Catherine's eyes burned with exhaustion. It was dark outside, as it always was these days by the time she left the office. She'd stay until the words on her page would blur together, pack up her things, drive home, and collapse on her bed for a few hours before starting again.
There was a knock on the door and Adrienne appeared holding two coffees.
"What are you doing here this last?" Catherine questioned, not expecting to see her.
"I was at the library and saw your light on, I figured you needed this," she said as she placed the cup on Catherine's desk.
"You're too sweet. Thank you so much. It'll be a miracle if I don't get an ulcer by Christmas at the rate I've been ingesting coffee," she said as she carefully sipped it.
"The baristas know me by name so if I don't have one yet, I think you're good."
Catherine smiled as the hot liquid filled her throat.
"How can I help?"
Catherine shook her head as she swallowed, "No, it's late, get out of here."
"I don't have anything else to do," she said as she settled in across from her.
Catherine had done her best as to not let these types of scenarios play out. She never wanted to suddenly find herself in any sort of compromising situation, one as this. Communication with Jackie had been scarce the last couple of weeks, and she was worried what her vulnerability would lead to being around Adrienne, since the attraction was already there. She was exhausted though. The extra work had taken a beating on her and so far Adrienne had been an unused life saver on this sinking ship. Her head was bobbing beneath the waves of work and she needed to take a breath, unfortunately that breath was Adrienne.
"Do you need to be escorted to your car?" She asked once they managed to get some work done.
"No I'm good, I parked in the library garage so it's totally safe."
"Oh, good."
"But thanks. See you tomorrow Professor Stark!" She said as she left her office.
"Have a good night Adrienne."
Catherine pulled her phone from her bag, hoping to see a missed call or message from Jackie, but nothing shown on her screen. She opened her text messages to read their last conversation, it was two days ago which was now becoming the norm.
A figure appeared in her doorway which made her jump, but it was just Adrienne.
"Sorry, didn't mean to spook you." She smiled.
"Forget something?"
"Professor Stark, am I-" she looked comfortable as she spoke, "Am I doing alright?"
"Are you kidding me? Yes, of course you are."
"Okay, because I don't feel like I'm helping you much and I just want you to be able to trust me with the work. I promise I won't let you down, I'm very reliable and hardworking."
"I'm so sorry Adrienne, this is completely my fault. I haven't been fair to you. I don't think poorly of you at all, and I'm sorry it has come off that way. It's just, I have been so absorbed into the work that I'm having a hard time trying to figure out how to let someone help me."
"Okay good," she sighed a breath of relief.
"I'm sorry."
"It's okay, I just didn't want to let you down."
"You're most definitely not." Catherine smiled.
After a strenuous week, Catherine was looking forward to the weekend. She wasn't sure why though, she knew she'd spend it working just as hard, but at least she'd be in the comfort of her own home. The days on the calendar seemed to be flying by, fall semester was rapidly approaching and she needed to have everything completed before she headed to San Diego next week.
"Hey," Leslie knocked on her door frame. "I was just down at the office, your package arrived."
"Thank God, thanks for letting me know."
"Want me to go help you get it? It's big."
"No I don't want to lose my concentration. I'll just have someone down there help me in a few."
"Alright. Ready for San Diego next week?"
"Not quite."
"Come on, it'll be fun."
"I know, the timing is just..."
"Don't stress, but hey I need to get to a meeting, see you at yoga tomorrow?"
"Yes. Most definitely."
Catherine stared at the stack of binders on the front desk trying to figure out how she was going to manage getting them back to her office. The staff was gone for the night and so was Leslie. She kicked herself for not taking her up on her offer. Stacking them into one tall pile, she gripped the bottoms with her finger tips and took a deep breath in before lifting them from the desk, slowly making her way back to the office. The binders immediately began to shift and three-quarters of the way to her office what she feared would happen, did. The binders spilled to the floor, loudly. At her wits end, she angrily dropped the last few and let out a groan in frustration.
"Are you okay?!" Adrienne's voice appeared out of thin air, as she got to her knees and began picking up the binders.
"Yes...No."
"T.G.I.F. aye?"
Catherine looked down at her on the floor puzzled, "How are you always here at the perfect time?"
"Because apparently I have no life and am always here."
Catherine got to her knees as well and began re-stacking the binders.
"Or..."
"Or what?"
"I'm your fairy godmother, whichever theory you want to go with," she winked. Suddenly their hands touched as they reached for the same binder and Catherine felt a spark of electricity shoot through her arm, making her stomach drop the way it did on a roller coaster. Adrienne smiled at her and she suddenly realized this was the exact same way she had met Jackie. She quickly removed her hand and got to her feet. "Well thanks, you can just put them on my desk and be on your way."
"Are you okay?"
"Yes it's just-"
"Ladies! How are you. I'm so glad I caught you." The Dean said as he made his way down the hall.
"Hi Sir, how are you?"
"I'm well, you sure are here late for a Friday."
"Just making sure everything is set before I leave for San Diego." Catherine replied.
"That's what I wanted to talk to you about. Professor Jennings has a family emergency and no longer will be able to attend. As we already have her room and admittance paid for, I was wondering if Miss Reynolds would like to attend in her place."
Catherine panicked, hoping Adrienne would be unable to attend. Them in a hotel all week, forced to be in close quarters with one another..."
"Oh my gosh, are you sure?!"
"Very. Since we are well past the refund date, I thought it would nice to have one of our graduate students attend. Considering you have the highest GPA, I thought I would ask you first."
"I am very honored, yes I would love to!"
"Alright, that settles it. You ladies have a fine weekend."
"You too Sir!"
Once he disappeared down the hall, Catherine and Adrienne looked at one another, "Well how about that." Catherine forced an excited smile.
"This is going to be so great!"
"Sure is."
Catherine was beside herself. San Diego was supposed to be an enjoyable experience to get her mind off of things and to relax. How was she supposed to do that with Adrienne there. When she got home that night she called Jackie, "Come on, come on, come on, pick up!" Now more than ever she needed to speak to her, she needed to connect with her and feel that spark between them. The one she felt the day they met, the one she had just felt with Adrienne, but there was no answer.
