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All said and done, his ex-wife had managed to take up most of his morning before she left, promising to send paperwork his way. She pulled him into a hug before she left, and when she did, it was like the room filled with air again.
“Oh, shit,” Hazel said suddenly.
“What?” Ian turned his head. She was staring at her feet.
“I forgot to change my shoes.”
“Don’t worry about that now.” Ian returned to his desk.
Hazel picked up her messenger bag, dug around in it, and pulled out a hairbrush. “I look like I just woke up.”
“Not possible, since I’ve seen you contending with a corporate lawyer for the better part of two hours.”
Hazel made a face.
“What’s wrong? It isn’t like you to be late, or for you to come to work like this.” Ian leaned back.
“It’s just midterms. My Poli-Sci exam is tomorrow, and Intersectionalities is on Wednesday. My grant writing class has a big paper due on Thursday, too. It’s twenty percent of our grade. I’ve got it mostly written, but I have all these small details to check out, and the professor is really picky.” Hazel pulled her hair up and twisted the hair around into a makeshift bun.
“This is why I don’t miss college,” Ian teased. “And you want to go to grad school.”
“I love college. I hate tests. Thank God you aren’t having us do midterms.”
“I don’t like to grade. And I think it’s useless for a practicum in any case.”
“Yeah, I’ve had more than my share of exams from the Business Department.” Hazel brushed her hands over her hair and sighed. “Are you going to take Ms. Davenport’s offer?”
“I’m thinking about it. Cartwright & Benton has never had a strong philanthropic arm before.” He shrugged. “But at the very least, I can help her with making the contacts they need.”
Hazel seemed pleased. “Good. I’m glad.”
“You’re too kind for your own good.” Ian went to her and touched her hair. “You’ve given me some time for the day. I think you ought to go study.”
“I can finish the day,” Hazel protested. “I took the week off at the grocery store, so I would have extra time for my finals.”
Ian looked into her eyes—so open, so vulnerable and eager to please. He suspected it wasn’t just a good work ethic that made her want to stay.
“As you wish. I’m going to call my main office for a conference about Meryl’s offer. You can listen in, or you can work on the book.” Ian returned to his seat. Then, he paused to press the intercom button. “Vicki, could you bring the two of us some coffee and order us lunch from the Terra Café.”
“Right away, sir.”
Hazel grinned as she set up her laptop. She knew how he despised vegan food. There was really only one reason that he’d order it.
And that was to make her happy.
***
The week was only halfway over, and Hazel felt like she might die of exhaustion. On Monday night, she’d turned in her Grant Writing paper early, and then gone to a study group for Poli-Sci on Monday night and taken the exam the next morning. After that, she’d studied for Intersectionalities continuously, only stopping to show up for her class with Dr. Cartwright. She hadn’t slept that night. Not a wink. Then she’d returned to the school and studied until the exam itself.
The exam was held in the computer lab. Three hours, three essay questions. When Hazel read the exam questions, she thought her stomach might fall out onto the floor.
Somehow, after taking a long swig of her water, Hazel had buckled down and typed until the teacher told them to stop. She didn’t even take a bathroom break like some of the other students had. By the time she was finished, she was exhausted and starving, and her head still buzzed from all the caffeine she’d had over the past two days.
Trying to get her head together, Hazel sat and waited for the bus to take her to her parking lot and looked at the calendar on her phone. Was there anything she was forgetting? That was all of her classes, right?
She jumped as her phone buzzed with a text message. It was Dr. Cartwright. Had she forgotten something he’d asked her to do?
Are you coming by this evening? was all the message said.
Hazel blinked a few times, trying to remember what she’d promised. She couldn’t. Though it would be just like her to have agreed to come to the office after her test. She dialed his number.
“Dr. Cartwright? Hey, I’m sorry. I don’t remember promising to come in after my exam. What was I supposed to do for you?” There was a slight keen of pleading in her voice, but Hazel ignored it. It wouldn’t be helped. Not with this headache.
