The oldest and most vivid memory of her starts with a blinding bright light. A big beige orb that slowly makes up her background and focus in to appear as the sunlight pouring in through the window; our plane old west facing classroom window.
She seems to be buried deep in some thoughts, her statuesque waist curved greatly to provide her standing figure a sensuous stance.
I move close to look at her face. Her long neck is strained downwards. Her face glowing in the sun but she seems absolutely unbothered. I follow her gaze and wanting to share her view, I too look down and see the boys of our classroom playing rouge football.
As if on cue, she giggles and her boyfriend looks up. I don't know which precedes which. It is annoying for some reasons.
She nudges my elbow and signals me to look back down. My boyfriend is now gazing up too. Our eyes meet and I force a smile. Their teammates cheer on, causing both of them to shy away.
"WHERE IS MY WALLET?" my husband exclaimed somewhere from the inside.
I couldn't hold back a pitiful laugh as I dropped the towel I was using to dry my hair on a straw chair before leaving the balcony.
He saw me enter the bedroom and asked his question again, but this time in a gentler tone. He stood in the center of the room, fixing his tie. I shifted the pillows on our yet-to-be-made bed and pulled out his wallet.
"You are my savior," he said, stuffing his slim wallet into the coat's inner pocket.
The urge to say 'I know' was mere seconds late.
Then he was gone.
I let out a deep sigh and started getting ready for work.
~
The university was a forty minute drive from home. The road was dull, as it is every summer. The blossoms along the roadside and in people's backyards overshadow everything else. A mop of white, pink, or orange bougainvillea sat on people's boundary walls. There were other flowers, but those messy tangles of stubborn leafy flowers always made my heart sink because our school building used to had those to adorn the otherwise drab building where students spent their precious hours.
I work as an assistant professor at a humble university and along side helping the HOD on his research, I worked on the process of publishing my own.
I parked my car and got id-ed and entered our lab. I was greeted my some PhD students, up and early using lab resources and I settled in my seat double checking my lecture planner for the day.
The bell rang and I jumped in my seat startling the fellow students in the room. I apologized and saw the Head professor walking in with his usual heavy steps.
"Good Morning, Sir," I said getting ready to leave the room.
"Good Morning. Good Morning," he chimed and smiled as I passed by him and out through the door.
I had to cross a long corridor and take up a flight of stairs to reach the classroom. On the way some students greeted me, some didn't stop and walked ahead of me but a couple of them walked with me until we reached the classroom.
From the entry door, I noticed a familiar lean figure standing by the large horizontal window on the opposite wall. I found myself walking up to her. When she sensed my presence, she smiled. I had a dizzying déjà vu after which I zoned in to hear her ask me a question.
'Professor, have you seen those flowers?' She pointed her slender, pointy finger at a thick row of yellow-orange marigold plants next to the university border wall. I'd seen them before. I had watched those saplings grow into mature plants with big bold flowers.
'Um hm,'
She turned to face me and said, "Don't they look beautiful today?" I had to look up at her.
'They look the same to me,' I said, and turned to the teacher's desk.
I noticed her patiently standing there, waiting for my gaze to fall back on her. More students arrived, the seats began to fill up. Some students paused to greet, while others proceeded directly to their seats. But she stayed. I gave in and eventually looked at her.
"Ms. Hart, how can I help you?" I forced a tight smile.
Her pink lips curled into an expectant smile and her hand reached out holding a small pen drive.
"Professor, Could you please review these for me?"
I rolled my eyes internally and took the pen drive from her hand. She returned to her seat, pleased with her cocky accomplishment. I shoved the pen drive into my purse and finally stood up to deliver my lecture for the day. Now and then, I felt her burning gaze on me. She would simply stare and respond to questions only to engage with me. I noticed some guys turning their heads at her sweet voice. She smiled at them too.
After that class, all other lectures flew by, and I returned home without seeing any more of her again at the university.
~
I de-cluttered my purse and found the tiny pen-drive. I took my laptop along with that pen-drive to my kitchen. I restocked water in the coffee maker and connected the pen-drive to my laptop. A dialogue box jumped on the screen and before I could proceed, I heard my phone ring from the living room.
I won't be home for dinner.
I placed the phone screen down on the counter and went back to my laptop. There was only a single folder titled "For you <3". I clicked on it and another dialogue box appeared showing me a video file. A quick double click on it made a pang of regret wash over my head. I removed the pen-drive and closed the laptop. Just then my phone rang up.
Eileen Hart
