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lattehatteofyourdreams-blog · 6 years

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Thank you for everyone who has said something nice about my fic!!

In Dire Need of A Friend

~Hey guys! This is not very good because I didn’t really edit it at all, I just wanted to get some content out, constructive criticism and feedback is always welcome!

~Basically this is a little side story off of when Emma said she brought the Professor groceries, and the follow up of the Professor coming to Beanies!

This month had been the lowest of the low. Professor Hidgens had been coming to fewer and fewer of his own classes. He could not muster the strength to pull himself up from his bed it seemed. Another production company had rejected the script for his musical, which had been the catalyst for this depression slum. He had actually been doing well before his interaction with the production company. Working on his musical and the start of the new school year had pushed down the sadness so far in his body that he had nearly forgotten the ice cold feeling of complete despair. But the second he read the words of that email that horrible feeling cropped up in his chest and head once more.‘We regret to inform you that we will not be accepting 'Working Boys; A New Musical’ as our fall production this season.' The words had traveled like a bullet straight into the heart of the balanced routine that he’d been managing. Some of his students were beginning to notice the weight he was shedding, the greasy hair, and the very deep circles under his eyes. On the fourth day of Professor Hidgens not showing up to class one of his students, Emma, decided that someone needed to do something.

Emma was a college student, so in other words she really didn’t have much money. She worked at a coffee shop near campus called Beanies and while her income wasn’t much, it was enough for her to have a little savings. She decided her money could be well spent in some groceries for Professor Hidgens. So on her way back from her last class of the day she stopped at a small grocery store before making her way to the edge of town. Professor Hidgens had one told her about his home, about how lonely such a big house gets. She was confident she could find it with the vague description of where it was located. She did indeed find the large home and was shocked to find that the gates guarding the place were wide open. She pushed on and securely parked in the long driveway beside Professor Hidgens’s dirty looking car. Emma picked up all four full bags of groceries she had purchased and marched toward the front door. She pounded the sturdy oak door heavily, and waited for a response. Within a few minutes the sound of multiple locks clicking open vibrated against the door. The door swung inward, revealing a disheveled Professor Hidgens. His gray bush of hair looked like wild bedhead, and his clothes looks wrinkled in ways only a few days of wear can produce. His body language was riddled with exhaustion. His eyes were droopy and he was ringing his hands.

“Hi Professor!” Emma beamed cheerfully. “It’s Emma, from your intro to biology class."

"Yes of course, but w-what are you doing here?” Professor Hidgens insisted, leaning heavily on his door frame, almost as though he needed to balance himself.

“Well, you’ve missed a few classes Professor. I wanted to stop by and, well…" She trailed off, not really sure how to explain what she was doing.

"Oh…” He suddenly sounded choked, like he couldn’t continue. “I guess I have."

"I, uh, I got you some groceries. I assumed you might be kind of busy.” She smiled warmly.

Emma didn’t want to insult the man by insinuating he couldn’t take care of himself. She hoped it wasn’t obvious that she was scrambling for an excuse for buying the groceries for him. The professor looked up from where his eyes had been trained on the floor earlier, there was something glinting in his watery eyes. Something to the tune of gratitude, confused gratitude, but gratitude nonetheless. He sucked in a deep breath and rubbed at his eyes quickly. Emma didn’t want to rush him but the bags were nearly breaking her weak arms. She shuffled the bags slightly trying not to be too obvious. Professor Hidgens noticed, removing his hands from his face and plastering on a small smile.

“Where are my manners, come in Emma.” He said, swinging the door open further and ushering her inside.

Emma was making quick work of putting the groceries away. She had gotten the necessities for the basic college kid diet, she hoped it worked for professors as well. She was nearly heartbroken to find that upon opening the fridge there was nothing but a carton of spoiled milk, a mushy apple, and half a head of lettuce inside. Professor Hidgens mulled over a glass of water while Emma shuffled about the kitchen putting things away and throwing out things horrendously past their sell-by date. When she was finished she joined the man at the table, noticing that he had thankfully nearly polished off the water in the glass. She wondered if she was seem to pushy offering to get him another glass. It had fallen dark outside and Emma knew she would need to leave soon, but she was content to sit with the Professor and talk for a while if that’s what he needed.

“I can’t tell you how thankful I am that you stopped by Emma. I was in dire need of… some groceries.” Professor Hidgens uttered, not looking up from his glass.

“Of course! Your house isn’t far from where I work so it was no trouble really.” She assured. “I work at that Coffee shop on the corner of Eighth st. and Park. Beanies."

The Professor nodded as if to think about it heavily. They continued to speak quietly as the minutes ticked on. The Professor talked briefly of his musical and Emma made sure to show extra enthusiasm as he explained it. She didn’t miss the way his eyes lit up as he illustrated every detail. It was evident that he cared greatly for his creation, it was heartwarming to see him so animated and excited. Before either of the two of them had realized it was nearly midnight and Emma needed to leave. She excused herself apologetically, wishing she could stay later but an early shift at Beanies preventing anything of the sort.

"I’m going to go now professor. I left out a box of that instant macaroni, it’s pretty shit but it’s something. Please eat it.” Emma pleaded, getting up and making strides toward the door.

“I will.” The Professor nodded, a tired smile on his face.

“Maybe if you’re feeling up to it I’ll see you at the next lecture?” Emma hinted, almost out the door.

“Maybe.” The Professor replied.

“Bye, Professor Hidgens."

"Goodbye, Emma."

It had been a week since Emma had stopped by the Professors house and he still hadn’t made it back to class. On a particularly slow day at Beanies Emma began to plot on maybe dropping by again due to his ever present absence when a silver head of hair popped in through the glass door. Emma’s eyes lit up as Professor Hidgens stepped through the door. He didn’t look fantastic, but he looked better and that made her happy. The bags under his eyes had let up slightly and he was wearing new clothes. Professor Hidgens strode up to the counter, smiling brightly at her. Emma was thankful that Zoey had gone on break because she wasn’t very patient with customers that weren’t 'normal’ so to speak and the Professor was a bit eccentric.

"Hey Professor!” Emma sparkled, waving.

“Hello Emma, I thought it was only fair that I come return the favor since you payed me a visit last week.” He boomed in his powerful voice.

“Well, what can I get you?” Emma smiled, gesturing at a large menu above her head.

The Professor thought carefully, scrunching his nose to show he was deep in thought. His eyes scanned the menu thoroughly. He finally decided on a Chai Latte. Emma gave him directions to sit in the clump of tables closer to the store front, and informed him that she would bring him his coffee. He agreed and marched over to sit. Emma was glad he seemed to be doing so much better. She flew through making his drink, writing 'world’s best professor’ where she would normally write the customer’s name. Emma figured that would make him happy. Her eyes found the clock on the wall. Only 2:35. She figured it was okay to take her break now. She joined Professor Hidgens at his tables and set the drink down carefully in front of him. He scanned the drink. Reading the words scribbled on the sweating plastic in Emma’s loopy handwriting. A wide smile spread across his face. They talked quietly for a while, Emma casually slipping in some wellness checks in between her jokes and stories. Before she knew it the hour was up and she needed to go back to work. She looked around, as if to take stock on everything in the small store. There wasn’t a single customer in the place. She figured it couldn’t hurt to extend her break just a little bit.

“Don’t you need to get back to working?” Professor Hidgens poked, a hint of something knowing in his voice.

“Eh,” Emma shrugged with a small smile. “This is more fun."

Emma and Professor Hidgens continued their little party in the corner of Beanies, despite the nasty looks she was receiving from Zoey. She flipped her the bird and smiled falsely. Emma didn’t consider herself a recluse by any means, but she didn’t ever really have the kind of conversation she was having now. She didn’t get to laugh and feel understood. She didn’t get to care for someone else. Not since her sister’s death. And she was definitely not going to let Zoey ruin that for her.

The sky burnt orange and pink as the sun began to set. Golden light blared in through the glass store front. The Professor had long since finished his drink and was now fiddling with a pen he had pulled out of his jacket’s pocket. Only a few customers had come in for a drink. Nothing Zoey couldn’t handle by herself. And she was unwilling to disturb Emma again after she had kindly implied where she could put her opinion. She left thirty minutes before her shift was really over, clicking off the neon open sign hanging in the doorway. Emma could swear she saw a soft smile and curt nod from her usually less than agreeable coworker. Emma knew she needed to close up shop soon. She waited until the Professor was done telling his story before sliding up and out from her chair.

"I’ve got to get home professor, but hold on I’m going to go grab something really quick.” She gingerly moved to the kitchen, her converse smacking against the tile floor loudly.

Emma quickly folded up the largest delivery box available and began shoving left over food inside. She stockpiled it full of muffins, croissants, cookies, and scones. Spinning on her heals she pulls a cup from the dispensers and begins filling it with their homemade peach iced tea. Emma nimbly placed a lid on top and stabbed a straw through the plastic. She gathered her treasure and made her way out of the kitchen once more. When she returned to the storefront Professor Hidgens was now behind the register, that pen still clutched in his hand.

“Here, Professor. This is for you.” Emma chided, pushing the coral box and translucent cup towards him.

“Emma, I can not except all this from you.” He insisted with a slow shake of the head, his gray hair falling slightly out of place.

“Come on, sir. We’re just going to throw it all out anyway!” That wasn’t wholly true, but the items would not be missed.

Another smile broke out on Professor Hidgens’s face, although he was still shaking his head softly. His protest resolved and he slid the box and cup off the counter and into his arms. He seemed to stroll happily to the door. Emma was excited to see the familiar pep in his step.

“You’d better get home soon Emma, if I’m going to see you tomorrow bright and early for class.” The Professor practically glowed.

“Absolutely. I’ll see you then Professor.” Emma grinned, the bright smile reaching her eyes.

The Professor nodded, pushing out the door and into the parking lot. Emma felt accomplished. She felt great. The professor was going to come to class tomorrow, she was confident he had enough food to at least get him through the week, and he had even left his house to come visit her at work. Emma decided that she needed to get decent sleep for Professor Hidgens’s class tomorrow, so she began to clean and close up. She noticed a crumbled napkin at the table the Professor had been sitting at. She ventured over to sweep up what appeared to be a bit of garbage, but before doing so she noticed Professor Hidgens’s scribble-y handwriting. She read it out.

Emma detached a twenty dollar bill that had been hidden inside the napkin. She smiled to herself. A friend. She could do with one of those.

Thank you for stopping by Emma, I was in dire need of a friend. Fantastic service deserves a good tip! ~Professor Hidgens

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