He smiled. “No, but I’ve been hoping for a certain intern since Saturday night.”
I smiled back, but inside I silently hoped he was assigned to someone else, though I wasn’t quite sure why. I finished making my cappuccino, said goodbye, and went back to my desk. Not long after, the rest of the interns arrived, and then finally Ellie Loring—the manager I’d interviewed with. The other interns seemed really friendly,and I’d started to relax by the time ten o’clock rolled around. We were given a fifteen-minute break before a kick-off meeting for the mentor program. I ate a granola bar, went to the ladies’ room, and grabbed a notepad to take with me to the conference room.
Jack was already inside, standing at the front of the room with Ellie and a few older people we hadn’t met yet. I joined the other interns seated around the table.
Tyler was seated to my right. He leaned in. “I heard the guy who does this program from the IT department is a hardass and gives you homework assignments no one else gets. I’m hoping I don’t get him as my mentor.”
“How do they match people up?”
“I asked that during my interview. She said they go through the candidates’ resumes and profiles and look for commonalities with the mentors—like schools and experience or whatever.”
Ellie called the meeting to order and began with introductions of the executive team members who would act as our mentors. There were only five people up there, aside from Ellie, so I wondered if one of us would be assigned to her. She told a little about how the program started and how it’s evolved over time. Then she explained some of the logistics of how it worked.
“It’s really up to you and your mentor how often you’ll meet. There’s a weekly meeting at a prearranged time that has already been set up on all of your calendars, but we encourage the mentors to involve you in as many things as possible, whether that’s accompanying them to a meeting or allowing you to take part in an ongoing project. Today you’ll also be having lunch with your mentor offsite to get to know them a little better. But you’ll get to know each of the executives. They’re the group that will be deciding whichof you will be offered a spot in the Apex executive training program, which begins at the conclusion of your summer internship.” She gestured to the people standing beside her. “If it’s okay with you all, I prefer to hold all questions until the end and move on to having each mentor participant tell you a little about themselves.” She smiled. “When they’re done, I’d like to play a little game and see if you can figure out who you’ve been matched up with and why.”
The first executive to speak was Jim Matthews, the vice president of human resources. He gave an abbreviated version of his resume and then talked about his hobbies and family. Considering his hobbies included golf, geocaching, and coin collecting, and nothing on his resume had anything in common with mine, I didn’t think he would be my mentor.
Three more executives took their turns. One had gone to Stanford like me, so I thought perhaps he might be the one I was assigned to, but then Jack stepped forward.
“My name is Jack Gallo, and I’m a managing attorney here at Apex. I’ve been with the company for five years. It was my first full-time job out of law school, but my interest was always corporate law. I did internships at the SEC in the compliance department, and also at the law firm of Simon and Rugg in their transactional division. My boss, Kirsten Volpe, is usually one of the mentors, but she’s going to be out for a few weeks, so one of you unlucky interns is stuck with me until she returns. My hobbies include skiing, snowboarding, mountain biking, and rock climbing.”
Of course, the one person Ididn’twant to be matched with was the only person I had a hobby in common with. At least if I were assigned to him, it would only be temporary, until his boss was back.
Ellie looked at her watch. “And we have one more executive mentor. He’s also a fill-in. Our VP of sales went out on maternity leave earlier than expected, so this morning we had to scramble to find someone. I guess he couldn’t make this meet—”
She was interrupted by the conference room door opening. And my heart nearly stopped.
Ellie smiled. “Perfect timing. Here’s our final mentor now. The founder and CEO of Apex, Jagger Langston.”
CHAPTER 6
Sutton
His hair was slicked back in an old-Hollywood way, and he had on yet another bespoke three-piece suit. I imagined he had a full wall of a walk-in closet lined with them, probably color coded. Jagger Langston looked every inch the powerful CEO he was, and my mouth went instantly dry. His eyes scanned the interns seated around the table, and when they landed on me, the slightest hint of a smirk curled his lip.
“Good morning.” He nodded. “Sorry I’m late.”
“Your timing is actually perfect.” Ellie smiled. “Each mentor gave an introduction, and we just finished up with the last person. So, if you’re ready, the floor is yours.”
I’d listened to everything the mentors had said so far, but suddenly I sat up a little taller, eagerly awaiting what this mysterious man might have to say.
He took a step forward. “Good morning and welcome. My name is Jagger Langston, and I founded Apex seven years ago. I started this mentorship program because I remember what it felt like to be overlooked, to be youngand full of fire but have no idea what to do with it or where to aim.” He smirked. “Or in my case, to aim at the wrong place and get yourself into trouble.”
Everyone chuckled, and he continued. “My mentorship program was a little different than this one—mine was in the United States Marines—but the three principles you’ll learn here are the same.” He counted on his fingers. “One, you’ll be trusted with responsibility, even though you’ll think you’re not ready. That will teach you confidence and the power of your voice. Two, you’ll learn to value your team members. Right now, many of you are looking at the people sitting around the table as your competitors, but they’re not. They are your best resources. And three, you’ll learn strategic thinking. You’ll see how small decisions can impact the bigger picture and learn firsthand why it’s important to have a long-term goal and make sure that each initiative you engage in is a step toward achieving that goal.
“I started this program six years ago and acted as one of the mentors,” he added after a moment. “The following year, I was traveling a lot, so I took a step back. I’ve been meaning to participate again, but something always comes up. So when this fell into my lap two hours ago, I took it as a sign.” He looked over at me and held my eyes. “In a world full of distractions, sometimes we’re redirected and forced to focus on what we’re meant to see.”
Then Jagger looked away as if he hadn’t just rocked my world. He went on for probably another ten minutes, but I was stuck on his introduction. Did he thinkIwaswhat he’s meant to see? Or was I reading into what he’d said, hearing something innocent the way I wanted to hear it? Either way, my whole body was still buzzing when he finished.
“Thank you, Jagger,” Ellie said. “If you don’t mind, would you also share your hobbies with everyone? I play a little game where the interns have to guess who they’ve been matched with. The winner gets a fun prize.”
He nodded. “Of course. I pretty much like anything outdoors. I’m an avid snowboarder, master scuba diver, and I love to travel.” His eyes moved back to me. “I guess you could say I’m adventurous—the kind that always takes the dare over the truth.”
DARE. My eyes widened, and I sucked in a sharp breath that was so audible, I had to cover it up with a fake cough.
Jagger smiled at the interns sitting on the other side of the table, but the look on his face was unmistakable. The mention ofdarewas definitely not a coincidence. And I’d forgotten about our similar hobbies. That’s what had gotten us matched up to begin with. My heart started to pound.
Ellie told us all to write down who we thought each intern’s mentor might be, and then she announced the pairs. I got three out of the first four right, and then it was down to just me and one other unassigned intern—who happened to have gone to the same college as Jagger. But Jack hadn’t been matched up yet either. So it could go either way. Anxiety pulsed through me as I waited for Ellie to announce the next pairing. I wasn’t sure whether I was nervous that Jagger might be my mentor or that he mightnotbe.
