(Bishop Briggs - Jekyll and Hyde)
Mac looked longingly at the filtered coffee pot to her left as she shifted in her seat and opened up a tab on her computer to see if decaff filter coffee was an actual thing, or if she would have to remember to pick up some instant stuff tomorrow now that her list of do's and don'ts included several items that were considered off-menu for pregnant women.
She was so tired, which the medical liaison giving her the ultrasound this afternoon had assured her was completely normal for the first trimester, as was constant nausea and sensitive nipples.
Mac had mulled over an Amazon purchase of What to Expect When You're Expecting before Loony Lola from Hearst student counseling services gave her several copies of books donated by former mothers who were either teaching staff or re-gifted from students after their use was no longer needed. and a list of local 'troubled teens' assistance businesses The textbook was so thick it was intimidating, but the immediate 'cheat sheet' of helpful advice other than a list of recommended vitamins had included information like avoiding uncooked eggs, no using hot tubs and no caffeine or alcohol.
Which sucked because a glass of Ricki Martini and curling up with her friends putting the world to rights sounded exactly like what she needed right now.
"You're just a babe to the wolves" Mac muttered to herself. Cliff McCormack was reviewing the documents sent to her from the Casablancas family lawyer today.
She finger-combed her long brown hair and pulled some of it into a neat braid, going over a mental checklist of everything she had packed, and making note of any small items which she may have to pick up on the way to the Sea Sprite Motel.
Piz had been beyond sweet this afternoon and his thorough packing skills were definitely boy scout material. There was barely anything that he hadn't collected from Parker when he'd arranged to drop off her overnight bag before starting his DJ session.
His current segment of Who's Crashing On Your Couch? Was discussing the various viewpoints from several camps about antisocial problems caused by Jock Row and the College Sports scene during Game season. The drama department had declared the extra security a waste of resources, hinting at the vandalism of their props during Hazing by the rival teams during their visits. Should Hearst be hosting these rival teams when they cannot behave? It was certainly a better show than their most recent 'Theatre of the Mind' Radio Drama Mac usually avoided until the podcast.
V: Let me when you get settled, Wallace wants to know if Nachos are on your bad list?
Smiling Mac fired back a quick text. She had seen Wallace's ideas of Nacho toppings.
Mac: that amount of melted cheese and unholy guacamole should be on everyone's forbidden list.
The Lilith House and Lampoon Spokespersons did nothing but bicker back and forth about unequal non-pay between women and men's competition on campus which opened the floor to talent exploitation most notably the lack of diversity of the Hearst basketball team, and racist chants during some of the supporters stand when several players had kneeled during the national anthem.
Everyone wanted something, but all Mac wanted was to finish college and obtain her degree.
Listening to the arguments skilfully navigated by Piz had been a welcome distraction from the urge to constantly check her messages for any contact from Dick. Opening up her snapchat she checked for anything new, but his social media had been radio silent all day. Broken out of her reverie by a knock at the computer lab door Mac looked up to see a shy smile from Tim, glancing at the time in the corner of her laptop she returned his greeting.
Had it been 45 minutes already?
"Hey-" she said sliding her chair a little back from the desk.
"Ah no, please… don't get up. I owe you an apology, I've uh.. there are some items I've been asked to take care of by Professor Sedgewick. Sometimes I'm a little slow. I was just wondering if you would be alright erm maybe delaying our departure for a little bit?" he asked. He looked frazzled, reminding Mac of the old school Neptune High staff administrator Ms. Rowlands schlepping between tasks when Mr. Clemmons took off for Golf week. There was something submissive about Tim, and she knew from past experience with Veronica that her little Mission Impossible for tonight might take up some time, at least here she could use the Hearst intranet to look up her assignment schedule and send some emails to the student resource center.
She also had access to the security server here to check access cards to the building the night Weevil had been murdered.
Mac sat halted her movements and sat back down, nodding. "Sure."
Tim smiled, visibly relieved. "Great, thank you. Just ever since Professor Landry's arrest and the rest of the chaos several of the faculty seem to have forgotten that I still maintained most of his daily class schedule, even if there were no active lectures," he explained resting against the door frame.
That's why he seemed familiar… Veronica had mentioned Professor Landry's Teaching Assistant a few times. She'd mentioned that he seemed to dislike her from the moment they met but she'd also mentioned that Dick was caught fooling around with Bonnie, Tim's girlfriend who happened to be the poor girl dosed with an abortion drug by her roommate. That explained the aura around him that just screamed meek and pitiful. No wonder he seemed so preoccupied and stressed out, this was probably an awkward situation for him too.
You are pregnant.
Mac hadn't been prepared for when those words had changed everything but despite the overwhelming chaos, it was a hard lesson for her to swallow. Insecurity was new for Mac, and she felt tears in her eyes. The lump in her throat prevented speech.
Stupid baby hormones…
Tim Foyle might have been unimpressive in the classroom, and his wardrobe looked like a coughed up beige furball, he didn't look like one of those handsome knights who rode in saving damsels in distress but he wasn't some jerky guy who bolted as soon as he could but not before accusing his pregnant girlfriend of manipulating him and asked to see the price tag.
He was mature and had a good head on his shoulders, he'd bought Bonnie a ring and wanted to stand by her even after she'd cheated on him.
He hadn't accused Bonnie of trying to trap him….
"Professor Sedgewick seems to think that it means I have some spare time to assist him with grading his distance learning online classes, and using copy-catch so that we don't have as many problems with that pirate test site." Tim continued and stuck his hands in his pockets.
"I'll be fine here, I've got lots to keep me occupied," Mac assured him, hinting at the pile of books.
