Intermission // Van McCann

22. I'm Done!

June 2020

I could see Van resting his head on the table, no doubt dragging his feet on finishing his dissertation. He's been sitting in front of the computer for hours trying to type the final paragraphs. His dissertation is due on Friday so he doesn't have much time left.

"Ren," I heard Van call, his voice muffled. "Can you please read my dissertation? My brain is fried and not functioning."

"I'm not reading your dissertation! It's over a hundred pages long!" I complained.

He tried to get me to read it several times but failed. I did read it when he was just starting and it was only five pages long. All the technical terms made it difficult to read and I immediately lost interest, not retaining anything I was reading. All I told him was that it looked good but he instantly caught on that I didn't get anything out of it.

"It's 134 pages long, Ren. 134 pages of pure torture. When I'm done, I'm going to print it just to burn it. I fucking hate this paper."

Van was now banging his head on the table. Now he was being dramatic. He's literally so close. Only a couple more paragraphs and then he's done. I walked over to kiss him on the head.

"You can do it. You're almost there," I encouraged him. "Why don't you take a break and come back later? You've been at it for hours."

Van lifted his head and pushed his chair back, standing up. "I'm gonna go for a fag break."

He grabbed his cigarettes and lighter and made his way towards the balcony, opening the door so he could squeeze through it before shutting it closed. I watched as he placed a cigarette between his lips, cupping the end with his hands and lighting it. As per usual, he's been smoking more due to the stress of it all which was slightly upsetting because he was making good progress cutting the amount of cigarettes he smoked each day.

Van stared out across the water as he leaned against the railing, blowing out smoke. That's what I loved about living near the waterfront. We were lucky enough to find an apartment with a balcony facing the sound. We enjoyed watching the storm clouds roll in, the seagulls taking shelter, and ferries whizzing past.

Van's graduation is in a few weeks. His parents are flying in next week to attend his graduation and they're going to stay in a hotel nearby. During the holidays, we flew to the UK to visit Van's family. I had a whole list of tourist attractions I wanted to go to but unfortunately got through half the things I wanted to see and do. Van had a ton of relatives we had to tell the news to and we got pulled into multiple family gatherings.

Bondy finally found the courage to drop out of grad school with help from Leigha. It still took him a year to make the decision, mind you. He was worried about losing his job if he didn't pursue his PhD but he didn't find it worth it because he already had his dream job. He initially applied to grad school wanting to be a calculus professor but life had other plans for him and he didn't mind one bit. Things have been going well for both Leigha and Bondy. They've been together about eight months now but act like they've been together for years. To be fair, they've known each other for years so things fell together naturally.

I walked into our bedroom and could see Van's PhD regalia hanging in the closet. His gown was fancier than what mine was when I was an undergraduate and in typical Van fashion, he complained about the gown.

"This looks stupid," I remember Van saying as soon as he wore the gown. "I can't believe I'm saying this but I'd rather wear that wretched Christmas jumper Iván made for me years ago that would win the award for ugliest Christmas jumper in the world."

Van put the black tam on and I tried my best not to burst into laughter.

"You look like a Hogwarts Professor," I said, trying to keep a straight face but failing miserably.