It was already five PM, and two teachers remained
inside the fourth year faculty room, one typing on his laptop and the other one
encoding grades into a computer. It was silent, for the most part, except for
the numerous pressing of keys on the keyboard, the clicking of a mouse, and the
whirring of the ceiling fan that gently blew air onto them. Miraculously
enough, neither of them got into a spat with the other. The two simply focused
on their work, eyes glued on the screen as the minutes passed.
The woman brushed strands of her out of her eyes,
saving the file much after. A sigh left her lips and she checked the time on
the corner of the screen. Apparently, time decided to be quick and it was now
six minutes after half past five. Luckily enough for her, it was the weekend,
and the sooner she could encrypt the grades, the sooner she could get back home
and curl up in bed with a bowl of macaroni and cheese in her hands.
“Are you done yet, Sylvia?” came the voice from the
other side of the room.
She sighed yet again.
“Not yet. I still need to compute and finalize section
four’s grades.” She got up from her chair and walked towards the coffee maker,
eyeing the two remaining packets. She made a mental note to buy more coffee.
“You want some coffee? I think you’ll need it if you’re going to encode grades
after me.” Sylvia glanced at him, expecting his eyes glued on the screen, but
to her surprise (and slight delight), he looked at her with a slight smile and
nodded.
No wisecracks.
No insults.
No teasing.
Minutes later, she handed over a steaming mug of
coffee (with added sugar) to him, Richard thanking her as he received the mug
and took a long drink. She kept her eyes on her companion, taking a sip from
her own mug and eventually setting it down on her area of the table.
“At this rate, I’ll be missing the Game of
Thrones,” she heard him mutter under his breath.
A reply came from her lips without much thought, “Well
that’s what torrents are for, Richard.”
He laughed.
The laugh that she knew the students laughed at
because it was so different.
“That’s very true, Sylvia – but I prefer
downloading after the episode airs.”
“Suit yourself,” she shrugged, returning to her
position in front of the PC and rubbing her fingers. “I was just saying that
torrents existed for a reason.”
“True.”
And it was silent once more, and the sounds of
typing and clicking resumed – along with the occasional drink in between. The
clock struck half past six, and she felt like banging her head on the desk –
just a few more students, and she’d be alright. Somehow.
A wrapped sandwich landed on her work space.
She turned to glare at him for nearly messing up
her work, but saw that he was rummaging in his bag for something to eat as
well. And then it all clicked – of course. It was dinner time…for him, at
least. Her dinner would come up in an hour.
“You can have that.”
“Oh, thanks for the throw, almost wasted food,” she
snapped but opened up the sandwich anyway and took a bite. Sylvia tasted butter
and soon enough, strawberry jam that she guessed came from the north.
It was good.
But of course, she didn’t say that in front of him.
From behind her, she could hear him eating as well, and she rubbed her fingers,
determined to finalize the grade encoding she needed to do.
A few chairs away, Richard rubbed his eyes and
finished the last of his food. It didn’t look like he’d be able to encode right
after her…
* * * * *
“Richard?”
“Hm?”
“Well. I’m done, if you need the PC.”
He shook his head and got up, slinging the laptop
bag over his shoulder with ease. “Nah, I’ll just come tomorrow and encode
myself.” She blinked and stared at him, a small smirk crawling up his face. “It
was fun to see you frustrate over the students’ grades, Sylvia.”
“Oh, shut up.” She snapped. “Just go.”
He merely stood there, still smirking.
“What?”
He finally laughed and took his keys from his
pocket, waving them in front of her with a slightly lazy look on his tanned
face.
“You can commute home, or I can bring you home.”
Begrudgingly, she zipped her bag and chose the
latter choice.
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