She tried to keep busy. She cooked, she cleaned, she even tried writing, but no matter what she did Elle couldn't focus. All she could think about was the event tomorrow.

The more she thought, the more she worried. As time pa.s.sed, her excitement turned to anxiety and her antic.i.p.ation turned into fear. It was around four in the afternoon when Elle finally had a breakdown.

It was surprising that she had lasted as long as she did.

Elle had tried and failed to take a relaxing bath to calm her tense nerves. While in the bath all she could think of were all the horrible things that could go wrong tomorrow. They piled up until she eventually cracked under the pressure of them.

Finally, she got out of the bath and decided to give Adam a call. It was the first time she had taken the initiative to contact him, which only added to her anxiety.

Adam had been in the middle of a meeting when he got the call. He took one look at his screen and then excused himself from the meeting. All the staff members in the room watched incredulously. They had never seen Adam step out of a meeting for a call before. It must have been someone very important.

As Adam stepped out into the hallway he picked up her call.

"h.e.l.lo." his cool voice sounded from the other end of Elle's phone.

"Hi." Elle replied in a shaky voice. It felt strange to hear his voice so close to her.

"Is everything okay?" He asked immediately.

"I'm feeling a little nervous." Elle admitted. "I don't know if I can do this."

Adam looked at the time on his watch. "Are you at home?" He asked.

"Yes."

"Be ready in thirty minutes."

"Okay." She said miserably.

It only took her five minutes to change out of her bathrobe and into a formal black jumpsuit. It took her another five to dry her hair. Elle spent the other twenty minutes pacing.

It was exactly thirty minutes later that Elle saw Adam's car pull into the driveway.

'Of course.' Elle thought to herself bitterly. 'How predictable that he is punctual up to the second.'

Adam watched as Elle entered the car. Her face was pale, and as she sat in the seat beside him she kept fidgeting with her fingers.

"Are you really that nervous?" He asked lightly.

Elle gave him a look as if pleading him to put her out of her misery.

"I a.s.sume you haven't eaten lunch yet." Adam remarked as he pulled out of the driveway.

"No." Elle confirmed.

"Then let's go get some food."