Hi guys and welcome back to Chapter 2 of Business Intern. So thank you so much for the support on the last chapter, and let's get on with this!

Ben's POV:
With Carlos in my arms, I felt so content and happy. "Be proud of yourself Carlos. You're finally living your dream" I finished, and I could feel him blushing into my chest. This felt so right, so natural, and I didn't want it to stop. That was until the doors opened on the 40th floor. The dinging sound made us both jump a little, causing us to separate from our hug. I brushed my shirt down, trying to remove the creases from it, as I led him out onto the floor.

Again, his jaw dropped by the room. This time, it was similar to the management office, with white, red and yellow being the main colours, but the room was filled with more computers, and less recreational space. There were small products whizzing about the floor, obviously one of the newer product Lonnie had designed. Carlos took the lead, walking around the floor, exploring every inch that he could. "Welcome to Programming" I said, finally catching up to him, still with a look of awe on his face. "Where Doug?" I asked one of the employees, and I heard him shout"Coming."

I saw a small robot rush across the carpet, with Doug following closely behind it. We stepped out into an open space to see Doug dive onto one of the beanbags, as he grabbed the robot stopping it from moving. "Sorry, one of the guys decided it was funny to toy with the program" he said, pulling himself of the beanbag, and pushing his glasses further onto his face.

"Doug, this is Carlos" I said, nudging Carlos as I did so, hoping he would speak up.

"I-I um, w-won the in-internship" Carlos said, with a rather awkward and nervous tone.

Doug was quick to respond. "Oh yeah, that sick app. I have to tell you dude, that programming was pretty complex. You obviously knew what you were doing. I mean, not allowing people to screenshot without a message was cool" he said, and I could see Carlos blush.

"It was nothing, really" Carlos replied, as I saw his nervousness get the better of him.

"Anyway, what was that about Doug?" I asked, trying to remove Carlos from the topic of conversation. He obviously didn't like to talk about himself, and I didn't want to make him uncomfortable.

"Oh, it's one of the new products Lonnie sent up. It's supposed to be an automatic hoover, but one of the guys decided it would be funny for it to go on a rampage. I'll sort it out don't worry" he replied, holding the device in his hands. "Anyway, you will be spending your fourth week with me, and I'll be showing you how we've coded some of our programmes, as well as how we coded our operating system" Doug continued, and I saw Carlos' face light up.

"You mean, I get to toy with the code of ATOS?" he said, giddy about the opportunity.

"Of course. Who's gonna else would design the section for the watch?" Doug replied, and Carlos' smile grew even more.

"I get to design the operating system for the watch? Thank you so much" he exclaiming, trying to stop himself from jumping in excitement.

"It's nothing honestly. You've earned this Carlos" I chimed in, placing my hand onto his shoulder. "Now come on, we have one more stop" I said, heading back towards the lift. He followed me in, and I pressed the button for the 50th floor before I spoke up. "So, programming hey?" was all I said, and I saw him blush.

"I know it's a little nerdy, but I've always looked that kinda stuff" he replied, and I just chuckled.

"I wouldn't have you any other way" I said, then quickly realising what I had said once again, and blushing deeply. He just giggled as the lift arrived on floor 50.

This floor was different to all of the others. While it followed the same colour schemes, the patterns the colours followed where more abstract. Carlos gasped once again, walking onto the floor, and exploring every inch of it. This was definitely the most relaxed, and chilled floor in the building, with some chairs hanging from the ceiling, each desk overlooking the city, providing a beautiful view. "Wow" was all he could sat once again.

"That's design for you" I replied, taking a seat in one of the hammocks hanging from the ceiling. I could hear someone spraying a can, followed by some shuffling, and I knew it was Jane, working away at some art work. I made my way over to her, and made a slight joke. "I think you've missed a spot" I said, causing her to jump out of her skin. She pulled an earphone from her ear, and turned to face me.

"Ben, I had no clue you were visiting today!" she said, as Carlos approached my side.

"Yeah, I'm just giving Carlos a tour" I said, nudging him as I did so.

"Yeah, I won the internship" he stated, and her face lit up.

"Oh wow. I have to admit, even I was impressed with that UI. It was simple, yet beautiful, and those filters!" Jane gushed, causing Carlos to blush.

"Yeah, those took quite a while" he confessed, and Jane joked back.

"Perfection always does. Anyway, welcome to the design floor. We're responsible for designing the new products, and the interface they operate on. One we have a design, we ship it off to programming, and they do the rest" She finished, as I continued to look at Jane's art work. She spoke up again. "You'll be with me in the third week, designing the UI, as well as the watch itself" she gushed, and I was Carlos' face light up.

"That sounds really fun" he confessed, now pulling on the sleeve of his shirt, trying not to be act nervous around her.

"If you'll excuse us Jane, Carlos and I are going to get some lunch" I spoke up, and she nodded.

"I'll catch you later ok?" she said, as we stepped into the lift. By this point, it was 14:00, so we had sent about an hour exploring the building. I pressed the button for the ground floor, and the pair of us went out to lunch.

Carlos POV:
Lunch was interesting. Ben look me to a local restaurant, and we started to chat small talk. He asked me about school, saying it was impressive for someone under 18 to have already finished their education. "Yeah, the school decided it was best for me to skip a year. I was more academically inclined than most people" I confessed. I hated talking about my school experience. The last three years were easily the most miserable in my life, and I wanted to get as far away from that as possible.

He asked me about my passion for technology, and why I enjoyed it so much. Again, it was a rather embarrassing answer, but I decided it was best to tell him. "It was my computer science teacher I suppose. He was always there for me, and with me spending a lot of lunches with him, it made sense for him to teach me a few things along the way" I admitted, and I saw his facial expression change.

"You spent lunch with your teacher?" Ben asked in a rather curious tone.

"Not every lunch, but once a week I would go see him" I replied, and he seemed relieved when I said it, which was strange. After that, we headed back to the office, and Ben showed me some of the work he was doing. By the looks of it, he was adding to some spreadsheets he had made with was rather boring, as well as approving certain orders and what not. This wasn't really the side of technology that I wanted to be involved with, but it was all part of the internship, so I might as well make the most of it.

This whole thing probably lasted until about 5:30pm, and that's when Ben decided to call it a day. "Well, I think that's everything for today. But I'll see you tomorrow at 10:00. We have another staff meeting to attend, to see what everyone is working on, and then it's more of this admin stuff" he said, while a smile grew on my face. I was actually quite enjoying it, more than I expected at first so tomorrow would be enjoyable.

"Ok, well, I'll see you tomorrow" I said, getting up from the desk.

"Here, I'll walk you down" he said, following me to the lift. The way down was awkward, with us making small talk until the doors open.

"See you later" I said, waving as I walked through the sliding doors.

Half an hour passed rather quickly, while I was waiting for my taxi. I'd been told someone would be with me soon, but this was just talking the piss. I was fed up of waiting, so I decided to head for the bus stop, passing the front of the building as I did so. As soon as I walked past the doors, I saw Ben leaving the building. I tried to avoid him, but he saw me, and began to shout my name. "Carlos, you're still here?" he asked, walking towards me.

"Yeah, I ordered a taxi, but it never showed up, so I'm heading to the bus stop" I replied, trying to awkwardly leave the conversation.

"I can give you a lift home if you want?" Ben replied, and I blushed massively.

"No, no, it's fine. I don't want to trouble you" I replied, starting to make my way away from him.

"Come on Carlos, it's no trouble. I've got a pretty sick ride, if you wanna check it out" he said, pulling the keys out of his pocket, and I was immediately intrigued.

"Ok, sure" I said, walking back over to him, and following him to his car. The car itself was amazing, all high tech and everything, but at the same time it didn't show off too much. I think it was an Aston Martin Vanquish and it was in a beautiful silver. The journey started off quite quiet, before I decided to speak up. "So, what's your deal?" I asked, and he gave me the most confused look back.

"My deal?" he replied, and I nodded.

"Yeah, I mean, how did someone like you end up running a business, and why was everyone so friendly" I responded, and he chuckled.

"I suppose I just got lucky. When I finished university this year, my parents passed the business down to me, making me the Chairman of the company" he stated at first, and I gasped.

"Wait, you're the son of Belle and Beast?" I responded, and he chuckled.

"Yeah, I thought you knew" was all he said, and I shook my head.

"No, I just assumed they'd hired someone to take over" I responded, and he chuckled back.

"Anyway Lonnie, Jane and that lot are people I knew from university. When I became chairman, I offered them all a place as my 'directors' and they agreed. Doug studied programming at university, Jane did an art degree, Lonnie did a physics degree, and Chad did an engineering degree, so I knew they were all qualified" he continued, as we approached my street.

"That explains why everything is so modern" I joked, and he laughed back.

"Yeah, I wanted to put my own stamp onto the business, really make it my own. That's why we mostly hire the LGBTQ+ community, as I personally feel that we get overlooked when it comes to businesses. It's partly why you won the internship as well. I notice you put 'Gay' on your application." Ben confessed, and I was overcome with rage, and slight self doubt.

"Wait, I got the internship because I was gay? Because I represent part of the community that's overlooked, and not because of my app design." I began, and he quickly chimed in.

"No, it's not that at all. What I meant was, it was to show that anyone is capable of greatness" he said, and I snapped again.

"So, I'm a sympathy vote. Show that the gay kid can help out. Just stop the car" I said, facing the window, not looking at Ben. The car came to a stop, and I opened the door, but before I could get out, Ben grabbed my wrist.

"Carlos, let me explain. I didn't mean any offence by it" he began, but I yanked my wrist free from his grasp.

"Don't worry, I'll wear my pride t-shirt tomorrow" I replied, stepping out of the car, and slamming the door as I did so.

I got home that evening and cried. For once, I felt like I was chosen due to my ability, but instead it was because I stated my sexuality. My mother came home, and asked how the first day of the internship went, and I cried into her arms. I explained the whole situation to her, and she nodded along the whole time. "That's why I didn't use our surname, so it would solely be on ability, but instead it was because I specified my sexuality" I sobbed.

"Honey, from the sounds of it, everyone was impressed with your app. Everyone said how well you did, and I think your just focusing on the negatives of the situation. You need to go back in tomorrow, and show everyone what you can do" she said, comforting me while I sobbed. "Now come on. Let's get you some food" she finished, lifting me off the bed, and leading the way downstairs. I went to bed that evening, the events of the day replaying in my mind.

Ok, so there is the second chapter. I want to make a quick note saying that I dont believe that the LGBTQ+ community is overlooked when it comes to job prospects, but I needed something vital for the story. I'm sorry if I offended anyone with it.

Thank you to White Collar Black Wolf for leaving a view, and I'm glad you see you enjoyed it. Also thank you to Moon-9215 and Danny De Vil for Following and making the story a Favourite!

Until Monday TTFN :D