Riddles on Napkins // E.Nygma

Chapter 8

A month had passed and the tutoring had gone much better than expected. Edward had turned out to be a fantastic teacher, in a month he had made me grasp concepts I had struggled with over the couple of years I had spent at university. I felt as if I was finally going to achieve something without the help of my parents who had played a significant role in getting me into university in the first place.

It wasn't all sunshine and rainbows, however, there had been multiple occasions when I had come to a complete mental breakdown, flipping out and telling Edward to leave but he always came back the next day with a riddle and a smile. He wouldn't let me quit that much was certain, every time I told him to stop he would only explain it over and over until I had no choice but to understand it.

He was relentless and it made an incredible difference, I was prone to giving up on things when they got too hard, eager to escape a hard situation rather than work through it but he was determined enough for the both of us.

"Alice I'm not letting you give up your entire future because you don't understand one concept, it would be a significant waste of both of our time and you know how much I despise wasted time." He explained calmly while I was in another pointless fit.

"Then stop wasting your time!" I was glad that no one ever came in while we were having these heated arguments. "I didn't ask you to do any of this! I'm not smart enough, end of story! Why is this so important to you!" I exploded for probably the third time this month.

"You know very well why." He responded in the calm voice he always kept when we argued.

"I don't think I do Edward, you say that every single time but I don't think I understand why you care so much about my career, how in the hell does it affect you?" I threw my arms up in frustration.

"Because when we finish this tutoring arrangement, you can finally come and work as  my assistant and I won't have to waste my time coming over here for coffee to speak with you." I was going to reply in another snappy comeback but his statement caught my attention.

"You come to get coffee just to talk to me?" I asked, a chuffed smile coming to my face in surprise.

"Let's just carry on with this shall we?" He changed the topic, the statement was enough to calm down my anger and cause butterflies to erupt in my stomach. He came to get coffee just so he can talk to me.

I felt slightly honored at his words, he considered me to be a worthy person to spend time with, he didn't consider me an imbecile like he did the other officers in his workplace and I felt as if I was on a pedestal, considered of higher importance to him than his co-workers.

Although I don't think that's the entire reason I was receiving these feelings, the way he spoke the sentence with such sincerity like he was excited to have me as an assistant and if I was honest I was excited too.

Edward said that after this tutoring session I should know enough of the basics to apply for the assistant position and from there he would further teach me in detail more about forensic science. He told me that he had already briefly discussed with the commissioner that he was in need of an assistant, which I knew was a lie as he always had his paperwork completely under control and I don't think I have ever seen him stressed enough about work to require an assistant. I didn't even think being an assistant to a forensic scientist was even a job but I would take anything at this point.

According to Edward I wouldn't even be required to take a test so long as I didn't mess anything else the job was as good as mine. I had asked Harvey to put in a good word on me and I knew he would do so. So next week I was trading in my apron for a lab coat, finally rid of the endless scent of coffee beans.