The Ghost Of Ever

05 | Pt. I Finale

Mr Ever glanced up at Winifred standing behind Kate as if her frame were some sort of shield and delivered a warm beam. She returned the gesture with a little unsure smile, allowing Kate to address him while looking about the office. The room was spacious. The white flurry sofa next to the coffee machine on the table made the place appear homely. She trailed a musky scent to the jasmines growing from a pot seated behind him on the windowsill, bathing in the sunlight.

"I have some complicated questions that need answering, sir. We are very confused."

"Hm . . . I have about forty minutes before my next class. Let's see how much we can do until then. Take a seat."

Hearing his last sentence, Winifred wheeled around and gingerly settled down on the other visitor's chair, leaning towards the table as he began to explain the mathematics problem. The more Winifred listened, the more it seemed she was understanding the topic. How come Ms Faith did not teach them like this? The little things that her teacher had never said, he mentioned them, guiding them step by step.

When she seemed perplexed, he asked if she had a question.

The leg shaking languidly froze, retracting her hands from the table, "Oh no. Please, continue."

"It's okay, ask. We can just go back and start over."

She turned to Kate who was already staring at her with curiosity. Then her gaze trailed up his face, paused at his upturned lips, then her muscles slackened. She pointed at the part she got lost at. He nodded in understanding, breaking it down further. This was a new learning experience for her. In the end, her head pounded in response to all the new information she'd absorbed.

He leaned back into his chair, stretching his fingers, "Well I have to go meet my real students. Did you understand any of what I just explained?"

Kate nodded, staring at the notebook.

"Oh, I understood everything from start to finish! How I wish you were our maths teacher instead." Winifred said, her mind in a slight daze.

Kate leaned over to Winifred and whispered, "He's not a maths teacher though,"

He let out a soft laugh that brought Winifred back from daze land. She cleared her throat and looked at the disarrayed books on the shelf, glancing at him now and then to gauge his reaction.

He looked up to the right, "My professor used to say that I could apply to teach anything other than mathematics, or I would blemish the school's reputation."

Winifred didn't know if she should laugh or apologise so her chin lifted with a low "Ah."

He chuckled, "Hm. I must have improved since then," he seemed proud of himself as he got to his feet, picking up a lesson note. She saw this as their cue to leave and tapped a distracted Kate's leg.

"Thanks a lot, sir," Kate and Winifred both chorused and exited the office.

"Wow. Who knew maths can be so fun to tackle." She said as they stepped out of the building. "And I used to dread it."

"I know right." Kate flipped through a notebook filled with green ink, courtesy of their tutor.

"I will need to copy those notes to mine."

Kate nodded and handed the notebook to her.

"Thanks."

They stepped into the hallway, a not too loud noise was coming from class one. Kate nibbled on the cover of a pen, addressing no one in particular, "I thought I'd have to beg for his spare time again."

Winifred whipped her head up at her. "You begged for his time before?"

"He was strongly reluctant yesterday evening, saying that I should just go disturb my real maths teacher."