Leonard Zhang had faced many challenges in life—grueling exams at an Ivy League school, high-pressure negotiations under his father's watchful eye, even surviving a near-disastrous yacht party in Santorini where the caviar was questionable and the guests even more so. But nothing, absolutely nothing, had prepared him for his first day as an intern. It was like stepping into a reality TV show, but with more staplers and less drama… so far.
Dressed in a crisp button-down and slacks, a far cry from his usual tailored suits that screamed "I own a small country," Leonard stood outside the office building, staring at his reflection in the glass doors. He looked like a slightly overdressed accountant.
"You got this," he muttered to himself, trying to sound confident but feeling like he was about to audition for a role as a paperclip. "How hard can it be? It's just pushing papers and pretending to understand jargon, right?"
He adjusted his fake employee badge—courtesy of Ryan's tech-savvy connections, which probably involved hacking into something illegal—and took a deep breath before stepping inside, like a gladiator entering the arena, but the arena was an office.
Meanwhile, upstairs in the marketing department, Sophia was already having a bad day. First, her coffee machine decided to stage a dramatic protest by exploding. Then, her boss, who had the charisma of a wet sponge, dumped an urgent project on her desk. And now, she had to break in a new assistant. Just great. It was like the universe was playing a cruel joke, and she was the punchline.
"I swear, if this one's as useless as the last guy, I'm going to start charging for therapy sessions," she mumbled, rubbing her temples, feeling a migraine trying to stage a coup.
A knock on her cubicle's partition made her look up. One of the HR reps stood there, smiling like she was selling sunshine and rainbows. "Sophia, your new assistant is here."
She barely glanced up from her screen, which was currently displaying a spreadsheet that looked like it was written in ancient runes. "Good. What's his name? And more importantly, does he know how to make coffee?"
The HR rep checked her clipboard, her smile unwavering. "Leon."
Sophia sighed, bracing herself for the inevitable. "Alright, let's get this over with. Where is h—"
She stopped mid-sentence as the so-called 'Leon' stepped forward.
For a moment, her brain short-circuited, like a computer trying to run too many programs at once. Her eyes widened, her jaw dropped slightly, and she felt a strange mix of disbelief and impending doom. It's him. The rich guy. Here.
Leonard, on the other hand, smiled innocently, like he was auditioning for a toothpaste commercial. "Morning, boss."
Her eye twitched, a tiny spasm of pure, unadulterated annoyance.
Ten minutes later, Leonard sat at his new desk—well, more like a glorified storage space crammed beside Sophia's cubicle, which was basically the office equivalent of a war zone. He was still grinning, enjoying Sophia's mix of disbelief and growing frustration, like a cat watching a particularly entertaining mouse.
"You," she said, pointing a pen at him like it was a tiny, lethal weapon. "What the hell are you doing here? Are you lost? Did you mistake this place for a spa?"
Leonard leaned back in his chair, looking completely at ease, like he was lounging on a beach instead of a broken office chair. "Working. And trying to avoid getting stabbed by your pen."
Sophia narrowed her eyes, which could probably cut glass. "Why?"
"Because I need the experience. And because I have a deep, abiding interest in your… organizational skills."
Her laugh was sharp, like a broken record skipping. "Experience in what? Annoying me? Because you're excelling at that."
He gave her his best 'clueless intern' look, which was surprisingly convincing. "No, no, I'm just here to learn. And maybe find some decent coffee."
Sophia let out a slow breath, willing herself to stay professional, like she was trying to defuse a bomb. "Fine. You want to work? Then work." She shoved a massive pile of documents onto his desk, which looked like it could be used as a small mountain range. "Sort these by priority, summarize the key points, and email them to me before lunch. And try not to set anything on fire."
Leonard looked down at the mountain of paperwork, then back at her, his eyes twinkling with mischief. "Wow. You're really going to make your new assistant suffer? Is this some kind of initiation ritual?"
She smirked, a predatory grin. "Welcome to corporate life, Leon. Where dreams go to die, and coffee is your only friend."
Leonard chuckled to himself. Oh, he was going to enjoy this. Like a kid in a candy store, but the candy was chaos.