The Love Letter (girlxgirl) (lesbian story) gxg

Chapter 7

Charlie

"You'll remember," the professor said to the class, "that the format of this course is the first six weeks are dedicated to drilling into you the foundation of investigative journalism. I'm teaching you theory and I'm cramming it down your throat. I realize you're probably overwhelmed at this point."

A collective sigh followed by a wave of mumbles and whispers.

"Now we are at the point in our course in which you will pick a collaborative partner for the remainder of the semester. This is for two reasons. One, because of the size of this class," he says. "Unlike many instructors, I'm not passing you off to TAs. You get me, all semester, all office hours and the tradeoff is I halve the number of papers and projects I have to keep up on grading when I pair you up. Two, because anybody who wants a career in journalism needs to develop core skills of collaboration, communication and compromise. Knowing the theory is useless if you can't talk to your team, listen to their ideas and synthesize your insights into a successful way of reporting news."

"While the major focus of your teamwork is your final project and tests, midterms are right around the corner. I suggest you get used to your partner sooner rather than later, familiarizing yourself with them. Even though we aren't even halfway through the semester, start working on your project concept as soon as you're paired off. And since I'm not a monster, you get to pick your own partner so you're welcome and remember: your final project and examination account for fifty percent of your grade."

Another collective groan echoed around the lecture hall. "Have a good weekend. Class dismissed."

Before Charlie could even put the cap on her pen, Emma was asking her to be her partner. "Do you want to grab lunch together and brainstorm?"

"I'm late for my shift at Solé. What about tonight?"

Emma nodded and left, happy she could pair up with Charlie.

"Hey! She's back!" Diego said when Charlie walked in. "How are you feeling?"

"Much better, thank you."

Alison walked out of the staff room, she was wearing a white tank top and skinny jeans and hung low on her hips, her hair was messy and her cheeks flushed. A new shipment of coffee and alcohol came in that morning and she was unloading it all with the help of Olivia. When she spotted Charlie she gave her a nod and simply walked back out. "It looks like you might need help."

"Tons," Diego said. "I'm busy at the register but you can help Ali and Liv unload boxes if you're feeling better."

Unloading a truck full of boxes filled with alcohol and coffee is no fun, there were a lot more boxes than usual today because ever since Solé had live music every night business had doubled and so had the orders for alcohol and other goodies.

"Earth to Alison." Olivia snapped her fingers in front of her face. "You there?"

The blonde forced herself back into the present.
"Yeah." She sipped from Olivia's water bottle, wishing it was something stronger. Was it too early to start drinking? It was a little after noon but six o'clock somewhere, right? "I was thinking about the stupid project I haven't even started yet. It's supposed to be my final masterpiece before graduation and professor Rinaldi said there might be a gallery interested in displaying another one of my paintings and here I am with the biggest block in history."

T-minus nine weeks until her deadline. The gallery claimed that if they liked what he saw they might have something bigger for her. You know, in the big leagues. But she couldn't summon the will to even start.

"Why don't you talk to your parents about it?" Olivia asked as she started unloading another box full of coffee beans. "You could turn it into a tribute for your grandmother, maybe that'll make it easier."