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</div>Recently, the office manager Gary Marino, had seemed more on edge than usual. Even when he wasn’t stressed out, the man had a rather intimidating presence. Every so often, he would tell his dad jokes or make his humorous observations and a very subtle sort of chuckle would cause his face to wrinkle in new places, making him appear, if only for a few seconds, like a somewhat less unnerving presence.<br/><br/>It wasn’t exactly a surprise that Gary Marino, the only remaining member in the family business, was under a lot of pressure. The Marino Construction Agency provided a family business for all of the Marino men, dating back to when his grandparents had first left Italy to pursue their dream of running a business. And, though it had always been his dream to have a child take over the business for him someday, he only had one child - a daughter.<br/><br/>After having one, his late wife Gina never wanted to try for more. Whether it was baby blues or something else, Gary never found out. Shortly after their daughter Addison was born, Gina became sick. It had been several years since the chemo stopped working and the cancer spread. Addison was in high school, back then. Now, she was back home after finishing her junior year of college.<br/><br/>Addison had no job prospects or plans for the future. Despite Gary’s attempts to convince her to work on the corporate side of the construction company, she never bit the bait. And every year, Gary was reminded that Addison was spending his money on college courses that she would never use in her adult life, and that would never benefit her later on. After many nights of debating, father and daughter came to an understanding.<br/><br/>For the summer, Addison would at least humor her dad and spend her days at the corporate office. His hope was that she would see the job security and find some sort of purpose in being a manager at the agency. If not, then at least he tried. Right? But, he was determined to do whatever he could to ensure that Addison would be taken care of and provided for, even when he was gone, someday.<br/><br/>That first Monday morning of the summer, he called a meeting in the conference room. Everyone from secretaries to assistant managers had been expected there. Even the intern boy that he had hired at the beginning of the year was seated at the enormous conference table. Gary shut the door when the last straggler crept inside, sipping his coffee from a generic paper cup. He set it down at the head of the table and addressed everyone by first clapping his hands.<br/><br/>“Alright, people. As you all know, my daughter Addison will be spending the summer with us. So, I expect you all to be on your best behavior. I want everything here running smooth, no trouble, got it?” He raised a hand and pointed it around the room, at no one in particular. “Should this prove too difficult for you, well… See this? This is my ‘I don’t care’ face.” He framed his face with both his hands, his bushy brows raising as his puffy eyes widened slightly.<br/><br/>“Any issues that arise, you are to contact me about directly. I want phone calls, not emails. Understand?” He didn’t wait for their groans or shakes of their heads. Instead, he grabbed his cup of coffee and pulled the door open again. “Okay, you’re all excused. Let’s have a good day today, everybody.” He released a long sigh, then caught sight of the intern kid and stopped him before he could leave.<br/><br/>“Hey, kid.” He had been calling him kid since his first day interning. It had become the poor guy’s nickname, whether he liked it or not. “You’re about Addison’s age. And you’re obviously more interested in this business than she is. I’m going to introduce you two. You can show her around the place, put in a good word for us, you know?” He cupped the young man’s shoulder, gripping him there just a bit too firmly. Clearly, he wasn’t taking ‘no’ for an answer. “I appreciate it, kid.”<br/><br/>When he left the conference room, Gary returned to his personal office and shut the door behind him.<br/><br/><hr class="bbc-hr"/><div class="bbImageWrapper bbImageAligned--left lazyload js-lbImage" data-lb-caption-extra-html="" data-lb-sidebar-href="" data-single-image="1" data-src="/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fem.wattpad.com%2F9b59a34c3b3b29128fb291acdbd22d84a7d7bdee%2F68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f4430594144754a6c315554436c673d3d2d3439383638363537312e313466616566303162626135633363653833323932393036303439332e676966%3Fs%3Dfit%26w%3D720%26h%3D720&amp;hash=42525f374d26e15f3153796703fdee13" title="68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f4430594144754a6c315554436c673d3d2d3439383638363537312e313466616566303162626135633363653833323932393036303439332e676966">
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</div>Addison Marino strolled into the office at around 10:00 in the morning. She wore cut off jean shorts and black, high-top Converse. Her legs seemed to go on for days, shining even in the fluorescent lighting from above. She wore a simple, loose fitting, black T-shirt and a sweater over that, which was fitting for the constant draft inside the office building.<br/><br/>She knocked on the window to her dad’s office, where the blinds were almost always kept shut. But a moment after her knock, a small section of those blinds parted and revealed Gary on the other side. Addison gave him a smirk and a wave, then took off for the break room. Gary pulled his office door open and hung halfway out of it to call to her.<br/><br/>“Hey honey, you’re here.” He sounded surprised, even though he had been expecting her. Addison chuckled with a scoff. “Yeah, where else would I be?” She asked, spinning around to walk backwards while she regarded him. “Well, where are you off to now?” He asked, sounding completely different than the manager who had just berated all his staff a couple of hours earlier.<br/><br/>“I need a drink,” she winked at him, giving her dad the ol’ finger guns. Gary looked like he was about to say something, but let it go, sighing softly. He turned to make eye contact with the intern kid, pointing to Addison as she walked into the break room. Apparently he’d have to introduce himself to the boss’s daughter.