MILLIE
The trouble with academics is that they all spent a bit too much time wrapped up in books, papers, and studies. Caleb was par for the course, polite enough, but he looked like damn Abercrombie and Fitch model. In his sweater and collared shirt combo, he looked more like a man who would play a professor on television. His floppy straight hair that fell across his eyes felt almost boyish, even if it was graying at the temples. His voice was resonant and rich, and his pale blue eyes had a disarming charm about them.
The sight of this astronomy professor had me, for lack of a better term, spacing out, and the pun was only semi-intended.
When he went out for coffee and his class, it was easier to get some work done. I began combing through his files and making notes on his notes. I saved files into the shared system and began to get a feel for his organizational habits… or lack thereof. His computer systems were neat enough, but the office was another beast entirely.
“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, who keeps a filing cabinet of books?” I muttered to myself.
More reasonably, the cabinet closest to his desk had lecture notes and student grades in it. That was important, and it could easily stay put. I didn’t care about the mini-fridge and microwave parked in the farthest corner, but bookcases lining the left wall and flanking the spare desktop were desperate for TLC. There were printouts of scholarly articles, dusty books, handwritten journals with mathematical calculations, and some framed photos of people who looked like family or friends.
After getting the lay of the land, I stopped to clean out the desk I’d be using. There was still a lot of stuff on top. I moved it all carefully to the windowsill, avoiding the plant settled in the sunshine. I didn’t want to assume anything about any of the knickknacks or flash drives. Caleb could sort it all out. It took me a minute, but with the help of the front desk girl, I managed to get some paper towels and multi-surface cleaner. I was spraying down my space just as Caleb came back from class. A paper coffee cup and a stack of essays filled his lean arms.
Setting the things down, he smiled apologetically. “If I knew you were coming, I would have cleaned.”
“I’m pretty sure you knew I was coming,” I responded, not giving him benefit of the doubt. “Don’t worry, though. I just don’t work well in a cluttered space. Isn’t there some cliché about clear spaces and clear minds?”
“Probably.” Caleb sat down at his vacated desk. “What did you find?”
“There’s a lot of good stuff here,” I began, knowing how many academics respected me more if I complimented their work first. “I’m not sure what you’re researching at the moment, but you seem to have a good amount of material to work with. Is it important to focus on a certain subject? Do you have any kind of a thesis yet? There were a few lines in your notes, but I didn’t want to presume with was going to be the keystone of your paper.”
Gazing around the room, he noticed the flash drives on the windowsill and reached for them. “I’m open to suggestions.”
“Great,” I replied.
It was just as I suspected. Caleb had a few different theories he was investigating, but there was no real focus. So, the first thing was going to be to have him pick one of them. We spent his lunch hour combing through the possibilities before he had to leave for more classes. All the while, I began to notice the clean scent of his aftershave and how pleasant his even tone could be. Time began to slip away from me. As he shuffled around the fresh space, I turned in my chair. It was already after two o’clock.
“Will you be back?” I wondered.
“No, I won’t be done teaching until five-fifteen, so don’t worry about waiting for me,” he explained while grabbing his bag again. “I usually head out from the lecture hall on Mondays and Wednesdays.”
“Does your office need to be locked up?”
Checking his watch, Caleb shook his head. “They close the office floors at six. It’s accessible by key code only, so there’s not much need. Take care, Millie.”
“You too, Caleb.”
He was wrapped up in his own head, lost in a space of his own making, yet that changed when he smiled. Crooked and gorgeously imperfect, I couldn’t help but smile back. By the time I clocked out for the night, I knew where everything was in that tiny office. I now had the space to bring over my favorite tabs, my markers and dividers—everything I needed to transform the workspace into a thing of beauty.
Caleb’s work life was never going to be the same.
I loaded it all into a cardboard box the next morning and set out for the university, reminding me why I hadn’t been planning to stay with my twin forever. Meara’s apartment was so far away that I had to take two busses to get to my destination. On the ride, my box sat perched on my knees. I could feel the cardboard tearing as I shuffled from one bus to the next. I shored it up by pinching it between my fingers, by some miracle, I didn’t miss my connection.
My luck ran out halfway across campus.
As I walked past the library, admiring the grand glass home housing study spaces, I felt my box break out from under me. The tape came undone, and all the contents scattered onto the sidewalk.
“Ugh, why?” I grumbled under my breath.
It was only my second day, and already, I was going to be late. Not only that, but my beautiful office supplies were in danger of being stomped on. College kids were blowing past without a second look.
I had no choice but to get down on my hands and knees to retrieve the things. They wouldn’t all fit in my purse, and I didn’t have another bag handy. I had started collecting them all back into the broken box when I noticed I had company.
A pair of polished black shoes stared at me from just a few inches away. A moment later, the person crouched, reaching for one of my notepads. I looked up into dreamy eyes and a kind face. The man was gorgeous, older than me by a few years, with an aristocratic jaw and expertly styled hair.
He wore a burgundy suit with a white button-down shirt, the collar loose and no necktie in sight. The chiseled lines of muscle defined his jaw and neck before disappearing into the confines of his shirt. In an instant, I forgot all about my scattered belongings, completely distracted by the man kneeling before me.
Reaching over, he plucked one item after another from the sidewalk, returning them to my tray. He didn’t seem to notice my attraction. My stupefied state left me frozen, and I shook my head to clear it.