#could be nice. i could get an internship and/or a job... get that translator qualification thatll make getting into university way easier

[laikahh]

oh wait now that im no longer in that relationship i can maybe start thinking about taking a gap year before uni...

[holidaywishes]

It Had To Be You XIX

Chapter Nineteen: Ready To Love You

Summary: November comes to a close and you start getting for Christmas. With no finals in sight, you take off to Dallas to surprise Tyler when he gets back from his road trip.

Author’s Note: So, this one catches us up to today! Next chapter will be a Christmas one and then a smutty one after that maybe? I’ll be honest, this one took me longer than I thought it would because there’s hardly any angst. I guess my specialty was angst and now that they’re happy, it’s taking me longer to write it out 😂 But even if this isn’t my best work, I hope you enjoy it!

Warning: 🙅‍♀️

Song Credit: Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree -- Pentatonix, Up On The Housetop -- Gene Autry, O Holy Night -- David Archuleta, Oh Santa -- Mariah Carey,  Ready To Love You -- HEDEGAARD

  masterlist

  You knew you were going to see Tyler when he came to Calgary but, after he moved into his new place, you kept bugging him to give you a tour. With only one day before the road trip, he gave you a quick virtual tour.

  “It might not translate on screen but it’s really awesome” he laughed from behind the camera

  “It looks pretty awesome from here,” you laughed, squinting to see what he was showing you, “it’s bigger than your last place isn’t it?” He flipped the camera to him and nodded

  “Oh yeah!.. Wait, do you not like it?” he scrunched his face in concern

  “I’m only seeing it through a screen but it looks amazing” you responded with a smile, noticing the concern on his face not leaving

 “It’ll look better with you in it,” he finally smiled, lifting his eyebrows suggestively, “when will that be by the way?”

  “Well, my classes don’t end until December 10th but you’re on a road trip then. And it’s right before Christmas. So, it might not be until after Christmas…” you rambled

  “New Years? We play Montreal on New Year’s Eve but the 1st we’re free. And in Dallas…” he said hopeful

  “Count me in,” you gave a wink but then a wave of stress rolled over your face, “except… I still have to find an internship and they might start right away in January…”

  “SHIT! I didn’t tell you,” he said loudly, “I heard back from my guy and he wants to do a phone interview with you. Like tomorrow..”

  “Tyler, that’s awesome! But what is it for? You have told me nothing, I should probably do some research…” you joked, “or else it’s like nepotism?”

  “Don’t worry,” he laughed, “it’s a marketing agency. I got all your ‘requirements’ and I made sure that he was okay with that. Clearly, he was. I just forgot to tell you. I gave him your number so, he’ll be calling you…”

  “Can I get the name of this marketing agency?”

  “Entourage or, technically, Agency Entourage I guess”

  “I’ll look it up now, thanks love.” It was something you had called everyone, love. You used to call everyone lovey -- like lovey dovey -- but changed it to love later on; but you had never called Tyler ‘love’ until a few weeks ago and he never seemed to question it, so it continued. He blew you a sardonic kiss and continued the tour a little but once he got to the bedroom he said that’s where he’d let you go so you would be left wanting more. You were at the end of the month and everything seemed to ease up slightly. You’re assignments were finished, you just found out you had no finals so you were pumped, all you had to worry about was one more final presentation and a couple extra classes and you’d be done.

  Your phone interview was a few days before the Stars were in Calgary and part of you wondered if Tyler had planned it that way. It went well, you were personable and knowledgeable about the company, you asked questions about the position; all in all you were excited about whatever the next step would be. The waiting was the worst. Waiting for a yes or a no, waiting to find out if you needed to buy a plane ticket and get some kind of insurance, waiting to see if moving in with Tyler was even an option or if you should just find a place for yourself. You felt like you were going to short out your computer with how many times you checked your email; you spent literally an entire hour one day refreshing the page. It was getting ridiculous but this is what your life had become. Eventually, you’d start applying to a bunch of different jobs on your University job board because you needed a job and you only had one month to get everything figured out; then you saw it.

  “Hi (Y/N)! Thank you so much for talking with us this weekend. We were so excited to receive your resume from Tyler. He spoke very highly of you and your qualifications were very impressive. We would love to offer you an intern position on our communications team here at Entourage!”

  As you scanned the email, you screamed and jumped out of your seat in the library, alerting everyone to your presence; you apologized and sat down to continue reading.

  “We understand that we have to get some things approved with your advisor first and that this is a co-op position so you have to be back in April but, if all goes well, maybe you would consider continuing on with us in the fall. We’ll discuss more in further correspondence. We look forward to working with you, a contract will be sent to you shortly. Thank you!”

  You were shocked and excited and you could barely contain yourself so, you packed up your bag and ran out of the library. Once you picked up your phone, you weren’t sure who to call first. You’d see Tyler in tomorrow and you could tell him in person but you wanted to share it with him. So, instead, you call Chris.

  “THAT’S AWESOME!!” he shouts from the other end, “I’m so excited for you! When does the job start?”

  “The contract says January 8th. So, I get a couple extra days after the New Year,” you reply excitedly and he just shouts back in excitement before asking if you’ve told Tyler yet, “not yet. Tomorrow. When I see him.”

  “Well I’m happy for you, sweets,” he coos, “you deserve it.” You thank him but roll your eyes slightly at his emotion and then hang up.

  The game against Calgary was relatively tame. When Tyler scored the game winning goal in overtime, the Flames challenged it and the fans were not incredibly happy with the result.

  Hockey fans do not like being challenged on home ice by opposing teams.

  You went to go meet Tyler by the locker rooms before he took off to B.C.; running to him quickly to embrace him in a kiss, taking him by surprise. You pulled his face to yours tightly and he guided you to the wall to support both him and you.

  “Hi,” he said catching his breath as he pulled away, “it’s nice to see you too.” He laid his forehead against yours and you smiled up at him, apologizing softly before playfully biting his lip.

  “I missed you,” you said when the two of you finally separated, walking side by side to the bus outside the Saddledome, “I didn’t think I was going to get to see you before you left either”

  “Well, I’m glad you caught me” he said softly

  “Me too” he smiled, bringing your lips back to his quickly but fumbled slightly as the two of you walked down the hallway

  “You bit me,” you laughed rubbing your lip, “that gonna be a common thing?”

  “Maybe…” he shoved you playfully, “you bit me too by the way.” You smiled up at him, scrunching your nose and grabbed his hand as the two of you continued walking. When he noticed that you were almost to the bus, he pulled you behind a wall structure and put his finger in front of his mouth to tell you not to talk; you stared at his lips as he peeked out from behind the wall occasionally.

  “Sneak on the bus,” he whispered, “and the plane. Come to B.C.” You laughed and shook your head, still staring at him in disbelief. You couldn’t believe that you were finally with him. He was so god damn beautiful.

  “How would I even do that?” you joked, “sneak into the little luggage thing under the bus -- where there’s no oxygen and all of your smelly hockey equipment -- and then somehow get on the plane before everyone else and hide in the bathroom?”

  “Yes, exactly,” he leaned down to kiss your neck, pinning you against the wall slightly, “do exactly that…” You felt him smile against your neck and you got so distracted that a tiny moan came from your mouth but he stifled the sound by capturing your lips with his.

  “Sorry..” you said breathlessly when he pulled away, “I just, uhm, I have to tell you something.” You heard a voice call for Tyler and then his phone ring, he ignored it for a minute but when it rang again he had to answer it.

  “Sorry, babe one sec,” he said still pinning you against the wall as he answered his phone, “Hello? Yeah, I’ll be there in a sec. I just had to use the bathroom Chubbs. Relax, bud.. Okay, bye. Yeah, bye.” He hung up the call and turned back to you, staring at you for a minute before you spoke again.

  “I had something to tell you,” you started, “but I can’t remember what it was now…” He laughed and kissed your nose

  “I’m sure you’ll remember it when I leave.” He gave you one last kiss and told you he had to go or they’d call a search party and you tried pulling him back to you by grabbing his arm but he trailed his hand down your arm and kissed your hand; just as quickly he was on the bus.

  “You didn’t tell him?!” Diana shouted at you as your Christmas playlist boomed in the background

  “I was distracted,” you replied, “I mean that boy knows how to kiss…”

  “Okay okay I get it. So, what’s your plan?”

  “Voices singin’ ‘let’s be jolly, deck the halls with boughs of holly...’”

  “Well, my Monday class got cancelled so I’m going to finish out the week and figure out some stuff here after that -- decorating and all that. Then head out to Dallas on the 14th; he’s back in Dallas on the 16th I think. So, I’ll tell him when he’s home,” you said as the song changed, making you and Diana bop your heads

  “Ho Ho Ho, who wouldn’t go, Ho Ho Ho, who wouldn’t go. Up on the housetop, click click click. Down through the chimney with Old Saint Nick…”

  “That’s a good idea right?” you continued, “he’ll be surprised and then excited about the news?”

  “I think it sounds super sweet babe!” she said happily, “I think he’ll be so happy to see you! Do you think you’ll be there for Christmas though? Like it’s so close to it but that’s a pretty big deal…”

  “No, I’ll probably come back home. He’ll have his family there I think, I don’t want to impose. It’s not my place, right?” you asked as if Diana would give you some kind of answer but she just shrugged.

  “A new and glorious morn. Fall on your knees. Oh hear, the angel voices…”

  “I don’t know babe, I mean you always sing at the church here. Every Christmas Eve you go caroling too. You hate giving up those traditions…” she replied and you pursed your lips in thought, “but I mean, you would be living in Dallas…”

  “I’ll decide when I talk to him. I don’t think that’s a me decision. I think it’s an us decision” you agreed finally and Diana nodded her head. When the 16th came around, you were nervous about how to act when you got there. This would be the first time that you were staying with Tyler as his girlfriend and you didn’t want to move too fast. He had told you months ago where he kept his spare key and what his code was if you ever wanted to stay there while he was away; you let yourself in and were immediately toppled by the three labs in the house.

  “Ooof, hey guys! Hello my sweet boys!” you said, puppy voice high and playful. You were happy to have a day with the dogs before you saw Tyler because you knew that the team was having a rough week and you weren’t sure if he’d be grumpy or not when he saw you, so it would be nice to blow off some steam with the dogs. You took the dogs out to the park, explored Ty’s new house, snooping around, trying to work the T.V. but failing, sitting out by the pool in the backyard and, eventually, dancing around to Christmas songs while the dogs chased you around.

  “I saw them shopping last week, and his new girl was so bleak. And then I swore to myself. Santa's gonna come and make him mine this Christmas night. Ho ho ho…” Gerry was the one who seemed to be the most confused by your dance moves, Marshall was used to it by now and Cash wasn’t even paying attention but Gerry thought you were in pain or something so he tried to, you can only assume, save you.

  “Ow! Gerry, stop,” you laughed as he jumped on you, “come dance with me you dork!” The song continued in the background and you heard a ding on your phone that let you know the game was starting. You turned off your music and went over to the couch.

  “How do I work this stupid T.V.?” you asked the dogs, who looked at you with wide eyes, “there are too many remotes!” You finally got the T.V. on and switched to the game, doing your best not to touch any of the remotes once the channel was set. When the game finally ended, and the Stars had lost, you knew it wasn’t going to be the happiest of homecomings. The second he walked in the door, he heard the T.V. and was immediately on edge.

  “Who the fuck is in my house?” he yelled

  “It’s just me…” you popped out from around the corner, “sorry, I thought I was going to get to the door before you came in.” You waited for a second to gauge his reaction and let out a sigh of relief when he smiled.

  “Hi babe” he said, dropping his stuff in the middle of the room to walk over to you.

  “Hi,” you hugged him and pushed yourself up on your tippy toes to place a kiss to his lips, “what do you want to do for the rest of the night?” He hugged you tighter and said ‘nothing’ and you nodded your head, dragging him to the couch.

  “I know you’re not super into it but there’s a new episode of Sabrina on Netflix,” you asked, “how would you feel about that?” He smiled at you and you knew he was fine with whatever you wanted to do.

  “Sounds like a plan,” he planted a kiss to your head before running off to his bedroom to change, “I’ll be down in a sec, you get everything ready.” You got comfy on the couch, with the dogs trying to find the best spot to sit until Tyler came down and shooed them away from his spot on the couch.

  “You ready for the adventures of Sabrina?” you said excitedly, trying to lighten his mood

  “I am if you are” he sat down, looking a little defeated and you watched him get comfortable, giving him a small kiss that turned deeper when he grabbed your face, trying to pull you closer to him.

  “Hmm mmm.. not yet,” you pulled away from the kiss, trying not to move too fast, “later.”

  “Later tonight?” he said expectantly and you shook your head, curling into his side and turning on the Netflix series. You heard his breath slowing and you could tell he was going to fall asleep soon, so you jumped in before he could.

  “I almost forgot, I got that job with that Agency” you said coyly, “I meant to tell you last week but got distracted by something…”

  “That’s awesome!” he jumped up, bringing you to sit up, “when do you start?”

  “January 8th. I just have to find a place here and --” you started but he interrupted

  “Done. You’ll stay with me” you stared blankly at him for a second, trying to figure out what to say or, rather, how to break it to him gently.

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea, Tyler. Us living together for five months? That’s a big deal…”

  “I’ll hardly be here and it’s not like you’d be moving in for good,” he caught your gaze go down to your lap, “not that I wouldn’t love to have you move in here…” You smiled weakly and told him you’d think on it.

  “I think it would good for us to have some boundaries though…”

  “Like showing up randomly at each other's place?” he teased and you nudged his side

  “Yes, like that” you said and lightly kissed his lips, turning your attention back to the screen.

  “I’m happy you’ll be here,” he said, leaning his head against yours, “I hate long distance relationships.” You smiled and squeezed him, letting him know you felt the same.

  “They’re the worst…”

  “Totally,” he joked, “I need to feel you. Touch you. Kiss you. In person, not over a screen.” His hands crept up your side and you squirmed as he reached the part of you that always tickled at the slightest touch, forcing you to jump up. You stared at him for a second, his hands lingering on your waist, waiting for your move; no matter how much you wanted to be with him like that, your brain and your body wouldn’t connect and you couldn’t let yourself be vulnerable with him just yet. So, you leaned back in for a kiss and claimed that you were feeling a little worn out and you were sure he was too.

  “Yeah, you’re probably right.” Soon enough, his head lobbed onto the top of yours, trapping it like it did at the cottage all those years ago, and you felt so peaceful; like this was where you needed to be.

[relatewithrelations]

Internship Placement

I found my internship through a website online called Spain-internship.com, it was a great website that really easily walked me through the process of apply and getting into a program. Basically how it works is at first you fill out their generic application (ie name, grade, school major etc) then they have you upload a resume and nameless cover letter along with 2 letters of recommendation. From there you record yourself responding to questions that would typically be heard in an interview about what you're looking for and qualifications. The final step for the application process is a recorded language test, where they basically assess your level of Spanish ability by redoing the previous interview but in Spanish. Although I speak Spanish, what's nice is it's not required in any way.

After you fill out the application and your account is verified by their team (it took about a day) then you begin going through their database and creating a list of possible internships. They had several thousands which could be filtered through by location, length, experience, etc. They encourage you to pick 10-15 so that you are given a lot of opportunity. This part of the process was really nice because I was able to filter to what fit my schedule the best and also hit the criteria for being considered for credit. With this 10-15 the next step involved rating them and then spain-internship would send your application to the first company, wait to hear back, and then send to the next if need be. I was lucky enough to be extended an interview, and eventually a position, by my first company.

What I learned from this experience was that I had to be creative with the constraints that I had. A lot of places are looking to bring students from other places into the USA, not so much the other way around. Along with that, entry management positions are very competitive and I wanted to make sure I was going to have a gratifying experience not just serving coffee. I had to figure out how to portray my experience in a way that would make sense to people that hadn't heard of the places I had worked. I also really saw how important soft skills are when it comes to finding a job.

I also learned how stereotyped Americans can be in the business world and how that can be advantageous and disadvantageous. It was disadvantageous because of what's assumed of a prospect from just their application having an US address. There was also disadvantage that sometimes employers shy away from American students because it is very hard for us to obtain work visas from the US. There was the advantage of that I was able to speak another language, which was assumed I couldn't. This put me a leg up over a few other prospects because I can sit in on meetings and help with translation if needed.

One of the biggest things I learned about this process, is that you need to trust the system. There were many times that I thought that something was going to fall through. I had issues with setting up the interview, my visa, my social security, basically everything. But here I am now and very happy.