The front office of the Assessment Center was empty. Judging from how still it was, everyone must have been in the test room. I tiptoed to my desk and spotted a pile of documents next to my keyboard. The moving abstract screensaver played on the monitor, and the red lights on the telephone machine blinked furiously, but the ringing sound was muted.

Ignoring the phone calls, I plopped down on my chair and directly traced back the correspondence I had about today's assessment. I still couldn't believe I confirmed three appointments in the same slot. Some part of me hoped that there was just a misunderstanding on the client's side, but to my dismay, that was not the case at all. Three clients crumpled in the same day and time.

As soon as I learned that the correspondence took place on the very day I had a big fight with Dean, I couldn't swallow my cuss anymore. "Shit. Fuck," I mumbled under my breath.

Defeated by my own stupid mistake, I forced myself to start with my routine. Tuesday was always the worst when it came to phone calls and inquiries, and being an hour late forced me to double my speed. I even skipped my lunch to cover all the mess.

I was sweaty and beaten when a door was pushed open, followed by the footsteps of two people leaving the test room. I quickly rearranged my hair, which probably looked like Dr. Emmet Brown's in Back to the Future, and made my way to the room.

Mrs. Sue, the consultant in charge, stood by the whiteboard, talking with one client when I entered. Not wanting to disturb their discussion, I headed straight to collect the test materials piling up on the large desk in the center of the room.

"So, three appointments at the same time. Care to explain?" she asked after the client left.

I gulped. "Mrs. Sue, I'm so sorry about the overlapping schedules. I don't know what to say, except that it will never happen again."

She stared at me, assessing me, and sighed. "Ms. Adrian, we rebuilt this Assessment Center after years of stagnation. With this new team and strategy, we're hoping to bring back the good name before the fallout. Thus, to gain trust back from our old clients and more attention from potential clients, we can't afford these kinds of mistakes. We need their reviews. I know the admin job can be tedious sometimes, but this is why you get paid."

I looked down at my shoes as she talked. "I understand."

"Alright." She picked up a document from her desk. "This morning we had to reschedule one client. After a few arguments, she agreed to return after office hours today. Can you stay back a bit until it's done?"

"Yes, of course. I'll stay back as long as I'm needed."

"Mr. Andrew will handle the test. We're lucky that he managed to cancel his appointments to help us out. Please prepare the document accordingly."

"Yes, ma'am."

"I will be in my office until the next batch starts. How much time do I have left?" She glanced at her wristwatch. "I'll be back in twenty."

***

It had been warm and humid since last night. It drizzled a bit in the morning, but the clouds still hung low in the sky, a sign that more rain was about to pour. With my hair tied into a high ponytail, I devoured my cold drink at the pantry while waiting for the last assessment to finish.

Mrs. White left thirty minutes ago without giving me a long speech about professionalism. Blake would be the last consultant whom I owed an apology, but judging from our previous interaction, I was sure he understood.

When a door finally swung open, I jumped from my seat and hurried to Blake's room. He was still at his desk, getting ready to leave, and my heart made a happy leap when my eyes caught his figure. Why couldn't he be slightly uglier to make it easier for me to do my job.

"Hey," I greeted him after the client left. "I'm really sorry for the mess. And thank you for helping out today. I really appreciate this."

He glanced at me and shrugged. "What needs to be done needs to be done. How's your car?"

"I don't know yet. Still waiting to get checked," I replied, watching him slip papers into a plastic holder. "I will know more tomorrow morning, I guess."

With the document in his hand, he headed to the door, and in the blink of an eye, he was in front of me. My self-conscious kicked in when I realized how crappy I must have looked; clammy skin, damp hair, and reeking sweat. I could feel his gaze on me, intense and penetrating. Instead of having butterflies swarming in my stomach, I felt apprehensive.

"Jennifer, I believe Mrs. Sue has said her piece, so I won't waste my breath giving you another lecture about negligence. But I need to point out that you are expected to follow work etiquette and manners. Since your job requires direct contact with our clients, they will judge you by how you present yourself, and they will associate it with our professionalism as a team. Like it or not, you are a part of our public image." Blake's voice turned formal and sharp. "You don't have to look spectacular, but at least you need to look appropriate."

His words caught me off guard. Did he just criticize my appearance? Was he that shallow? My car broke down, I missed my lunch, I came to work late, and had to juggle between hectic phone calls and unexpected test preparation. Yet he dared to criticize how I looked?

"Your point is?" I challenged him.

His eyes narrowed, zeroing in on my right jaw. It's when a realization hit me like a bucket of cold water. I quickly covered the spot with my palm.

"Shit. I'm sorry." I undid my ponytail and let my hair fall around my neck. "That's, uh, I mean... Shit. I'll go fix it now."

I ran to my desk to grab my makeup kit and headed to the bathroom. This was embarrassing, beyond embarrassing. How could I forget about this mark? I reapplied concealer before I went for groceries, but of course my sweat wiped off my makeup. Tying up my hair was an absolutely dumb move.

Once in the bathroom, I groaned loudly when I see a purplish-red mark on my neck, right under my earlobe.

***

Blake was not there when returned from the bathroom, with a better covered neck, of course. He wouldn't be back until the last client. I wished the appointment had been canceled, and I didn't have to face him again. But when a tall, blond woman walked in with a laptop bag in hand, I knew my fate was sealed.

"Hi, I'm Amanda Beaver. I have an appointment with Mr. Andrew," she said. The woman was stunning, and when she smiled, her teeth were brighter than the LED lamp above our heads. At a glance, she reminded me of Daphne.

As if knowing his client was here, Blake appeared from behind the connecting door. His face was unreadable, but once his eyes fell on Ms. Beaver, a smile rose in the corner of his lips.

"Ms. Beaver. Have you waited long?"

"No, not at all. I actually just arrived."

"Please have a seat. I'll be ready in a minute." He turned to me, his smile gone. "Is her file ready?"

"Yes."

I got up to fetch the document from the cupboard, but when I turned around to give him the papers, Blake had walked away. Damn it. I took a deep breath, gathered my courage, and reluctantly head to the assessment room.

I was thinking of handing the document to him and leaving, but my mouth decided otherwise. "About this afternoon..." I cleared my throat. "What you saw was totally inappropriate, and I apologize for that."

"We don't have time for this."

His reply was like a slap in my face. "I'm just apologizing, not asking for your time to give more speech." I put the papers on the desk. "Do you need anything else?"

"I beg your pardon?" he asked, his eyes boring into me. "What kind of attitude is that?"

I blinked, taken aback by his question. "I was trying to apologize after the embarrassing event this afternoon, but you brushed me off."

"Because you picked the wrong time. It's concerning that after what happened today, you still haven't learned about behaving professionally. Did I make a wrong decision by giving you this job, Ms. Adrian?"

"With all due respect, sir, I've been working for this Assessment Center for almost three months now, and I'd never made a single mistake until today. I did everything I could to correct the mistakes. And I think it's unfair that you judge my general performance only based on today's omission."

Blake looked up and raised a brow. His piercing gaze gave me a chill, but I refused to back down from this staring battle.

"This is the first time in the history that three clients had overlapping schedules, and the person who was supposed to be responsible for this mess was not in the location. Once she showed up, an hour later, she wore a visible love mark on the neck without having the decency to cover it, even when she knew her job was dealing directly with clients. What do you think of this place, Jennifer, a strip club? Is that what you meant by correcting your mistakes?"

"I didn't lie about my car! And I didn't come to work like that on purpose. I didn't even realize the concealer went completely off until you pointed it out!" I raised my hands in the air in exasperation.

"Then you should use your brain instead of using your concealer. Think about the consequences before you act. I need to make it clear here. Your sex life is not my business, but when it starts to affect your work performance, then I will have to point it out."

I opened my mouth to spew further attack, but the voice in my head stopped me. I shouldn't say something I would regret. Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath to regain my composure. "Noted, sir."

"We're late. Now, send Ms. Beaver in," Blake said, his voice cold.

***

I had no idea how I survived the next ninety minutes. As much as I was tempted to just leave this place now, I was bound by my promise to Mrs. Sue to stay back until the test was done. My dignity was being tested.

I knew I was explosive, but his reaction was also harsh. He blew it out of proportion. How could he throw all those false accusations at my face without giving me a chance to explain?

Blake left the test room wearing the same face as he came in. He only focused on Ms. Beaver, who was getting too friendly to him, and he didn't seem to mind. We said our goodnight before they left the building together.

Sad, angry, and humiliated, I turned off my computer and was more than ready to go home. I needed a long bath and my soft bed.

The campus was pretty empty as I trudged across the yard. The heavy rain two hours ago forced the Welcome Week event to end earlier today, which was a shame. Colorful booths lined up in the main campus yard lifelessly on the damp grass, which was partly covered by mud.

It was when a water drop landed on my forehead. Out of reflex, I looked up at the sky and a few more drops hit my face. Shit. The rain was going to fall again. But I didn't want to go back to the building and get stuck alone until I found someone who could pick me up. It would be too creepy. So I started running to the campus bus stop.

A familiar black Mercedes slowed down as I jogged along the pavement toward to campus main gate. The passenger window rolled down and the last person I wanted to see came into view.

"Get in," Blake ordered.

"No, thank you."

"It's going to rain hard. Just get in the car." His voice turned softer. "Please?"

"I said no."

He sighed. "Jennifer, stop acting like a child. You know it's easier to just jump in and I'll drive you home."

"The hell I'm taking a ride home with you." I glowered at him, but in the next second, the rain poured down to wash off the earth in full force.