Up in the Stars

Sublime

She found Dr. Drewitt and Dr. Easton in the footnotes of Dr. Romano's Wikipedia page and she clicked the link.

It took her to a newspaper clipping of the three at a gala earlier in the year.

Theodore Easton (Left, 36), Dante Romano (Middle, 33), and Alexander Drewitt (Right, 31) pictured at the Spring Pennington University Arts Gala.

The image was taken candidly, none of the men aware that it was being taken.

Dr. Drewitt looked to be in the middle of telling a story, his large hand clutching an intricate glass of golden liquid.

Dr. Romano had his wicked smirk painted on his face as he listened, but his eyes were trained on Dr. Easton who wore his usual pensive mask.

A cigarette hung from Theodore's left hand, effortless and deadly.

The three men were dressed to kill in expensive tuxedos, the monochrome colors adding to their ethereal image.

The holy trinity seemed to glow under the warm light of the chandelier above them.

Enid's heart began to beat quicker.

If just a photo caused such a reaction in her, she had no idea how she was going to manage being around them so often.

She wondered for a moment if she was truly capable of being their assistant.

She had been denying it the past few days, but she was finally admitting it to herself.

Enid had a crush on three men.

Three older, very successful men.

Her professors.

Men she had no business daydreaming about.

Yet, there she was.

Blushing as she studied a photo of them.

She wondered how it was only Wednesday.

She had only had three days of classes, yet she felt she had been changed entirely.

Standing up and stretching, she decided to get ready for bed.

A long shower and a pair of comfortable pajamas later, she was snuggled under her duvet.

The next morning flew by quickly.

Her history and math classes as equally busy and unmemorable as they had been on Tuesday.

She spent the break after her history class wandering around the campus.

She hadn't spent much time exploring the grounds, other than her residence hall and classroom buildings.

She made a mental note of where the library was, knowing she would need to return there this weekend to begin her research on sadism.

Wait.

Did she still need to do that?

They had already hired her after all.

She wondered for a moment about trying to find his office, but then remembered the new phone tucked safely in her backpack.

Grabbing it, she found the contact for "Theodore Easton" and sent a text before she lost her nerve.

"Hi Dr. Easton. This is Enid McCarthy. Do you still wanted me to write the application essay for the assistant position? Have a great day. X"

As she read back over it, she sucked in a gasp as she realized she had absentmindedly added an X as a kiss at the end.

It was something she had always done in her messages to her father or Fionna.

She tried to delete the message, but found it had already sent.

She cursed the fancy technology.

She considered throwing the phone into the bush beside her and running away, but she knew that would solve none of her problems.

The dinging of the phone interrupted her distress.

"Hello, Enid. Yes, I would like you to still complete the assignment. I am looking forward to reading your work. See you soon. X"

Enid stared at the screen in shock.

He had sent her a kiss back.

Maybe he didn't know what it meant, it was a European thing, right?

She brushed it off as a misunderstanding and quickly popped into her dorm room to retrieve her dearest possession.

Her cello.

With a quick spritz of her favorite perfume and a glance in the mirror, she headed toward the music hall.

This time she was ten minutes early.

✾ ✾ ✾

A bit of a filler chapter, but some important background info as well.

We'll be getting into some serious action in just a few chapters, so hang tight!

Comments fill my heart with joy.

All my love, Sappho ✾