“I’ll be here when you get out.” He grasps me gently by the chin and gives me one last kiss. “Knock ‘em dead, sweetheart.”
I get out of the vehicle and head toward the building’s front doors when a cold shiver spikes straight through me, an odd sensation rolling in my guts. I feel like…
Like I’m being watched.
I quickly glance around my immediate surroundings. There’s no one.
Hunter rolls the passenger side window down. “Something wrong?”
I shake my head, shrug it off. It’s probably just nerves. “Wish me luck!”
“Good luck. Not that you’ll need it!”
* * *
“Shit, shit,shit.”
The girl seated a space away from me is having a full-on meltdown. She clicks her ballpoint pen over and over and over again, stressed out of her mind and to the annoyance of everyone around her.
Myself included.
I keep my eyes on my paper and reread the same question for the umpteenth time. These questions arewayharder than any of the practice ones I was working with. My head swims with math equations, chemical bonds, physics theories and principals, and critical reasoning skills. I’ve got a massive headache now that we’re coming up to the sixth hour of the exam. My hand’s sore from writing, and I’ve gone through at least three different pencils while filling in the bubbles on my answer sheet.
I can feel my brain frying. I was ready for this exam to be done five hours ago. There’s always a twenty-five percent chance that I can guess my way through the question, but it’s not a risk I’m willing to take. I’ve worked too hard and for too long to take this test. What’s the point if I’m not going to give it all I’ve got?
I close my eyes and take a deep breath.
I find my flow, working through the remaining questions with ease. I don’t think I answered all the questions correctly, but I know without a shadow of a doubt that I’m going to score near the top.
Once I’m finished, I hand everything in and practically skip out the door.
It feels good to take a breath of fresh air. A massive weight has been lifted off my chest, one less thing to worry about. Obviously, I’ll have to wait to receive the results before I can even think about sending off applications to medical schools, but at least it’s done and out of the way.
I find Hunter’s car parked out by the curb just like he said he would be. I stop short, though.
He’s surrounded by paparazzi.
A lotof them.
Chapter 27
Tip #27: Reflective sunglasses and a ballcap are shitty disguises.
HUNTER
Iwasn’t kidding when I told Eden I suffer from testing anxiety. My palms get all clammy and my stomach gets lodged in my throat. I’m not even the one taking the damn test and I’m nervous as hell for her.
Once I’ve dropped Eden off and see that she’s safely inside the building, I drive off to find a local coffee shop. I have seven and a half hours to kill, but I don’t feel like going home or back to the office. I’d much rather be nearby, just in case Eden finishes early and…
And because I don’t really want to be anywhere else.
For what it’s worth, I do manage to get some work done. I brought my laptop so I could sort through the onslaught of emails piling up in my inbox. It’s only been a week since I’ve been without my personal assistant and my life is already disorganized. Sometimes I wonder how she does it, staying on top of all my shit while also dealing with hers.
She’s amazing, that’s how.
There are several emails from Renee with regards to the production’s spending budget. The costume department’s been going overboard, and the pyrotechnic experts we’re supposed to be bringing in are now quoting their services at double the agreed upon rate.
In summary: a giant pain in my ass.