Under the Sugar Maple Tree

Six

Professor Brown tosses his glasses on his desk and wipes his eyes. It's Friday afternoon and he'd just finished reviewing four mini proposals with requests for advisor placement. He only has one spot open.

He wouldn't mind taking one on, if all of their proposals weren't complete shit. His hesitancy comes from his already difficult Grad student, Rebecca, and her indecent display a few weeks prior. That whole experience, plus the dining hall debacle with Annie and the impression he'd subsequently made on her had put him off the idea of further complicating his current situation.

Standing to pace his office in deep thought, he ponders whether one in particular could be revised. The student would, of course, have to agree with changing the direction they obviously wanted to go in. If they did though, he would be more amiable towards advising them.

Sighing, his gaze shifts up and out the window. Instead of turning to pace back towards the door once more, he takes a few more steps forward and places a hand on the window frame while the other goes into his pocket.

Annie is sitting out on the lawn under that God forsaken Sugar Maple tree, as she has every chance she's had for the past two weeks. And she's in nothing but that fucking cream knit sweater again.

The girl was just asking for a bout of bronchitis, or worse, pneumonia. The weather was increasingly getting cooler and she still pranced around in her light colored sundresses and skirts with a sweater and her white keds on. Completely oblivious.

Completely happy.

Professor Brown didn't understand her. She's an enigma wrapped in a fucking sunkissed bow. She's clearly poor, uneducated and working a minimum wage job surrounded by academic snobs, yet she's the happiest person he's ever met. Every single time he bumps into her, she greets him with a radiant smile and a hello.

Irritation swells in him once more as he spins on his heel. Approaching his office door, he pulls his coat off the coat rack before exiting and stalking down the hall.

Once he's made it across the paths and lawn he stands beside her, she doesn't even have her quilt today. She's just sitting directly on the cold ground.

"Put this on." He growls. "Now."

"It's good to see you too, Professor." She draws out as she lowers her book and looks up at him.

A small grin pulls at the corner of her lips.

"Annie." He snaps.

She sighs and sets her book down on top of her canvas tote before climbing to her feet and letting the professor drape his coat around her shoulders. She puts her arms through the holes and it appears to swallow her much like the whale did to Jonah.

Once he's pulled it tight, she smiles up at him. "Better?"

"Much." He huffs.

She laughs breathily and nods. The sound is so inviting, he stares down at her, entranced by her lips as her tongue darts out to dampen them. Blinking, he takes a deep breath and drops his hands by his sides before sticking one in his pocket.