Under the Sugar Maple Tree

Three

Annie sighs as she lays back on the Quilt mom & Dilly made under a beautiful Sugar Maple tree on the University campus one cool Friday morning. The air around her is crisp and she pulls her cream knit sweater tighter as she stares up into the branches above her. The leaves are just starting to turn and she can sense the excitement in the pit of her belly.

She'd been in New Haven for three weeks now and had settled into her new job nicely. Things had been uneventful for the most part until last week when a brassed off professor came charging like a bull looking for a matador through the dining hall.

Annie felt she'd handled the situation well, despite her nervousness. Nervousness at his anger and at her unexpected attraction to him. He sure acted like a pissed off pony, but he also looked like a stallion while he did it with his height, medium build, intense eyes and dark hair very sparsely peppered with gray.

The incident had unexpectedly endeared her to a few students who witnessed the exchange. One had leaned in and called her a hero after the professor had departed. Another called her, "the real MVP". When she'd asked why, they'd said they'd never seen anyone leave him speechless before.

She didn't think he was speechless, so much as trying not to let the steam in his ears turn into full on fire torches the likes a blacksmith had never seen.

She laughs to herself as she recalls the incident before reaching over and grabbing Gone With the Wind from her tote. Opening the book to her last page, she settles in for some peaceful reading as the leaves wrestle in the wind above her head.

Just then she hears a familiar voice.

Annie rolls over and props herself up on her elbows.

"Speak of the devil and he shall appear." She draws out in a whisper.

She gazes across the lawn to the footpath about fifteen feet away and watches two people exchange niceties. It's obvious they are colleagues in the ease with which they walk and converse. Moments later an unexpected melodic laughter rings through the air and Annie's jaw nearly hits the quilt.

Well, I'll be! Who would have thought? The man can actually laugh.

When he looks out over the lawn and their eyes meet, Annie gives a small smile of acknowledgement before she rolls back onto her back and goes back to her book. Their voices fade into the background as she starts to read again, tuning them out.

She's just reached the end of a chapter when she realizes someone is standing over her. She allows her gaze to shift to the right briefly, taking in the Professor's navy dress pants and sparkly dress shoes as he stands just off the edge of her blanket.

Looking back at her book, Annie casually flips a page. "Nice to see you're in a better mood today, Professor Brown."

When there's no immediate response, she lowers the book every so slightly to peer up over the top. The professor stares down at her with furrowed brows over his gray eyes, his face otherwise unreadable.