Finding Herself (Surrender) Read Online Free PDF Page A

seat, too nervous to go to the elevator. Her eyes caught Nate’s as the doors closed, and she thought he looked pleased to see her.
    The next Monday morning, Emily saw Nate heading towards the elevators at 7:30. She walked quickly and joined him, but two other people stepped on at the same time. Nate stood against the wall opposite her, and when their eyes met, Emily blushed, and glanced down at the floor. The other people who’d gotten on with them stepped off on the 11 th floor, and Nate and Emily were silent as the elevator rode up to the 41 st floor. When the doors opened, Nate stepped out wordlessly, and Emily headed down to her cubicle on the 35 th floor.
    ***
    Another week passed by.
    Emily and Brandon were given the “responsibility” of critiquing new investment decision reports. Emily thought it was a bit of a difficult position – the investment decision had already been made, and she was just being asked to make some intelligent comments without offending anybody. John told her and Brandon to email him the critiques, and to cc Nate on the emails.
    Emily had made some changes to her office routine. She’d stopped coming in to work so early; she decided that it was strange to try to run into her boss in the elevator. That last “chance” encounter had felt strangely awkward and electric at the same time. She admitted to herself that she had a crush on Nate, and decided to be professional about it – by ignoring it.
    She’d also started having lunch with Jessie and two other girls from the IT department. They’d all meet up in the 39 th floor canteen, and the lunch hour went by quickly. Alpha Investments turned out to be a fairly gossipy place – there were numerous employees and numerous departments, and office affairs and jealousies seemed to be quite common. The girls gossiped about the other employees, and Emily complained about how boring her job was.
    “At least it’s not like my internship at C4 Software,” said Simone, one of the IT girls. “I was basically a glorified secretary and spent all day on coffee runs and photocopying. No-one knew I code!”
    “Speaking of secretaries,” said Emily, “Does anyone know that blonde secretary who works for Nate?”
    “Oh, that bitch,” said Sharon . She’d been working at Alpha for the past six months, and was friendly, outgoing and knew almost everyone there. “Tiffany. Everyone hates her. There’s a rumor she’s sleeping with Nate, and that’s why she’s so mean to all the other girls who work here. The prettier you are, the meaner she is.”
    Emily felt her stomach constrict painfully. “Is she really sleeping with Nate?”
    “Nah.” Simone rolled her eyes. “I think she started the rumor herself. She just wishes she was.”
    The four of them laughed, and Emily felt a bit better. The topic soon turned to Sharon’s new boyfriend, who wasn’t really her boyfriend, and soon lunch was over.
    The next Monday, Emily arrived at her cubicle just before nine, and stopped by Brandon’s cubicle to say “hi”.
    “Oh my God, Emily,” Brandon gushed when he saw her. “You’ll never guess who I ran into on the elevator today!”
    Emily put on a politely curious expression.
    “Nate Steel!” Brandon’s eyes were glittering with excitement. “I got here a bit too early, but when I got to the elevator, Nate was there. He asked me how I liked the work, and I asked him what he thought of the Mets. It was great!”
    Emily forced herself to smile and said, “That’s exciting, I’m sure he liked talking to you too.”
    She headed back to her cubicle, groaning inside. She had to get over her stupid attraction to Nate. If Brandon and Nate became too buddy-buddy, maybe Brandon would be hired for the full-time position, and she’d be out looking for a job from scratch. It was time to be more aggressive, and get face time with the boss.
    But then she remembered the way Nate’s eyes glinted when he looked at her, and the shivers she felt running up