A favour

Nora came back to her dorm dejected, she did have some hope to get in but it was tough. She was supposed to submit the letter of recommendation latest by 9 am tomorrow. She sighed and sat down at her desk. She grabbed her phone and looked down at the names they in the list, there were ten names on it with the respective numbers beside them. Gathering her courage she picked a number and dialed it, the person picked up immediately. "Good evening is it Mr. Adams speaking?"

"Yes may I know who is on other side?"

"I am Nora Williams. There was this idea I wanted to discuss about, if you could–"

"I am sorry if you're asking for a favour. It is not possible."

"No you're getting me wrong." She said.

"I know you guys well. Please don't call me again." He hung up.

She sighed and crossed out his name. She dialed the other number, the response was very similar. Some did listen to her but did not take her seriously, a few didn't even pick up the phone. As the night fell she was only left with one name, the one she did not wish to contact, Luke Osborne. She scrolled through her contacts and stared at his name for a while. "You have to get in Nora. You have to do it." Taking a long breath shr hit the call button. It rang for a while and then she was directed to his voice mail, it was same for the second time. She let out a frustrated sigh and slumped into her chair.

Her phone ring woke her up, she fell asleep in her chair. It was from Luke. She picked it up immediately, "Luke!" She shouted.

"Why are you shouting?" He asked.

"Sorry about that." She said.

"You called me. You need anything?"

"No. Actually yes. Nevermind." She stammered.

"Nora can you be a little clear and just speak what you want."

"Umm. Today I went to Living Tech for a company tour, and then we had a test–"

"And you couldn't make it so you called me for a letter of recommendation. Am I right?" He chuckled.

"Yes." She said in a small voice, her face was red due to embarrassment, she thanked heavens for she was alone.

"Well if it was like that you could have called me earlier."

"I didn't want you to think of me as a selfish person, calling you only when I need help. I called all of the trainers but they didn't even hear me out. Moreover, I..." She trailed off.

"Complete yourself."

"I did not want to seem like someone asking for a favour."

"It's understandable. Tell me what you made there." He asked. She told him everything about her project and the comments she got. She also told him about the black haired guy and stuff he said to her.

"Going by the appearance I think that trainer is Jefrey Hamilton and the other one is his grandson. Hamilton hates me. He will be totally pissed off if I give you the letter." He smirked, Nora sighed on the other side. He could almost imagine her face in front of him, a little disappointed, her lips pouted and her hazel eyes bigger than ever, the infamous puppy face. "But I'll give it you. Your project is great it's just that it might seem unrealistic to some but don't worry about that." He smiled.

"But why will he be pissed?"

"I rejected his grandson's project last year. He still hates me for that. Nothing serious to worry about."

They stayed in silence for a few seconds, "If that's all I'll hang up?" Luke said.

"No wait. One more thing. How are you?"

He was taken by surprise, "I am good. What about you?"

"I'm fine too. Also... When will you be back?"

"Probably towards the end of next week." He said.

"I see. Take care of yourself. Bye." She hung up.

Luke looked down at his phone, a smile crossed his face. He was already surprised seeing her call him and was a little disappointed when the reason surfaced. But the last few minutes changed everything. He stuffed his phone back into his pocket and returned inside.

Nora stared at her phone for a long time. She could not believe what she did towards the end. She surprised herself. She crumbled the list on the table and threw it in the dustbin and then his herself under the covers, trying to calm down herself.

She received an email from Luke early in the morning. She forwarded it to Samuel, he replied in a few minutes–

"I am glad you tried. Now you have this letter so no one can stop you. Be at the company at 4 pm sharp today. You don't want to be late."

She reached Living Tech five minutes before the scheduled timing and was greeted by the same woman, she was in a grey suit today and her hair up in a tight bun. She looked at Nora and smirked, "You're not late. Follow me." Nora followed her into a conference room. The five trainers were already seated there with Samuel and his assistant. She took a seat in front of them. Jefrey Hamilton spoke first, "You managed to get a letter but from the least experienced trainer. Birds of a feather flock together."

"Mr. Hamilton I would request you to refrain yourself. As per the rules and regulations, Ms. Williams can now officially enroll for the internship programme. And that is why I called all of you here." He took out an envelope and handed it to Nora. "This is your joining letter, it has all of the details, you'll need. Go through them. And congratulations you are officially an intern at Living Technologies." He smiled.

Nora looked at everyone confused, everything happened too fast. And before she knew it the trainers were out of the room with the woman, leaving Nora and Samuel alone. "You didn't verify it?"

"We already did before you came. Moreover we couldn't doubt Luke; as the youngest trainer here he sure knows how to pick out diamond from the rough."

"Thank you so much." Nora said.

"Don't thank me, you deserve this. Also he put in a good word for you, so you..."

"Yes I promise won't disappoint him and you." She smiled.

"See you soon." He held out his hand, Nora took it and shook it firmly.

She got out of the building with a smile on her face, she made it but deep down she was still insecure about the way she managed to get in. She texted Tina about the news and then scrolled down and wrote down a message under Luke's name – "Hey. Thanks to you I managed to get into the programme. I promise I won't disappoint you." And sent it.

She got into a taxi and headed back to her dorm, her phone buzzed, it was a message from Tina. Deep down she was expecting someone else.

That night she talked to Tina for an hour about everything. Tina was crazily happy for her and then she nagged about how Nick never left her alone and was always by his side. Nora cut her off, she giggled and Nora hung up.

She opened the messages, still no reply. Her phone suddenly started ringing and she almost dropped it, she picked it up immediately, "Hi." She said all breathy.

"That was quick." He smirked, "You finally made it. Congratulations."

"Thank you." She murmured.

"What's wrong Nora? You don't seem happy." He said.

Nora was surprised as to how he came to know about it, "I think it was because of you that I got the job."

"Seriously Nora?! You think I gave you the letter because I know you. Well if you do then you're wrong, I could have refused you if I didn't find your idea interesting. It has nothing do with the relation between us. So please don't let any of your thoughts wander that way."

"You promise?"

"Yes I do." He smiled. "So when does it begin?"

"We'll be informed about that later." She said.

"Good. I have to be somewhere so I'll hang up."

"Sure. Bye."

Nora looked down at the screen and felt like an idiot but she couldn't control it. It was as if her body was developing another mind that acted on its own but deep down it was something she really didn't want to stop.