Annie had fainted from the shock of his words, and as she opened her eyes she heard the loud buzzing of her alarm clock. She sat up in confusion, ripping her eye mask away and staring at her tiny apartment.
A dream! It had all been just a dream, thank goodness. She jumped to her feet and rushed to get ready for class. She could feel the background headache that she lately felt every time she woke from a dream, pounding away in her head.
She threw on clothing and checked her appearance in the mirror. A white sweater with black polka dots and a mustard yellow pencil skirt, eggplant colored tights and black high heeled shoes greeted her. She pulled one side of her hair back with a purple acrylic barrette, put on her makeup, and rushed out the door. Nearly to the elevator she realized that she had forgotten her satchel that held her college textbooks. She rushed back for them and then hurried to the elevator. She hoped she wouldn't miss her buss.
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Guang stared at the clock as it counted down the seconds.
Please let her be on time, he thought inwardly. He didn't want to have to be hard on her today, not after last night. He groaned. Thirty seconds until the bell, he stood and walked across the room to close the door. Just as he reached the doorknob it was pulled back as Annie was entering the class. She smiled brilliantly at him, and handed him a cardboard cup of coffee.
"To replace the one I spilled the other day." She said in explanation to his raised eyebrows.
A couple of girls in the front exchanged glances at one another as they took in the interaction of their professor and the "waiguoren" who was always late.
Class began without incident but the longer it went, the harder Guang found it to keep his words and thoughts focused. His eyes kept straying to Annie, who furiously copied notes of all he was saying. She kept rubbing her temples every few moments. Was she feeling hung over from last night?
He never should've let her drink so much. Had his lack of attentiveness led to her headache?
Finally the bell rang.
"Miss Walker." He stated
she crossed the room straight to him.
"Are you alright?" She asked sincerely.
"Uh, I am fine. Are you?" He asked stiffly.
"Just a headache. Are you feeling awkward about last night?" She asked him, just as one of the girls from the clique from earlier approached. She reached out and pulled on his arm and said in a whiny voice, "Professor, explain the assignment to me again. I don't understand!"
Guang stared at the girl interrupting him and sighed. He turned to tell Annie to wait, but she was gone.
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Annie carried the stack of books to an empty table in the back of the library. She hoped she'd found a quiet place for her research. She wanted to know more about Koxinga's life and about the siege of Fort Zeelandia.
As she stared at the pages, written in Chinese, she sighed. She could carry on decent conversations in Chinese and could read a lot of the characters of modern day but these books were decidedly more complicated. She'd need to be fluent to tackle these works of literature.
"Do you have an interest in China's history?" a kind voice asked from just behind her. She turned and met the gaze of a vaguely familiar fellow classmate.
"Uh, you're in my Philosophy class, right?" She asked cautiously.
"Yes. I'm Wang Wen Bo. You can call me Bo. You're name is Annie, right?" He asked as he joined her at the table.
"Yes, I'm Annie. Nice to meet you." She said simply.
He smiled. And leaned forward.
"Likewise, Annie. Can I be of any assistance with these?" He asked, gesturing to the books.
Annie reached out to take one of the books and he grabbed it at the same time. Annie pulled her hand back as though she'd been burned.
"Sorry," she mumbled.
"Don't apologize. Here, let's see." Bo said as he scooted his chair closer to hers and placed the book, opened, between them.
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Guang didn't often peruse the college library but they had one book in particular that he did not yet have in his collection. The librarian told him a young woman was reading it in the back of the library so he headed that way in hopes that she might allow him to see the book.
He rounded the corner and stopped short. There was Annie, nearly head to head with a young man. He marched toward them, his fury building by the second. Just who did she think she was? Was she a flirt? A tease? How could she be so intimate with another man the day after making out with him? Had she no shame?