‘That concludes the renaissance poetry. We'll take a short break, nothing more than 10 minutes.' Almost all of the students left the lecture hall, one or two stayed here and there. Not many were eager to listen to a man talk about poetry for 2 hours straight. But they all attended classes, because the professor was a very strict man. At least that's what everyone were saying. I strongly disagreed. As a matter a fact I even found him to be friendly. I would often talk to him during breaks and the surprising thing was that we not once talked about poetry more than a minute. There was something about this man that terrified others, but made me feel safe. Perhaps it was his height. He was almost 2m tall. Or maybe the way he spoke about poetry, so passionate, choosing delicately every word as if he would sin the poem by saying a wrong word. I never saw him as a terrifying man.
I can never forget our first conversation. It was our third lecture and for the first time in my life I was late. The goddamn bus broke down so I had to walk to college. I wasn't planning on paying a fortune on a cab ride. I arrived 15 minutes after the start of the lecture. The professor just looked at me and gestured towards the empty seat in the first row. He hated to be interrupted, and I just did that. After a good hour of lecturing he finally gave us a break. The lecture hall emptied, only the 'nerds', as they were called by the popular kids, stayed. I stayed too. Not because I was a nerd, but because there was something misterious about this man that I couldn't quite set my mind on. There was something gripping about his deep look, as if you could almost feel his gaze, his green eyes on you. I loved looking at him, every once in a while. I was reading a book, as I often did when on breaks, when I felt his presence in front of me. This tall suited man with hands behind his back was standing in front of me.'Great choice' he said with a little smile on his face. My heart started racing. I had The Hobbit in my hands, one of my favorites. He noticed my confused look and went on 'I read it when I was 14 for the first time. Gripping piece. I finished it in a day. I didn't even eat that day if I remember correctly.' Can this man get any better? There was a little silence before I started speaking. I had to recover my breath first. 'I first read it when I was 18. Since then I've read it 12 times in total. And I'm 21 now.' He nodded, as if he was paying respect to me. 'Professor Pace, I would like to apologize for being late and for interrupting your lecture. The bus broke down and I didn't have enough money on me for a cab.' His green eyes were fixed on me and somehow they were giving me strenght. 'I accept your apology, just make sure you're not late again. As for the book, would you mind borrowing it to me after you finish reading it? I would surely like to look back on all the memories surrounding that book. They were quite a lot, you know.' Did I hear well? Professor Lee Pace asked for my book? For a second I was in heaven but I landed on Earth again and agreed to borrow him the book. 'Thank you, Maria was it?' He remembered my name. 'Yes, professor.' I couldn't say another word. I was mesmerized by his look. I knew these feelings that were starting to grow inside of me were wrong. He was, after all, my professor and there mustn’t be anything between us. It’s not like he saw me in that way, but a girl is allowed to dream.
