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“Oh,my god, you’resojealousofme,”Jen fumed,putting her fisted hands on her hips.
She laughed. “I havetogetreadyand gotothelibrary. I’ll seeyou tonight?”
Jen slumped downontotheir lumpycouch,alltracesof anger gone.“I’ll beatworktonight. I got a call thismorning fromthenewmanager and hewants all thewaitstaffdown therefor a dryrun. Healreadysounds likean asshole.”
“Havefun,”Gigisaidwith asmile.
*
“Haveyouheardyet?”Alex,oneofGigi’sclassmates,whisperedinherearhalfwaythroughthe lecture.
Sheturned tohim. “Heardwhat?”sheanswered justasquietly.
“TheAMNHisstartinganinternshipprogramtorunthroughthissummer.Onepersonwillbe selectedattheend ofittosecureapermanentpositionstartingaftergraduation.Applications openedlastweekand closein two.”
She couldn’tspeakfor afullminute.Herhearthadstartedpoundingtoohardandtooloudinher chest. TheAmerican Museumof NaturalHistorywasthefinestand mostsoughtafterinstitution whenitcametoarchaeologyandanthropology.Shehadstudentloansshe’dbepayingoffuntil she wasfifty,andtheprospectofhavingajob waitingforheraftergraduationwasmorethanalittle appealing. “They started taking applications aweekago?”Howhad shenotheardof this beforenow?
Alexnodded.“Iputmineinwhenthey opened up,butI heardother peoplecouldn’tasthewebsitehadcrashed and hasn’tbeen fixedyet.” Gigi’sstomachdropped.Shewasawholeweekbehindeveryoneelse.Itwasn’tjusttheNYU studentswhoshehadtoworryabout,either.Everyanthropologyandarchaeologystudentfrom acrossthecountrywouldbeapplying,soinstead ofhavingtocompeteagainsttwodozenpeople,she wasnowupagainstabouttwentythousand.Gigilookedatthetimeonherphone; she had to get online and apply and timewasdragging justtospite her.
Whenthelecturer finally wrappeduptheday’sdiscussion,sheshovedhernotebookintoherbagand ranoutofthelecturehall,headinginthedirectionofthelibrary. Findingafreeterminal,shesat downandenteredtheAMNHwebaddress.Shefollowedthelinksandfilledouttheform,crossing her fingers thatthesite didn’tcrashwhen sheclickedthesubmitbutton.
“Didyouapply?”Alexasked,fallingintostepwithherasshewalkedfromthelibrary.Shelooked athimand smiled.
“Suredid.”
“I hopeyou getit,Gigi.”
“Youtoo,Alex.”
Hegrinnedather,andshenoticedhisdimplesforthefirsttime.Alexwassuchaniceguy,but she’d never seen himwitha girlfriend. Granted hewas a littlenerdy, but hewasstillgood-looking in that boy-next-doorkindofway.
“Hey,wouldn’titbegreatifwebothgetin?Thatwaywecouldwork together.”
“Yeah, that wouldbegreat,”shereplied.They’dreachedWashingtonSquarePark,andGigihad thedistinctimpressionAlexdidn’twanttogo.Shegavehimanothersmile.“I havetogoand…do somelaundry, soI’ll seeyou in class,Alex.”
