Motion Sickness | Simon Petrikov x Reader

Chapter 16 | Overwhelmed

"Do you think it'll rain today?"

You sat across from Simon, your fork within your fingers as you pushed your lunch around in the tupperware container.

Simon's eyes drifted away from his food and to your gaze, "It's twenty-two degrees outside. If anything, the precipitation will be snow."

You sighed, shoving a fork full of food into your mouth. "I don't want it to snow. I miss the rain."

Simon sighed softly, his expression softening as he looked at you with curiosity, "You miss the rain?"

"Yes," You began, "I like the smell of it and the aesthetics it brings to the outdoors. The snow is pretty, but annoying."

"We can agree on something there." Simon stabbed his silver fork into his food.

A few moments passed before Simon spoke again.

"There's a staff meeting today."

You groaned, slamming your head onto the desk. Simon flinched, his hand quickly darting to hold the top of your skull. He rubbed his thumb through your hair with a concerned look on his face.

"I'm guessing you didn't see the email about it yet?" His hand gently tilted your head to the side, letting you look up at him from the wooden surface you were sulking against.

You shook your head, groaning.

"It won't be too bad. It's just about next semester." Simon's warm hand against your cheek helped comfort you slightly.

You huffed, "We haven't even given our students finals yet! Why can't they plan the meeting for after holiday break?"

Simon stood up, walking over to where you were sitting. He placed his hand on your back, kneeling down to level himself with you.

"We all hate the staff meetings. It's just better to get them over with. Besides, I'll be right there with you." Simon lifted your head from the desk, giving you a kiss on the cheek in an attempt to make you feel better.

You groaned once more, Simon's hands cupping your cheeks lovingly.

"Come on, stop pouting. We need to do our job."

You let out a loud sigh, slowly nodding. "Fine, fine."

He gave you a soft smile, placing a gentle kiss on your lips before he walked back to his chair.

—

The day felt like it had been dragging on for an eternity. Your last class had only started 30 minutes prior, but it felt like you had been lecturing your students for two hours straight. You gave them a run down of the material they would need to know for their final exam, telling them what they needed to study ahead of time to pass.

You didn't want to acknowledge it, but you had a strange gut feeling. The atmosphere in your classroom was awkward and full of tension. You felt paranoid in a way, any whisper from a group of students would catch you off guard and throw your focus. You tried to stay on task, your mind flickering away from the material you were adressing every time you heard a cough or the drop of a pencil. You thought Simon was going to be the one making your mind wander elsewhere during work. Obviously, that wasn't the case.

You were relieved once you were done adressing the students. You sat down, and the room filled with mumbles and chatter. Conversations weren't audible to you, but you kind of wish they were. Part of you wanted to believe you had too much general anxiety built up that was causing you to freak out, but another part of you believed that you had a good reason to be nervous. Your reputation meant a lot to you. One wrong accusation from a student or even a co-worker could ruin your career and future opportunities. You hadn't done anything that could be used against you in a negative light, especially when it came to threatening your job, but you were still nervous that maybe a student that didn't necessarily like you would make something up about you. Rumors spread like wildfire within the campus, you knew that much. Any wrong move you made can and will be used against you.