It was six hours long. Not surprisingly, Barbara was oneof the 40% who passed the first time it was taken. After three weeksof anxiously waiting, th...e test scores were mailed out by the state inSpringfield, Illinois, and Barbara eagerly brought them to her officemanager. It was the following week that she and three other internswere officially initiated to the firm as Associates. There were tenother interns who did not make it, and they were put on notice that ifthey failed to re-take and. He felt tired enoughthat the wine started going to his head, even though he hadn’t hadmuch. At one point she reached around his neck and undid his tie,drawing it slowly off his neck, and he almost stopped her; it feltlike she did it impudently, and besides, he remembered that he shouldbe mad that she was drinking. Dammit, when he was a k**, you at leasttried to hide your drinking from your parents. But he didn’t sayanything. He was too tired.Her fingers started tracing more intricate designs on. We switched partners a lot. I danced with Mrs. Sweet. Pam was dancing with my dad, and my mom was dancing with Mr. Sweet. As far as I was concerned, it gave our two families a chance to talk and bond with our future in-laws.A couple of drinks later, our parents were feeling pretty good. I was dancing with Pam, and my mother was dancing with Mr. Sweet. My dad and Mrs. Sweet were sitting on the couch talking and drinking.Mrs. Sweet looked over to her husband and my mother and teased, “Don’t dance. “Relax Natalie,” laughed John. “We’re just messing with you. Unless you’d like that of course!” He and Emma both grinned at each other. “But seriously what do you think?” “Well I don’t know really,” I said finishing my wine. “We’ve only just met really haven’t we?” “We know it’s forward,” said Emma leaning in towards me. “But we’d really like you to consider it.” As she said this her eyes locked into mine and for a split second it felt like there was a connection between us. It was like she was.