* song that goes with the chapter - Honey - Kehlani

"Good morning, Ms. Martinez!" Alice said as Ryan left the elevator Wednesday morning. 

"Good morning, Alice!" Ryan replied, waving. Her eyes widened at the stack of papers as she got to her desk.

 She had only been gone for one day but guessed that work would never stop in the law business. 

"Hey Ryan, we are going out for drinks after work. If you want to come, just a few of us, none of the bosses, will be there. You should come! Make friends while you're here." Sophia said from her desk. 

It seemed that girl was always happy, not that she shouldn't be, but it was a bit much at nine in the morning. 

"Yeah, I'm down to tag along," Ryan said as she smiled at Sophia and logged into her work email. She quickly clicked on the first one she saw and got to work. 

When noon hit, Ryan decided she would join everyone for lunch today. She stood up from her desk and got in the elevator. When the elevator hit the 5th floor, the doors opened, and Alexandra greeted Ryan.

"Good afternoon, Ms. Martinez. I see you're having lunch today." She smiled slightly. 

Alexandra knew what it was like to be an intern. Her father didn't want her to have the privilege of interning for him, so she had to go out and find her internship. This was pretty easy considering her connections, but the connections didn't make her feel comfortable in the workplace, so she knew what Ryan was going through.

 "Yeah, I feel pretty comfortable with my duties, so I decided I'd get to know everyone a little bit, I guess.." Ryan said as she returned the smile.

 The rest of the elevator ride was silent. Alexandra was typing away on her phone, and Ryan had just watched the numbers in the elevator go down.

 "Have a nice lunch," Alexandra said as she walked out of the elevator, her face still glued to her phone, and Ryan did just that.

 She had sat with Sophia, Nick, and Antonni during lunch, and they were a fun bunch. Sophia and Nick were paralegals and had graduated from NYU the previous fall. Antoni was also a paralegal but didn't talk much about his studies; he spoke more about his wife and kids. 

The rest of the day went by pretty quickly. There were just a lot more emails and calls to clients, and she was handing out documents to the lawyers. But she hadn't seen Alexandra the rest of the day. Maybe since she was the boss, she could leave any time she wanted, but for some reason, throughout the day, Ryan found herself staring at the elevator, hoping to catch a glance at the woman.

 "Ready?" Sophia said as she grabbed her purse off of her desk. 

The bar was within walking distance of the office, so everyone had just left their cars in the parking garage. 

"So Ryan, what's your story? You got a lot out of us at lunch but didn't say anything about yourself." Nick asked as he sipped his drink.

 "Well, my parents came here in their early 20s after marriage. I grew up in the Bronx." Ryan shrugged her shoulders, not knowing what to say.

 "Do you have a boyfriend? I bet you do; you're gorgeous." Sophia said, leaning her body across the table, but Ryan laughed. 

"No, I don't have a boyfriend. I'm just focusing on finishing school right now. I don't have time to date. Plus, I don't date men," Ryan said matter-of-factly.

 "You owe me twenty bucks," Sophia said to Nick and Antonni, reaching out to both of them. 

Ryan was intrigued by this. "You guys bet on me!" she said, half shocked, half amused. 

"I mean, it's obvious. You have that energy." 

Ryan couldn't help but laugh. Emma had said the same thing when she met her first year.

 "You know. I get that a lot." Ryan said as she took a sip of her drink.

 "Well yeah, you may dress girly, but you exude I eat pussy energy," Nick said, causing them all to choke on their drinks mid-laughter.

 The rest of the night was filled with laughter and enjoying each other's company. Ryan felt more comfortable with everyone. She didn't drink too much because she would return to the office to study. 

" I'll see you guys Friday," Ryan said as she waved everyone off from the law firm's door. 

She made her way through the lobby and up to the office. It was quiet, and most lights were off except the one in Ms. Leone's office, but Ryan decided not to bother her. She took her laptop from her backpack, put her headphones on, and started homework. It wasn't until 2 hours later she saw Alexandra walk out.

 "Oh! You're here." Alexandra said as she left her office and went to Ryan's desk. 

In Ryan's mind, she was walking up to her in slow motion. The way her hips swayed with each step. The top of her pressed button-up had a few buttons undone. She just dripped sex appeal without even trying.

 "Yeah, I just decided to get some work done. I shouldn't be here for too much longer." Ryan said as she looked up, making sure not to let her eyes drop to her boss's chest, but Alexandra knew, she always knew when people were staring at her or trying not to stare at her, but she made sure to act oblivious in front of the new girl, she didn't want her to know she got caught.

 "No worries. I am working myself. I was just about to get some dinner. Would you like anything?" Alexandra asked, raising a perfectly shaped eyebrow.

 "Uhhhh.. what are you getting?" Ryan asked as she closed her laptop and removed her headphones.

 "How about pizza? We don't have to leave the office; they can deliver it here." Alex said as she watched Ryan's eyes scan her body, again pretending not to notice. 

"You eat pizza? I mean, sorry not to say it like that, but you look like you work out a lot, and your skin is nice." Ryan caught herself rambling on, blushing. She closed her mouth after catching herself. 

"I mean, yeah, pizza sounds great." She said, averting her eyes from her boss, who smirked at her. 

"Yes, I eat pizza; I'm Italian, for Christ's sake. The pizza here is not the same as in Italy, but it's still good." Alexandra enjoyed the younger woman's rambling; she thought it was cute.

 "Well, I'll let you get back to work. Let me know when the pizza guy shows up, and I'll come out and pay." She said as she turned on her heels, but to make light fun of the girl, she turned her head to the side, a smirk plastered across her face. "And I saw you looking, don't worry. I don't mind." With that, she continued her walk to her office, leaving the girl speechless.

"pizza for Alexandra," the boy said as he stepped out of the elevator.

 "yes, let me go get her," Ryan said as she got up from her desk and headed to her boss's office. Before she could knock, she heard a heated discussion from outside the door.

 Ryan really couldn't understand what she was saying since it was in Italian, but she could tell by the tone of her boss's voice that it was heated. Ryan turned around and returned to the pizza boy, taking a 20 out of her pocket and handing it to him. 

"Thanks, Miss," he said as he turned around and waited for the elevator to open. Ryan didn't want to eat without her boss knowing the pizza had arrived, so she took it to the break room and set it on the table before returning to her boss's office. She took a deep breath before knocking. 

"Ms. Leone, the pizza has arrived," she said loud enough for her to hear from the other side of the door. Ryan was about to leave when the door flung open; an irritated Alexandra stood before her. Ryan took a step back, looking anywhere but her boss.

 " I put the pizza in the break room because I didn't want to eat it without you knowing it was here," she said, still not looking up.

 "you didn't have to pay; I would have gladly ended that call. I was on," she said as she walked forward, making Ryan look up at her.

 "Uh, shall we eat?" She asks as she steps away. The older woman knows that she has made the young girl nervous, but she hasn't played the game of cat and mouse in a while. Sure, she had a long-term boyfriend, but he was away all the time, and she wasn't really in love with him; he was just there to fill her sexual needs when he was in town.

"Yes, of course." She said as she gestured towards the break room. Ryan wondered if they would sit together or go their separate ways.

 "Are you going to sit?" Alexandra asked with a smirk. Ryan couldn't help but blush as she pulled out a chair and sat down.

 "How is school going?" Alexandra asked before grabbing one of the plates, putting a slice on it, and sliding it towards the younger girl. She said silent thank you and took a bite before responding.

 "It's going well; I like my classes, and coming here and meeting the different lawyers and attorneys helps me network, so it's not too bad," Ryan says before taking a bite of her pizza. "I'm just happy I'm getting the opportunity to do something like this. I'm the first person in my family to go to school." 

The older woman nods and smiles at the younger woman, admiring her perseverance in getting through the trials and tribulations of attending school. 

"I admire your work ethic; you have a good head on your shoulders. I had a lot of guidance from my father when I was in school, so it came easy because I've been around this line of work my whole life." 

Ryan nodded her head, taking in everything Alexandra was saying. Being pretty and intelligent was something that Ryan often encountered, but the way Alexandra carried herself was something that Ryan had never witnessed before. She was poised and confident in everything she did and said, making Ryan a little nervous as she could never amount to being the kind of woman Alexandra was. Sure, Ryan was pretty and confident, but not in the way that Alexandra was; it was a level that Ryan only hoped she would get to.