The room fell into a moment of silence once the door closed.
For the first time all morning, there were no more applicants waiting outside.
Now, it was just the four of them—Gray, Marcus, and Caesar, along with Ms. Lopez, who was still standing by the side with her clipboard held firmly to her chest.
Gray leaned back in his chair, finally letting out the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.
"That's all five," Marcus said, uncapping his pen again and tapping it gently against his notepad. "Now comes the hard part."
Caesar chuckled under his breath. "I agree with you, Marcus."
Gray chuckled at it. He knew Caesar wasn't wrong.
Ms. Lopez stepped forward from her place and placed the finalized scoring sheet on the table.
"They all performed well," she said softly. "But you'll need to pick one at the end."
The table fell silent again.
Marcus flipped his notepad closed and leaned forward, elbows resting on the wood.
