Read Taken by Tuesday (Weekday Brides Series) for Free Online Page A

“Go down the hall, take the first right, and you’ll see offices lining the left side of the building. Three down and you’ll find Mr. Archer’s office.”
    Judy hiked her purse higher on her shoulder and started down the hall.
    The phone rang behind her. “Benson and Miller Designs, how may I direct your call?”
    The greeting alone brought a smile to Judy’s face. She was here. Chasing a dream of becoming a world-class architect. The soft brown and taupe color palette of the office soothed the space and highlighted some of the more recognizable designs of the talented staff. Each photograph had a spotlight from above, giving the hall a museum quality. She didn’t have time to study the buildings. That would have to come later.
    She found Steve Archer standing over his overburdened desk with a phone in his hand. Judy stepped into his office with a smile. “We haven’t heard back from engineering on the soil report, Mason.” While Steve spoke into the phone he had poised between his shoulder and his ear, his hands dug into the pile of paper to the left of his phone. “As soon as I have it I’ll send it to your secretary.” He glanced at his watch. “It’s five minutes after eight. I haven’t even had my coffee yet, let alone checked my e-mails. I know . . . I got it.”
    Mr. Archer hung up the phone. “You’re late.”
    Judy froze. She really had hoped he wouldn’t have noticed. “Uhm . . . the off-ramp—”
    “Is messed up. Yeah, I know, has been for months. Leave fifteen minutes earlier. Interns are expected to be here on time, if not early.” He still fumbled on his desk, searching for something.
    “I’m sorry.”
    He tossed his hand in the air. “Never apologize and never give any excuses, Lucy. I only want to hear how you’ll fix it so you won’t do it again.”
    Right. “I’ll leave twenty minutes early tomorrow.”
    “Perfect.”
    “And it’s Judy.”
    Mr. Archer had to be in his midthirties, but his hair was thinning and though he wore a nice suit, it looked like he’d been in it for several hours. “What?” he asked, never taking his attention off his desk.
    “My name, it’s Judy, not Lucy.”
    “Right . . . OK.” He found the paper he was looking for and whipped it in front of his eyes with a smile. “There you are.” He moved around the desk and out of his office with swift, determined steps. Judy had nothing else to do but move out of his way and follow behind.
    In the center of the office were several cubicles along with a dozen light-table workstations. “You can put your purse here,” he told her, pointing toward an empty cubicle.
    Judy tossed her purse under the desk and nearly jogged to keep up with her mentor.
    “Coffee’s in here.” He pointed toward a small kitchen. “The fridge is for lunches. It’s emptied every Friday so don’t leave anything there over the weekends.”
    “OK.”
    He kept walking, rounding another corner and down a dark hall. He opened a door and they stepped into a well-lit room with several copy machines.
    Steve opened the lid of one, clicked in a command, and waited for the copy to come out the other end. “As you can see, we have paper size, drafting size, and even a blueprint copy machine in here. Did you work on these in school?”
    “Not this new, but—”
    “There are guide sheets on the side of every machine. If something about the instructions doesn’t make sense, ask someone. You don’t want to be responsible for jamming these machines. It will take you half the day to find the problem and we can’t be without them that long.”
    She wanted to ask if they had someone who fixed them in the office, but he was already walking out of the room.
    The next door they moved through was the mail room. It was Monday, and the Saturday mail had been delivered and sat in a large bin right below the massive slots with several dozen names.
    “This is where you’re starting.”
    Judy actually stumbled. She knew being an intern