Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 80651 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 323(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80651 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 323(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
Some people laughed and some people groaned. Sutton just stood there, also wearing her sunglasses, hands on her hips, as if ready for battle. She and I could have done something like this on our first date. It would have been fun. Although I wouldn’t want to be pitted against her. I’d much prefer to have her on my team.
I picked the teams and they all went to their first stations. Sutton’s first activity was the maze. I wanted to stick around and see how this went.
She turned to Andy and asked him to be her partner. I knew Sutton had said she wasn’t interested in a relationship because she wanted to focus on work, but I wondered if things had changed for her. Or whether they would. And would Andy be the guy by her side when they did? I couldn’t think about it.
“You can be blindfolded,” Sutton said. “I’ll be your guide.”
Andy shrugged and pulled out the blindfold while Sutton grabbed a map.
“Before you put the blindfold on, let’s agree that you’re only to take very small steps. Just half a foot in front of the other. That way we can avoid having to go backward.”
“But it will be quicker if I use bigger strides.”
“Not if you overshoot,” Sutton said. “Then you’ll have to go backward. Everything will go to shit. Just trust me on this.” She was right. I wasn’t sure Andy was the guy to listen, though. After a little more to-ing and fro-ing, she slipped the blindfold over Andy’s eyes. Sutton positioned him at the entrance to the maze. She gave a little laugh, glanced at me, and then headed to the tower. I wasn’t the only one watching her. Her colleagues were, too. This wasn’t the time to have a moment.
Sutton refocused and began giving out instructions as Andy shuffled ahead, followed by a volunteer and then me.
She started strong, was confident in her delivery and successfully guided Andy around two corners.
“Stay still,” she said. “I want you to turn to your right ninety degrees. Shuffle around.”
“Now move forward?” Andy asked.
“Yes, it’s about half the distance that you went before. Take it slow.”
“Stop,” she said. “Now stay on the stop and shuffle right.” Andy turned left. “No, wrong direction, the other way.”
“Are you sure?” Andy asked.
“I’m sure,” Sutton said.
“But we just turned that way,” Andy argued. What was he doing? Why wouldn’t he just listen to what Sutton said. She was the eyes in this partnership.
“You need to trust me to be able to see where you’re going. You need to turn one hundred and eighty degrees clockwise.”
“Really?” He sighed and pivoted right as instructed. Finally.
“Now move forward,” Sutton said. “Keep going.”
Andy shuffled forward.
“Stop,” Sutton instructed. “Now ninety degrees anti-clockwise.”
“Surely we’re back where we started.”
Sutton started to laugh the most delightful laugh, and I had to fight back a smile at the way her face lit up and her ponytail swished behind her as she tipped her head back. I wasn’t sure if she was laughing with him or at him. “Now reach forward with both hands.” In front of Andy, on a pedestal, was a tennis ball. I moved onto another group in case I could be accused of fixating on Dr. Sutton. Which I seemed to be.
Only another few months and she’d be moving on to a different specialty. Lucky them. It was only a few weeks in, but I was pretty sure she would be the star of her year just like I’d been the star of mine.
I moved onto the second activity, which was a game where everyone sat in a line about a meter apart. The first person in the line was given step-by-step written instructions on how to make a simple Lego house. The last person in the line was given the Lego bricks. The written instructions couldn’t be passed through the line. Instead, the instructions had to be communicated down the line of five people and finally given to the person responsible for building the house. They were about halfway through the build. It at least looked a little like a house, but the colors were wrong and they were missing important elements.
I glanced back at the haystacks activity and as I did, Sutton looked over her shoulder and right in my direction. She had her sunglasses on so I couldn’t be sure she was looking at me, but something told me this undeniable pull I felt wasn’t a one-way street. I didn’t know if that was a good thing or a bad thing. To some extent, it was comforting to know it wasn’t just an unrequited feeling, but on the other hand, believing she felt the same made it all the more difficult to resist her.
But I had to resist. My next career move couldn’t happen if I was dating an FY1. Even if I thought it was a good idea to pursue things between us, she’d pushed me away when we’d last kissed. She didn’t want things to go any further either.