Golden Boys (Golden Boys, #1)(55)

“Oh, it was fine. Necessary,” the senator says. “Let’s just say I’m ready to clock out and go see my family. It’s been a long month.”

“I hear that,” I say, mostly to myself. We weave around the various round tables in the space. I point to one in the distance. “Table three is over there. Your gluten-free meal is in the works, so we shouldn’t have any problems there.”

A surprised look hits Pasquale’s face as Wright takes a few steps over to his table. He shakes hands with a lobbyist there, and they fall into a quick, noticeably tense conversation. Wright turns and waves us away with a wide-eyed look at Pasquale.

“Fuck. Who approved that change?” Pasquale demands as he leads me toward the back of the room. “This is not where he’s meant to be.”

“The events person said they needed to shift some people from table two to three. Is there a problem?”

“That lobbyist Senator Wright is talking with is the problem. The last time they were in a room together, it ended with Wright storming out midevent. Did you not read all about it in The Hill? God, this is bad.”

“Meghan!” Pasquale snaps. She turns in surprise with a look of fear. “Your intern put Wright with Cal Hewitt—fix this.”

He storms back to the table to presumably help facilitate the conversation.

“Oh no,” Meghan says. “This is bad. There’s so much press here. We need Brittany.”

She leads me toward the loading dock, where Brittany enjoys yet another smoke break.

“Brit,” Meghan says, “you know we can’t have Wright and Hewitt at the same table.”

“The kid said it was okay,” she replies, pointing to me. “It’s too late—everyone’s already in their seats.”

Brittany walks past us, and I feel Meghan’s rage boiling over next to me.

“Can I do anything?” I ask.

“You can start praying that we don’t lose our jobs. I knew I shouldn’t have trusted you with this one.” I pull back, and she gestures at me to leave her alone. “Never mind. I’ll fix this.”

? ? ?

I fucked something up for the senator, I text Gabe.

I don’t know who else to go to. After wandering around the parking lot, I finally find the courage to return to the event. In the very back, there’s a bar with a few college-age interns at it. Programming—speeches, award presentations, the works—has started in the main event hall.

I sip my water, and I feel the exhaustion creeping up on me. A tear slips down my cheek, then another, and I’m barely able to stop the rest.

“Two rum and Diet Cokes, please,” Meghan says, taking the stool next to me. Once they’re poured, she passes one to me. “Well, that was a mess.”

“I’m sorry,” I say.

She sighs. “Pasquale is furious.”

“What about the senator?” I ask.

“Wright’s probably pissed too, but he can’t show it. He’s actually been great with Hewitt. Not sure if Hewitt’s being less of a dick this time, or if Wright’s just too tired to put up a fight.” She shrugs. “Whatever, these things happen, right?”

“Do they?” I take a sip of the drink. “Do they always feel this bad? You should have seen the look in the senator’s eyes. And the tone in Pasquale’s voice. Heck, even you looked like you wanted to kill me. All I wanted to do was make a good impression here, but I feel like I’ve messed it all up.”

“We all mess up,” she replies. “I shouldn’t have let you take this event, and I guess I didn’t brief you enough on this drama. Brittany is also fully useless and makes these kinds of changes all the time.”

We sip our drinks in silence for a bit, and I wait for any sort of relief to wash over me. But I still feel like a failure.

She shakes her head. “You’ve made a good impression here, Sal. Even if Pasquale’s a little scary sometimes, he’ll be the first person to write you a recommendation for college, I promise.”

“Can I be honest with you?” I say, my exhaustion finally taking over. “I’ve been debating whether I even want to go to college.”

She laughs, but her expression drops when she sees that I’m serious.

“Oh, really? Then why are you doing this internship? Don’t you want to work on the Hill one day for real?”

“Well, I was hoping that maybe I could skip all that?”

“Sal, no office here would hire you without a college degree. Plus, college is so much fun. Honestly, I get why some people say it’s the best time of your life.”

“It seems like a waste of time, though. I’ve learned so much about your job in just over a month, and I learned by doing it. Sitting in poli-sci classes for four years isn’t going to make me any more prepared for it, you know?”

“I don’t disagree—it is a bit of an apprenticeship here. Or at least, you learn by doing it. But that’s just not how the system works.” She sighs. “Look, if you play your cards right you’ll have a recommendation from Betty Caudill and Senator Wright under your belt. But that can only get you so far.”

A part of me wonders if I should just give in and go to college because it’s what I’m supposed to do. But I’m sixteen—that’s a quarter of my entire life that I could put to better use.