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"I’ve been inforn division of the paper; is that correct?" she asked in thefashion she could muster

"I am"

"We’ve spoken with the university and set up a time for the Senator to speak publicly about his leap into federal politics We have very few trips planned for the su it a priority to speak at his al overti here To her school Well, their school Whatever! He was going to be in Chapel Hill to give a speech This certainly wasn’t a planned venue The student body wasn’t a target audience for the local elections, even though Liz was desperately trying to get the the presidential election her freshman year, the campus had been a madhouse, but students simply hadn’t put in as much effort for the local politicians Whether it was because they had a local representative at hoh they lived at the school for at least nine months out of the year) or they were too busy with their social lives, it just wasn’t a priority She could count on the two party organizations, the Caroups on campus to spread the word on their own, but soainst a brick wall

But if Brady was co to campus and it wasn’t a planned venue for hi it for a reason And she couldn’t think that that reason was…her

"The university has approved space and even encouraged us to consider doing a series about the upco that option, but as you are our contact at the campus paper, anted to let you know that this is an open press event We won’t be taking questions until after the event closes, at Senator Maxwell’s request We hope that you will be in attendance for this special occasion," Heather said in the sa tone

It hardly felt like a press request, ht of seeing Brady again, but she wasn’t comfortable with this conversation Who called after hours like this? If this was about Brady, then he could daton We’ll take it under consideration If you need to reach us again, please do call during office hours We typically aren’t working this late," Liz answered diploherty…" Heather said i for her to humph on the other end of the line "Senator Maxwell’s ti to the university If your paper isn’t interested in covering a prominent local official, I’d be happy to reach out to Chapel Hill News"

Liz held back the iue Did this woman think it was appropriate to bully a newspaper?

She took a deep breath before replying "We would be happy to have Chapel Hill News on campus, of course Please send over the details for the event, and a reporter will be in attendance Thank you for inforreat opportunity," she said as cheerfully as possible

"Wonderful, Miss Dougherty Glad we’re on the same terms I’ll shoot an e you then"

"You too, Ms Ferrington," Liz said as she hung up the phone She had already met Heather once before, teeks earlier She wondered whether Heather would remember her, whether she knew that Liz had slept with Brady--if Heather herself had slept with Brady No She didn’t want to think about that She had spent tooabout Brady Maxwell already Most of it wondering whether she was ever going to see hiain, or if she would be left with his shots on her coain, she was even more concerned with how the event would play out Did no questions until after mean he wanted to see her afterward? What was hishere anyway?

She had so many questions, and she realized that she was now veryin frustration, Liz pulled her co to bed anyti with her head buried in the keys of her laptop Gru to herself, she yaidely and closed the monitor She hadn’t even known it was possible to actually fall asleep on her corabbed her bag and walked out into the main office She hoped she didn’t look as shitty as she felt

"Morning, Liz," Meagan called cheerfully as Liz walked by Liz waved at her halfheartedly, ready to get out of the office and back to her house "Long night?"

"Yeah," she gruet away as quickly as possible Meagan was a known big et away She ran an opinions colu the student body, but the coluot soan asked

"Nah, that’s all right I’et so up her things

"Really, Meagan, I’ve had a long night, and I’m sure you have a lot of work to do I’ll catch up with you later," Liz said, darting out of the office

She made it down to her car, happy that it didn’t have a ticket on the windshield They started at forty dollars regardless of the offense While she probably deserved it for staying in the service vehicle lot overnight, she was glad that fate had looked on her with good fortune Returning to her house off carime of the office She scarfed down a bowl of Frosted Flakes and then hightailed it back to ca to be late for her class

Liz was running too far behind to walk to ca in one of the few decks on campus There were a ton of spots thanks to the summer session, but it was still an uphill hike to her class Sweat beaded on her te, and rushed into the over-air-conditioned room

Professor Mires was Liz’s favorite instructor, and she hated being late to her class She slipped into the rooht before the professor closed the door

"Good to see you, Miss Dougherty," Professor Mires said

"Morning, Professor," Liz said with a sheepish ser professor as far as they went, probably in her early thirties She dressed like a fashionable hippie, with librarian glasses and her hair always pulled back into a er than her who hung around her office all the tiirls swooned over hi her love notes on her whiteboard

Liz took a seat at the back of the room and pulled her computer out She still needed to check to see whether she had received an email from Heather with the details of Brady’s campus visit