It was too early in the morning to take crap from anyone.
With an even more poisonous smile, if that was possible, I asked raising my eyebrows,
“Now do I have to say it back to you?” Giving her a once over I added, “Even if I don't mean it?”
Aya just smirked in reply.
Damn! She did look beautiful, in her leather rain jacket, blue jeans and blood red top. Those long brown hair, tied in a no-nonsense bun. Her coffee coloured eyes were just as sharp as her tongue, which spewed dislike for me whenever we were face to face. It was fine until it was just a healthy competition in studies. But, since this final year had started, it looked like even corridors had become our war zones.
Yes, Aya hated me with passion. I don’t know why. She just did.
I entered the classroom and walked towards my usual place that was front and centre.
What? I am not a teacher’s pet. I just like to be in the mids of action. You know, to do what I paid this college for...learn?
Draping my wet rain jacket around my chair, I was about to put my bag down and—
“Do you have any idea what has happened here?!” came an excited voice from behind me.
I turned around and saw as expected; the voice belonged to one of my best friends in college, Mirelle.
For a whole minute, I could not find words, as I stared at her wondering why in the ever-loving world; she was wearing layers and layers of thick makeup on her perfectly tanned complexion, freaking heels on her jeans shorts, and that thin pink coloured sleeveless top?
Firstly, we were not in a party; second, did she not feel the freezing cold wind and water from the storm? Why was she not wearing more...clothes?
As her words ascended into my brain, I groaned in displeasure,
“What happened? Lecture has been cancelled?” I could not hold back my irritation anymore, “Ohh no! First, the lecture starts this early in the morning. I had to push myself awake to come here, and now that too cancelled! Had I known it, I would have still been in my cosy bed, peacefully asleep.”
Mirelle chuckled,
“Oh God! Just hold on. When did I say the lecture has been cancelled?! Don't worry, lecture is still on.”
“Then what the hell has happened to make you hop like rainbows have entered our classroom?” I narrowed my eyes in confusion.
She wiggled her eyebrows, trying to keep her know-it-all smile from widening more,
“Guess who’s gonna take our first lecture today?”
I shrugged in an obvious manner,
“Professor Philip of course, like every day. We are doing our major in Journalism. And he teaches the main subjects of this course.” I rolled my eyes, not getting the point of her excitement yet.
Suddenly it crossed my mind, and I gave her a quizzical look, “Oh yeah, him and Mr Whatever-his-name Prof Philip had mentioned at the beginning of this year's very first lecture. The guy who specialises in some of our course subjects. But, Mr Whatever-his-name-is, hasn’t graced us with his auspicious presence yet.”
Mirelle sniggered at my words, and I added in a slightly serious tone,
“By the way do you recall what the name was?”
“No. But, today we'll know.” She confided in me with an overly excited giggle.
“How?” I was intrigued now.
“Because we have been informed by our reliable sources that, ‘yours truly, Prof Mr Whatever-his-name-is, has finally decided to show his face today!” announced the last member of our group, Rose, joining us by my desk.
“Ooh!” I let out a fake dramatic squeal. “Well, isn’t he a bit too early? I mean, college has resumed merely two weeks ago. He could have come after our exams or directly after our graduation saying, ‘Oh! Actually, I was assigned to teach you guys, in your final year. I am a litttttle late. I was stuck somewhere. Sorry!’ I tried to imitate a manly voice and could not hold back my laughter along with both of them.
While talking, we moved towards the first desk near the window. Rose and I perched on it, instead of the chairs, with our feet dangling in the air and Mirelle stood in front of us.
That was when I properly looked at Rose, and thought, what a waste of my brain to give it a consideration as to why she was wearing pencil heals with a short summer dress. Was it summer season? If so, then someone needed to inform God and ask the reason for storm today! Seeing Rose’s dusky face equally covered in ample amount of makeup, I understood there was something only I was missing. Therefore, there was no point in trying to figure out this weirdness.
As our laughter died down, I went on a little tensed,
“I hope he teaches just as well as Prof Philip does. It’s our final year after all.”
“I hope so too!” agreed Rose.
Next moment, Mirelle suddenly jumped in delight staring out of the window,
“Oh my! Don’t turn yet, but I can see Mr Whatever! He is in the corridor, just a step away from this window.”
That got our attention.
Then to my utter shock she started a play-by-play commentary,
“Oh God...Wow! His shoes are black and polished to perfection. His black trouser is hugging his hips perfectly. He is wearing a grey button down shirt, the sleeves of which are stretching and showing off his well toned forearms.”
She ended her description with the words,
“...fit body. I think he either jogs or hits the gym regularly. I'm sure about it.”
A thoroughly dazzled Rose murmured a little breathlessly,
“Mirelle, your description seems to be that of a young guy. It doesn’t look like that of our usual middle aged Professors.”
Seeing, Rose's glazed expression, I had to bite back an amused smile.
“When did I ever say he is middle aged?” Mirelle turned irritable.
Then again looking out of the window, she sighed and went on, “I said he is young, fit, and very handsome! I have been describing this since past few minutes. Why are you guys still asking?”
Rolling my eyes, I muttered,
“Good that you focused only on his body and clothes. Had you glanced at his face, you would have never been able to face anything else.”
“Oh yeah, because it’s just that hot.” Mirelle batted her eyelashes with a soft sigh.
“Because he would kick you out before he has stepped in, if he hears your live commentary about his so called beautiful-self!” I finished bitingly.
This was supposed to be a sarcastic quip. Yet, to my utter astonishment, Mirelle gave out a swoony shiver making me look heaven-wards in disgust as she then went on to, explain!
“Of course I saw his face! I cannot take my eyes off him. I just did not describe it to you both. Otherwise, you would have teased me that I'm fan-girling over a Professor.”
Won’t we tease now?
I turned towards Rose and found her hooked on every word Mirelle uttered. Thus realizing there was no we here, just two fan-girls and me.
“Don’t worry, he has not heard us. He is too busy in Miss Gracie, who, I bet, might have heard. Though, why would she care, when she has him. Who would care indeed...?” Rose gave a longing sigh, peeking out of the window.
Mirelle agreed whole-heartedly and went on, “Man, I’m telling you, someone should fan-girl over him. He is worth it. I know such young Professors are common as visiting faculty. But, as a permanent faculty, I have never seen such a young edible piece of flesh in our college. It clearly means this is his first job as a Professor. In addition, to answer your queries, well he is easy on the eyes. Young, but not cradle young or college-going young like us. He looks elder and more mature. He has jet-black hair, deep dark eyes, though I am not sure if they are grey or steel in colour. Nice face, fair skinned with a slight tan, chiselled jaw. He is hot and looks like a complete package to me.” Mirelle almost blushed.
Making a dirty face at her, I pointed out,
“You are saying as if a Professor has to be born old. They can never be young or a young guy can never be
come a Professor! Your hair is also black and so are your eyes. If his are black too, then what is the big deal?! And how are you so confident that it is his first job when you yourself said he is young but not that young like us?”
Rose laughed giving me a high five, while Mirelle became miffed.
Annoyed, she stated,
“Yeah, go on laugh at me. What is my fault, if I thought God makes such pieces only as visiting faculty, and not permanent Professors, to let us sigh in anticipation every day! And I just think it’s his first job because he is young and stylishly dressed unlike our shabby middle-aged Professors.”
I smiled at her, holding back a frustrated sigh and tried explaining nicely yet unable to bite back sarcasm due to my irritation over her oohing and aahing,
“So this can be his second or third job for all we know. Nonetheless, why do we care? He is not going to give his salary to us. The question is, if he is going to enter in this classroom before the year ends or not? Ten minutes have already passed since the lecture was supposed to start. But, your Mr Young and Handsome, is still in the corridor itself. Does he walk that slowly or has no idea about the location of our classroom? If he is searching, then please go and tell him this is the room.” Grumbling I went on, “Had to get up so early in the morning and now lecture is not getting started.”
“Oh please! You just have a problem with waking up early. Otherwise, have you missed a single lecture since past two weeks? Also, don't be so harsh. Of course, he must be aware which classroom is ours. Prof Philip must have told him. Just, Prof Miss Gracie from ‘Public Relations and Advertising’ is talking his ears off since he stepped into the corridor. It is not the guy's fault. It’s his first day, cut him some slack.”
Waved off Mirelle distractedly, her eyes glued outside the window.
“What did you mean when you said he looks like a complete package to you?” Rose said turning to look out of the window.
Mirelle just shrugged, “His attire looks branded. He seems to be Mr Moneybags and as you saw, he has that face...” She gave a fake shiver, as if in a fantasy.
“Right, a complete package...” Rose’s voice gleamed dreamily. “Of course, Prof Gracie is advertising herself to him. Who wouldn’t?”
Now I was bored. I had never been part of a more senseless conversation than this in my entire life!
I got off the desk yawning, not from sleep, but due to their yap-yap and giggles.
“Great that you jumped off yourself, before I had to make you...” Aya scoffed as she took a step towards me.
I got confused, but did not ask, realizing quickly it was her desk.
“You see, I don’t fancy your sexy ass in my face rather than the hot guy your little troop has been steaming over.”
“Aww...You find my back sexy, Aya?” I smirked, making her scowl.
Before Aya could say anything, Rose snapped at her, “We were steaming over? You clearly are more interested in him, that’s why, you...”
“Oh yeah, I heard you, having no other choice given your volume in this silent half-sleepy class and so did he.” Aya’s eyes danced in mischief as she whispered cattily, “Heard you.”
Seeing shock evident on my friends’ faces, she pushed Rose off her desk, shrugging in delight, “Maybe!”
Next moment, Mirelle scrambled impatiently saying in a loud stage whisper,
“Hold your breaths! Yours truly, Mr Whatever is coming!”
We quickly made our way to our desks. There was a hushed silence in the class, as everyone was intrigued about the new Professor.
He entered the classroom and passed by the rows of students to reach the teachers podium. Just as he was about to walk past us, I turned my head for a glimpse and was beyond shocked. I had to be freaking dreaming yet again!
“He is the Professor?” I whispered to Rose, who sat on the chair beside me.
“Yes. Why? What happened?” Rose stared suspiciously at my stunned face.
I am quite sure I looked blown.
“Nothing...Nothing at all.” I squeaked, gulping hard.
By the time he kept his book, laptop on the desk and turned to address the students, I had already applied a defence mechanism by keeping my textbook open in front of my face. You know, if I could not see him, so can't he theory? At least until the moment he was done with his introduction, and I absolutely had to.
From the corner of my book, I peeked out to find that unlike other Professors who use the chair, he was sitting on the desk, completely relaxed and in a casual posture.
He was engrossed in the students attendance file in his hands. I knew the moment he looked up, I’ll have to remove the book, and we would be face to face, as I was sitting right in front of him. I cursed the choice of my seat, while dreading the moment he’d call out for everyone’s attention.
Damn! Is it too late to run...For the whole year?
7-Miss Latecomer
Aariz
Getting out of my car, I moved my gaze around the campus. Storm was coming, the rains were heavier now, and still the students were chilling around, rushing everywhere giving the campus a lively feel.
Although I had been here just a day before, I was enamoured yet again by the creative architecture. Especially the stone structure that held classes for Mass, Media and Communication had me spellbound.
I reached the corridor where the classroom for final year Political Journalism was located. It was my first day and I didn’t want to be late. I was just about to go towards the classroom, when a woman Professor stopped me for a chat. She said, since we were both teaching Mass Media students, although mine were from Journalism course, and her’s from Advertising, yet this made us not just colleagues, but obvious friends too. Therefore, we need to spend more time together, so we could have each other’s back in face of the cruel staff of Hill Stone University. Be each other’s confidantes and what not.
That was when a girl rushed passed me, entering the classroom I was about to go in. A latecomer who could now pretend she was not late since I had not entered the class yet. I was unable to see her face as she stormed so fast like a wind. But, looking at her disappearing figure, I felt like I know this girl. I just needed to see her face to confirm.
I stood chatting with Prof Miss Gracie, near the classroom window. Thus, having a clear view of what was happening inside. Because anyway, I had absolutely no interest in being updated with the staff politics. This was better, as I was restlessly intrigued about the girl I had a strong feeling, I had met before.
The girl moved towards the first desk in the centre row, draped her rain jacket on the chair and was about to put her bag down, when another girl came excitedly from behind her, literally shouting in glee.
I supposed they were friends.
Turning around to face her, my Latecomer groaned loudly. But, I could not see her face, due to her friend blocking my view.
Complaining about early morning hour and unable to finish her sleep, my Latecomer presumed the lecture was cancelled, without letting her friend complete. I could not help but chuckle at that, making Prof Gracie stare at me in confusion. Therefore, I tried to focus on her, but could not help eavesdropping on the Latecomer's conversation with her friend.
What could I do? It was interesting and they were so loud. It was not as if I was trying to hear them.
Her friend asked her to guess something, while Miss Latecomer blew air over her friend's burning excitement, not feeling the buzz at all. She responded in obvious tones that Prof Philip would take their lecture, as the so-called new guy, in her words- ‘Mr Whatever-his name-is’ had not shown his face yet.
Mr Whatever is the name she has chosen for me. Nice.
Their chatter went on and another girl joined them announcing, Mr Whatever might just show up today.
I sure will.
I could not stop myself from carefully witnessing the exchange that followed next. Looked like my Miss. Latecomer had a sarcastic bone in her, as she walked forward, dramatically clearing her thro
at, and said louder than ever,
‘Oh I was assigned to teach you guys this year. I got a litttttle late. I was stuck somewhere. Sorry!’ she tried to imitate a manly voice, while at the same time trying to sound innocent.
Well one thing I have understood Miss Latecomer, it is that you are anything but innocent.
Why does your voice sound so familiar? Just turn around already!
If she would have just turned a little from the hurdle of her friends, I would have been able to see her face. She was making me restless with anticipation.
All three girls shared a good laugh.
A few minutes later, Prof Gracie finally decided to leave me alone having had a lot of fun on my acute embarrassment, as we had heard the tid bits of their conversation.
I passed by the row of students and reached to the front of class.
Stepping on the teacher’s podium, it clicked to me, that Miss Latecomer had kept her bag and jacket on the first seat of centre row, which was right in front of me.
I still could not have a glimpse of her, as for some unknown reason she had kept her face hidden behind an open textbook.
How much would she make me wait to see her face and reveal the mystery of whether I really have seen her before, as I think I have?
Giving up, I sat on the desk instead of the chair, mimicking her previous posture.
I got engrossed in the students attendance, while waiting for the murmurs to die down and at the same time keeping an eye on Miss Latecomer.
Besides, why she was pretending to read so ardently, when I had not even started taking the class?
Is it really ‘her’? How can it be? Nonetheless, it ‘can’ be!
I had this feeling ever since I heard her voice from the corridor. But, I was trying not to get my hopes up and was making myself believe it was someone else I know.
Not to forget, I was right in recognizing her voice on Zidaan's terrace that day. I might not be wrong again. After all Sani’s voice had been my only solace for a very long time. Things may really be turning on my side. While I had been pondering since the party about how to meet her, universe might have brought her in my close proximity...again.
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