Office Hours |h.s|

sixty five

Maude

As the week from hell nears closer, aka finals week, my determination to pass all my exams grows. In the back of my head, I know Lance paved the way for me to skate through law school doing virtually no work, but I'm setting a new precedent. Ushering in a new era in the Sterling family if you will.

I get why my brother and cousins use their last name to their advantage. Studying is just about driving me to run away to the middle of nowhere and lock myself in a room where my law textbooks can't find me. It's important though, and I'm not going to put my exams off just because I don't feel like taking them.

Yes, I know the law. Yes, I'll probably score well on my finals without studying so hard. But I'm not going to give anyone a reason to hate me.

Group study has kinda gone out the window this week, since everyone wants to focus on their own weaknesses and we all pretty much have the same notes at this point. The only problem with finals week? It's impossible to find a quiet place to study. It's crowded everywhere and Cass has kinda banned me from the apartment during study hours because then we won't pay attention to actually getting work done.

Harry graciously offered up his campus office for me to use for studying since he's never really in there. If he needs an office space he usually just brings his stuff to the firm. I've taken him up on his offer, especially since the building his office is in is so quiet. Plus it's nice getting to be in his space while I miss him during the day.

Laying back on the couch in his room, I read through some cases I need to know for Niall's final. The cases are the hardest part of the exam, since I have to know the details pretty well in order to apply the law to them. He already assured us that the cases would be attached to the exam, but logically there's no way you'd be able to read each one and answer the questions with time to spare. They're really only there for a quick reference.

My phone buzzes, pulling my attention away from my book. I did pretty good, studying for about an hour before being distracted like that. I smile when I see Harry texted me, asking how the studying was going.

As a response, I call him, getting up so I can take a good look around his office. I've been hiding away in here the last few days and haven't let my curiosity get the better of me, until now. As I wait for him to pick up, I let my eyes rake down the large bookshelf full of mostly textbooks. I'm sure they're from when he went to law school.

"So I take it the studying isn't going well?" He teases when he picks up the phone, making me smile.

"You're the one who texted me. And the studying is going very well."

"Mhmm, and what exactly are you studying at the moment?" I can hear the smile in his voice.

"I'm studying how many giant dusty law books my professor has in his ancient bookshelf."

He laughs at my joke, making me smile too. "Funny! You should feel so lucky you don't have to lug those books on your back for miles through the snow and rain."

"You poor thing! No wonder you have such a fragile back. You should probably lay off the sex."

"Okay, okay, enough. Look, while I have you on the phone, I've got a question."

"Sure, go ahead." I plop down in his plush office chair, smiling as I take in his view from behind the desk. It's definitely an ego boost feeling this in power. He's got a name tag, that's really adorable.

"Mitch and Sarah want to do a double date-"

"But we can't-"

"Babe, let me finish!" He chuckles. "I already told them it would be a lot more fun to do something at the house, and they agreed. So we're gonna have a little thing at the house tomorrow night with them,  and I know it's the middle of the week but it's gonna be super chill, maybe just some board games and good conversation, plus you get to meet Sarah!"