The woman flips through my resume once more. I push my clasped hands between my thighs as I sit across from her. I follow her every move, noting her eyes scanning the page before her from top to bottom and going back up again.

She sighs and shuts the folder. "Miss Stewart," she starts. From the way her painted mouth forms a straight line and her grim tone, I can already tell whatever following next won't be pleasant. I brace myself for the blow. "While your grades are remarkably good, I doubt you have the abilities required for this job. We've had applicants with much more fitting skill-sets. Along with experience matching the requirements of this work better. I hope you understand, but we cannot give you this position," she finishes and pushes my file towards me.

I nod and grab the yellow binder. "Thank you for your time," I mumble, gaze downcast, as I get up and drag my feet out of the office.

I lean against the wall near the door and rest my head against it, staring blankly at the bare white wall across from me. With one hand clutching the file, I press the heel of my other palm to my forehead and squeezing my eyes shut.

Damn it.

I was so ready to land this job. What will I tell Mom and Mason? How can I send Dad to therapy with no money?

The urge to scream, or kick something, or even punch somewhere just to get rid of my rising frustration burns through my veins. But instead, I settle with deep breaths to calm myself.

After a long moment, I pull myself to my full height, slip the folder into my rucksack and trudge out of the building.

I rest my hands on the straps of my backpack, my arms weigh it down, hunching my shoulders. I stand on the sidewalk, gazing at the passing cars, and can't help but wish I had majored in anything other than maths. A major that would have secured a good and high-paying job with minimal effort.

But never in million years did I imagine we'd lose our fortune.

Lost and dejected, I plod down the street, towards my least favorite place, the subway. All the while, my mind wanders to the plans I had made after getting my first salary from this job I failed to get into.

The twenty minutes ride to my college goes by faster than expected. By the time I'm out of the underground and away from those moving metal boxes, the sun is slowly sinking behind the skyline.

I walk past the campus and tread towards my favorite coffee shop.

I have to pull myself together and start looking for new positions. There's no point in mopping. My family needs me, I must stay strong and keep my emotions at bay.

Yet, the rejection hurt.

I never thought I had to endure it. All my life, I prepared myself to become a professor, a kind one too, not like these assholes in my university. On top of that, I was positive Dad will always have my back. There wasn't a thing that a phone call from the billionaire business tycoon Mr. Stewart couldn't fix.

How wrong I was.

Now I am my family's support system.

I sigh and enter the cafe, and get in the lengthy line of reaching my spirit booster, coffee.

The brick walls give a welcoming sense. Orange and yellow lightbulbs hang on long black electric cables, over a foot apart from the ceiling, illuminate the place. I survey the area, all booths are taken. At least I don't have to worry about finding a spot. My apartment is a few blocks away from here and I love walking.

That is the only bright side of my daily basis life, college and my favorite coffee shop are near where I live. How pathetic.

I inhale sharply and shake my head. Be positive.

I tap my feet on the wooden floor and cross my arms in front of my chest as my gaze sweeps over the small area once more. Midway, I halt, sensing I've spotted a familiar face. My eyes widen and with hesitance, I backtrack my line of sight.

My eyeballs almost jump out of my eye sockets as I locate the one and only mister obnoxious, Professor Wright.

A closer inspection leads to my jaw practically hit the ground. A woman, no scratch that, a freaking flawless, supermodel-like, woman is sitting across from him and talking to him. Damn! Who would have thought Prof could land himself a girl like her!

Wright is not ugly by any means. He has a great symmetric face and a well-built body, but he lacks the most important factor, personality.

I bite my bottom lip to stop myself from smirking and angle away from them so he wouldn't see me. As much as I'd like to know more about this mystery woman, and share my newfound information with my classmates, I am in no mood of seeing him again. I've had enough of Wright for one day. Not to mention, it's pretty awkward crossing paths with your professor outside of the university. I just hope he doesn't spot me.

I shift a bit more and untie my hair, securing the scrunchie on my wrist, below my wristwatch. Privileges of being a girl, having a perfect hiding shield at all times. I let my hair act as a curtain and keep a side of my face hidden.

I feel awful for the poor girl. She has no idea what a sociopath she's on a date with... wait, what if she is already his girlfriend? Or maybe fiancé? Even wife. I don't know Wright's age, so anything could be possible. Not that it's any of my business. But let's face it, what's more interesting than your prick of a professor's personal life? Exactly, nothing. Not a single gossip in this world can match the gossips revolving around professors and teachers. Can't tell why, but their lives have always been an intriguing matter.

I cover my mouth with a palm to hide my silent giggles.

At least coming here uplifted my mood. After standing a little while longer, I reach the counter to order my usual iced espresso with no sugar.

I stand aside for a few more minutes until it's prepared. Grabbing it and waving to the employees, I spin, ready to leave. A few steps away, my gaze still fixed on my cup, I almost crash into someone, nearly spilling my entire coffee on both of us.

"My gosh," I gasp, my head snapping up, meeting a pair of soft brown eyes, belonging to the same girl sitting across wicked Wright. "I'm so sorry," I quickly add.

At the same moment, Professor Wright turns, his gaze darting between me and the woman, his eyebrows slowly draw together.

She smiles at me and flips her golden hair behind her shoulder. "It's all right," she assures as she runs her hands over her well-fitting black dress that reaches her knees.

"Stewart," Wright says, furrowing his brows and squinting, as if unsure if it's me.

"Professor," I mumble, avoiding his scrutiny, and force a tight-lipped smile, while my free hand's fingers fidget.

"You're his student?" she asks with delight, drawing my focus to herself. Her eyebrows are raised, brown eyes twinkling under the yellow light. "I'm Julia." She offers her hand. "Grad or undergrad by the way?"

I accept her hand, "Undergrad. Gracie," I reply with a small smile and decide I like her already.

She gasps, and I notice she has fixed her attention on my wristwatch. "Is that the special handmade collection?" she exclaims as she lets go of my palm.

A quick glance at Professor and I catch him frowning. Shit, now he thinks I was lying earlier today in his office. Regardless, I nod. "Yeah."

"So you're one of the lucky five?" she asks with surprise. "I wanted to buy one, but it was sold out." She pushes her hair behind her ear, showcasing a shining diamond earing. She draws her perfectly shaped eyebrows together, "Gracie Stewart?" she mumbles. I frown and tilt my head in confusion. "Mason Stewart..." she starts, but her voice trails down.

"Is my bother," I complete for her.

Her brows jump high and she grins. "My god, such a small world. He had a reputation back in Harvard, everyone knew him! We used to date; did he ever mention me?"

Damn you, Mason. I lick my bottom lip awkwardly and shake my head. "I-I'm sorry."

She giggles and waves her hand dismissively. "It's okay, it was only three months and let's be fair, it was hard to keep up with his dating records."

"Yeah," I laugh, relaxing the slightest. He sure was a player back then.

Wright keeps looking between me and Julia with narrowed eyes.

I ignore him and shift my weight from one leg to another and hold my ice coffee in my other hand.

"How's he?" she inquires with interest.

Paralyzed. "Fine." I fake a smile to hide discomfort from talking about him.

"Thank goodness, I found out about his accident from our friends, so the recovery went well. He was a really healthy guy."

I bite my lip and nod. He was. Every week he used to try something new, or do the ones he hadn't done with his buddies. Either scuba diving or bungee jumping. Nothing held him back. And now he's stuck in a wheelchair, probably for the rest of his life... because of me. I inhale sharply and push aside these thoughts.

"Heard he had lost mobility, I'm glad he's doing okay now."

I frown. "He's still going to physiotherapy, but he's fine. I didn't realize news covered this though."

"Oh, no. My friend's dad worked in a hospital your brother was admitted to at first, before you guys moved him..." her voice trails down. She shifts awkwardly, tilting her expensive black stiletto upwards, only the needle-like heel remains on the wooden floor as she spins it left and right. "I'm sorry for what happened this summer." She quietly adds.

"It's life, it happens," I reply nonchalantly, with a small smile, trying to prevent things from getting uncomfortable.

"Yeah, especially the richer you are, the more you're at risk to lose."

I nod, agreeing.

"Anyway, what happened between Mason and that girl, Caroline, was her name, right? They were really serious. There were rumors about them preparing for marriage or something," she wonders.

"They broke up a week after his accident."

"Oh." Her brown eyes turn round with surprise. "That's awful, I'm sorry." The corners of her painted red lips curve downward.

Julia opens her mouth to speak again but Wright moves his hand to her back and says, "It's getting late, and I'm sure she has a lot to study. It's better if we don't distract her and get going."

She turns to him with an arched eyebrow. "Spencer! Don't tell me you're that type of professor." She giggles as Wright shoots her a death glare before facing me. "You know, Gracie, in college when we were classmates, he was the student when the Profs used to forget to set assignments, Spencer would have reminded them," she laughs. I bite my lip to hold back my laughter as his features draw together.

"Or would have urged them to give harder questions! He was that obnoxious nerd who everyone hated his guts." She throws her head back tittering.

Why am I not surprised?

I giggle and without noticing it slips from my mouth, "Can't blame them."

Unfortunately, both of them hear me. Julia chortles as Wright glowers at me. Heat rushes to my cheek, and I look away, but giggles bubble out of me, anyway.

Julia pats my shoulder. "For real!" she laughs.

"Julia," Wright says, his voice deep and low. "It's getting dark, we should get going, we're already late," he adds.

She glances at the wide windows of the shop; the sun is nowhere in sight, leaving the sky in darkness. Julia nods and turns to me. "He's right, it's dark, do you want us to drop you off?" she offers with a kind smile.

Professor's eyes widen and he opens his mouth, obviously ready to cook up an excuse, but I'm faster. "No thanks, my apartment is pretty close, only a few blocks away."

"Are you sure? I mean we're-" she starts, but I shake my head.

"Absolutely, I'd prefer to walk." I smile at her and she sighs, giving in.

"It was amazing meeting you. Say my hi to your brother, and take care." She smiles and walks towards the entrance.

Wright opens the door for her, his hand resting on the small of her back. Definitely his girlfriend. I keep smiling at her as she waves at me and steps outside.

"Goodbye," I mumble to Professor and he only nods, following Julia. But before he strides out, he halts and spins to me.

"Have you tried learning any programming languages? Or machine learning?" he suddenly asks.

I gape at him for a second before regaining my bearing and shaking my head no.

"Try them, it should broaden your horizon and fill up your resume for jobs," he says.

I stare at him for a moment, at a loss for words. With multiple blinks I find my voice and reply, "Than- thank you so much, sir."

He nods, and without another word heads out of the shop.

That was sudden.

Perhaps he's in a better spirit after seeing his girlfriend. Maybe they had a fight or were on break and now they made up. I hope they sleep with each other too. Who knows it might improve his mood and stop him and his classes from being a constant pain in the ass for all of us poor undergrads, barely surviving our last year in college.

I walk out of the warmth and coziness of the shop, into the chilly night and watch Julia and Professor Wright going towards a black Mercedes coupe. He opens its door for her and she slides into the car, flashing off her long and lean legs before settling inside. He shuts the door and rounds the vehicle and gets in it. The next beat they dash down the street.

I frown and stare at the spot they turned, going out of view. The last time I checked, Professors didn't get paid that much. Not to mention, it's his first-semester teaching. His family must be loaded.

Lucky bastard.

Envy and jealousy leave a sour sense on my tongue. My chest tightens as I recall my pretty dark blue Lamborghini. I miss being rich.

I sip my coffee and shove aside every other thought and struggle and negativity and just focus on me, my drink, and its lovely taste as I head home.

∞ ∞ ∞

WC: 2427

Total WC: 8059