Page 57 of Zimyra

“Axel?”

“Yes?”

“Oh, I thought the line disconnected. I’m going to do a few hours of studying before I go to bed. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Yep. Bright and early.”

“Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, Sunflower.”

She laughs and then hangs up.

As soon as she does, I immediately call Peter and when he doesn’t answer, I leave a voicemail:

Ay, we have a big problem. Call me back as soon as you get this.

CHAPTER 17

I always stress over tests. I know this stuff. I know it! However, as soon as I sit down to take the test, I freak out and just sit there staring at the computer. I’ve never been great at test-taking. I’m more of a hands-on kind of person. And I kinda hate studying.

I rub my eyes and sigh before looking at my notebook again. Coming to Grindstone Café to study after work was supposed to help me stay awake and focused, but I’m getting more frustrated by the second. It doesn’t help that there’s a guy sitting at the table in front of mine staring over here like I’m supposed to be flattered by his attention.

I’m not.

I’m so tired of men bothering me when I’m just trying to mind my business. The number of times I have to turn down number requests, or answeryou got a man, orcan I get your Instaquestions is appalling. Then there are others who stare, like this one.

“Ugh,” I grunt to myself. “Just don’t look up, Zimyra.”

I glance at my notes and read in a quiet tone, “Chinoiserie is a style of design that mimics East Asian art.”

I repeat this several times and then move on to the next word.

“Dimmable is when a lightbulb’s brightness is adjustable.”

That one is pretty much common sense. I read over it anyway before going to the more difficult vocabulary.

I take a sip of coffee, strategically ignoring this guy staring at me. I glance over at the order counter just so he can know I’m not interested in him. I end up doing a double take. Axel is standing at the counter placing an order.

What the heck?

I shake my head, battling the smile that tried to make an appearance on my face. Is this a coincidence? I made sure Axel stayed busy today so I didn’t have to do too much talking while staring into his entrancing eyes. I even left before he and Mauricio could give me the maintenance report for the day. I just figured they’d give it to me in the morning.

I take another sip of coffee and look up, catching Axel’s gaze. I’m not going to lie – it’s a lot better than this man who’s been ogling me for the last half hour. Still, I hope Axel takes his food and goes on his way. I don’t have time to answer his questions today.

After he pays, he heads in my direction and once he reaches my table, he sits down, directly across from me like I invited him. Summoned him, even. I know I have pretty eyes, but I don’t think they’rethatpowerful.

“Hi,” he says.

“What are you doing here, Axel?”

“I said,hi,” he repeats, then flashes an amazing white smile that makes my heart skip a beat.

“Hi. What are you doing here, Axel?”

“Mauricio told me this was a nice little café, so I figured I’d give it a shot.”

I say, “Well, I’m busy studying, so I don’t have time to talk.”

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