A young intern walked in, carrying two overstuffed cardboard boxes and a stack of envelopes. She was tall and thin, and looked like she was about to trip over her Converse sneakers.
She dropped the boxes on the table. “Sorry.” She sounded breathless. “These packages came for you this morning.”
“What is all that?” Becca gestured to the stack of glittery envelopes with lipstick kisses on the flaps.
“Questionable fan mail,” I grumbled, thinking that the intern couldn’t have picked a worse time.
She blinked. “Wow. I thought maybe it was your birthday.”
“Nope. Just a random Thursday,” I said, scrubbing a hand over my face. “They are supposed to go through that before it gets delivered,” I swore under my breath and shot the intern a glare. I was hoping she would take the hint, but I don’t think she understood how pissed I was. Her supervisor was going to get an earful.
I hated that this was happening in front of Becca, of all people. I didn’t like how this would be perceived.
The intern smacked her gum loudly. “I didn’t have time to go through everything.”
That was literally her job.
“Why would you bring this to me now?” I asked, pressing my fingers against my forehead.
The girl looked like she didn’t have the patience to deal with me today. “My supervisor told me to.”
“I’m clearly busy,” I said, keeping my voice calm and doing my best not to cause a scene.
She looked between Becca and me. “I’m just going to leave this here.”
I scrubbed a hand over my jaw. “Please, take it away.”
I knew it wasn’t her fault, but I got a lot of wild stuff. The people in the mailroom have been told repeatedly that I don’twant any underwear and lingerie, which was mostly all that stuff was.
Becca leaned forward. “Is this normal?”
“Unfortunately,” I exhaled through my nose. I could practically feel her curiosity spiking.
The intern, whose name I couldn’t remember, pointed to the boxes. “What would you like me to do with all that?”
“Throw it all out in the garbage. I don’t care.”
She crossed her arms. “You don’t even know what’s in there.”
“I do know, and I don’t want it.”
“But…”
I held my hand out. “No buts. This is supposed to get screened before it gets to me.”
She glanced at the fan mail and back at me, debating if she should continue arguing with me. I knew I was coming across as a jerk, but I didn’t know any other way to shut this down. I just wanted it all gone.
She tilted her head slightly, eyes narrowed. “These people took the time to send you a gift. Don’t you think you should at least look at it before you decide to throw it away?”
Great! I was being judged by a twenty-two-year-old as if I were the problem today, not her attitude.
“Rules are rules.” My voice was sharp now. “And I’d rather you didn’t leave a box of inappropriate items and photos on the table while I’m in the middle of an interview.”
“Fine.” She picked up the boxes forcefully, as if trying to prove a point. “I’ll take it back to the mailroom and see what my supervisor wants me to do with it.”
“I appreciate it. Next time, if the door is closed, please don’t just barge in when I’m in the middle of a meeting.”
She seemed annoyed. “Cool. Anything else?”
