Sky Michael: 2015

Hi guys!

I'm super excited to be releasing chapter one today of Hand Lock. The cover is being made on right now so that will be getting released hopefully on Monday and the entire book on Friday. I can't wait.

As promised here is Chapter One.

Chapter 1

Taking a deep breath I brush my blonde bangs behind my ear as I exit my car. Stealing my nerves I begin the walk towards Ryder’s Advertisements, my current job as a senior in college. I’ve been interning here for three months now but each time I enter the building I can’t help the butterflies in my stomach and shaking hands.

Glancing down the street I can just make out the entrance of Crissy Fields. It’s a familiar park where my friends ad I like to enjoy the sunshine and throw around a football if I’m with my brothers. I can just make out the tips of the Golden Gate Bridge through the ever present fog in the City by the Bay.

I smile to myself as I watch a bus full of tourists drive by who are headed to said bridge. One of my favorite things about the city is to hear tourists chattering away about the bridge. To me it’s just something so normal, something I’ve driven over hundreds of times to get out of the city for one reason or another. I remember the first time I’d discovered that it was a national landmark like the Statue of Liberty was to me. At the age of twenty. I sure felt smart. Gabe and Ryan still love to tease me about it.

Shaking my hands I tighten my grip on my papers to hide the slight tremor. Only fumbling once I’m able to swipe my keycard to enter the elevators and made my way up to the second floor. The first was the mail room and the interns one floor above.

Loved the symbolism. I was surprised they even classified us as close to the same level as the rest of the employees. Although the people in the mail room have so far been the nicest right off the bat. There’s no ass kissing necessary with them. At least most of them.

Finding my way to my desk I log onto the computer and set about checking my email and settling in for the day.

I give myself a moment to grin at the incredulity of having an internship at the Ryder’s Advertisement. Ryder’s Advertisement’s is one of the leading advertisement companies in the world with the one I was currently residing in being the very first to ever have been opened by Jackson Ryder in 1920. It had grown exponentially, going global and hiring millions of people who had walked these walls before me. And now here I was almost a century later working in the very same building.

Or well, interning. But this was the beginning. Just getting an internship here was incredibly prestigious and I’d had the good fortune of being one of them.

All my friends had made fun of me when I’d been the one in my junior year attending a bunch of advertising related conferences, but I’m the one with the last laugh. Here I am with a paid internship as a senior in college that would help me in my future no matter if I stay with the company or move on. No one can ignore a Ryder’s Advertisement intern. Especially with an excellent letter of rec. And I planned on getting one.

After checking my mail I head back to the break room with my lunch in hand.

“Hi,” I greet Charlotte, our manager. She holds a finger up to me halting me in my steps. She continues to read whatever is on her computer as I stand there awkwardly wondering why she stopped me. I widened my eyes at the back of her head keeping my voice carefully neutral, “anything specific you need me to do today?”

“Your usual activities,” she says.

I blink. “Okay…” With a nod of my head that she never sees I titter with silent laughter as I turn on my heel and continue on my way.

Greeting the other interns I stop at Sophie’s desk after dropping off my lunch in the provided fridge.

“Talk to Charlotte yet?” She asks. Sophie is one of my fellow interns and also classmate who attends San Francisco State University with me. We’re both advertisements majors and had been in most of the same classes since freshmen year. We hadn’t actually spoken a word to each other until we realized we had the same internship and seeing each other at similar conferences. We now regularly attended them together using each other as sounding boards or just a confidence boost when we had to go smooze the elders. Or something went horribly wrong, as had happened once or twice. It was nice being able to talk to someone who understood the pain of trying to get in their good graces and making contacts without seeming super obvious about what you’re trying to do while everyone knows why you’re there. If that makes any sense.

“Yeah,” I make a face at her. “What is the point of stopping us to tell us nothing?”

“I know,” she says. “She did the same to me when I came in. I’m here to do my job, I don’t need you to tell me to do it. I didn’t even say hi this time and she still stopped me.”

“I don’t even know why I do.”

“At least your polite.”

“Hardly.” I scoff, “we should just start ignoring her, see how that goes over.”

“See how long we keep the internship more likely.”

“So true.”

After receiving a sharp glare from Charlotte our laughter quickly died down and after a quick smirk to each other we got back to work.

The rest of the day goes smoothly. I’m able to break up the monotony of busy work with chatting to some of the other employees of Ryder’s Advertisement who don’t mind talking to us lowly interns. Most people are nice—with Charlotte being the exception to everyones rule. All of us interns had gotten to the point of sharing horror stories in the break room of what she’d told us recently.

“Ryder’s Advertisements, this is Elizabeth speaking.” I answer my desk phone.

Charlotte voice cuts through, “Elizabeth. Your needed.”

She immediately hangs up, the dial tone sounding in my ear. I look at the phone for a second before placing it down. Shaking my head at her antics I head over to her desk where she is still typing. Still not having acknowledged me.

“You called?” I ask, cursing my voice for taking on a hesitant lilt.

“Yes.” She says, not looking up from her computer again.

I clench my shaking hands together hating that she can still get on my nerves. She is after all the boss, I’m normally not bad around superiors but most aren’t as closed off at her. This is the first time I’ve been completely shut out. None of us got through, not even the other employees. Everyone steered clear.

“Elizabeth.” Charlotte says once five minutes have passed, finally looking up at me. “You are being reassigned for the next month. We have a team that needs an errand girl. They are working on a tight timeline and need someone else to do the frivolous, unnecessary things.”

Well if they were that unnecessary they wouldn’t need me to do them I stop myself from pointing out. Charlotte stares at me before making an expectant face at me.

“Oh,” I register. “Okay, where will I be needed and when do I start?”

Charlotte narrows her eyes at me again turning with a huff after she hands me a stack of papers that have a post it note on top. “Go to the fifty-sixth floor.”

I blink. Well, okay. Reading the post it I discover that I will be going to the conference room on the fifty-sixth floor and giving my papers to a man named Antony.

“Do I need to bring my stuff?” I ask Charlotte forcing a neutral no matter how much I just wanted to get out of there my shaking having returned. I lower the papers so she can’t see the shaking, not like she actually looks at any of us.

“Yes.” She states firmly, not looking at me again.

Nodding to no one I gather my things and head back to Sophie’s desk, quickly explaining the situation and telling her I’d see her tomorrow in class. With a wave of goodbye to her and a few other interns I head to the elevators. This would be the first time since I’d been interviewed that I would be going anywhere higher then the second floor.

Taking a deep breath I exhale once I reach the room my post-it note said. Knocking on the door the chatter inside quiets and I hear footsteps rapidly approaching. The door is opened by a kind faced women who motions for me to enter before returning to her place at the table. Pausing, I glance around the room seeing papers spread all over the large center table and what looked like a man sleeping in a chair, mouth open wide given us a view of his tonsils. There are a total of five people in the room, two women and three men, including the sleeping one.

“Hi.” I say awkwardly. Felt like the first day of work all over again. “I’m looking for a someone named Antony, I was told to come up here.”

“You must be the intern.” The dark haired man interrupts. My gaze swings over to him, he’s the man in a dark blue suit with his dark brown hair perfectly combed to one side.

“That’s me,” I acknowledge to whom I assume is Antony. “These are for you.”

He nods his head, eyes taking me in as he takes the papers I was holding out for me slowly making me cringe internally when I notice how much my hands are shaking, making the papers shake. “Good. You’ve been with us now for three months?”

I nod surprised he actually knows something about me.

“Then you should know how we don’t like time wasters here. We’ve already had two assistants in here who weren’t up to par. You came recommended and this can be a great opportunity for you to learn a lot but we can’t take screw ups.”

I nod again, clutching my purse handle tightly wishing I still had the papers I’d been holding but they were now safely in Antony’s hand.

He narrows his eyes at me taking a step forward and holding out his hand. “I’m Antony Chadwick, and the one in charge of this project. This is Reese,” he points at the brown haired women, then the other who had straight black and pleasantly plump features as my mother would say, “and Yosilyn. Over there is Robert, Manuel and Gregory,” he says the last name sharply, slamming his hand down on the table in front of Gregory, the man who’d been sleeping.

I jump slightly but nothing compared to Gregory who jerks out of his seat, his leg slamming into the desk as falls to the ground. I give a small smile as the rest of the room breaks out in laughter. Gregory returns to his seat rubbing his leg as he glares at Antony. “That was not necessary.”

“Yes it was. This is our new intern, Elizabeth.” Antony gestures to me, turning to face me again.

“We are on a very tight schedule and while we have a bit of patience right now things are only going to get worse. You’ve heard of Mason Inc.?” He continues.

“Yes.” I nod. Everyone has. Their the most well known computer company in the world right behind Apple. The rest of the group turn back to their work including Gregory who is after sending a sour glare Antony’s way.

“They have a new product launch October 1st and they just fired Jones Inc. because they didn’t like their advertisement since as I’m sure you’ve realized is nonexistent. No one knows this product even exists and it is our job ensure that they are pleased and expectations exceeded. But it only gives us less than a month to handle it and get going. We started a month ago but are still working hard and will continue to be crunching on our tight schedule until it’s launched. Your in school correct?”

“Yeah.”

“Basically any time you are not in school we will need you here. Can you manage that?” His stare is firm, never leaving my own. I shift slightly as I nod again, forcing myself to maintain eye contact. I’m not often times bad with eye contact but people also aren’t normally so intense with their stare. Or so constant. Talk about unnerving.

“Good. Now, lets get one thing straight. We need you to do what we ask and not have questions. We don’t have time to try and figure out what we’re asking you to do, that’s why we’re having you do it. It’s going to be tough but you will learn a lot and gain experience no one else will be able to claim. Your errands are going to range from something as simple to getting us coffee and lunch to getting tax sheets done. We don’t have time to coddle you if you don’t understand something, figure it out. Will you manage?” He stares me down, eyes unwavering.

I nod swallowing thickly, a million questions already filling in my head that I force back, hands clenched firmly together. This was definitely going to be an experience. “Got it.”

“Good, then go get us coffee.”

And so it begins.

The first week was the hardest trying to figure out what they wanted versus what they actually needed. They might say they wanted a huge hamburger from McDonalds but then yell at me about trying to get them fat and making me run out to get something healthy. I soon discovered to have a permanent fruit and vegetable platter set up for them for when they wanted something that wasn’t so artery clogging.

I learned how everyone wanted coffee, what they ate for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I learned the company lingo and was soon assigned as their notetaker during conference calls once they’d discovered that I understood what everyone was talking about without having to ask questions to clarify.

I had been leery of Antony handing me an expense card not understanding why I’d need it. Now I got it. Who would have thought five people could be so expensive? Or picky. But if the business is paying whatever, I’m not about to complain.

I returned home everyday with sore feet yet always completely satisfied as I collapsed on the couch at the end of the day knowing that I had exceeded their expectations and was actually a valuable help.

Once the first week was over I’d learned how to predict their movements and was able to have things available before they even asked earning me a lot of pleased and relieved smiles. Occasionally other interns helped me out although I was basically the self imposed leader of us being the person everyone turned to when they had a question having quickly learned questions were no tolerated. But overall it was just me when I wasn’t in school.

“Finally,” groaned Gregory slumping back in his chair, rubbing his temples. There were moans of agreement around the room as everyone relaxed. They weren’t done but they’d finally settled on the design and everything would flow easily from here. No more late night cram sessions for creativity.

It’s been two and a half weeks now since I joined their little team and I was definitely looking forward to not having to rush as much as well. This was all straight forward business now. The part I understood. I could never come up with an idea, let alone draw, but getting things moving once an idea was out was where I wanted to be.
“Let’s take an early day,” said Antony as he picked up his discarded suit jacket.

Everyone cheered in a subdued manner, quick to file out once they’d gathered their things. We all nodded our goodbyes not a lot of noise except tired chatter as everyone filed out. I fumbled awkwardly with the left over food when I realized Antony was waiting for me making me try to hurry up and only succeeding in slowing it down. The platter kept slipping from my hand before I finally decided to just take two trips and do it all in one. The tray kept slipping once I realized Antony’s eyes were on me, making my hands start shaking. I’ve gotten used to his presence but whenever I had his undivided attention I couldn’t control the trembles.

I pause for a second once my back is to him, taking a deep breath and gathering myself. I’m never very good with dealing with guys. I don’t make a fool of myself—at least I hope not—but I’m never fully comfortable. Plus it’s never the easiest whenever your superior is staring at you. It always makes me feel like I’m doing something wrong.

“Thank you very much for your assistance,” Antony says, once I’ve put away the food in the mini fridge and head over to him with my things. He’s got his jacket slung over his arm with his sleeves rolled up, tie loosened and top button on his collar undone. His hair that was combed neatly at the beginning of the day is now mussed and finger combed back in place and the beginning of a shadow across his chin. While I’ve never been one to really give myself a ‘type’ I could definitely say Antony, right now, was my type.

I smile my acknowledgement and proceed through the door he holds open for me. We walk silently towards the elevator, ignoring the dim of the other employees around us who were still working.

“What are your plans for the rest of the day?” Antony asks once we enter the elevator.

“Nothing exciting.” I say, leaning against the elevator wall. “I have a test tomorrow so you just freed up more time for me to study.”

“I hope you haven’t fallen behind with all your extra hours you’ve been working.” His eyes never leave mine in his ever present unnerving manner.

I force myself not to shift away from his gaze. My eyes flicker briefly to the elevator numbers that are seem to be taking ages. “Nah, I’m good under time constraints. I probably do better when I have such specific time because it makes me not procrastinate.”

He nods his head in acknowledgement. “When do you graduate?”

“This year.” I reply, pushing away from the wall and walking out the doors that had just opened. I force myself to walk at the same pace as Antony, mentally trying to figure out how our goodbye would work. I’m such an awkward soul when it came to social queues. I’m great at small talk, a learned trait. Definitely wasn’t always good with it, but my greetings and departures never seemed to be smooth no matter how hard I try.

“What are your post-graduate plans?” He asks from beside me as we head out the building.

“I haven’t really decided.” I shrug, pausing outside since I have no idea which direction he’s going. “I’m still looking but have plenty of time to decide. Which way are you headed?”

“That way,” he motions to the parking garage. “Will you be applying here?”

“I haven’t decided yet.” I say, taking a small step away from him motioning towards the street, “I’m that way.”

“You parked on the street?”

“No, I took the bus today.”

“I thought you drive?” He asks.

“Depends on the day,” I shrug. “I came straight from school and didn’t want to deal with traffic.”

“Do you take the bus when it’s dark out?” His eyes slant slightly as if in warning.

Mine raise ever so slightly at his line of questioning, a small smile forming on my lips. “If I’m with people yes, but normally I’d call a taxi at night. Don’t worry, I know how to be safe in the city. Got my pepper spray.” I pat my bag.

He blushes making me grin. I love it when I see others blush since I always feel like I’m the only one. He rubs the back of his neck, in a uncharacteristic movement, for once looking uncertain of himself. “Sorry.”

“It’s fine.” I smile, stepping away from him again for once feeling a confident now that I’ve seen he’s just a normal human being. He seems to get the hint, and takes his own step back. “Thank you for the concern.”

He smiles, cheeks still lightly tinted. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” he nods.

“Bye.” I smile over my shoulder turning and walking to the Muni station for once not having the worst goodbye in the world.

“Ready?” Sophie asks me.

“I was born ready.”

She gives me a look. “Yeah. Let’s not.”

“You ready?” I grin at her.

“Yup.” We both enter the doors at the same time to todays conference and pause for a second. I look at her. She looks at me. We nod. And disperse.

We walk away in opposite directions of each other knowing we would meet back up at the door in an hour like usual. We’d been attending these conferences for a while now. Separately at first, but now together and we’d gotten it down to a science.

I greet and chat, introducing myself and learning new things as well as being able to keep up steady conversations. I love the fact that I’m in a whole new level of confidence since I actually have some experience and eagerly show it off to colleagues I meet without seeming to much.

Taking a break from all the small talk I head over to the punch table, making a face at Sophie who’s in another conversation with a group of men. She smiles back at me before returning to her conversation and I continue my way over to the refreshments.

“Didn’t expect to see you here.” A familiar voice states.

I turn, punch in hand, smile firmly in place as I face Antony. “Hi, I didn’t know you would be coming.”

“Not my favorite events, but I need to show my faces occasionally.” Antony smirks, filling his own glass.

“Don’t we all.” We stand both of us with our punches in hand. “How long have you been working here?”

“Here?” He mocks.

I purse my lips. “Ryder Advertisements. You know what I mean.”

He chuckles and a rush of pride surges through me at being the one to get him to laugh. I never considered myself funny and Antony definitely seemed like a tough nut to crack. “Three years now.”

“Wow, and your already leading your own team. Nice.”

“Do I sense jealousy?” He taunts.

“No,” I simper. “Jealous of what?”

“Oh, harsh,” he grabs his chest dramatically. “Do you always go to these events? Don’t tell me you’re one of those interns who goes to every event trying to make friends.”

“Well, good to know what you think of me.” I say. “I ry to go to one event a month, but I actually try to avoid conferences. They’re not my favorite.”

“Not good at small talk?”

“I’m fine with it, but it’s just no my favorite.”

“You seem to have been doing it very well.”

I raise a brow at him in question, but he just shrugs. So he’d been watching me? I ignored the slight tingle at the knowledge. I clutched my glass tighter, lowering it to my side once I saw my tremors had resumed. I swear I was fine when I walked in. But then Antony had to show up. “You should have seen me at my first conference. I was so awkward and horrible, one guy asked me a question and all I did was say, ‘no’ and walk away. I’ve gotten better though. I swear.”

“I’ll take your word for it,” he grins. “Have you decided what you’re going to do after graduation yet?”

“It’s only been a day.” I state a little thrown at his sudden switch in conversation. What was on his mind? “Not a lot changes in a day…”

“You never know,” he shrugs but his gaze is unwavering again as he looks at me, something I don’t recognize dancing in his eyes.

“Yeah, well not my graduation plans. I still got time.”

“You should think about it.” He states, pushing off from the table to head back out into the crowd. “Ryder would love to have you.”

He walks away then leaving me looking after him in confusion. Did it really matter where I worked? Yeah, I liked the city but I was keeping all doors open at this time knowing the chances of getting hired right out of college for such a prestigious company was slim to none, even if I’d interned for it.

Pushing the thoughts out of my head I throw away my cup and strike up a conversation with a women who had just made her own way over to the condiments table, welcoming smile in place.

Sky Michael

Saturday, January 31, 2015

Hand Lock is Here!

Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Friday, January 23, 2015

Hand Lock Chapter 1

Monday, January 19, 2015

Hand Lock Blurb