Page 693 of Filthy Elites

She entered the back room, which was empty at the moment, and went in search of her volunteers. Kelsey followed the sound of voices coming from the kitchen and break room area. Normally Dr. Hogan greeted the volunteers in the conference room or one of the open private waiting rooms.

Her mouth dropped open as she stopped at the doorway. Dr. Katherine was laughing and joking around with three males and a female. The girl had electric blue tipped hair that flew in every which way when the girl laughed. The two men flanking her were both gorgeous in no conventional ways. The bleached blond mohawk, earring, and jeans with more rips than not could have been in a rock band or on a movie set.

The other guy had piercing green eyes that any girl would want to stare into. His light brown hair was a little shaggy, but it worked for him. He reminded her of the actor who played Thor in all the movies but with green eyes.

She couldn’t see the third guy because he was blocked by the others, but she could see that he was just as muscular and fit. Maybe these volunteers wouldn’t be so bad after all. At the very least, they would be good eye candy.

Dr. Hogan didn’t normally kid around like that, and she never did with people she didn’t know well. The veterinarian shifted and Kelsey’s crappy day was complete. Adrian was smiling and saying something to Dr. Hogan that made the woman giggle. Her boss did not giggle, and she definitely didn’t playfully tap a male on the shoulder.

Kelsey’s life had just sunk into the fiery depths of hell. Her boss was flirting with her nemesis.

Someone must have spotted her since they all stopped talking and turned to face the doorway. She was forced to paste on a fake smile and enter the room. “Hello.”

“Kelsey! I’m so glad you’re here. I want to introduce you to some of the volunteers that will be helping us this semester. I think they’re going to be a perfect fit for our office.” Dr. Hogan shifted her lab coat and smoothed down her hair. “This is Cade, Xander, Riley, and Adrian. They’re here to help us.”

Kelsey took a deep breath, ignored Adrian all together, and focused on the others in the room. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Kelsey.”

Riley’s eyebrows shot up and glanced at Adrian, who nodded. The girl then folded her arms across her chest. “I’ve heard all about you.”

Xander wrinkled his forehead in confusion at Riley’s change of demeanor. “Huh?”

Cade rolled his eyes and smacked Xander in the back of the head.

Xander glared at his friend. “What the hell?” He glanced at Kelsey and then to Adrian. “Ohh! That sucks.”

Cade pushed his friend. “Dude. Really?” He turned back to Kelsey. “Hey.”

Adrian smirked at her.

Kelsey hadn’t expected the students’ barely veiled animosity, so she took a nervous step back away from the tension in the room. Her elbows smacked into the metal rack next to the door that housed various stainless-steel pans and instruments for the animal practice. A couple pans clanged together loudly, and one fell to the floor, rolling away from her.

Startled, she jumped causing more items to shift and make a horrible noise.

“Goodness, Kelsey! Are you alright?” Dr. Katherine rushed over to help steady the things on the shelves.

Adrian picked up the pan on the floor and walked it over to them, holding it out. “Here.”

Kelsey took the pan from him and mumbled a quick thanks. Once again, she did something stupid in front of Adrian. Why couldn’t she be cool, calm, and sophisticated like other women? No, she had to be accident prone when she was nervous or in a hurry.

Dr. Hogan turned to the students. “Kelsey will give you a tour of the place and get you started on the cages and pens.”

Kelsey squared her shoulders, held her head high, and forced herself to at least act confident. Growing up, her older sister, Katlyn, had told her that if she acted confident even when she didn’t feel like it, eventually, the act becomes reality. She also told her to never let anyone see her fear. People could use that as a weakness. Katlyn was several years older than Kelsey and was the complete opposite of her. Katlyn was popular, outgoing, and graceful, Accidents never happened around her. She had been a great big sister, looking out for Kelsey and always offering the best advice.

“Let’s start with the viewing areas and work our way past the examination rooms and then to the kennels and resident halls.” Kelsey turned around and started off, expecting them to follow her.

Cade nudged Xander and the two men jogged to catch Kelsey. Riley huffed but hurried after her two friends.

Adrian stopped next to Dr. Hogan when she called out his name. “There are a lot of reasons people build walls around themselves. They are the ones who hide their feelings the best but feel the most.” She paused to look at him. “The smart ones allow someone to break through those walls. You better catch up to the others. I have a feeling it’s going to be a long night.”

“I’m not…”

“Oh, did you think I was talking about you?” Dr. Katherine gave him a sly smile and strode from the room.

ELEVEN

A Crappy Job

Adrian caughtup with the group when they were passing the six small examination rooms.

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