~*~*~
I cleared my throat and tugged at my SeeD uniform coat jacket as the elevator swooshed down to the basement. You can do this, Sally. You know the manual frontwards and backwards. You can do this. And I wanted to do it, too. I wanted to help put bad guys away. I wanted to help keep Garden safe. I wanted to help keep my Zell from having to risk his life. I wanted a lot of things for a lot of people, and the only way I could give that to them was to be on the security team with Seifer Almasy.
A man that scared me to death.
Seifer was sipping coffee from a dark blue mug while standing over a SeeD in a corner cubicle on the left as I made my way down the aisle toward his office. He looked up and I swallowed my terror when his hard gaze met my timid one.
“Good morning, Regal.”
“G-Good morning, sir. I'm r-ready for the test.”
Seifer curtly nodded and gestured to a back office to the right of his desk. “It's ready for you. Just shut the door behind you.”
“Yes, s-sir.”
“Good luck.”
I blinked at the unexpected well-wishing, as well as the slightly less intense way he'd been speaking to me, and turned to head for the specified office. You can do this, Sally. You can. You know this.
I continued to give myself the encouraging pep talk as I closed the door and moved around the bare desk to the computer that held the exam. I sat, released a deep breath, and then scooted closer to begin question number one.