Happiness Begins // polin A.U.

Chapter Four: Used To Be

Spending all your time with your new friends
And you take 'em all the places now that we been

Say you wanna talk, how-have-you-beens

I'm the only one you know that'll listen

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Colin went on his cross-country tour of America. Instead of taking Penelope, he took just himself. This time around, as he wrote in his journal, he wrote more reflectively. Everywhere he went, he thought of Penelope. He knows he fucked up with her. He tried contacting her, writing her letters. For the first time in years, she didn't write him back. For the first time in years, he felt lonely on his travels.

His only way of knowing what Penelope was up to was through Eloise, and through The Lady W Papers. Penelope doesn't post much on social media, either that or she soft blocked him.

Colin went back to school. He found a university with a doctorate in anthropology program that he was accepted into. He'd be teaching while doing his own work. The university was impressed with his journals and wanted to see them published in legitimate geographic magazines. But he's a shit writer, or so he feels, so the process is difficult. He pushes through, though. He's heard through the grapevine that a graduate assistant in the English department may be coming to help him edit for extra money. He wished he could have asked for Penelope's help. It's been a couple years since he's talk to her. He thinks about her all the time still. His heart aches for her. Any time he's taken a lover, he didn't get much out of it. He all but stopped dating after a while. No one was filling that void.

**

"Ah, Penelope, come in." Professor Brentwood smiles. "Thank you for coming to see me."

"Of course! I was excited when I read your email about some other work opportunities. I'm grateful for the stipend, but it just isn't enough." She sits down on the other side of the desk. "What would it entail, exactly?"

"Am I correct that you have experience editing manuscripts?"

"Yes, I had a prominent internship in York at a wonderful publishing house. I worked there full time for about a year after that, but took some time to reevaluate my goals. I really wanted to come back to school so I could figure some things out. I have a website that I run, and I want to grow my audience, so that's why I'm taking some marketing courses for my electives. I know it's unconventional for an MFA."

"I think it's great that you're branching out." Professor Brentwood smiles. "How would you feel about working with a professor in the anthropology and human geography department? He's about a year away from his dissertation, and he could use some help organizing all of his writings."

"Anthropology and human geography?"

"Yes. He's been with us three years now, the undergraduates love him. He's old fashioned in the sense that he teaches lecture style, but he's a marvelous story teller, or so I'm told. The students always give him good course evaluations."

"If he's so articulate in the classroom, then why does he need help editing?"

"He's a bit...hard on himself. He never thinks his work is good enough. I think having someone around his age helping him would be good. I immediately thought of you."

"How old is he?"

"Just turned thirty, I believe."

"And he's an anthropology and human geography professor?" Penelope is starting to sweat. This can't be happening. There's no way.