Rose smacked at her laptop. There was no way this could be happening to her right now. She was already behind on her term paper… and now her damn screen kept flickering on and off. Groaning, she sat back and went to sip from her coffee, only to find it empty.
"Of course," she mumbled. Throwing the cup away, missing the trash bin. Rose closed her laptop, throwing in her bag and heading out.
First, she needed more coffee.
Second, she needed to find the IT Department.
The wind outside was cold and she tightened her scarf around her neck. She knew it would soon snow, not that it helped much, she lived on campus. A quick stop for her coffee, and she was headed to the computer lab. She could drop off her laptop to the student techs and spend some time on a university computer.
She really expected more people to be in the lab as she walked in. All she saw was a man in the back room, feet up on a desk, bits and pieces of computer parts all around him, leaning dangerously back in a chair reading a technology magazine.
"Hello?" she called out.
"Oy!" he yelled, almost falling backwards in his chair, magazine falling from his hands. "Hello!"
"Um… hi," Rose said, "my screen is flickering."
"Flickering?" he asked.
"Yes… flickering."
"What kind of flickering ?"
Rose gave him a confused stare. "It flickers on and off."
"So it is flickering or just flickers?" he asked.
"What do you-?"
"-Like is it a flick or a flicker or just flickering ?" he asked.
"Aren't they they same thing?" Rose asked.
"No, completely different," he said, holding his hand out. "Well, lemme see it!"
Rose jumped and grabbed the laptop from her bag, handing it over. The man grabbed his glasses and opened it up.
"Should I worry about anything I find on here if it doesn't flicker? " he asked.
Rose blanched back. "Excuse me?"
"Well you see," he said, not looking at her, but staring at a screen firing up. "We get a lot of things in here… questionable things… maybe we shouldn't see. Yanno… iffy web pages... your search history… girls in panties." At this he turned and looked at her, raising an eyebrow.
"I beg your pardon!" Rose called out.
"I am just asking," he said, turning back to her screen- that was when it turned off and back on. "Ok, you have a flick ."
"A flick?" she asked.
"A flick," he over pronounced.
"So can this flick be fixed?" she asked.
"Well of course it can!" he exclaimed.
"Any idea how long it will be?" Rose asked.
"Could be a minute… could be an hour," he said, tapping at keys on her keypad. Turning to face her, he smiled, "What's your name?"
"Rose, Rose Tyler," she said.
"Well 'ello Rose!" he said, jumping up and extending his hand. "You can call me John Smith."
"John Smith?" Rose asked.
"Yes, that's the one!"
Rose laughed, "Ok, John Smith it is then."
"Go work on your term paper over there, Rose Tyler, and I will work on restoring this!" he said.
Rose raised her eyebrow and realized they were still shaking hands. Both of them laughed awkwardly as she let go of his hand, and went to go start working on her paper. Looking over her shoulder, she exited out the back room and stepped into the computer lab, wondering what the heck just went on back there.
It was only twenty minutes later when he popped up next to her, startling her at the computer.
"All done!" he yelled out.
Rose took a deep breath, trying to calm her rapidly beating heart. "No more flickering?"
"The flick is fixed," he said, with a big grin on his face. "That is fun to say by the way. The flick is fixed!"
"You're a special character," she stated.
"You think so?" he asked, sitting on the desk and crossing his ankles.
She noticed he wore a fitted suit, though no suit jacket today. "You dress oddly."
"Do I?" he asked.
"Well most guys around here wear jeans and flannels this time of year," she stated.
"And they look stuffy and boring," he said, "this let's me stand out and show how dashing I am!"
"Think pretty highly of oneself?"
"Just stating the facts."
Rose hated to admit she rather enjoyed the way he looked. Ruffled hair, fitted suit with… converse shoes. That was interesting, but of course, everything about him had been interesting.
"So, Rose Tyler," he said, "How much more of your paper do you have?"
"Jus need to cite my sources now and print out," she said.
"Perfect!" he said, "I'll wait then we can go get coffee!"
"Coffee?"
"Ah yes, that dark bitter liquid that keeps you awake?"
"I know what coffee is!" she exclaimed.
"Then why did you ask?"
"I didn't!"
"Sounded like you did."
Rose grunted. He was infuriating, but she found she kind of liked that too. Saving and printing her work, she grabbed her stuff and shoved into her bag. Taking her laptop, she powered it on to check. "Perfect, no flickering."
"A flick ."
Rose sighed heavily and bit her tongue. There was no use arguing this. "Fine, coffee it is," she said, standing up and getting her bag. "But you are buying."
He smiled at her, a big and goofy grin, it was charming. Grabbing her coat, she noticed he grabbed this long trench coat. "Another part of your style?"
A wink from him and he held his arm out to her. "But of course. Now let's go have that coffee, Rose Tyler."