"Oh you are already here," Alexander noticed the moment he stepped inside his office.
"Yes brother, I'm ready to take your test!" Tiffania declared confidently.
"I like the confidence you are emitting," Alexander smiled as he sauntered across the room and sat behind his desk. He grabbed a test questionnaire he had prepared yesterday for this special occasion from one of his drawers.
"You know the stakes of this exam right? Should you get a passing mark or a perfect mark, I will do whatever you want. Well, there are a lot of things you can ask from me and that's why the exam is going to be difficult," Alexander said, waving the two-page questionnaire in his hand. "A question. Should you pass the test, what would you ask me to do?"
"That's a secret, dearest brother," Tiffania simply stated, with her hands clenched on her hips.
"I see...to be honest, I'm excited to find it out. Well to do so, you must pass the test. I will give you three hours and thirty minutes to solve these five questions."
"Five questions and I have three hours and thirty minutes to solve it?" Tiffania faltered for a bit. It might be good news for some if they hear that the exam has only five questions. But little did they know, those five questions are probably the hardest questions Alexander concocted. It feels like he doesn't want her to pass. But that's okay, she'll prove him wrong, and once she does so, she will make that request.
"I'm ready, brother. Hit me," Tiffania challenged. She was very determined and Alexander found himself admiring that trait about his sister.
"Very well," Alexander handed her the questionnaire. Your three hours start now," he began and Tiffania looked into the test paper.
As expected, it was the lessons he taught her for the past couple of days. Questions consist of analysis of trusses, friction, and integrations. If she would compare it to the examples Alexander had given her, she would rate it as ten.
But this is okay, she reviewed all night for this test. There's no way she can fail this as she already grasped the nature of the problem. Alexander had taught her one crucial thing that allowed her to answer complex equations. Don't memorize the formula, understand the formula. Like how the equation came to be. That way, even though his brother manipulates variables to the point of confusion, she can reverse the equation and work her way there.
She spun her pen before scribbling on her solution paper. Alexander observed Tiffania's progress and so far, he is impressed and fascinated by her speed. With just a glance, he can tell that Tiffania is going in the right direction. Did the questions he came up with are too easy for her? He can't determine for sure.
One hour later, Alexander was fighting drowsiness. He felt his eyelids shutting down on their own due to the lack of sleep. He combated it by keeping his eyes wide open while spinning a pen over his fingers. It made him feel awake for a few moments but soon enough, his mind began dozing off again.
His eyes were half closed until Tiffania's word snapped him back to attention.
"I'm done, dearest brother."
"What?" Alexander jolted straight into his chair. He blinked a couple of times trying to clear the blurriness away from his eyes. But it didn't matter, what's important is the fact that Tiffania declared her completion of the test.
"I said I'm finished, dearest brother," Tiffania repeated as she stared at him. "Are you feeling sleepy dearest brother?"
"A little bit," Alexander confessed. "To be honest, I'd want to jump on my bed and sleep right now but I can't because the test is still not over," He sighed tiredly. He took a deep breath before focusing his gaze on his sibling again.
"Huh? Brother, I just told you that I'm done, what are you talking about?" Tiffania rolled her eyes.
"Oh really? Let me see it then," Alexander beckoned her to hand him the test paper. She handed him her answer sheet. He had already answered the questions he came up with yesterday and understood every number and symbol on it. So he can tell with a single glance if her answer is right or wrong.
To his surprise, Tiffania's answer is the same as the answer he arrived with yesterday. Her handwriting looks beautiful, professional, easy to understand, and free of erasures. She answered all the questions correctly and with ease.
Alexander looked up to Tiffania once more. That lady standing in front of her doesn't have a grasp of the basic topics in engineering and aced the exam he made just for her.
A smile appeared on Alexander's face. Tiffania couldn't tell if it was mockery or a smile of genuine happiness.
"So, did I pass my dearest brother?" Tiffania asked, her hands locked together, nervously awaiting Alexander's response. She solved everything that was using the knowledge she gained from her brother. And she is confident that she got it all right as she understood the root of the problem.
Alexander was silent for several seconds. The expression he wore was unreadable. As if he wanted to say something but he decided against it. After what seemed like ages, he finally opened his mouth.
"Tiffania, you pass with flying colors," Alexander revealed.
Tiffania gasped in shock, her hand covering her mouth as she did so. "Really brother? I passed?"
"That's right, I've seen the formulas and how you write the solution to arrive at the final answer. It was done well. So congratulations on passing the exam," Alexander clapped his hand softly
Tiffania breaks out in tears. The amount of time she invested to understand his brother's lesson. The amount of time she spent on reading reference materials to broaden her knowledge of the subject, and the number of times she got a wrong answer in an exercise test in one of the books she had read.
For her, this is a huge moment, her hard work has paid off.
Alexander was moved at the sight of his younger sibling weeping in happiness. He stood up and walked around his desk towards Tiffania. As he approached her, he wrapped her in a hug.
"You've done really well, Tiffania. I'm so proud of you as your brother. The lessons that you and I enjoyed together are a treasure. And you getting high scores means so much to me as it could mean that I taught you well."
Tiffania wrapped her arms around him and nuzzled his chest affectionately. After a few seconds, they finally released each other from their embrace.
"So a deal is a deal, you win. You can order me whatever you want. Let us hear it," Alexander was all ears waiting for Tiffania's request.
"I have been thinking about this since the proposal of this term and I have decided," Tiffania looked up at him, her unwavering stare making it clear that she was serious about what she is going to request. "Dearest brother, you are going to Moksva in two days right to visit the headquarters and assembly lines of the Imperial Dynamic Systems."
"Yes, that's right," Alexander confirmed. "Why?"
"Well dearest brother, I want you to take me with you. I want to see how your inventions are being produced!"
So that was her request huh? Quite cute.
"Your wish is my command, my lady," Alexander bowed to her gentlemanly.
