Chapter 5

After I hung up, I stood there for a long time without moving because it all felt like a dream.

I actually found a job. And I did it on my own.

I ran to the bathroom and splashed cold water on my face.

Then I looked at the girl in the mirror with the bright eyes and the eager look, and I told myself, "Emily, this is your fresh start, so you need to work hard."

*****

The next day, I woke up early.

I put on some light makeup, picked out my sharpest outfit, and got to the office forty minutes before I had to.

My coworkers in the Planning Department hadn't arrived yet, so I found the desk that James had assigned to me and started cleaning up and straightening things.

Pretty soon, everyone showed up one after another.

James introduced me to all of them, "This is Emily Shaw, our new intern. Everybody, help her out and show her the ropes."

My coworkers were all very nice and welcomed me warmly.

My job started with the basics like organizing documents and gathering information.

It was pretty boring, but I took it very seriously.

I sorted every file into its own category and kept everything neat, and I double-checked every single number so nothing would be wrong.

James noticed all of the work I was putting in, but he didn't say anything about it.

*****

One week later, out of the blue, he called me into his office and handed me a file. "Take a look at this," he said.

I opened it and realized it was a bid proposal for a new project.

The client was Luminex Group, one of the top skincare companies in the country. The name sounded familiar, but I couldn't remember where I had heard it before.

James continued, "This project is a big deal. The whole department will be involved. Even though you're an intern, I want to hear what you think.

"Throw out whatever comes to mind. Think of it as a brainstorming session."

I couldn't believe he wanted my opinion. That made me feel honored and a little nervous.

I carried the thick stack of documents back to my desk with my heart pounding from excitement.

This was the first time I had ever gotten to work on a complete project from start to finish.

I told myself I had to seize this opportunity.

*****

I spent two days and two nights with barely any sleep, digging through every product line, market position, and past marketing campaign Luminex Group had ever done.

I also visited every major mall in the city to check out their counters and do field research.

I talked to the salespeople and watched what kind of customers came in.

During the proposal meeting on Friday, the senior team members shared their opinions one by one.

When my turn came, I got nervous, and my palms got sweaty.

I stood up, opened the PowerPoint I had spent days on, and took a deep breath. "Hello, everyone. For Luminex Group's new product launch, I have an idea that's still a little rough around the edges..."

I shared all my market research, customer insights, and some fresh ideas I had come up with.

I stumbled over my words at first, but as I kept talking, I started to speak more smoothly.

Everything was etched in my mind because I had poured my heart into it.

When I finished talking, the conference room went completely quiet.

I looked nervously at James.

He kept his eyes on me, and behind his glasses, there was something in his look that I couldn't figure out.

After a few seconds, he started clapping before anyone else did.

"Good," he said. "Emily, your ideas are really good."

That day, my proposal became the main direction for our pitch, and I became one of the core members of the project team.

I was over the moon.

After work, I bought coffee for everyone in the department.

With a busy and fulfilling life, I almost forgot about everything that had happened before.

Then one afternoon, my project team went to the Luminex Group headquarters for the first round of presentations.

Outside Luminex Group's fancy office building, I saw a figure I knew better than anyone else. It was Charles.

He was wearing a perfectly fitted suit with a few of his employees following him, and he was walking right out of the building.

Everyone around him seemed to orbit around him, and he looked confident and full of energy.

He was completely different from the boy in the white shirt that I remembered.

Our eyes met across the open space.

The calm and friendly look on his face froze right away.