Friday
The next morning I woke up to an empty bed. It took me a moment to get my bearings. This bed was wider than mine, had too many pillows, the blanket was the wrong colour and the mattress was definitely far too soft.
An initial moment of panic was followed by Cindy coming out of the bathroom drying her hair - otherwise completely bare to the world. That threw me for another complete loop, making me achingly aware of my morning glory, but also reminded me of where I was.
"Morn-yawn-ing" I managed blearily.
"Good morning sleepy head," Cindy replied, sounding hurried. "I'm sorry, I've got to run, I'll be late for my lecture as it is..."
Distractedly she threw on a blouse, skirt and a jacket, leaned over the bed and gave me a mouth-watering kiss. "The keys are on the table there," she said pointing, "I'll see you in the library then." And with that she was gone out the door.
I got up slowly, took a shower - using Cindy's shower gel again - and got dressed. I briefly considered getting a new change of clothes at home, as well as some breakfast, but decided against it. I had to get this essay done, fast.
Therefore I took only one detour on my way out the door: to get a glass of water in the kitchen. I had barely turned on the water at the tap when behind me I heard a timid "Hi."
I spun, nearly dropping the glass in my hand. Keisha was sitting at the table, a half-eaten toast before her, wearing a fluffy pink bathrobe. I must have completely missed her, focussed as I was on thoughts of my essay.
"Uh...hi." Was all I could think to say. Pretty obviously both of us were remembering the moment last night when she had just come home to find me and Cindy in a compromised position.
At some point I figured one of us had to make a first move, and with the tension increasing steadily I eventually snapped under the pressure. Putting on a winning smile, I stretched out my hand to her and introduced myself. "Hi, I'm Cindy's new boyfriend."
"I'm Keisha, Cindy's roommate." She replied, taking my hand. Obviously she immediately understood that we both had to act as though the previous night hadn't happened.
"Nice to meet you, Keisha. I'll be out of your hair in just a moment. I just wanted a glass of water."
Keisha returned to eating her toast. "Oh, don't worry. Take all the time you need." She affected nonchalance really well, though I could still see the flush of remembered embarrassment.
I took my glass of water and drank it quickly. Then I tried to be as cordial as possible as I took my leave. "I'm sure we'll see each other again soon. Enjoy your day."
Keisha returned the sentiment, and I left.
At the library I spent a good fifteen minutes doing some research on historians and political philosophers who either outright supported my arguments - of which there were few - and those whose words could be twisted to support at least part of my arguments.
Having accumulated three large stacks of books and journals at a desk in the corner of the library, along with a goodly sized list of websites, documentaries and public speeches that might be useful as references. I took out my laptop, opened my essay and set to work pulling quotes, references and so forth into my essay.
Again I got so sucked into the subject that I lost track of the world around me. But I got quite a bit of my essay done. I had over-run the minimum quota of words permitted to me by a good thousand words (a common problem for most of my essays) when I re-awoke from my reverie. I had waxed eloquently on historical military integrations as they had happened in Ancient Rome, Greece and China, through quasi-federal systems at necessity. Examples such as the integration of non-roman units in the auxiliary wings of the legions, the shifting pacts of the nomads of the middle east and the repeated splintering and reintegration by warlords in both ancient and 1930s China all offered good feeding grounds for my arguments. I had gone on to explain how - by the very nature of the beast - modern wars were only ever initiated - and then waged - unilaterally when power discrepancies were so vast that it became little more than a live military exercise for the aggressor nation. In particular I pointed to the most recent Russian actions in Ukraine, Abkhazia and Georgia. In contrast, any other war had by necessity required some sort of alliance to undertake. The Iraq war, the Afghanistan war, even arguably the Libyan civil war had become wars of grand alliances against one individual enemy. The only other kinds of wars still being fought were civil wars (often with foreign involvements). In fact, since the world wars, the world seemed increasingly to be ruled by formalised alliances, NATO, the Warsaw Pact, and soon the European Union. The inevitable conclusion would be that, at least in part through the formalisation of military and political alliances of ever increasing integration, a federalised and centralised government would be established for the European Union as a whole.
As I put the finishing touches on what really was quite a good essay - so I thought at the time, and still do - I looked up to notice that Cindy had taken a seat opposite me. She had grabbed one of my books on the Roman Empire and was reading intently. I watched her read, and turn the page before I stood and went around the desk to kiss her. She smiled as she closed the book. "Hey, you." She purred, "Finish your essay?"
"I think so, yeah. Did you get here a while ago?"
Giving me a hug Cindy replied, "a little bit yeah. But you were so deep in thought, I didn't want to disturb you."
Out of the corner of my eye I saw a number of boys, and I think one middle-aged professor that were enviously watching Cindy hug me. I have to admit, it made me feel powerful, proud and most certainly lucky. I also felt strangely guilty for thinking of Cindy as little more than a prize to show off. I quickly reminded myself of her smarts - she had a really complex book in her hand after all and seemed to have no difficulty understanding it.
"Is your essay good?" Cindy asked as she helped me to pack up and return the books.
"Mhm. Do you want to read it? You seemed interested in that book about the Romans."
Cindy chuckled, "Sure."