A unexpected courtship (LD x ShadowNinja)

[ShadowNinja4d4]

https://dx5y3z85enc4t.cloudfront.net/540x540/fit/hostedimages/1380402744/783012.jpg (I apologize, I don't know how to link things the way you do anymore)

Zachery Brightwood sighed and flipped his long hair out of his face, rubbing the stubble on his face. He was tall, about 6'3 or so, so he had no trouble seeing over the crowds of people in the college town in which he now lived. He was looking for the coffee shop where he was supposed to meet an assistant to the professor who was his father's old friend. All he knew was that her name was Madelyn Cortland, he didn't have a clue what she looked like.

As he wondered how he would identify the woman he was supposed to meet he found the coffee shop he was looking for. When he entered he set off an old fashioned tinkling bell. Luckily the place was mostly empty, he only saw one young woman sitting towards the back of the coffee shop. He navigated his way towards her. "Excuse me, miss? Are you Madelyn Cortland?" he asked.

 

[LingeringDesire]

RE: A unexpected courtship

Madelyn Cortland shoved her glasses up the bridge of her nose. It was warm in the library for a fall day. She was working on filing some heavy encyclopedias before her 'date'. She groaned, damn the professor. Sure it was an old friend's son, of his. Deciding to force Madelyn into taking on the task of showing the male around, she wasn't even sure what to do or say or hell, even show him. God, she hadn't even been on a real date in years, let alone one of these fake ones.

She glared at the clock on the wall ticking away the time. She brushed off the dust from her skirt left by the old tomes. she pulled off her glasses, pulled her hair from it's up do and ran her fingers through it. A white button up and a red cardigan completed her outfit. The skirt dipped below her knees and on her feet comfortable, but ugly, black flats.

Maneuvering her smart car through the web of streets she pulled into a spot, thankfully because of the odd hour, 3:30, the little coffee shop was empty. Taking a seat she ordered a hot raspberry tea with one sugar and sat reading the newspaper, lightweight glasses across her nose helping the words to focus on the page. She sipped her tea, paying no mind to the tinkle of the bell.

Her name was said at her side by a deep voice. Turning, blue eyes met green over her frames. She held her cup to her lips. This was her date? Ugh, he looked like he stepped out of his parents basement or rolled out of bed to meet her. She made a slight face and waved her hand at the open booth across from her as she nodded. "I am, you must be Zachary Brightwood." She gave him a genuine smile, she had to be nice. The last thing she needed was him reporting back to Thompson that she was rude.

"So, what brings you to... well, here?"

 

[ShadowNinja4d4]

Zach looked down at the young woman as she confirmed his assumption as to her identity. He watched as she assessed him, wrinkling her nose at his scraggly appearance. True he hadn't taken the greatest of care with his hair or shaved this morning, but he was clean if not clean shaven. He himself assessed her appearance in return, taking in the white button up, the cardigan, he figured she was relatively good looking in a studious way, but he wrinkled his nose at the black flats. Zach was no fashion police but sometimes felt a woman's choice of wear could have an influence on his opinion. In the end though, it wasn't a big deal, he just hoped he could get along with her.

"What brings me here? To a college town?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "Classes...specifically I need credits in a certain subject my old college didn't offer in order to move up to the university I want. The Professor heard about this through my uncle and got in contact with me, letting me know I could take all the classes I needed here." his tone wasn't outright rude, but it was a bit challenging. He smiled though and sat down across from her. "What made the professor pick you to show me around? His prize student or something?" he asked.

As he sat there he took in more of her facial features. He wouldn't say so out loud, but he was of the opinion she had a beautiful face, and quite the eyes. He was a sucker for blue eyes really, but never made this known as everyone was of the opinion all men loved blue eyes. He didn't like feeling like he was being labeled so he mostly kept his likes and dislikes to himself. "How long have you been in this town?" he asked suddenly.

 

[LingeringDesire]

Madelyn fought hard not to roll her eyes at his cocky answer. of course she knew he was there for classes, but the why pertained to THIS campus specifically. Nodding her head she sipped at her drink, understandingly, or at least what she hoped passed for such. He slid in across from her, allowing her to catch gray or rather light blue eyes beneath the fringe of sloppy, shaggy hair. Not that her opinion mattered much, she just preferred to see into the depths of ones soul.

Connections, it all made a lot of sense now. The sudden springing of this "date" on her and the ... She almost spit her tea across the table when he spoke. Silently, she gulped down the mouthful. Eyes watering as she forced herself NOT to choke. Noticing him staring at her, she grew self conscious and began to absently correct her self. Smoothing her hair and brushing delicate fingers over her cheek, all while averting her eyes from his direction.

"I'm a graduate, I want to become as great a mentor, teacher and intellectual being as Professor Thompson someday. It's a life long goal... if you MUST know. But your comments are flattering while being a bit... overboard." She lifted the cup again. "I have been here for..." She quickly did the math in her head, had it really been six years? "Six years, I was hear for the required four and then the last year and this as an assistant on campus."

She gave him a small smile, "How long do you plan on gracing us with your presence? I imagine , since you are looking to obtain a degree from a noteworthy university, it will only be a semester or two at the most. I also imagine, you will grow quite bored with our sleepy little town as we are not known for our party like atmosphere, but rather our strong academics." She wasn't intentionally trying to be rude, it just seemed to come off that way.

 

[ShadowNinja4d4]

Zach blinked in confusion she seemed to freeze for a moment. He didn't understand that by asking if she was a prized student he had basically complimented her. He was one of those guys clueless about those sorts of things. He watched as she fixed herself and calmed down. He listened to what she said and only became more confused. He was curious what she meant by that but decided it was a question for another time.

He after considering her goals he nodded. "Those are good goals, I have only met the professor a handful of times in my youth. I'm fairly sure he hasn't changed much since then." he said, leaning back, he shook his face and brushed the hair out of his eyes, making it so it framed his face better. He raised his eyebrows at her, locking his eyes to hers. "Six years? Two years as an assistant? You must have been an admirable student if the professor let you hang around so long." he said, a light smile crossing his lips.

He frowned a bit at the wording of her question, but decided to shrug it off. "Not sure, depends on how many classes I take each semester. I could be done almost overnight or I could take a year or two to clear all the classes up." he said, he looked at the drink she had and frowned. "One moment, I'm going to get myself something to drink." he said, standing up and going to stand in line. He sighed and looked over the list of options they had, pretending to actually consider things before defaulting on hot chocolate.

 

[LingeringDesire]

Madelyn smiled at the male, a genuine thing this time, not forced. She was impressed that he complimented her goals. She shook her head and laughed, the professor hadn't changed since she first had met him her third year. It was his dedication to making sure the students received the truth that kept her on task and spurred her on to follow in his heels.

She sipped her drink again, "Thank you, I suppose he saw something in me that reminded him of himself or something he could mold within me. I am gracious for his assistance." She settled her cup down and settled her hands in front of her. Her shields were up, she didn't need a new friend and this man was not up to par. Sure he was smart, she only knew that because the professor would only put in a good word for those he thought worthy, he was selective.

Madelyn was more eager to hear his answer to how long he was in town. She silently hoped she could blink and he'd be gone, but she kept her thoughts to herself. "I see," She mumbled. Nodding at his statement and watching him walk away. Nice ass, she thought, clearing her throat and looking away. Hopefully he'd be gone soon so she could stop babysitting and go back to work. She just needed to figure out what was going on... how was she supposed to handle this guy. What things would he want to see or do? Like she ever left the library, she was not suited nor equipped to handle this job.