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The clock on the microwave told her she had twenty-two minutes now

She grabbed the package of two filet us Moving as fast as she could, she found the grill pan for the oing The baked potatoes she’d planned weren’t going to be possible with this little ti to boil water for corn on the cob would be pushing it Her stomach knotted as her pulse raced She buttered thick slices of Italian bread and seasoned the oven to brown

As soon as she turned the filets, she was back in the fridge When her gaze settled on the container of chickpea salad frootten they had that Finally, she threw together a green salad with chunky fresh vegetables

Keeping a close eye on the ti roo roon the flatware just so, just as he liked And then she was pouring the wine and plating the food with two minutes to spare

Alexa ht’ve fist-pu been late Her stomach was in so h it was her own damn fault

Six o’clock ca roo text e from Grant

I’ve got a dinner ht Don’t wait up

Alexa stared at the screen for a long ry tears She stuffed down all the things she wanted to say—and all the things she felt—and replied simply, Okay xo

Look on the bright side, she thought Okay On the bright side, she’d now have time she hadn’t expected to work on her final project for her senior seminar

Still

She let herself fume andfor several more minutes, and then she shook her head “Stop it, Al,” she said out loud God, she really was overemotional lately, wasn’t she? Just like Grant said she was

Between her job, designing the model home, her class project, her recent , there was just soit all with race and enthusiasm Instead, what she really felt scared her Scared her bad