Chapter 3 - Poppy
"Let's get that float on the truck," Professor Blake says as he opens the doors of the gym.
I can't believe we did it. Everyone's feeling that buzz of accomplishment, laughing, talking loudly about Christmas plans, who's skiing, who's staying home, except for Professor Blake who's still sporting the same scowl he did when I first arrived, giving directions so our hard work doesn't dismantle before it reaches the truck.
Since selling my illustrated cards isn’t enough to sustain me, I've been working a lot in the event industry, which allows me a lot of flexibility in terms of schedule.
And it's also something I'm good at, so much so that this past year I've been invited to actually organize the events, not just work on them. That and my small business pushed me to get my college degree in business. It has been good to help cement some of the knowledge I’ve acquired with my small business mishaps.
When Professor Blake saw how people kept asking me questions after just one hour, he put me in charge, saying, "You seem to know what you're doing; let's finish this by midnight. What do you need?"
I could've answered something like: "Your attention," but instead, I just asked him to arrange the lights for each section of the float. It's the first time he's ever treated me like an equal, it brings a fuzzy feeling to my belly.
When the float is loaded up, Professor Blake thanks everyone for their hard work and tells us to go home.
While the rest of the students head out, I follow him back to the gym.
"I told everyone to go home." He doesn't turn, simply picks up his pace. Like that is going to deter me.
"You're going to clean everything up by yourself?"
"Yes."
"I'll help you, it's quicker that way."
"I don't need your help."
"Well, you’ve certainly needed my help so far."
He stops suddenly and turns to me, his eyes focused on mine. It's close enough to send a shiver down my spine, enough to see the color of his eyes from up close. Brown with specks of green around his iris.
"You're right, Poppy. Thank you. You've done an amazing job."
You've done an amazing job.
You've done an amazing job.
Just a simple compliment from him creates heat in my belly. I look down.
It's just a very normal compliment in a very normal situation, Poppy, get it together.
I stare at him again, there's something flashing in his eyes, something I can't quite make out.
"Fine. You're right, it'll be quicker that way."
He opens the door to the gym, so much warmer than the freezing cold outside.
"I'll start sweeping; if you don't mind, you could box the leftovers."
"Sure."
There's an urgency in his actions that seems different from before, he's quick to sweep everything and remove any tape that got glued to the floor before helping me box the last of the materials. I guess he just wants to get home as quickly as possible.
"Thank you again for your help, Poppy," he says as soon as we're done, barely glancing in my direction as he grabs his coat, handing me mine, heading to the doors.
What were you expecting, Poppy? He's your professor.
He's fiddling with the lock, cursing so I get closer to try to understand what's happening.
"Fuck. It's locked."
"Want me to fetch the key?"
He pulls his beard hard, biting his bottom lip. "I handed it off to one of you while I was setting the doorstops so the doors would stay open."
"You didn't hand them off to me."
"I know. I forgot to ask for the keys back. Fuck. Now we're locked in for who knows how long, it's Christmas tomorrow, no one is coming. Do you have your phone? I left mine at the office."
"Sure, I've got it here, Professor."
It takes me a while to fish it from my handbag, Professor Blake is looking at me like I've the answer for everything, tapping his foot, making me nervous.
"Oh. It's dead. The battery must've run out."
"Fuck. How are we getting out of here?" He runs his hands through his beard again and again, looking derailed and nothing like the composed man I'm used to seeing.
"It's fine. We'll just stay the night. Won't Carly notice you're not there at the parade?"
"No. I told her I wouldn't come."
"Why? It's one of Hope Peak's traditions."
"I don't particularly like Christmas. There are better ways to spend my time than watching floats in the freezing cold."
“That's certainly a cynical way to look at such a festive holiday.”
He shrugs, clearly not wanting to continue this conversation.
"My parents are away for the holidays, so no one's going to look for me either."
I encouraged them to go, they won a raffle: a free hotel stay for a couple of weeks.
It wasn’t going to be a problem for me for them to be away. Between the parade and everything happening at Hope Peak, I’ve more than enough going on to get through the holidays without feeling lonely.
He looks up, concentrating, like he’s plotting how to get out through the windows on the ceiling.
"Fuck. Well. We're both tired, so let's think of a plan tomorrow morning. I'm sure we'll figure something out."
That raffle ticket just keeps on giving. First, a free hotel stay for my parents… now, a whole night with Professor Blake.