“I just don’t think it’s a good fit,” he protested, sure that it would be a mistake, that he would be wasting his time. “I don’t have any interest in this kind of thing. I want to build skyscrapers; I want to build highways…”
“Cooper, I understand that’s what you want,” Professor Youst interrupted him, “but the truth is, this is your only choice. It’s too late to hope that anyone else will give you a chance; everyone has already gone through their first interviews, and they might not even look at your application. I’m sorry, I know this isn’t what you want to hear, but…”
“This is ridiculous, this shouldn’t have happened,” he said, jumping to his feet, unable to hold back his anger. “I won that contest, I should have my internship, I shouldn’t have to fight like this.”
“I wish things had turned out differently, but we have to face reality,” the professor said. “This internship is the best you’re going to do; you can make of it what you will. It can be a waste of your time, or it can be a unique learning experience; it’s up to you. I never thought you were a quitter, Cooper, and I certainly never imagined that you’d turn away from a challenge instead of facing it head-on.”
He stared at his mentor for a second, aware of what he was trying to do, but unwilling to admit that it was working. “Can I have some time to think about it?” he asked. “I haven’t slept in two days, and my reasoning ability isn’t working very well.”
“Dr. Warner needs an answer by eight tomorrow morning before she opens up the position to everyone,” the professor said, clearly a bit disappointed. “I thought you would jump at a chance like this, most people would, but I’ll get you her phone number, then you can call her directly when you decide.”
“Thank you, Professor Youst,” he said, taking the slip of paper and getting to his feet. “I really will think about it, I promise. I think I just need a little sleep to clear my mind.”
“Well, don’t take too long,” the professor said. “You’ve got until eight tomorrow morning.”
As he walked back to the fraternity house, Cooper replayed the conversation in his mind again, and the truth slowly began to sink in. Dr. Warner was his only choice, but he still didn’t like it. He hated the idea that he’d been given a spot just because she felt sorry for him; he’d always earned his way in the past, been given good grades and awards because he’d earned them, but this time he’d done nothing but been a victim of circumstances.
There would be plenty of people on campus who would say that it was unfair he’d been given a spot. He could agree with them, which left him feeling very uncomfortable. The only problem was that his moral high horse wasn’t going to get him an internship, and Dr. Warner was handing him one with a big bow on top. He knew he had to accept; he was just putting off the inevitable. He dug his phone out of his pocket and then dialed the number on the piece of paper.
***Stephanie***
After saving the first entry in her site journal, Stephanie closed her computer. She sat back in her chair with a satisfied sigh, a little part of her still unable to believe she was leading the dig. Looking over at the massive stack of paperwork already covering her temporary desk in the tent set up on the site helped it to sink in, and she started to reach for the pile to get started. She’d only managed to complete a couple of pages when Cooper pushed his way through the door flap and stepped inside, an annoyed look on his face.
He stopped just inside and glanced around the tent, the look on his face turning to disappointment. Then, he spotted her, and his face changed again, but this time she couldn’t tell whathe was thinking. When their eyes met a strange feeling swept through her, the same feeling she’d felt when she’d been in his arms the first time they met, and her entire body began to tingle as if she’d plugged herself into an electrical socket. They stood staring at each other for several long seconds, then Cooper broke the spell and looked away before approaching her.
Thrown off balance, it took her a few deep breaths to shake off the weird feeling, but she finally managed to find her voice. “I hope you didn’t have trouble finding me,” she said. “There’s a lot of commotion around here. We don’t have everything set up yet. It usually takes a few days.”
“Your directions were fine,” he said, stopping on the other side of the desk. “I’m just not sure that I’m supposed to be here, I’m an architect, not an archeologist. It’s not that I don’t appreciate the opportunity, I’m just not sure that it’s fair. I know you only gave me the spot because you felt bad that my other plans got ruined. I didn’t earn it, and there are going to be a lot of people who will be happy to point that out.”
She hadn’t expected him to be second-guessing his choice to take the internship, or her choice to give it to him, so it took her a couple of minutes to reply. “First, it’s my choice who joins the dig, mine and mine only. I happen to think you’ll be a great addition to the team,” she finally said. “It’s normal procedure on a site like this one to consult with both an engineer and an architect, and from what I’ve heard from your professors, you’re brilliant at what you do, dedicated, and a hard worker.”
“You talked to my professors?” he asked, a surprised look on his face. “When did you do that?”
“As soon as I got this crazy idea to help you out,” she said, putting her hands on her hips, a bit annoyed with him. “I didn’t make this decision just because I felt bad for you. My name is on the line here, and I wouldn’t have offered you the spot if I didn’t think you could handle it. If this isn’t for you or you think you’reunable to do it, I’ll understand. Just say the word and I’ll cut you free, no hard feelings. But if you stay, you have to understand that what we’re doing here is very important for a lot of reasons. I need to know that you’ll take it seriously.”
“I thought…well…that you were just giving me the spot because you felt sorry for me,” he said. “I don’t want to be that kind of person; I want to earn everything I get. I shouldn’t have assumed it was all because of pity, but I still don’t see what I can do to be useful around here.”
“Well, first you’re going to study all this,” she said, picking up a thick binder and holding it out to him. “That will explain how a dig works, the rules we follow, and the steps we take to make sure we don’t do any more damage than we have to at a site. Learn it, memorize it, for the next six weeks you’re going to live it.”
He took the binder. “Okay, got it,” he said, flipping through the pages. “Is that all for today?”
“No, that’s just the beginning,” she said, picking up a box of measuring tapes. “You’re going to help us measure the entire site today, and then I want you to spend some time doing a few preliminary sketches of the architecture. We’ll use them to help us date the settlement.”
“Oh, I don’t…I mean, how will I know what to sketch? I’ve never done anything like this before,” Cooper said. “I told you I don’t have the right training.”
“Of course you do, all you need is a little guidance,” she said, then studied him for a second. “You don’t have very much faith in yourself, do you?”
“I have plenty of faith in myself,” he protested, a spark of anger in his eyes. “I guess I’m just having a hard time catching up with everything that’s happened. I haven’t been getting much sleep.”
“You do look tired,” she said, noticing the dark circles under his eyes for the first time. “Maybe we should take it easy today; the rest of the interns won’t start for a few days. Go home, get some rest, read through the binder, and I’ll see you in a few days.”
Cooper looked down at the binder, then back up at her and shook his head. “No, I’ll stay,” he said, a look of determination on his face. “I think I can handle wrangling a measuring tape for a few hours.”
“All right then,” she said, picking up the box. “Let’s go find Kendra and get this dig started.”
CHAPTER 4
***COOPER***
