Students eagerly poured out of Basil Emerson’s lecture room. Basil was not too surprised by the reaction of his freshman english class. Mid terms had everyone in need of a break. He just wished that it applied to the staff as well. He had two weeks before he had a break himself and then it would be Christmas. Basil rather despised Christmas. He felt everyone in the world had someone to spend it with except him. As he packed up his papers to head to lunch he heard a knock at his door. Before he had time to grant the stranger permission Brian Hartwick entered the room. Basil was not close to anyone on staff due to his hatred for social pleasantries. So he found it rather odd that some one, especially the head of the mathematics department would want to stop by for a chat. Then it dawned on Basil that he did not to chat at all. He was coming to ask a favor of Basil. 

“Hey Emerson,” Hartwick punched him on the arm playfully. Basil assumed this was to establish the illusion of friendship.

“You gotta minute?”

Out of courtesy Basil perpetuated  the illusion by resisting the urge to correct his sentence.

“Well, I was about to step out for lunch, but I suppose I have a minute to spare. What seems to be on your mind?”

“I wanted to ask you a favor. My daughter is in the middle of her senior year and I need her to start taking an interest in her future. I was wondering if she could spend a few days with you to see the campus.”

Basil pondered the request. After a few moments of silence he spoke again.

“ I don’t mean to sound rude, you will you not just show her yourself? She would certainly be more comfortable with her father than with a stranger.”

“I asked her several times, but she hates math. She seems to have a talent and an interest in english.”

Basil saw the eagerness in his eyes. It was the same look he once saw in his father.

“Alright,” Basil replied. “What time shall I expect her?”

“How about 8 AM on Monday?” Hartwick asked.

“Yes. 8 will work fine”

“Good. Thanks Emerson. She shouldn’t be too much trouble. She hates niceties almost as much as you do.”

With a nod of the head and fake smile Hartwick exited. Basil went back to packing his papers He had a good amount of tests to grade as well as a surplus of essays. As he locked the door and turned off the lights his mind drifted toward the girl. If she was anything like his father he would greatly regret this decision. 

    Basil was free for a weekend of grading now that his Friday morning class was over. He had taken Friday afternoons off to himself since he was fifteen. Every week it was Pride and Prejudice. The mini series, of course. It was his favorite. He was fascinated by the social aspect of their culture. He marveled at how much they could say while at the same time saying nothing at all. Their accents reminded him of childhood. His father had moved them to New York from London when his mother passed away. He was thrilled to be out of London. Every corner of London reminded him of his mother. He enjoyed the energy of New York, but preferred the quiet Vermont town that he now resided in. The smell of pine was preferable to the smell of gasoline. His heart belonged to Vermont, but every Friday he needed to remember what it felt like to give it to England.  Basil opened the door to find his cat, Liza and a very tidy apartment. Basil adored cats. More so than people. The few times he had attempted to write he had tried to as if he was a cat. He often wondered about the appeal of dogs. Anything messy or dependent was not Basil’s cup of tea. Basil’s favorite cup of tea was slightly warmed Earl Grey with a tea spoon of sugar and a splash of cream. Pride and Prejudice was never watched without at least two. As Basil heated the water he went to change into something more comfortable. He stepped into his bedroom and removed his clothing until he was standing in just his boxer shorts in front of mirror that stretched from the floor to the ceiling. Basil never considered himself to be attractive. He had never been that successful with women. He stood  6’1” and reached that height at unnaturally young age. He was taught that it was burden to be tall by the taunting chants of his schoolmates. His mother would kiss away his tears and tell him that he was perfect in every way. He figured his light brown eyes would stand out more if his skin was not so pale. His short thick hair hair matched his eyes and sat rather wildly atop his head. Basil was never very muscular which only enhanced the lankiness of his figure. He heard the tea kettle come to a boil so he quickly thew on his navy blue bathrobe and rushed into the kitchen. He fixed his cup and started the program. Fifteen minutes in the phone rang. Basil glared at the machine and proceeded to ignore it. It was rare that Basil did not answer his phone. However, his Friday afternoons belonged to him. When his mother was alive she would pull him out of school ten minutes early and they would spend the rest of the day together. His father offered once she was gone, but Basil refused his offer. Although he loved his father no one was his mother. The first episode carried on as usual. Basil was fixing his second cup of tea when the phone rang for the second time. He took a breath and step towards the machine. He smiled and disconnected the contraption. He sat down all too content with himself and watched the next episode. 

Basil awoke with a start to his blaring alarm clock. He took a deep breath and headed to his bathroom for a shower. Basil enjoyed long hot showers. The repetitive actions gave his ever-turning mind a break and the warmth relaxed him. It was as if time stopped, a hour could go by in his head before reaizing it had only been ten minutes. After wrapping himself in a towel and trudging back to his bedroom he came to the unfortunate realization that causal attire was not an option seeing that he had a guest. He settled on a mauve button down shirt, black slacks and black shoes.  The cold December air hit him like a brick wall as he walked to his car. He didn’t mind though. He rather liked the cold, and loved Vermont in the winter. As he drove he wondered about the girl. He hoped that she would not be too unbearable. He had not had much experience being around teenage girls. Even when he was teenager he never really paid attention to them even thought he was painfully aware how focused his other classmates were on them. His father used to pester him about finding someone to settle down with (his words not Basil’s). He thought it would be good for Basil to start a family of his own. Basil was rather against the notion of finding a partner. He found the process dull and mind numbing. 

    He arrived on campus just before 7:50. He quickly parked his car in his designated space and sprinted towards his lecture hall. It took him all of five minutes to reach his lecture room. He unlocked the door and turned on the lights. He proceeded to sit down at his desk. He set his papers down in front of him and pulled the first one from the pile. He took note of the title page which included the student’s first and last name, his name under it, the class under that, and centered in bold (yet poorly alined) font read the title of the essay. Basil scoffed at the paper seeing that it did not contain a date. How did anyone function without including a date? He promptly turned the page and braced himself for the atrocity that was freshman english papers. As he was in the midst of grading the B level (at best) paper on the symbolism of Moby-Dick he heard the door open. Basil tilted his head up to meet a pair of shocking emerald green eyes. The girl approached him. Clad in form fitting black turtle neck and olive green leggings she looked like something out of a magazine. Her brilliant red lip stick stood out on her pale skin and her eyes were lightly lined coal black. Her auburn hair tumbled down her back just passed her shoulders entwining with her small golden hoop earrings . The girl approached him and held out her hand.

“ I hope I am not interrupting your work. I’m Alicia Hartwick. My dad told me you were expecting me.”

Basil paused for a moment before replying. He was rather taken by her appearance and   air of confidence. 

“Y-yes, of course” Basil stuttered. “I’m Basil Emerson.”

“I know.”

There was something about the way she looked directly into he deep brown eyes that made his feel exposed. For the first time he felt completely visible with no where to hide.  Basil stood partly out of politeness and partly to obtain dominance of the situation. They stood dangerously close to each other which did not seem to bother her. He on the other hand felt all too uncomfortable with the situation. She smirked at him as he took a step backward almost landing atop his desk. 

“Have you eaten breakfast yet?” he asked.

“No and I am absolutely famished,” she responded.

“Neither have I. I know of a lovely cafe we can go. They have great...” Basil’s voice trailed off as she walked towards the book shelf and kneeled down in front of it. Basil studied the girl. Hair pulled to the right side of her shoulder. Slim fingers glided over the spines in hopes of not missing a title, pausing at one as if to detect all she could from simply the name before moving onto the next. The  was broken when she looked back at him and smiled. She held her gaze for a moment too long and then returned to looking at books. After a while Basil cleared his throat just before speaking.

“Are you still wanting to the get breakfast?”

“Oh yes. Sorry, books seem to pull me before I even open them.”

Basil smiled sweetly, as it reminded him of something his mother once said to him as boy.

“That cafe is just a few blocks from here. Shall we?”

“We shall,” she giggled in response.

Basil pulled on his coat and proceeded after Alicia towards the door. He opened the for her and flicked the lights off.

    They walked to the cafe in silence. Basil listened to the snow fall lightly on his coat. He enjoyed hearing the feathery sound that snow made when it hit different surfaces. He was fascinated by the snow. He always wondered how there could be so many and yet be so different. Billions would fall in a day and all would be slightly unalike. He marveled how they were not all just a carbon copy.  Their hands brushed once and they each quickly glanced before pulling away quickly. It was quite chilly around Christmas time in Vermont. So Basil was shocked by her light layers. Most would be cold in only a leather jacket and no scarf. However, Alicia appeared to be perfectly content. She had her head turned away from Basil and up toward the sky. She seemed to be studying a single bird in flight over head. Basil wondered what she was thinking about, but did not dare ask. She seemed to have her head in other places and yet her feet planted firmly on the ground. Basil admired her ability to be two places at once. He was a bit envious of this ability as well. He seemed to become too in engrossed either in one or the other. He did not wish to distract her from her thought knowing first hand how devastating that is. When the reached the restaurant Basil listened to the tinkling of a little bell as he opened the door. He signaled for Alicia to enter before him. The waited at the door before realizing they were supposed to seat themselves. Basil always hated that. He felt like a genuine idiot. They sat down at a corner booth after Basil insisted. The silence continued as waitress poured them each a glass of water and handed out menus. Alicia asked him what he was going to have after they both pondered the options. He reluctantly told her two eggs, a side of bacon, and some tea. Basil found it so pandering to discuss a meal before eating it. Basil was aware that she clearly understood his message when she did not reply with her choice. When the waitress came Basil placed his order followed by Alicia’s. After the waitress left Alicia started a much needed conversation. 

“My dad tells me that you have been teaching here for 2 years. What is the great Cameron University like?” She looked straight into his eyes making him feel exposed once again.

Basil studied his fork in hopes of not returning the eye contact. 

“Well, it been almost three. I have enjoyed my time teaching here. Most of the students are dedicated, as are the professors. The classes are larger than most private colleges.”

“I would hate to go to a large college,” she said looking off somewhere behind Basil.

“It sound so impersonal, cold almost.”

Basil pondered this a moment, relaxing once her attention was somewhere besides him.

“Well, do not let that be the deal breaker. After all, I have not even given you the campus tour.”

“Don’t worry,” she said in a mockingly assure tone. “I haven’t completely ruled it out.”

She gave him a confident half smile that Basil knew so well.  Basil was relieved when the food arrived. They ate quickly and quietly. When the were finished Basil offered to pay but Alicia told him that anytime she had a chance to spend her father’s money she would do it with pleasure and in large quantities. Basil smirked despite not knowing where or not she was joking. He admired her ability to so blatantly torment her father. They walked back the way they came through the small, almost vacant college town. Basil loved the town this time of year. It was surrounded by snow covered pine trees not far from a lake. When all of the students left for vacation Basil had this town practically to himself. If Basil believed in Heaven it was was what he wanted it to look like. He often wondered what it was like to have such blind faith in an absentee parental figure, but he assumed it was just that: faith. He had never take much time to ponder the theological as he found it irrational and highly disapponiting. He much perfered to remain in the realm of creative, provable theory. For instance, he had already conjured up at least a dozen theories about Alicia. He glanced over at her as they walked. It was only when she had her head turned in the opposite direction that Basil  could catch glimpses of her. He began to wonder everything about her. For the first time Basil was genuinely interested in every aspect of another human being. At least since his mother was alive. 

The two returned to the campus and went back to the lecture room. As soon as they got into the door Alicia was back looking on his book shelves. He watched her closely as she ran her fingers over the cracked spines. He wonderd whether or not she had space as this at home. One filled with books that were stacked to the ceiling.  She pulled one off the shelf, but Basil can not seen which one she has chosen. Its only when she stands up that he sees that its is not a novel at all, but a book of poems. She holds the book on her left forearm while slowly flipping through the pages. She skims over the titles as if to see if she recongises any of the titles. She stops some where in the middle and hums in satifaction. A smile creeps upon her lips as she mouths the words sliently to herself. Basil was curious to see what powm she had chosen but did not dare pry. After she finished reading the poem she closed the book and placed in back on the shelf and went back to browsing. Assumed that she would be looking for a while so he set to finish grading that paper he had started before she arrived. He tried to stay focused but his attention was pulled away just by a simple shift in her movement. He forced his eyes back onto his task but his mind dirfted to to other thoughts. When he glanced over to her once more he was brought back to a scene that took place in his junior year of college. Except this memory was in a library and not a lecture hall. It was close to semester finals and Basil was finishing up some last minute edits on his paper when he spotted a girl browsing a shelf of classic literature much like Alicia was. Basil was far too shy to approached the girl and had left before Basil could have even begun what to say to her. He shook his head in hopes of repressing the memory as he had done before. He could not quite pin point why Alicia seemed to bring up th most peculiar thoughts and it drove him mad. She made her way acros the classroom and sat down in the chair next to Basil's desk. He looked up at her hoping to find some answer in her eyes. He was not quite sure what to say. He couldn't quite tell what she wanted. Despite years of observation of people and their thoughts he was at a loss with her.  After moment too long of silence she finally spoke up.

"Aren't we supposed to be touring the campus? I thought that's why my dad dragged me down here" she inqured. 

"I suppose we can. Although I thought you were enjoying looking at my books. Those are a lot of what you will read throughout your education.," Basil replied. 

"I can look at books any day. Besides, my dad wil wonder what we did all day if not tour the campus. His imagination seems to become creative for all the wrong reasons." That half smile curled up on her lips as if she were thinking of something not to be said in the presence of a stranger. 

"Well, whenever you are ready then," replied Basil. 

Alicia stood from the chair and walked towards the door. She turned the handle to open it and looked back to Basil.

"What are you waiting for?" she asked, breaking Basil's train of thought.

"Oh uh... nothing," Basil replied flusteredly, clearing his throat before speaking.

"Well, lets go," she demanded. "Time doesn't favor the slow." She pouted her lips slightly and turned her back to the empty lecture room.  Basil grabbed his coat and walked towards the open door. She stepped out of his way  in order for him to lock it once again. They walked side by side down the hall. He  pondered where to take her tht would be beneficial. I wished he could show her the dorms but sadly all the students were gone and he did not have a key to get into any of them. She had already seen his lecture room which bared a similar resemblence to all of the other lecture rooms.