Word count: 1583
|3 days later|
Elizabeth ended up not being able to return to see Ahkmenrah the next night which left an unsettled feeling in her stomach.
She had been called into her school to discuss her assignment, every week she would send in a draft for her final presentation.
Elizabeth had been nervous when she learned that her professor felt the need to speak face to face and not through an email. She felt uneasy as she sat on the subway, it was extremely unusual to be called in during a break.
She exited the station and walked to the building where her professor resided. As she stepped up the stairs the faint clicking of her shoes on the stone calmed her.
Elizabeth made her way through the building and then knocked on the door of her professor's office.
"Come in" a voice called from behind the thick wooden doors.
Elizabeth pushed it open and braced herself for what she imagined would be an unpleasant encounter.
She entered the room and saw her professor, Ms. Vincent, sitting behind an intimidating, large oak desk. Elizabeth was quite fond of her, but nevertheless her anxious thoughts gripped her by the neck.
"Hello miss Daley! Would your please have a seat" Ms. Vincent spoke with a welcoming smile that eased Elizabeth's nerves, at least she didn't seem mad or disappointed.
Elizabeth smiled with a nod and quickly sat down in the old wooden chair that was in front of her, clasping her hands together and straightening her posture.
"Now I know you're wondering why I asked you here, normally I speak with students over email but I figured it would be easier if you were here. I've read all of the drafts that you sent in, they are all very well written, however I was wondering why you would choose to write about someone we know so little about, writing about pharoah Ahkmenrah?" Ms. Vincent asked.
Elizabeth thought for a moment, she hadn't anticipated this question, she had not even thought that someone would likely question how she knew so much about someone who lived over 4000 years ago, Elizabeth realized know that it didn't make much sense.
"Well" Elizabeth started, choosing her works carefully, making sure that she didn't make a fool of herself.
"I'm sure you know the Museum of Natural History here?" Causing her professor to nod.
"My uncle Larry, is the night guard there, and with that job he is allowed to occasionally bring guests in to see the museum when no one else is there"
Elizabeth wasn't sure if he actually even was allowed to bring them in, but she had to make something up.
"There is an entire exhibit dedicated to Ahkmenrah and I've always been fascinated by him... You see, my uncle is friends with some of the professors who work there and they have let me go into their archives of research, specifically on Ahkmenrah."
Elizabeth thought for a moment before continuing, Ms. Vincent didn't seem to be questioning it.
"Now with the internet being so easily accessible, you would think everyone about everyone would be on it, however I've found research on Ahkmenrah that isn't involved in the exhibit and isn't available online.
I'm taking this small amount of information that I've found and piecing together a slightly larger picture of what the life of Ahkmenrah might have been like. I'm also taking some inspiration from rulers from similar time periods and making... informed guesses.
I suppose it's a bit of creative writing."
Elizabeth finished her explanation, watching her professor's face for any expression of doubt.
Ms. Vincent raised her eyebrows before lowering them, seemingly comfortable with the reason.
"You have quite the advantage then miss Daley, I do however advise you to be careful with your writing, it's promising and I do not want this to turn into a fairytale." She stated.
"Oh of course not, I wouldn't want it to become anything that is less than realistic" Elizabeth replied with a steady breath being released from her lungs.
"Despite your access to knowledge, we all know only so much, if only we could have a conversation with him now" Ms. Vincent joked, causing Elizabeth to let out a short, airy laugh.
Internally, Elizabeth felt her worries begin to melt away, she wished that she didn't get herself so worked up, it was in her nature.
They spent about twenty minutes discussing unrelated school things before Ms. Vincent checked her wristwatch and mentioned something about a phone meeting.
Elizabeth grinned and said goodbye, walking out of the office and then the building with a fresh, relaxed step.
Elizabeth was a worrier, this is nothing new, calming down from an anxious mind was something she had to deal with. And despite the relief she felt, the effects of the worrying lingered in her body.
"Casey" she muttered to herself.
Elizabeth knew when Casey was working and looked at the time on her phone before changing directions and walking towards the diner.
* * *
"Hi girly!" Casey called as Elizabeth stepped inside, causing the little bell on the top of the door to ring.
Elizabeth smiled and sat down at the counter, waiting for her friend to return from the kitchen.
She came out with a smile and a strawberry lemonade.
"For you" she presented it in an overdramatic manner, Elizabeth grinned and took it.
Elizabeth took a sip and then took a relaxed breath, it was cold outside but she felt warm, a warm and content feeling overtook her when she wasn't anxious lately.
She thought about Ahkmenrah and felt the feeling stir within her.
She was however snapped out of her thoughts with her best friends face planted right in front of her, wide eyes staring at her.
"SO..... how's lover boy?" Casey asked with a smirk.
Elizabeth laughed and placed her hands on her face, rubbing her temple slightly before looking at her friend.
"I haven't seen him since we were here last week" Elizabeth started, Casey's eyebrows quickly furrowed and she looked concerned.
"Did something happen after? What's wrong?" Casey quickly talked, her eyes wide and one of her hands gripping Elizabeth's.
Elizabeth shook her head and took a sip of her drink.
"No, nothing bad happened between us, I just haven't had the time to go back to the mu-" Elizabeth stopped herself, she wanted to talk to Casey about everything but felt she would just seen silly to her, perhaps Casey would think she was lying for some reason"
"I just haven't had time to go and see him"
"Aw, that's too bad, I got major this night is going to end in a special way vibes" Casey raised her voice and wiggled her eyebrows.
Elizabeth snorted and rolled her eyes, Casey was like an excited tween girl when it came things like this.
"Well I'm sorry the night didn't end the way you had hoped, I liked it, it was simple" Elizabeth paused for a moment and thought about it.
" I want to see him again, a lot. I really like him, he's sweet and I enjoy being around him"
Casey squealed and clapped her hands.
"You guys are so cute, if you didn't stare at your hands so much you would know that he started at you practically the entire time you were here"
"You need to see him again soon, can you see him today?" Casey questioned.
Elizabeth smiled and thought about it, she was free tonight and didn't have anything to write about. There was nothing stopping her from going to see him.
"I think I will" Elizabeth concluded.
"I'll ask him if I can see him tonight, it would be nice"
Casey wiggled her eyebrows and grinned.
"I'm glad, I think you need the relaxation that only a boy could give you"
Elizabeth's eyes widened and she lightly slapped Casey's arm, while her best friend laughed.
"Jesus Casey, no, I just want to hang out with him!"
"Uh huh" she smirked.
* * *
The two of them hung out for a while before Casey's manager scolded her for not actually working, they laughed and then said goodbye.
Elizabeth pulled out her phone and texted her uncle.
He had no reason to say no to her coming to visit, but she wanted a definitive *yes*.
"Hi, can I come to the museum tonight? Pretty please?"
She put her phone in her pocket and continued to walk, a few moments later, her pocket vibrated.
"Sure thing! Anyone in particular that you want to visit? :)"
Elizabeth sighed and laughed before replying to him. She didn't think that her admiration for Ahkmenrah was that obvious, but apparently it was, as everyone she knew was constantly teasing her about it.
Whatever, at least she knew she was going to see him, all of a sudden she felt her heart rate increase, excitement rushing through her. She couldn't help the physical grin that creeped onto her face.
This sudden happiness seemed to be a recurring thing now, it was nice.
IMPORTANT
Lmao hi, I forgot about this book. It's insane how popular Rami Malek has become in the past year, my boy won an Oscar!! The support for this crappy little fan fiction is overwhelming, thank you very much. Rereading my first chapter is silly, I want to improve it, maybe I'll edit them.
This is sort of rushed, I just wanted to give you guys something. I hope you'll like it.
Thank you, Sam.