if something chases you | l. cruthers

The day Melody Halstead got that email was the greatest day of her life. Her application had been accepted.

She was starting life as an InGen intern. It was only for the fall, but working at Jurassic World was a dream come true for Melody. She'd grown up obsessed with dinosaurs and, more specifically (and disturbingly), Jurassic Park.

Her supervisor's assistant, Mr. Diamantopulous, brought her to her apartment for the semester. The assistant's first name was Hayden, but he insisted on being called the formal 'Mr. Diamantopolous' to remind everyone that his grandfather was half-Greek and therefore he deserves attention.

He let Melody drop her luggage off, making sure she knew to meet at her supervisor's office in one hour. She didn't bother unpacking, just changed into a more weather-appropriate outfit and fixed her hair and makeup. For this, she facetimed her best friend and roommate back at school, Holly. Holly and Melody had clicked from the first day they met as freshman year roommates. It was hard to be so far from her, but Holly was all too excited to hear about Melody's upcoming adventures.

She spent the rest of the time jumping around to rid herself of the nervous energy that filled her entire soul. She was the only applicant accepted, and tried not to let it get to her head. But it was Jurassic World. And she had an apartment and everything.

She found her way to her supervisor's office and knocked on the door. A voice from inside called her in, and she opened the door.

Her supervisor was an older man with kind eyes and an odd hunched posture. He was wearing a full suit, as did most of the men in the office, and Melody had no idea how he wasn't sweltering. She herself was sweating a bit in her light blouse and midi skirt.

Her supervisor stood when she entered. "Melody Halstead. Congratulations, my dear." He paused, frowning. "I'm sorry, I meant that in a fatherly sense. May I call you my dear?"

Melody grinned. It was good to know he was just as awkward as she was when it came to professional conversations. "Of course, sir."

"Call me Leon. Or Mr. Aldridge, if you feel the need. I'm pleased to have you here with us. I'm afraid you will be carrying out the classic nightmare intern duties. Coffee, note taking, processing spreadsheets. But you will not be mistreated here, I can tell you that."

Just days had passed before Melody was at her wits end. She was so being mistreated. It wasn't Leon, it wasn't even Hayden. It was Vic Hoskins. Or as Holly liked to call him, Mr. Evil Nightmare Freak.

As soon as she saw him, she had gotten the worst vibe. And she'd met her fair share of unfortunate men.

Vic Hoskins was bossy, creepy, disrespectful, and rude. From the moment he saw her lanyard carrying her intern ID, he decided that she was his personal slave. Melody was spending most of her precious Microsoft Excel time running useless errands for Hoskins. She couldn't exactly say no.

She'd eventually learn that yes, she could say no. But in her first week of interning, she wanted to make as little trouble as possible. So when Hoskins asked her to leave the building, walk to Starbucks, and bring him back his lunch, she obliged. Even though it was her own short break and she wouldn't get the chance to have her own lunch.

She practically threw the sandwich and coffee into his arms and hurried away to her desk in the corner before he could ask her to do anything else. She got to spend the rest of her day running errands for Leon, which were far more pleasant.

She picked up papers from the printer, as he wasn't able to walk as well as she could. She delivered messages from him to other colleagues. Her favorite part was sitting in on meetings and taking notes. In fact, in the coming weeks, that was most of what her duties entailed.