Restoration [Shawn Mendes] AU

Chapter 97

By the Monday before Christmas break, Michelle and Shawn both had one more exam each. He had received his formal crits for his latest project and was pleased with the outcome, hoping he did as well on his finals in order to maintain his GPA. While his and Michelle's last few days were filled with studying, she'd also scheduled a few appointments before she left Providence.

She had a dental appointment for a checkup and cleaning, followed the next day by an early Tuesday morning visit to the gynecologist for her annual exam, since she wouldn't be in town when it normally would have been scheduled in February. As she sat in the waiting room of the  Center for Obstetrics & Gynecology, she checked the list on her phone of all the things she needed to remember before leaving on Thursday for New York and crossed off each one she'd already taken care of.

When she was finally called back to the examination room, she was handed the obligatory small plastic container for her urine sample and followed all the procedures the nurse told her. Once she was changed into the paper gown and seated on the examination table, the nurse returned to take her vitals and recorded all the updated information needed on the electronic file since the last time Michelle had been examined. When the nurse was finished taking the information, she left and in a few minutes Dr. St. Aubin knocked before entering the room.

"Good morning Michelle! How are you today?" she greeted her cheerily.

"I'm good, just feeling more than a little frazzled."

"Frazzled?" Dr. St. Aubin grinned, washing her hands in the small sink.

"Yeah, I've got a lot to do in the next 48 hours or so, what with one more final exam I have tomorrow, getting ready to leave Providence, all the stuff that comes with Christmas travel...just all that rushing around," Michelle explained.

"I see. So you're leaving to go back to Montreal for the holidays?"

"Well first, my boyfriend and I are going to New York for a few days, then we're headed up to Canada until New Year's. After that, I'm leaving for Paris until May."

"Wow! That's a lot of traveling. And you're going to be in Paris until May? What about your classes at RISD? Did you graduate already?"

"Oh no, I haven't graduated with my Masters yet. I'm going to Paris for an internship and to finish my studies and thesis, then I'll graduate this coming June."

"That sounds like a really great internship."

"Yeah, I'm so excited! I'll get to study at the best architecture school in France and work in some capacity, no matter how small, as part of the restoration of Notre Dame Cathedral."

"That IS exciting! I'm sure your experiences will be memorable and you'll have those memories for the rest of your life. Just make sure to journal while you're over there and take a lot of photos and videos to look back on."

"That's the plan! I've been journaling for a few years now, so it's become a daily routine and the picture taking is just part of being a design architect. I'm always taking photos of things I like or find interesting that I might incorporate into a design or something."