[Reviews - 23]
-
Table of Contents [Report This]
Microsoft Word Chapter or Story |
Printer Chapter or Story |
ePub eBook Chapter or Story |

Has been viewed 3782 times

- Text Size +




The Distant Calls of Fall
Chapter #00 Prologue (“Only a Matter of Time?”)



Salem Center, New York
Friday, September 17th 2004
11:55 am EST


“…and that’s yet another reason why the issue of global warming and our impact on the environment is so important; not just to post-industrialized nations such as the United States, but the world community as a whole”“ Ororo paused for a brief moment, reaching out to the edge of her desk to steady herself. The room spun just briefly, and she had to take her eyes away from the silk screen projector image behind her. Leaning against the desk, she sat on its edge for a few seconds as she tried to remember the rest of her lecture.

The students must have thought it was time for last-minute questions, as several hands went up in the dimly lit room before her. Monet and Everett exchanged looks briefly when their raised arms weren’t acknowledged. Lowering her arm slightly, Monet craned her head around Jubilee’s teased pigtails. “Ms. Munroe? Are you alright?”

Turning away from the light of the projector attached to the ceiling, Ororo tried to compose herself as the room slowly stopped spinning. Carefully, she answered, “Yes Monet. I’m sorry I lost my train of thought there for a moment…You know, it’s close enough to lunch. If you guys don’t get in any trouble, I’m okay releasing you a few minutes early. Just make sure you’re in the Mess at 12 o’clock”sharp. Okay?”

She barely got the last word out before the room was a cacophony of chairs scraping the floor, books slamming and backpacks zipping. The heavy oak door to the spacious room was cast open like that of a prison finally escaped, and Ro was just quick enough to stop the inevitable bounce against the wall with a carefully constructed cushion of air. A little exasperated, she called out, “Slowly, guys. Don’t run anyone over.”

Beside her desk, Monet was slow to pass, finally stopping completely and waiting silently to be addressed. Looking up, Ro almost appeared not to have noticed her, lost in her own thoughts. “Monet?”

“Ms. Munroe, are you sure you’re okay? You look a little tired. I can go get Mr. Summers, if you want me to.”


The thought of Scott looming over her like a doting mother flipped her stomach. Well, she thought that was the reason she suddenly felt nauseous. Shaking her head, she patted Monet’s back, the girl’s bone-straight ebony locks falling over her shoulders in cascades. “No Hon, that won’t be necessary. I’m just fine. I think I had too light a breakfast this morning, that’s all. Now go ahead and catch up with the others. You don’t want to miss the a la carte.”

“Yes ma’am.” She smiled at Ororo, still clearly concerned but didn’t want to press the issue. As she left, Ro made a mental note to remind herself how perceptive and astute that one was. The girl didn’t miss much.

Once alone, Ro gathered her teaching materials, quickly noting the place in her lecture where she’d stopped in order to pick up the next day. She tried not to think much about the fact that she’d definitely been feeling under the weather lately. She was certain whatever this odd sensation she’d been battling the last couple weeks, it had nothing to do with seasonal colds.

“Ro? Hey, I thought I’d still find you here.” Beth poked her head inside the door several minutes later, then fully rounded the corner into the room. Dressed down in a light elbow-length shirt and jeans, the stand-in instructor also had her long dark locks pulled back into a girlish top knot that reduced her years facially.

Smiling at her sister, Ororo non-too consciously schooled her thoughts”a psi-shield or two rising”though she knew Beth wasn’t the type to intrude. Actually, the telepathic Xavier sister preferred to have others do the blocking for her anyway. “Beth. What’s up?”

Placing a hand on her hip, Elizabeth’s dazzling lilac eyes sparkled as she watched her sister and shook her head. “You forgot. That’s okay.”

“Forgot what?” Ororo’s brow furrowed as she tried to run her daily agenda through her head quickly. It was noon, so she planned to grab a quick bite to eat (assuming her stomach would settle long enough to feel hunger) before her afternoon classes. She couldn’t think of anything she’d missed”

“Your interview.”

“Oh, sh”“ Gathering her belongings quickly, she headed toward Beth and the door.

Following her out, Beth quickly caught up with her sister. “Scott’s keeping him occupied in the office. Ro?”

The frazzled headmistress didn’t slow as she hurried down the halls of the Xavier Institute, inwardly admonishing herself for setting the employment interview so close to the end of her morning classes. She wanted to make a good impression on this one; he seemed to be a pretty good prospect and if he panned out they would be able to cut back Marie’s coursework; the Grad student was over-worked and sleep was a foreign concept to her these days as she did her best to help out around the under-staffed school. Glancing at Beth, Ro mumbled, “Hm?”

*Are ye okay, Luv? Y’don’t look well…*

‘Why does everyone keep asking me that?’ Ro thought with a level of annoyance she did well to hide from her sister. “It’s nothing, Beth. Just a rough start to the semester, that’s all. I’m always burned out the end of the first week”Oh, has he been waiting long? Our appointment was supposed to be noon.”

Ignoring the subject change, Beth glanced at her watch as they both rounded the next corner, and could hear low, muffled male voices in conversation. “Not long, I think. Besides, Scooter’s had his ear pretty much since the guy hit the door. They’re practically best friends.”

The two chuckled at that, and it was hard for Ro to keep the knowing smile off of her face as she came to the Headmaster’s office door to see the two in comfortable positions around the desk her father used to run his school from. Scott was perched on one corner, his arms crossed but relaxed as he was ready to reply to something the man had said, but caught sight of Ororo and Beth in the door frame.

“Ro. Sorry, I don’t mean to get in the way; I just couldn’t help”“

“That’s okay, Scott.” She gave him an appreciative smile as she set her things down on the wide oak desk and stood next to him, facing her interviewee. “I’m just glad our guest had someone to play host while I lost track of time. I apologize, my class just got out.”

The man smiled at her easily, taking her offered hand and squeezing it as they shook. Through the dark locks of hair falling in his face, bright blue eyes pierced hers momentarily before they separated. “That’s no problem. It’s my fault, actually. I always show up too early for job interviews. It’s a nasty habit, but Mr. Summers here was kind enough to give me a tour of the facilities.”

“Oh, was he?” Ororo exchanged looks with Scott, who barely kept from smiling and rolled his eyes away skyward as if he was completely innocent. “It sounds like you’ve made quite the impression on our Headmaster.”

The man chuckled a little nervously and Scott couldn’t help elbowing Ro just a little as she took the manila folder from him containing the applicant’s résumé and work references. The room was silent for just a few moments while she scanned the impressive work history. After a couple seconds more, she raised her eyes to the attractive man, and smiled genuinely. “If you wouldn’t mind waiting in the next room, I’ll be with you in a moment.”

Beth took a cue and motioned to the man. “Follow me, sir. I’m sure traipsing across the school’s got ye pretty parched. Tea?”

“That sounds good. Shall we?” He offered his arm like the true gentleman, and a little surprised, Beth took it, glancing behind her at Ro with a slightly ruby smile before they parted, closing the door behind them.

Once they were alone, Ro took the seat behind the desk, and Scott turned to her, sliding up on the wood a little more. He let her read through the materials a little longer, almost waiting for her to say something first.

“So?”

He chuckled at her forward, no-nonsense single-word question. Raising a shoulder, he almost seemed apologetic. “Hell, I like the guy; I’m not going to lie. He’s got three more references than we asked for, two of which are universities, I might add.”

“I see that.” She kept her eyes on the résumé.

“And he’s cross trained; we can probably have him take three different subjects. He double majored in World History and Engineering, has a minor in Economics”Ro, this guy’s a dream come true.”

Sliding the references back into the envelope, she crossed her fingers beneath her chin, marveling up at Scott with a grin. Pointedly, she asked, “He’s a White Sox fan, isn’t he?”

Scott burst out into laughter, shaking his head in admonishment. “Oh my God, Ro! What, there’s something you don’t like?”

“I see you didn’t deny it.” She smirked, but paused before answering his question. She couldn’t quite place her finger on it, but there was something about the over-qualified applicant that she just could shake. It had something to do with the way he’d looked at her. It wasn’t inappropriate, but…familiar, nonetheless. Inwardly, she knew she’d be a fool to let her own personal mistrust of strangers (something she dealt with from a child) get in the way of a very promising prospect. Scott was right; with this one addition, they could probably drop both Marie and Beth, allowing the two sisters to return to their own lives. It was the perfect solution.

“Ro?” Scott was a little concerned now at her hesitation. “If there’s something you’re picking up please, let me know. But from where I’m sitting, this guy’s the genuine article. Oh, and he’s a mutant.”

“Really?” She didn’t recall reading that in his bio. She and Scott both thought it would be better to ask that question on the general application form. Not that it would deter them from hiring non-mutant instructors, but they felt in the interest of the students, it was something that should at least be taken into consideration. “What’s his gift?”

“Energy Absorption.” Scott answered conversationally, moving some of her papers around the desk. “We could probably convince him to help with the new course on Powers & Responsibility.”

Ororo nodded, deciding she was being silly with her reservations. Still: “Well, I’ll tell you what. I’m going to sit down with him for a while, see if I can get a better feel for him. Check out his references”yes, again”and if everything’s on the level, we’ll offer him a deal Monday. Sound fair?”

They shook on it, and almost as if on cue, a knock came at the door before Beth opened it, smiling at her sister and Scott. She and Ro exchanged looks indicating the Headmistress was indeed ready, and Beth opened the door wider, allowing the pleasant smile of their interviewee to glow past her.

Ororo indicated the seat before the desk, and the man brought his cup of tea with him, sitting easily and eyes trained on Ororo. “Scott, Beth. If you’ll excuse us, I think I’ve had our guest waiting on me long enough.”

The two nodded, and Scott followed Elizabeth toward the door. As the man took a sip of his tea, Summers couldn’t help but silently mouth ‘dream come true’ again, angling his head toward their guest. She tried not to smirk, all professionalism as the door closed behind him. Smiling warmly, she sat behind the desk, her right hand lightly fingering the edge of the folder holding the man’s reference materials. Her mind sifted through a dozen or so questions she’d asked the previous 17 applicants she’d seen in the past weeks, searching for the perfect one to start with. He never gave her the chance, however.

“Before you ask me anything Ms. Munroe, can I just tell you a little about myself? I think if I tell you why I want to teach here, it’ll tell you more about me than you wanted to know.” He chuckled a little at that, almost nervously.

She smiled, appreciating his admitted awkwardness. It did a lot to settle her misgivings about him. “I’d like that very much.” She stopped fingering the envelope, folding her fingers in her lap and sitting back in the comfortable chair as if ready to hear a good tale. “So Mr. North: tell me a little about yourself.”



About 90 minutes later, Ororo stood on the front steps of the school as she saw her new instructor out. The formal interview was over, and the man all but had the job, but still she told him he’d hear from them on Monday to cement things. He shook her hand, holding it between both of his, and smiled at her in thanks. He looked forward to teaching at the finest institution in Westchester County. Waving him off, she sighed, feeling much better about her decision. That feeling lasted all of another 30 seconds before her stomach suddenly roiled, and Ro found herself hurrying back inside the mansion. The nearest downstairs bathroom was barely near enough as she leaned over the commode and what little food in her stomach from late the night before (she’d lied about a light breakfast; “light” meant nothing in actuality) splashed into the circular opening. A couple heaves later, Ro sat shaking beside the toilet then crawled to her knees, wetting a paper towel to press against her hot cheeks. For the life of her she couldn’t figure out what was wrong. She had the same thing to eat as Scott and Beth and half the student body; she didn’t catch colds or flues…

“Oh God…” She shook her head as a flash of a late night over three weeks ago suddenly popped into her mind. Her thought processes came to a screeching halt before she’d allow them to go any farther.

Cleaning herself up, she stood to look in the mirror, her worried, blue-eyed reflection staring back at her. She wouldn’t believe it. It couldn’t be…

“No, Ro…you were careful. You two were always careful.” She splashed water on her face again, then patted it dry, as if the longer she took the more she could convince herself. Heading back to her office, she slid open the top drawer and pulled out her date book, flipping through pages from July, August, September”

Son of a bitch. “I’m late.”




Outside and down the winding drive, the modest four-door sedan pulled away heading toward the street. At the gates, the man in the driver’s seat flipped out a small device that looked like a cellular phone. It wasn’t. No sooner had his car turned the corner, his dark hair rippled, turning a dirty blond. His goatee disappeared completely and he took off the non-prescription glasses covering his stark blue gaze. Looking at himself in the rearview mirror, Christoph Nord only smiled and laid his foot to the floor.



TBC…





You must login () to review.