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My jaw drops. Jeez, I almost forgot. "Are you saying she made the cut?"
"Yes."
Excitement crackles through me, whether she was Elias's top choice or not, she apparently was my father's, who truly has the final say. "Wow!" I exclaim, a bit too loudly. "She's going to be so happy."
He chuckles at my outburst as he reaches into his pocket, fishing out something metallic and slender.
A flash drive, really? God, he's so old school. I hold back a snicker, watching him slide the device across my desk.
"Have it back to me by tomorrow, if possible." He stands up to leave, but before he goes, he glances at my drawings, and for the second time, the strangest thing happens.
He doesn't say a word.
THIRTY-SIX
JULIANA
So, what, I tore our contract off the fridge? I couldn't stand the sight of it anymore. Sure, it probably gave Hayden a world of mixed signals, but it doesn't make us real boyfriend and girlfriend. Although...
It doesn't necessarily make us not.
Either way, all I know is this past week, with every day that comes and goes, the latter is starting to sound more appealing. So, yes. I threw away our contract—and may have shredded it into itty-bitty pieces beforehand—even though my exact motives are still in question.
Besides, it's pointless now, anyway. I haven't heard a peep since my presentation. I'd say my chances of being picked as Kingston Entertainment's sponsor are next to zero.
I won't lie, I'm quite distraught over it, maybe more so than the last few years of applying, just from the fact that I had a one-on-one audience and still didn't land a feature, but that's not the reason I've hardly worked on my game this week.
Let's just say, as of late, I've been a tad... distracted.
Perhaps one might say a teensy bit... busy.
With my mind... elsewhere.
I won't get into the nitty-gritty. In fact, I can't. Not without wasting my precious lunch break for the third day in a row. Which is why, this morning, after finishing up with that which can't be discussed, I promised myself I'd use the time today to work on fixing a bug.
It's a weird one, and I'm lucky a player was kind enough to message me about it, otherwise I probably would've never discovered it during my own testing. The error triggers only under very, very unlikely circumstances. Mabel has to be in the exact spot at the exact time, when deploying a kitty litter sand trap, for her to throw it in the complete opposite direction.
While that may sound bad, with this bug in particular, detection is harder than actually fixing it, which is why I should be even more ashamed that I've pushed it off this long.
So far, I've managed to stay focused and am already halfway done. However, it's proving quite difficult to tackle the other half with the way Mei eyes me from across the table.
"Got something on your mind?" I ask, even though I already know what her mischievous look is about.
"Huh? Who, me?"
I deadpan.
"Oh, nothing." She twirls a dark lock between her fingers, stifling a smile. "You've just been glowing."
Rolling my lips, I return to my work, trying to avoid thinking of anything that'd veer me off course. "You know why," I say, hoping she'll leave it at that.
Of course, she doesn't.
"I know, you know, I know."
My eyes bulge, earning a giggle from her.
"I just like hearing about it, is all."
