Middleton - A Little Slice of Heaven

Chapter 2: Just Wait and See

George impatiently tapped his foot, glancing at his watch. 10:17am. He'd been here for over 10 minutes already and there were at least 3 dozen people ahead of him.

Damn, I knew we should have left sooner.

George was normally a very patient man, but not today. Not when there was even a slight possibility of running into Edith. But no - I can't think about that. He quickly pushed those thoughts away.

He was waiting in line with Conrad to find out where his room was and to get his key. At least, Conrad was supposed to be waiting with him. He'd gone to get them each a coffee but it seemed to be taking him a lot longer than George thought it would. 

The woman in front of him moved up a bit and he did the same. He sighed and glanced down at his watch again. 10:18.

Stop checking George, he scolded himself. It wouldn't make the time go by any faster.

He stood there, his mind beginning to wander back to what had happened in the parking lot.

He hadn't even been on campus for half an hour and he was already thinking about Edith. I mean, a simple parking space had launched him into a full-blown flashback of when they first met for God's sake. And now he couldn't get her out of his head...

Her beautiful shoulder-length brown hair that seemed to flow in the wind wildly, much like her personality; those gorgeous sparkly blue eyes that he swore he could get lost in for hours; her small, plump, pink lips that -

No.

No.

No George. 

Cut it out.

Look around. Distract yourself.

He folded his arms and turned to look around the room.

High ceiling.

Cream-colored walls.

Bookshelves. Desks. Lounge chairs. Windows.

His eyes moved around the room, taking in the basics at first, then focusing on some details like: 

What kinds of books were on the shelves? How many desks were there? What pattern were the lounge chairs? What could he see out the window?

He squinted a bit, struggling to see out of it from where he was standing. But then he saw a group of people pass by it which was being led around by none other than:

A dingleberry.

-

"These things are so feckless, don't you think?"

"Excuse me?"

"These tours."

George hopped down off the small ledge that had sent him into a small internal panic because of his fear of heights. "...Feckless?" This woman already had commented on his son's tie after their run-in in the parking lot, and tried to sabotage his plan to get Conrad to like the campus by asking idiotic questions - why was she talking to him now? ...and who says feckless?

"Mm-hmm," she said, squinting to see him as the sun blinded her line of sight. 

George walked down the steps to meet her where she stood, "Let me guess - you're a high school English teacher."

She smiled slightly as he walked closer to her, still a few feet away. "Wrong...How about you?" He opened his mouth to answer, but she immediately jumped in, "Wait, let me - let me guess, let me guess."