Loving Adam

Chapter 6

I open my eyes to the beaming sunlight that hit my face. I can't remember what time I fell asleep. All I remember was being with Adam in the room, talking and giggling while we work on his speech together. 

I remember he...

SPEECH!

Oh my God, what time is it?

I quickly reach for my phone on the nightstand and the screen says 11:43 am.

"Shoot!" I jump right out of bed and run toward the bathroom. 

Oh my God, I am so late.

I wash my face quickly, grab the first dress I saw and run out of the door.

"Hart!" I hear Adam's voice when I reach the ballroom. I turn around and see him running toward me. He wears a suit and a tie today, which flies with him.

"They were looking for you!" he says, "Where have you been?"

"I uh, I..." I try to catch my breath.

"Ok Hart, relax. Breathe," he grabs both of my hands to calm me down, "It's gonna be fine."

"I woke up late!" I say, "Did I miss my turn? Did they skip me?"

"Well yes, they had to. You were supposed to go after me but they couldn't find you."

"Oh my God..." I'm about to burst into tears.

"No no no, we can still talk to them, okay? Let's talk to them."

He takes my hand and leads me to the committee room. We meet with a man named Phillip. 

Because I'm still feeling pretty shaken up, Adam is doing the talking for me.

"I don't know if we have enough time at this point. She has missed her slot and if I let her go up, the other people who have lined up since morning won't be getting their slots," Phillip says, "We are already running behind schedule as it is and we need to finish at 5 PM sharp because the President is coming tonight."

"Oh come on man," Adam says, "There must be something you could do."

"If there was, I would've done it. I'm sorry," he looks at me, "Looks like you have to try again next year. Sorry, I have to get back to the stage now."

Phillip leaves. Adam and I just stand there, unable to move.

"Hart, I'm so sorry," he takes my hand again, "If I didn't come knocking last night..."

"It's fine," I mumble to him and I turn around. 

I start walking fast, leaving him behind.

"Hart!" he calls me, but I keep on walking.

I can't let him see me cry.

#

Around 7 pm, I turn off the TV in my room and stare at the ceiling. I can choose to continue hiding in here or I can dress up and attend the dinner with the President.

I chose the latter. I get up, walk to the closet and pull the special dress which Barbara has picked for me. It's a long black silk dress that falls loosely in the back, just above my waist. I put my hair up in a ballerina bun, wear a pair of small pearl earrings that used to be my mom's and apply extra mascara and eyeshadows to hide my post-crying eyes.

I thought I look alright. 

I open the door and walk toward the elevator. When it opens in front of me, I see the last thing I needed to see today.