As Kristina made her way down the hall, lined on either side by faculty offices, she saw a student enter the Professor's. Her phone display read 3:30 pm. Just as she planned.
In the waiting area, Kristina found a seat which was exactly five easy steps from the Professor's door. Five steps was all she needed between her, the office door, and whats-his-name who was scheduled to arrive by 3:45 pm.
Kristina tried to settle comfortably in a chair and to casually browse her phone, but she couldn't. She listened for footsteps coming down the hall towards the Professor's office but every noise distracted her. Other professors' doors opened, closed, or were clicked locked; there were cordial greetings, an angry reproach, and sometimes sobs and sniffles. She heard a student slam a door, curse against a prof's mother, and stomp down the hall.
Impatience getting the better of her, Kristina tiptoed right up to the Professor's door and leaned her ear against it, straining to hear the conversation being had with the student inside. Nothing. Kristina sat back down.
What she was about to do ranked really low on the shady scale and, in Kristina's experience of schemes and cover ups, this didn't even rank at all. This was a low grade lie that she wasn't going to lose any sleep over.
Then she heard them. The muffled slap, slap, slap of sneakered feet approached, accompanied by the buzz of a soundtrack played too loudly in someone's earbuds.
It's him. Kristina thought as she hurriedly stood up letting her bag drop to the floor. 1-2-3-4-5 she took her position.
A short, barrel-chested, keg-bellied guy came into view, bobbing his head to the loud music Kristina could hear before she even saw him. His loose hanging pants sagged so low that the tattered hem brushed the ground with his every step.
"Hey!" Kristina waved at him to get his attention. "Jeffrey, right?"
The attitude in his faced stopped Kristina from saying any more. He pulled the buds out of his ears and asked, "What?"
"You're Jeffrey, right? You have a 3:45 with the prof. I mean, Professor Forsyth."
"Ya," he looked Kristina up and down like she was something he stepped in. "What's it to you?"
"You see, that's just it. Absolutely nothing, but, um, you see she's gone. She had to leave early...earlier than expected. I just came out her office and uh, she got this call and had to go. Just like that."
Kristina gestured her hand like a plane taking off.
"Seriously?" he spat.
"I know it's weird, huh?" Kristina said. She took a quick look at the office's doorknob and listened for any subtle sounds of an imminent exit from the other side. "Yup, she's gone for the day."
"Shit!" Jeffrey said loudly, startling Kristina. "I'm so screwed. I needed her to...aaaarrrgh!"
"I know, I know," Kristina feigned disappointment. She put her hand on Jeffrey's shoulder, giving him a gentle nudge to turn around. "We all need her but I was the last person she saw today."
To Kristina's relief, Jeffrey dragged his feet back down the hall. The weight of disappoint pulled his pants further down his backside. In frustration, he hit a random closed door with his fist to which Kristina heard a professor behind the door respond with, "Who is it?"
When Kristina was sure Jeffrey was out of earshot, she turned on her heels and rested against the Professor's door frame. At that moment the knob clicked, the door opened, and the student who had just met with the Professor left closing the door behind her.
Kristina took a few deep, cleansing breaths to prepare herself for being in a small, intimate space with the Professor...alone...with the door closed. She gulped, positioned her hand to knock when the door swung open. Kristina almost found herself knocking on the Professor's face. She couldn't put her hand down fast enough.
"Oh," the Professor said sounding surprised. She had her briefcase and keys in hand and a jacket slung over her arm. "You're not Jeffrey."
"No, uh," Kristina stammered. "Jeffrey who?"
"It doesn't matter. This is working out after all. I was going to cancel with him anyway. I have to leave."
Kristina was speechless.
"Everything's okay," the Professor responded to what she assumed was a look of concern on Kristina's face. "I had to move my plans up. I'm sorry, did you need to see me? I didn't see your name on the sign up."
"Uh, yes. I did want to see you about…before the midterm. I have a few questions."
The Professor looked at her watch, then asked, "Do you live on or off campus?"
Kristina's eyes widened, then her words tripped over themselves as she said, "Um, uh off campus toward Main."
"Great, I'm going in that direction. I'll give you a lift and we can talk in my car. But we have to leave now."
Kristina stood frozen in place as she felt the Professor whoosh past her and heard her heels click rapidly down the hall.
A grin slowly brightened Kristina's face.
Coming. She thought scurrying behind the Professor. Coming!