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"Hey," Hayden said His sreat"

"Thanks," Liz said She appreciated his compliment in spite of her nerves as he pulled out of her driveway

He looked good too He wore a fitted black suit with a white button-down and a blue tie that h Liz gritted her teeth at the thought She hated co else to talk to Hayden about

"How do you think the paper is doing so far?" she et out

"Good We lost a lot of seniors at the end of the last year, but the inco up I was surprised to see Savannah Maxwell in the rooh for reasons he would have never guessed

"You would think with her fa," Hayden continued "I orried she would be a liability"

"I think she doesn’t want to be under the shadow of her fa shoes to fill and all that," Liz told hiht into Savannah’s head, but she orking closely with her now Liz could kind of pick up on her vibe

"Well, as long as you tell together, then I don’t see any problem with it I kno you feel about our politician"

Liz tried not to cringe at the nae the subject again, but worried that soo back to Brady…especially today

Finally Liz relaxed enough to just shrug She wasn’t going to talk about Brady She was too nervous for him at present

"What do you think about the other fresh-winded discussion of every new person Hayden had come into contact with Some Liz had seen or heard about already in the first week and others she hadn’t, but she fed hiive h Hayden kept up a steady strea her hands in her lap from nerves When Hayden asked about it, she tried to brush it off She was too invested in the race, since she had spent all summer on it The outcome was really important and all that But she was really just anxious for Brady…and for what itforward

They followed the directions to the south side of Raleigh, where a ballroom was to be the spot for the Senator’s victory celebration and his acceptance speech to run for office The press passes she had received had Senator Maxwell’s Victory Celebration written on the it all She kneasn’t as certain of the title as his own party

Hayden pulled up in front of the ballroo lot He flashed his press pass and then drove into their designated lot The sun was sinking on the horizon when Hayden finally parked, which , ballots counted, and results would be co in soon

Liz stepped out of the car into the bal, complete with notepad and trusted recorder Hayden carried the caether

They flashed their passes and were handed a press information packet, and then were directed to their section of the room Liz smiled at the usher and followed Hayden into the ballroon had pulled out all the stops for this event The room was decorated entirely in the festive red-white-and-blue, with VOTE FOR MAXWELL banners hanging all around the periiant staircase opened up on the opposite end of the room from two tiered balconies and led to the ballrooe that had been erected A podiu across it, and another enor up behind it A projection screen took up part of one wall and was broadcasting the news as they waited for election results to come in

A crowd had already for the results So excitedly into theirthe company as they waited to hear the fate of the man they had put their trust in

She wished in thata press badge, that she weren’t dressed in a pantsuit, that she weren’t here to work She wanted to be in an elegantover the results with Brady She wanted to be so that everyone said was i the s her into the ballroom

Liz remembered the first press conference she went to with Hayden and what it felt like when he had touched her then She had been exhilarated and excited, but now all she felt were her nerves threatening to bubble over She needed to cal a deep breath, she lifted her chin and walked confidently over to the press section, which had a raised platforraphers to capture the speeches Hayden pulled out the tripod stand and began setting up the caround next to his stuff They would use soe tomorrow in their post-primary reel online It ed after this suot the equipment secured into place, and Liz bit down on her lip hard in anticipation Were they already announcing results? Had the ballots already been counted? Could it possibly be that quick? It didn’t seehtened his tie and spoke confidently into the camera "Thank you soto hear the primary results, and we’ll update you as soon as they start rolling in We already have so up on the screen now Follow below to see the list while the rest of us wait for the toss-ups that we have been tracking--the Hardy-Maxwell race over there in North Carolina in particular along with…"

Liz tuned out the rest of the co Toss-up race She had used the phrase herself in her journalis people to vote, but hearing it on the news made it even worse

She didn’t realize that she had been staring at the screen until Hayden waved his hand in front of her face

"We’re not getting to the results any faster Are you all right?" he asked, arching an eyebrow

"Just zoned out, I guess"

"Do you want a drink or anything? I was going to go snag a water," he offered