Ethically Speaking

0.9

•- Quincie Jackson -•

Following my classes I went straight to the school library and read every book I could find on local history. When I had found a fair amount of information through there, I hopped on the bus and took an hour ride to Boston where I collected some information from the city records. After two hours hidden in a dry and cold basement holding the cities physical archives, I grabbed a cup of coffee and set back home with a fresh mind filed with information.

When I returned to campus it was dark. The only lights igniting the area were the lanterns that's good on their long pole along the sidewalk of each path.

It would be a while before the next bus came to campus to carry the young adults from their dorms to the places they needed to be at this hour. Most of the faculty cars were gone and I had hoped to see my father, despite our unresolved issues. It would be nice to not have to walk home despite the short distance. When it came down to it, there was nothing more scary than being a woman walking alone at night in a college town. (This is why I don't leave my dorm)

I huff out a sigh as my hand pushes through my hair. I could call Grace and ask her to pick me up but I knew her schedule today and she wouldn't be here for at least another hour and waiting alone in the dark was less than appealing.

Remembering the spare key to my father's office, I begin to dig through my backpack in search for the gold key. As I was digging around through scattered papers and notebooks, my attention is brought to the sound of a car beeping as it unlocked.

I look up, finding Elijah Woods' nose buried in his phone as his eyebrows crease together with confusion I can assume.

His fingers feverishly type and I watch with no reason as he quickly hits send. At that moment my phone lets out a loud ping, causing his attention to rise and his face to settle into relief.

It was obvious I had been staring. He could see it I was sure from the soft glow of the lantern above me. Awkwardly I push my hair back and shuffle for my phone despite the intensity in the air as I knew he was now watching me.

I opened the new notification from my school email.

Quincie,

This is the third email I've sent regarding our meeting tonight. I'm headed home and if you don't reply by the time I get there I'll be knocking on your door. I'm sorry if that seems extreme, you've just ignored my last emails. That is very out of the ordinary. Is everything okay? Should I be worried?

Elijah Fields Dr.
Professor
Chairperson
Department of Philosophy
University of Kingston Wright

I glance up to meet his staring gaze to find him slowly approaching me. I shove my phone back into my pocket awkwardly as he reaches my location.

"Is everything alright? You aren't in danger or anything are you?" His eyes scan the surrounding areas in search of a student but at this hour it was more likely they were stumbling back to their dorms after a wild night out.

"I'm fine. I'm really sorry I turned my phone off and missed your emails. I was in Boston at the City Archives."

His shoulders settle as he lets out a soft sigh.

"Alright. You had me worried. I wanted to set up our meeting time for tonight but if it's too late we can begin tomorrow."

All too quickly I shake my head, causing the corners of Elijah's lips to move upwards.

"No, no. It's not too late," I say eagerly, "I was looking into Aldous Köhler. I have so much information just waiting to be told," my excitement was evident in my words and I realized just how enthralled I was to be working on this project.