Wicce (2nd Edition)

3

The Westminster University looked very different from the Upper State College. The moment she stepped through the gates, Charlotte felt like she had been transported in time. The Upper State College she had attended was a modern cement building that looked somewhat like a military base and it felt like an oversized high school compared to Westminster. The campus was enormous, spanning two whole blocks in the center of Metrocity. Most buildings were built during the eighteen hundreds, composed of breathtaking towers and blackened mortar amazingly still holding the red-brick structures together after two hundred years. Charlotte found the Department of Archaeology and Anthropology at the north-east corner of the campus. It was a red-bricked rectangular Richardsonian building five floors high with two rows of tall Gothic pointed windows lining each floor fanning the north and south sides and two tall tower pavilions about eight floors high at each end. Sky scraping trees surrounded the building and strangely enough even though she was in the middle of Metrocity, Charlotte could hardly hear any sound as she stood outside its main entrance, except birds chirping in the trees. Charlotte's footsteps echoed in the vast foyer as she stepped through the arched doorway. Voices from lectures could be heard filtering out from auditoriums along the hallway. She lightened her footsteps, followed the signs to the west pavilion and hiked up the marble winding staircase to the administrative floor. Typing sounds on a keyboard could be heard through a door standing slightly ajar. Charlotte took in a huge breath to calm her nerves and carefully pushed the door open. The round wooden door creaked on its hinges and she winced. She carefully peeked inside. A white ceiling fan hummed serenely as the sounds of keystrokes stopped and a woman behind the desk peeped over her spectacles.

"Yes? Can I help you?" The woman said, her voice with full of composure and a hint of authority. Charlotte recognized it right away. She had heard it on the phone this morning.

"Sorry. My name is Charlotte Branson. I called this morning?"

"Oh yes, yes." The woman said. She must be about Charlotte's mother's age but unlike Mrs. Branson, she looked poised in a white fluff-necked blouse and a long twilled skirt with her grey hair neatly swept back into a bun. She immediately stood up and walked around the desk to greet her. "You're here for the assistant position."

"Come, come. Come over and have a seat." The woman motioned her to the other side of the room set with two Renaissance-styled armchairs and a worn-out cherry wood coffee table. "I'm Professor Hannigan, chair of the department. Did you bring your résumé with you?"

"Yes. Yes, I did." Charlotte produced the papers and handed them to the professor with slightly sweaty hands.

Professor Hannigan adjusted her glasses so she could read properly and nodded periodically as she went through Charlotte's résumé.

"Very good. Very good. I see you've taken Archaeology and Anthropology courses at college. That's certainly a plus to have someone who actually knew something about the subjects." Charlotte heaved a silent sigh of relief and flashed her brightest, most confident smile.

"Very well. Unfortunately, I have a meeting to catch." Charlotte looked up, surprised. What? That's it? The professor hadn't even asked her a single question! She hung her head as Professor Hannigan showed her to the door but stopped short when suddenly the professor spun on her heels to face Charlotte, "Professor Brinkley will continue the interview."

Charlotte followed the professor down the hallway towards the east pavilion, their heels clicking loudly on the marble floor and the sounds from the lectures downstairs vaguely audible. They arrived to a round wooden door similar to that of Professor Hannigan's office except this one had a pane of frosted glass as a window looking into what seemed like a sun-filled room inside. The words etched in the glass read "Department Office". Professor Hannigan turned the door knob and pushed the door open without knocking.