Chapter Text
I had seen her walk across campus a couple of times but never before had I experienced a rush of adrenaline quite as strong as when Dr. Smith almost ran into me; coat flapping from the strong Welsh winds, hair disheveled and a bag pushed to her chest.
"So sorry!", she exclaimed before immediately speeding up again, leaving a trail of her perfume in the air behind her. It was one of those blink-and-you-miss-it moments except she probably would have actually run me over had I not stepped aside at the last second. I watched her speed down the stairs, down the path to the physics building and just in that moment, felt that tickle in my fingertips, the itch in my brain that I knew only one thing could scratch.
So I made my way to my office, a smile on my face and fingers tapping excitedly in my pockets
-
Back upstairs, I opened my laptop to check my schedule for the day to make sure I'd have a bit of free time.
Next lecture: 12:15 - perfect.
As I started unpacking, the smell of sketchbook paper and pencils mixed with the smell of fresh coffee and it started to rain outside, only a drizzle really but it put me in the perfect mood to draw.
So I started with her hair; I remembered it was blonde but the roots were dark like she hadn't touched them up in a few months, her eyes big and round, her nose wide and her mouth.. I couldn't actually remember what her mouth looked like... "She wore a scarf!", I yelled and did a little victory wiggle, not realising that my friend had just entered the room a second earlier.
-
"Who wore a scarf?", she asked. "Oh, please don't tell me you're drawing strangers from the café again, it's weird."
"I'm not..", I responded. "I know her.... kind of." She let out a small laugh and came over to have a look at my sketch.
"She looks familiar."
"I'm sure you've seen her before, she's in physics?", I explained but she only pulled a confused face at me.
"Now what the hell would I do in physics?"
"I don't know? Flirt with that cute Doctor you never shut up about, maybe?", I countered and it seemed to work because she only gave me an eye roll and turned back around to make herself some tea.
"Her name's Smith, I don't know her first name but I've seen her around a bunch. I'm pretty sure she never walks anywhere, don't think I've ever seen her move below 10 miles an hour. It kind of makes her interesting though, don't you think??"
"Or maybe she's got zero time management skills and is like ten minutes late to everything."
"I know someone else like that.", I mumbled, making sure she could still hear me.
"Yaz!", she playfully kicked my chair.
"Amy..?", I turned around in my swivel chair and laughed back at her. "You know it's true. You've never been on time to anything, ever."
To that, she only responded with a sigh and then left the room for her lecture, wrapping a red scarf around her neck on the way out. I wondered how she was able to wear a skirt that barely went halfway down her thighs in this weather but then reminded myself that she was Scottish and was probably used to way worse than wind and a light drizzle. She had a very unique style and I admired her for it. She didn't really care about practicality or other people's opinions, she just wore whatever she fancied. Sometimes I wished I was a little more like her.
-
After a while of staring into space I shook my shoulders and turned around in my chair to get back to drawing. Except, for some reason, I couldn't do it anymore. It felt weird, like I was intruding, only using her as a model instead of seeing her as a full person. Why though? Why was she so different from every other person I had drawn before? I didn't even know her.
I shook off whatever feeling it was that was trying to make its way down to my chest and packed all my things to get to my lecture hall. I would just have to wait there and distract myself.
-
I had nearly made it to the arts centre, my face buried in my coat and hands shoved deep inside my pockets when I was tapped, or more punched, in the shoulder.
"Oh god, I'm so sorry, I did it again , didn't I?"
"Did what?", I asked, turning around only to be faced with the same hazel eyes and scrunched up smile as just a couple hours earlier.
"I didn't mean to punch you, I was trying to tap your shoulder but I was so fast and my legs wouldn't stop and anyway, I just wanted to say s-"
I laughed, she was talking way faster than my brain could process any of the words that were streaming out of her mouth.
"It's fine, really!", I told her, raising my voice slightly to try and make her stop talking. "I'm fine."
"Phew!", she responded, slightly out of breath. "Sorry, I promise, I don't normally word vomit like this. Actually, I do, but I'll try to stop doing that."
She must have been in her late thirties, possibly scratching forty and yet she exuded the same energy as a teenage boy.
"Just for me?", I bathed my words in sarcasm but she didn't seem to notice.
"I mean it's not..not for you..?"
"I'm just kidding. But honestly, you're fine, no need to worry about anything.", I reassured her, even though it still did not feel like I was entirely getting through to her. She had a sort of restlessness to her, constantly moving her weight from her left to her right foot, back to her left and her hand seemed to be fidgeting with something in her coat pocket.
"Look, why don't you buy me a coffee this afternoon and we call it even?", I suggested, surprised by my own words; I was not the type of person to ask a stranger to get coffee. At least up until that point.
"Oh, brilliant! Thank you, yes, I would love to!", she cried out. "Make that a coffee and a piece of cake!"
The wide grin on her face was incredibly contagious and I couldn't help but smile back at her. Little did she know that my toes were dancing a hidden little dance in my boots, as were my fingers in my pockets, tapping to the beat of "Yellow" by Coldplay. My comfort song, my favourite song, the song that was playing in my ears, even when I wasn't actually listening to it. I had to let my emotions out somehow and that's how I usually decided to do it, seen as jumping up and down or running in circles was not exactly socially acceptable.
She raised her eyebrows. "When should I pick you up then?" Her bright eyes looked directly into mine and I felt the immediate impulse to look away but made an effort to keep the eye contact.
"I'm free from about half four-ish?"
"Half four-ish it is", Dr. Smith agreed with a nod. "I'll see you later then!"
"See you later."
She was already about to make her way back to physics when she turned around on her heels and jumped into my path. "Sorry! Where do you want me to pick you up from?", she asked, fizzing with energy.
"Uhm.. here is probably fine? Depends where you want us to go", I responded, questioningly raising my eyebrows at her.
"It's a surprise.", she answered with the excitement of a child that was promised a visit to her favourite toy shop, before she turned around again and walked away.
Just like earlier, her perfume was filling the air long after she had left and I stayed in that little cloud until it had fully disappeared. Slowly but surely I made my way to my lecture, curious and a little nervous for what was to come in the afternoon.