That one company that replied him for his internship? Yeah that turned out to be the only one that accepted him. The 2 local car companies that he applied to either ghosted him or straight up rejected him. Which surprised him because the one that rejected him is owned by the same mother company that owns the university he goes to. Maybe there just wasn't an opening.
On his first day, he ritually petted Cantek the train station cat before riding the train towards his new work place. It was a decently long commute, 40 minutes train ride before switching lines, 10 more minutes of another train line, then half an hour by bus. But he wasn't bored, he entertained himself with various books on the way there. He wasn't big on reading because he didn't have much time before, but now reading had inspired him to write. Maybe one day he'll start writing stupid fictions on Webnovel or something.
The company that took him in is called DMX, which stands for Design and Marketing Experts. They're re a design agency that does all sorts of products for various clients.
"A tray." His art director, Helmut said.
"A tray?"
"Yep, model a tray, should be simple right?"
"Uhhh..." It was then did Zack realized, he fucked up. He had focused so much on his engineering knowledge during university, because that's what got him the most marks, that he had neglected his design skills. His portfolio sketches got him this internship spot, but he doesn't know how to model anything in Rhino, only basic things in Catia. "I don't know how to." He admits.
"Hehehe." Helmut smirks. "Good answer."
"What?"
"You immediately admitted you don't know something, which means you waste no time, and I can just teach you!"
And that was how he spent the first 2 weeks of his internship, learning things, getting used to the culture, and eating alone during lunch hour. Well, not completely alone. There was a tuxedo cat that always joined him every day when he eats lunch in the food court downstairs. Zack had decided to call him Michael Jackson, because he was Black and White. The stall keepers loved it. "Sup Michael, I'm going vegetarian today, so no food for you, unless you like mushrooms." Michael stared at him blankly, but when he realized that he wasn't getting fed today, he hopped onto the empty chair next to him and chilled there. The nice stall lady served Zack tea on the house. "Thanks!"
Zack hasn't thought about girls in a long while, he had been busy with university, his final year project, and with NOT Coffee before his internship. But now, being an intern here is more...relaxing? He had expected work to be more hectic, maybe because he's just an intern, they won't assign him so much stuff. Being free has its own cons though, for one it means that negative thoughts now have a window to creep back to the front of his mind, he starts noticing all the couples around him again and all the men who looks like they already got their life sorted. The place he works at is a rich persons area. There's nice cars everywhere, and he just eats in this food court everyday cuz it's the only place he can consistently afford.
"Look at those guys Michael, actual men that knows how to make money and could provide. Look at the cars they drive. I see that Ferrari F430 everyday, so he must work here, or own a company here for that matter." Of course, Michael only looks up at him with lazy eyes. Zack pets him gratefully. "I'm glad I have someone to talk to. Maybe I should try to join my other colleagues for lunch and stop being such a loner." He says. But remembers the reason he doesn't join them, they eat at restaurants that cost more than he could sustainably afford with his internship allowance. At least NOT Coffee is still paying him half a salary for being their social media manager.
"You know what, maybe I can feign confidence again, maybe I should go ask those girls that look about my age to join them for lunch, they seem to always bring their own food so I can always takeaway and join them at the pantry." He tells Michael resolutely. "What's the worst that could happen?"
...
The next day, he was eating at the food court again, giving Michael a piece of chicken. "They ignored me and avoided eye contact. That was pretty close to what I imagined was the worst that could happen." He said dejectedly, before immediately switching his tone. "Maybe they felt awkward because they're from operations and I'm from Creative, if I approached the Creative girls, can't be worse right?"
...
The day after, he scraped some egg mixed with minced meat for Michael. "It was worse, got reported to HR for harassing girls. I tried to explain that I'm just trying to make friends. They didn't believe me because the 2 instances of me approaching people were both a group of girls, and they didn't buy my excuse that the guys eat at too expensive places and that I just wanted to eat takeaway at the pantry." The nice stall lady brought him free tea again, he started to think it was part of a lunch set that he missed. "At least reviewing the security footage proved that I didn't do anything inappropriate, so they didn't punish me, I'll just have to avoid girls from now on."
Outside of the drama he accidentally got himself into, work life wasn't all that bad. The job was exciting, he learned a lot, the guys were super cool with him, and the other product designers were great mentors. Still, he feels like after what he got himself into, he couldn't stay after his internship ends. His biggest regret was trying to approach those girls. If he hadn't tried, maybe he could've stayed with this company for longer and built experience. It's funny that the thing he's gonna miss the most working here was hanging out with a tuxedo cat.
...
The little bell at the entrance of NOT Coffee dinged, and Zack walks into the cafe, greeted by a goth girl? She had a ring on her lip, she wore light but obvious makeup, and wore all black in what he would describe as a tasteful manner. She must be Krystal's replacement. "Hey, don't mind me, I'm just waiting to meet someone. Um, a matcha latte please."
"You're Zack right?" The girl asks. "The social media manager."
Zack chuckles. "Nah don't call me that, I just post memes for you guys."
"You're meeting Fizz, he'll be here in a few."
"Woah, how'd you know?"
"I'm his wife!" She giggled. "Heard a lot about you. The names Misa, I'll text him, let him know his biggest fan is here."
Zack took a seat on one of the tables, ordered a fizzy lemon tea, and waited. His demeanor was calm, but his head was fuzzy. An odd swirl of confidence, and insecurity. Confident in his newfound skills from internship, confident that if he put his mind into it, he could learn more skills, but insecure in himself as a person. Misa was apparently able to see his inner turmoil. "So what did you want to talk to him about if you don't mind me asking?"
"Nothing I couldn't ask over text, just wanted to hang out with Fizz for a bit. I hope I'm not overstepping my boundaries if I say I start seeing him as a friend and not my part time boss."
"Oh no, not at all! I think Fizz would be pleased to hear that."
Zack sighs. "My internship ends soon, I remember that custom body kit shop guy and was wondering if he has an opening now for full time."
"Oh Roland? What a coincidence! His daughter is here now waiting for her dad!"
"Sorry what?"
"Elise, come here!" Misa calls, and a girl walked over, she looks like a teenager, but was wearing a badminton club T shirt from his university nearby. Zack was in the badminton club but doesn't recognize her, she must be new. "This is Zack, he's about to graduate from the same university as you and wants to work for your dad."
Hearing Misa say that was very weird, and Zack couldn't bring himself to look straight at her. She was cute, like cute cute! Dare he say, she looked more pleasant than any of the other girls he seen, and he doesn't have the highest standards for looks. His adolescent brain couldn't help but think: This is what a 10/10 must look like. "You're the cat guy." She said.
"I'm the what?"
"The cat guy, I always see you pet cats around town." Elise said.
"Uh... Yeah." Zack rationalizes that since she lived around here, it would make sense that she'd seen him a few times. How in the world did he not notice her though?
"Stop feeding them Nutribell." She said. It was the brand of food that he had been feeding the cats, it was a bit pricier, but they advertised to be good for cats. Not as much MSG or salt as the cheap foods. He remained silent to let her finish. "They're not actually good for the cats. They contain oxalate from vegetables, cats don't eat that much greens and don't have the digestives track to digest them. Instead they react with calcium and cause kidney stones."
He nodded slowly. He can't say he knew this, and she said it with so much confidence that it's hard not to believe her. But he knows better than to just trust word of mouth. "Thank you for telling me, I'll look into it." that'll do for now, he'll look it up the facts later.
She smiled, as if it was the right answer. Although it must only be in his head that there was a right answer. "You want to talk to my dad?"
"Uhh no, I mean, yes but I don't want to impose."
"I can take a message."
"I'm a design graduate, well soon to be graduate. I heard your dad does car body kits."
Elise nodded. "He does. I'll give him a word."
"You don't have to." A man spoke from the entrance of the coffee shop.
"Dad!" Elise exclaims.
He nodded at his daughter before turning back to Zack. "Fizz spoke to me about you. I still don't have an opening, but I haven't forgotten about you. Although, I need you to give me a reason not to. I'll send you an assignment. I know you still have work, but when you're free, do the assignment and send me the files via the email." He hands him a sheet of paper. "For now, stay in your current company, build the experience and skills, and if you impress me enough, I'll call you up. But if you never hear from me, then I don't have to apologize."
"Yes sir." Zack salutes. His tone was a bit cold and intimidating compared to what he remembered that night, but the fact that he prepared an assignment for him is a good sign right? Right???
"Alright, let's go home Elise, sorry I'm late."
"All good dad."