Chapter 3 - The Professor

I spent the remainder of the day glancing furtively at the clock. The office had one of those giant white schoolroom style clocks on the wall. We always used to joke about how its tick could wake the dead. If only it were that easy, I thought ironically as it drew closer to 4:00. At three I finally stood. I realized, with a slight feeling of disgust, that I had been chewing my fingernails, a nervous habit I was always trying to overcome. Grabbing my Steno pad, tape recorder and several pens I quickly scooped the supplies into my bag and turned off the computer. As if to mock me further, there was Barry standing near the door.

"Go to hell!" He said with a slight smirk. I couldn't quite mask my glare. As soon as I was out of earshot I muttered a few choice words under my breath and stepped into the elevator.

The University was close, but I chose to drive over, not wanting to be stranded there after hours. Plus, I didn't know quite how long I'd be there, so I figured I'd go straight home after, if possible. Traffic was light, except near the campus. Students trying to make their 3:30 classes made maneuvering difficult and it took a while before I finally found a place to park; miles from the building I needed to get to. I glanced at my watch, I still had 15 minutes, but I wasn't quite certain where to go. Spotting a campus map nearby, I headed over and had a look. It took a while to discern the true direction, since some thoughtful student had scrawled their own version of the map over it. I doubted the probability of an actual brothel being located on the Campus, but then, you never knew. Might make for an interesting story later, I thought, as I tucked it away in that little 'reporter' section of my memory.

I finally found the Classics building on the map and set off at a brisk jog. Of course the building was at the other end of the campus and I didn't have enough time to search for another parking space. Besides, I admitted somewhat sheepishly, I could use the exercise.

Bursting through the main doors at approximately 3:57, I frantically tracked down the main office and told them why I was there. The counter person, obviously not the same as I had spoken to on the phone, directed me to a worn out, patched vinyl chair. I had only just sat down, trying to avoid as many of the bigger stains as possible, when a rather hawkish woman came striding into the room. I immediately leapt to my feet like she was some sort of drill sergeant and I was a lowly recruit.

She caught sight of me and looked me over in a manner that was decidedly uncomfortable. I squirmed a little under her hawkish gaze, finally gathering my wits.

"Professor Thanatos?" I asked, praying that this was not her. Her dark brown hair was pulled sternly away from her face and arranged in a tight bun on the top of her head. She wore ancient looking spectacles, perched precariously on the end of her beakish nose. She had one of those eyebrows that didn't appear to be separated in the middle. Despite myself, I couldn't help but stare at it. The overall effect was frightening.

"Yes." She replied. "And you are?"

I suddenly realized that I hadn't introduced myself on the phone. I had been too busy worrying about the fate of my job and trying to figure out if this woman was for real or not.

"My name is Leigh..Harris." I paused briefly, some instinct screaming at me not to give my real name to this scary woman. She held out her hand and I cringed for a moment before realizing she was being polite. Embarrassed I shook her hand. "Thank you for seeing me on such short notice." I added for good measure. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.

"Let us adjourn to my office." She directed, leading me out into the deserted hall. We stepped into an almost clinical looking room. Neither the desk nor the walls held any sort of decoration, personal trinket or even a diploma. The shelves housed hundreds of books, but I was certain from my own University days that no one ever read those books and that they were just for show. A stack of papers was piled neatly on the corner of the desk; the top one rather prominently displaying a D minus. Rather unnervingly, she waited until I seated myself in one of the uncomfortable high backed wooden chairs across from hers before she sat herself down on an identical seat. Then I noticed that on the top of a shelf behind her, glaring down at me was a human skull!

I stared at the skull for a while, before she jerked me back to reality.

"Well?" She asked. I got a sudden sense that she had asked me something, but I wasn't sure what.

"I'm sorry." I tried to explain. "I was uh..admiring your skull." She leaned back and bored those piercing eyes of hers deep into my soul. I felt the urge to bolt.

"You're not really a graduate student." She told me. "You're here for another reason, what is it?"

"I." How did she know that? I started to perspire under that unbreakable delving gaze of hers. She made me feel like my entire soul was on display. "Okay." I said finally, for lack of anything else to say. I felt a weird sensation in my hip. That was odd. Then I realized that it was the vibrate mode on my cell phone. Her spell was momentarily broken as I seized the phone and looked at the display and saw Kelly's name. "I'm terribly sorry." I said. "This is very important, do you mind?"

"Please." She replied pleasantly. I almost ran out the door into the hall, but controlled myself until I was out of earshot and in the deserted women's room. I locked the door behind me and collapsed against it.

"Kelly." I said into the speaker. "Thank god."

"That bad?" I thought he was laughing, but I couldn't be sure.

"Worse." I replied. "This woman has a human skull in her office!" Kelly was definitely laughing.

"You're the one who wanted to be a writer." He reminded me.

"Yes, , this is the most intimidating person on the face of the earth, I can't do this!"

"So bail." He suggested.

"I can't." I replied. "I think she knows stuff that I need to learn."

"Then what are you complaining about? Go back in there and dig, girl! That's what a good journalist would do."

Well, he had me now. If I backed out now he would hold it over me for the rest of my life. Not to mention getting fired and evicted from my apartment. A fine mess.

"Fine." I said. I hung up and sighed, bracing myself. Okay, now that I knew what this woman was like I was ready. I could handle this. So she was a little intimidating, big deal. She wasn't going to chop me up into little pieces or anything. Oh god I hoped not.

I unlocked the door, took another deep breath and braced myself before heading back to her office, determined to get this over with.