can give you a ride to work if you want," he said.

"Uh, thanks, but no," she said. "I have my own ride." The car Ian had so graciously bought her.

"Oh," he said. "Alright then. See you later."

Finally, it was time for lunch. Skylar met up with Sarah and they headed to an on-campus restaurant. At least she wasn't eating by herself anymore.

"Are you excited?" Sarah asked. "Today is your big day."

"I am," Skylar admitted. "But I'm kind of nervous."

"Oh, come on," Sarah said. "You seem to really get along with Ian. I'm pretty sure he'll go easy on you."

But she didn't want Ian to go easy on her. She wanted Ian to treat her just how he would treat any other employee, and if that was strict and demanding, so be it. She already felt like Ian was being a too generous to her in the first place.

It was when she was exiting the restaurant that she saw Jason.

She was about to make her escape, but then he called out to her and she had no excuse but to stay.

Sarah didn't seem to see anything strange and just said, "I'll see you later, Sky." And she walked away, leaving Skylar and Jason alone.

"Hey," he said, looking down at her with a small smile.

"Hi," she said, also smiling, and trying to hide her embarrassment.

"You ran off the other night," he pointed out.

Skylar gulped and looked down. "Uh, yeah. I'm sorry about that."

They looked at each other for a few seconds, not either one of them saying a single word. Finally, Jason spoke.

"You don't have to be embarrassed," he said. "I get it. Bad timing."

"I'm so sorry," she said.

He shrugged. "If you're into someone else, it's alright, Skylar. I can't blame you for that. I kissed you first, remember? I took the risk of rejection."

"But I didn't reject you," she pointed out. "That's the thing. I encouraged you and then I called you by someone else's name. That was a really b.itchy thing for me to do. You don't deserve that, Jason."

His blue eyes were filled with warmth as they looked into hers. He took her hands in his and said, "Skylar, it's not your fault. And you shouldn't be blaming yourself."

"But-"

"But nothing, Sky!" he cut her off. "Look, I really like you. When I first met you, I thought, wow, this girl is beautiful and has an amazing personality. Plus, you have great music taste, and that makes you 100x better in my book. And I would love it if you let me try to make you forget about this guy that, from what I can tell, isn't doing anything to make you happy."

She didn't know what to say. No one had ever come out and directly told her they liked her. She'd dated a few guys in high school and college, but it was always a mutual thing, they never really told her they liked her, they just ended up hooking up and dating for a few weeks.

"What do you say, Sky?" he asked, his eyes never leaving hers.

Could she date him? Jason was great and was such a sweet guy. Any girl would be lucky to have him. And he wanted her! Ian was a man that she was probably never going to get. Why should she keep on living on false hopes? Why, when there was an amazing guy willing to make her forget she ever had feelings for him in the first place?

But, alas, she couldn't do that to herself. Or Jason for that matter. He deserved a girl that felt for him what he felt for her.

"I, uh, I can't," she said. "I'm sorry. But it wouldn't be fair for either of us. You're such a great guy, and I wish that I could like you back the same way, but I can't. I feel like a terrible person because he's off-limits and it's never going to happen. I just need time."

His eyes were of full of, not sadness, pity. He pitied the girl that stood in front of him, obviously struggling with her feelings.

So he hugged her and held her tights.

"It's alright, Skylar," he promised. "I'd rather have you in my life as a friend."

"I'm glad you understand," she said.

"And if that guy doesn't realize what a great person you are, then he's got issues," he added.

On her way to Ian's law firm, Skylar made a quick stop at her new apartment and dropped off all her things. She had to admit that it was a nice place, and she didn't even want to ask Ian how much he was paying for it as she knew already it was a lot.

Thinking about Ian made her smile. He was so sweet. He'd bought her a car, given her an apartment, an internship. She wished he could be an asshole, that way it would be easier to get over him. But his generosity just made her see him in brighter light.

After she freshened up a bit, she made her to Ian's firm, which was located in downtown San Francisco. Every time she went into the city, she was amazed. It was beautiful, and had that sort of English eccentricity vibe that she loved. It was great, but she still missed Chicago.

Ian awaited impatiently for Skylar's arrival. Micah was already there, sitting across his desk with a smirk on his face. Of course, Ian couldn't be mad at Skylar for being slightly late. He knew that she had to drop off things at her new apartment. Still, he wanted to see her.

"Punctuality is something that I pride myself in, Mr. Rinaldi," Micah said. "I guess others don't see it my way."

His little comment annoyed Ian. He didn't appreciate others speaking badly of her.

"Miss Grant has a good excuse, Mr. Nesterovich," Ian said in her defense.

Micah snickered. "I wonder what that could be. Women get so easily distracted."

"We do not speak ill of our co-workers, Mr. Nesterovich," Ian snapped. "You'll do well to remember that."

A few minutes later, Skylar was sitting across his desk as well looking as beautiful as ever.

"Now that both of you are here," Ian began, "I would like to welcome you to Rinaldi & Associates on behalf of myself and the other employees. I will be assigning you to one of the attorneys here, whom you will assist and learn from."

"I would like to say that my capabilities are great enough to assist you, Mr. Rinaldi," Micah pointed out.

Ian smirked. "I'm sure you are," he said. "But I've assigned you to Peter Johnson. He's a close friend of mine and he'll be a great mentor for you. Miss Grant is whom shall be working alongside me."

Oh, great. Even more time with him. That was exactly what Skylar needed to get over him.

Micah was taken aback. "Are you sure?"

"Positive."

"But-"

"Mr. Nesterovich, Peter should be waiting for you right outside. Please move along."

With a glare in Skylar's direction, Micah stood up and left Ian's office.

"I'm sorry for arriving late," Skylar said. "I underestimated the time I had to get here."

"It's perfectly fine, Skylar," Ian said. "You're here now."

Ian explained to her the duties of being his assistant and what that would entail. She would have to meet clients with him, sometimes go with him to court, and organize a lot of files. She would be working personally with him for quite a while.

But there was something off about Ian, Skylar noticed.

"Are you okay?" she asked. "You seem off."

He locked his eyes with hers and said, "Is it that obvious."

She gave him a smile. "Kind of."

"Well, Emily's mother called me the other day," he explained. "Said that she wants to see her."

"Oh." Skylar didn't really know what to say to that.

"She's in rehab right now," he added. "Overdosed, ended up there. She said she's changing for Emily, she wants to be in her life."

"And how do you feel about that?" she asked.

"I don't want her anywhere near my daughter," he confessed. "But..."

"But?"

"She is her mother."

Skylar could understand why Ian didn't really want the woman around. After all, she had left Ian alone with Emily, and gone off to party in Europe. What kind of mother did that? The circumstances didn't matter. If Ian didn't let her see Emily, then she would respect his decision. And if he did let her see Emily, then she would have to respect that as well.

"It's been four years since I've seen her," he said. "I don't know how I can handle seeing her again after what she did."

"You still hold resentment towards her," she guessed.

"I guess I do. But I deserve the right to."

"You do," she agreed.

"But enough about me," he said. "What about you? You yourself aren't acting the same. What's bothering you?"

And so she told him. About Jason, that is. The kiss they shared. Calling him by another guy's name, excluding the part where it was his name because that would just be awkward. Jason's confession about his feelings towards her. How she couldn't feel the same way. Everything.

She hoped that he would give her some advice.

Instead he said, "Go get me some coffee, Miss Grant."

And she was dismissed.

Ian had not meant to be mean to her. But her words had gotten him pretty mad. Jealous. It bothered him a lot, her kissing other guys. She'd called Jason by another man's name, so there had to be someone in her life that she had feelings for. He didn't like. It made him furious to think that another man could have her. So the only thing he could do was shut her out and dismiss her. He did not want her to see him lose it.

But Skylar didn't know his reasons, so she felt very sad and embarrassed. She had opened up to him, just to have him not care at all. But what was she supposed to expect. Why would Ian want to know her life story? She was just his employee now, nothing more.