"Ladies, I need your attention!" announced Maria.
The girls in the office all gathered up in the conference room as Maria, the supervisor, called for a meeting. Jane contemplated whether she should even go or not. The meetings never seemed to require the intern being there. And Maria never even seemed to like her anyways. She decided on sitting in the back and being quiet.
Maria stood at the front of the room, waiting for all the women to be seated. "As you all know, the quarter is coming to an end. We need all of our projects to be done by Thursday so we can present it to corporate on Friday."
"We will try our best," Veronica responded. Because of her talent and work ethic, she was always one of Maria's favorites. "We SHOULD be able to get it done by Thursday," she added.
"Veronica, I'm sure you all CAN," said Maria. "But just to make sure everything gets done, I need you to stay late on Thursday with me. You will get overtime pay and we can work as late as we need."
Both Ashley and Monica rolled their eyes. As much as they loved Veronica, they felt she got preferential treatment from Maria.
"One more thing," said Maria. "You can choose one person to stay late and work with us."
Both Ashley and Monica became excited, hoping Veronica would choose them. They both wanted to make a good impression on Maria and they also wanted the overtime money. However, things did not go as they expected.
Veronica stood up and looked at the two women. "I choose..."
Maria placed all her attention on Ashley and Monica, wondering which one Veronica would choose.
"I choose Jane."
"JANE?!" everyone exclaimed, in shock!
But, she's just an intern," said Maria.
"I know she's an intern but she's really smart and she has the best work ethic of anyone here. Myself included!"
Monica and Ashley respected Jane as a worker. Now they were jealous that Veronica would get more alone time with Jane. However, Maria was going to be there with them so they figured things would not get too crazy.
"If you're sure then I trust your judgment," said Maria. She then looked over to Jane and asked, "So can you stay really late on Thursday?"
Jane was just as shocked as everyone else. She was flattered by the recognition she was getting but was still surprised to be chosen by Veronica. "I can make it on Thursday," she answered. She would have to change her massage schedule around, but she was excited for the opportunity to impress Maria.
---
Thursday evening came and the two ladies stayed after, with Maria. Veronica was all business, like she normally was when it came to work. Jane did not want to let this opportunity pass her by without giving her best effort.
The office was relatively quiet as all three ladies were on their computers. Jane was busy doing inventory documents and spreadsheets that needed to be presented the next day. Veronica and Maria were both busy on their computers finishing presentations that would be shown to corporate the next morning.
Maria was not much older than Veronica. She was a hard-working Latin woman that everyone could look up to. She earned her position as the supervisor of the branch. The young supervisor was hyper focused on having a good presentation by the end of the night.
Although Maria was stressed out, she was really impressed with the progress that Veronica and Jane were making in such a short time. As the day turned into night, Maria decided to reward the ladies by ordering dinner for them.
When Maria left to pick up the food, Jane and Veronica were left at the office alone.
"Hey, Veronica," Jane whispered.
"Yes?" Veronica responded, as she looked up and smiled at Jane.
"Thanks again for choosing me," Jane said, with a smile.
"No problem!" said Veronica. "Did you have to move some of your massages?"
"Yeah, I had a few scheduled tonight," Jane answered. "It's okay. I postponed them. I needed a break from massages. I've been doing it every night for the past month!"
"You must be so tired," said Veronica. "You work so hard!"
"Yeah, I'm just tired," said Jane.
"I hope you're not too tired to give me massages," said Veronica, with a wink.
Jane smiled and paused. "I'm never too tired to give you a massage," she responded.
Veronica smiled back. "Thank you mami."
Jane began to blush. "Don't call me that in front of Maria!" she said.
"Why not?" Veronica asked. "Are you embarrassed?" she said, with a giggle.
"Yes!" exclaimed Jane. "What if she thinks it's weird that you call me that?"
Suddenly, Jane and Veronica heard the door open. Maria walked back in carrying bags of food and a big bottle.
"What did you get?" asked Veronica.
"It's a surprise," answered Maria. She placed the bags on an empty table and started to unpack the food. "Come on over girls. You deserve a break."
Jane and Veronica left their desks and walked over to Maria.
"I got sushi!" said Maria, with excitement.
Veronica was a little surprised with Maria's selection but she wasn't complaining. She liked sushi very much.
"And guess what else I got," said Maria. She pulled out a big bottle of sake.
"Sake?" said Jane, a bit confused. She was surprised that her Latina supervisor bought sushi and sake.
"What's wrong Jane?" asked Maria. "You don't like sake?"
"I do," said Jane, hesitantly. "Did you pick out Japanese food and alcohol because I'm Asian?"
"Well, not really," explained Maria. "I thought there was a chance you might appreciate Japanese food. But the main reason I got it is because I like sushi and sake!"
Jane was a bit surprised, but she believed her.
"I also like sushi and sake," said Veronica, also surprising Jane.
"What's wrong?" asked Maria. "Are Hispanic women not allowed to enjoy Asian food and drinks?"
"No, no, no," Jane quickly explained. "I just didn't know you liked sushi."
