Finn

by Holly C. Webb

  Emmy instantly thought of Shelby Cooper-Smith, the girl who she met at the party in the Dean’s home the weekend before. At first, Shelby had seemed like a nice enough girl. She was friendly, albeit a bit full of her own importance. Her parents were with her at the party too, which Emmy thought was a little strange, as the party was only supposed to be for new students, and only a select few of them at that.

  Emmy hadn’t wanted to go, but Gabby insisted she should. She said that this was her chance to shine, finally transforming from a caterpillar to the butterfly she was meant to be, as Gabby put it.

  When she bumped into Shelby the morning before in the admin office, she seemed a little cooler with Emmy than she had been at the party, Emmy couldn’t help but wonder what had changed.

  Still, when Shelby gave her directions to their first class, Emmy thought maybe she was mistaken about the girl. That was until she found herself sitting in the wrong class at the far end of the campus. It wasn’t until a middle age woman came barrelling into the classroom and started talking about biology, that Emmy realised she was completely in the wrong place. The whole classroom had laughed as she excused herself, quickly headed for the door. She thought she couldn’t have been more mortified, but she soon realised she had been wrong.

  When she arrived at the correct classroom, the look of smug satisfaction on Shelby’s face made Emmy’s blood boil. Then when she tripped and fell, she wished the ground would open up, swallowing her whole. She had made a fool of herself in front of her entire classroom, she knew she was always going to be known as the girl that fell that first day.

  Now she had to stand there, pretending like the last two days hadn’t been the most embarrassing of her life, and serve her professor and his date.

  “I’m sorry,” Finn said, pulling her from her thoughts. “I didn’t know you worked here.”

  “I don’t,” she replied quickly as she forced a smile on her face. “I mean, I’m working here tonight, but I don’t work here. I…I’m just covering for my friend.”

  “I see,” Finn said giving her a confused look before he glanced over at his date.

  “So, would you like to order a drink while you look at the menus?” Emmy asked as she tried to remain as professional as she possibly could. She handed the professor a menu, then handed one to his date.

  As she did, she took the opportunity to check out the woman he was with. She was pretty enough. Her long auburn hair was perfectly done, just as perfect as her outfit in a fussy kind of way.

  Emmy smiled to herself. The woman was perfect for the professor. They were both clearly uptight and anal retentive.

  “Can we have a bottle of the house red?” The woman replied without waiting on Finn to reply.

  “Sure,” Emmy said before she wrote it down on her order pad. “I will be right back with it and take your dinner orders.”

  She turned, heading back across the restaurant as quickly as she could, glad to be away from the professor and his charming date.

  “Are you okay, Em?” Tom, the bartender, asked when she reached the bar, giving her a worried look. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

  “I’m good,” she replied, giving Tom a warm smile. She knew that Tom liked her, and while she liked him too, she didn’t share the same kind of feelings for him, as he had for her. “Just wondering why I let Gabby talk me into doing things I really don’t want to do.”

  “Because you’re a good friend,” Tom said, giving her a warm smile. “She is lucky to have you.”

  “Yeah,” Emmy nodded, as she leaned on the bar. “And I’m lucky to have her too. But right now, I need a bottle of the house red for table six.”

  “Coming right up,” Tom replied giving her a wink. He turned, walking down to the far end of the bar, as Emmy glanced over her shoulder towards Finn’s table.

  His date was chatting away happily, as Finn listened to her. He smiled at whatever she had said. Emmy thought he had a nice smile. She hadn’t really noticed before how attractive he was. Apart from his gorgeous smile, he had kind eyes. She liked that his hair was long, it was different from the usually neat and clean look most other professors had. He had broad, strong shoulders. She liked how the crisp white shirt he was wearing showed off what was left of his summer tan.

  Suddenly the woman reached out and casually set her hand down on Finn’s arm. It was a simple gesture, but Emmy thought he looked a little uncomfortable with her doing this.

  He suddenly glanced towards the bar, as if to check if she was coming back with the wine to hopefully interrupt them. But instead, he looked surprised to see Emmy watching them. She quickly turned back to the bar, but she knew he had seen her.

  FUCK! FUCK! She cried in her head.

  “Here you go,” Tom said as he set the bottle of wine, wrapped in a snow-white napkin on the bar in front of her.

  “Thanks,” she replied, giving him a grateful smile.

  “Are you sure you’re okay?” He asked giving her a worried look.

  “Yep,” she sighed, then smiled again. “Just ready for this night to be over already.”

  “Well, when you’re ready for a break,” he said as he leaned on the bar, moving closer to Emmy. “Come find me. I will make you the best margarita you have ever tasted. Get you through the rest of the night.”

  “And drink on the job?” She asked with a laugh. “Gabby is right about you.”

  “Oh!” He replied with raised eyebrows. “And what does Gabby say about me?”

  “That you’re a bad influence,” Emmy laughed as she picked up the bottle of wine, turning away from the bar. She smiled to herself as she made her way back across the restaurant. She liked Tom even if she didn’t feel the same way about him as he felt about her.

  “Sorry for the delay,” Emmy said when she reached the professor’s table. “Would you like me to pour for you?”

  “No!” Finn quickly replied, as he gave Emmy a strange look. “I can do that.”

  “Great,” she replied as she set the bottle of wine down on the white, linen tablecloth. “Are you both ready to order?”

  “I think so,” he nodded as he glanced over at his companion, giving her a half smile. She nodded her response, confirming she was indeed ready to order.

  When Finn turned back to Emmy, he allowed his eyes to meet hers. She had no idea why, but she could see a look of guilt in his eyes, almost like he was embarrassed to have her wait on him.

  He held her gaze for a moment before he swallowed hard, returning his attention back to the menu in front of him.

  Finn didn’t look at Emmy again while he was selecting what it was he wanted to eat. When he was done, he looked over at his date, watching her as she selected what she wanted. The whole time she spoke, Emmy could feel the nervous energy emanate from Finn, but she had no idea why. She assumed it was because he was her teacher, and he wasn’t happy about her seeing him with his lady friend. But something in her heart told her it was more than that.

  Stop being so paranoid! She scolded herself as she finished taking the woman’s food order. She hated that she always thought that people were talking about her, or that they felt sorry for her because of how crappy her life was.

  She shook her head, forcing a smile on her face as she looked back at her professor.

  “That shouldn’t be too long,” she told him as brightly as she could before she picked up the menus and headed back towards the kitchen.

  “Hey, Emmy,” Roberto said with a smile as she walked into the kitchen. “How’s it going out there?”

  “It’s quiet enough,” she replied with a grin as she pinned her order to the board. “But it is Tuesday night.”

  “That’s true,” Roberto sighed as he pulled the order from the board, looking at it. “So what have we got here?”

  Before Emmy could reply, her phone beeped in the pocket of her apron. She quickly pulled it out, smiling when she saw Gabby’s name on the screen. She pressed on the icon to open the message.

  How’
s it going? How many times has Tom hit on you? Lol.

  Emmy smiled before she tapped in her reply.

  You’re so not funny. Oh, and you owe me big time. Will fill you in later.

  She hit send before she slipped her phone back into her apron. Then she took a deep breath as she grabbed a fresh basket of bread, heading back out to the professor's table, the sooner this night was over, the better.

  “Are you heading off now, Em?” Tom asked as Emmy walked out from the kitchen. It was a little past eleven and Emmy was glad her shift was finally over. She felt completely and utterly shattered.

  What had started out as a quiet evening, had soon turned into a busy one. A big party of men that were on their way home from some big game came in looking for a table while Professor Murphy and his date were starting their main course. At first, Emmy was grateful for the distraction; but she soon realised that she was going to have her hands full trying to keep some kind of control over the rowdy group of men.

  As she served them, she had to fend off a lot of unwanted attention.

  A couple of times Emmy could see Professor Murphy was watching what was going on, and once more she was completely mortified in front of her teacher.

  By the time he left with his date, she could barely bring herself to make any kind of eye contact with him. Still, he was polite, but once more a little awkward when he spoke to her. Emmy was almost relieved when he finally left the restaurant.

  “Yep,” she replied, giving Tom a tired smile. “I’m going home to rest my poor, tired feet. I don’t know how you guys do this every other night.”

  “You get used to it,” Tom replied with a laugh, as he held her eyes with his.

  “Well, I’m more the quiet of the library kind of girl,” Emmy replied, blushing under Tom’s intense gaze.

  “I’ll be finished up here in a few minutes,” he said, giving her a hopeful look. “If you want to wait, I could drive you home; maybe we could even stop somewhere for a coffee.

  “I actually have my own car outside,” Emmy replied, grateful for her old, faithful banger, which she called Rosa. “And I really need to get home because I have an early start in the morning.”

  “Maybe some other time,” Tom asked, giving Emmy a hopeful look.

  “Maybe,” she replied, giving him a genuine smile before she slowly turned and walked towards the door. When she reached the door, she pulled her jacket from the stand next to the door. She was just slipping it on when the door to the restaurant opened, and a wet-looking Professor Murphy stepped inside.

  “Ms. Warner,” he said, almost embarrassed to see her standing there.

  “Professor!” Emmy exclaimed as she stopped dead in her tracks. “Is everything okay?”

  “I um… I seemed to have misplaced my phone,” he said as he glanced over to where he had been sitting earlier that evening. “I was hoping someone might have handed it in.”

  “Oh no!” She said as she glanced back towards the bar, before she turned back to Finn. “Nobody gave it to me, but maybe they handed it in at the bar. Come with me. I’ll check for you.”

  “Thanks,” Finn replied as he followed Emmy back to the bar.

  “Tom!” She called out, as she walked up to the bar. “Did we have anyone hand in any phones this evening?”

  “I think there was one,” Tom replied, as he looked from Emmy to Finn. “I think Roberto put it in the office in case someone came looking for it.”

  “Great,” Emmy said as she turned to Finn, smiling at him. “I will go and get it for you.”

  “Thank you,” Finn replied, giving Emmy a relieved smile before she turned and hurried towards the office.

  “Emmy!” Roberto said as she walked into his office. “Is everything okay?”

  “Yeah,” Emmy replied with a grin. “There is a guy outside who lost his phone. Tom said one was handed in.”

  “It’s there in that box,” Roberto replied as he pointed to the box on the filing cabinet next to the door.

  “Got it!” Emmy exclaimed as she reached in, picking up the phone from the box. “Thanks, Roberto; Goodnight.”

  “Emmy!” Roberto called out as Emmy turned to the door, pulling it open. “You did really great this evening. If you ever want a proper job here, there will always be a place for you at Roberto’s.”

  “Thanks, Roberto,” Emmy replied with a genuine smile before she turned and headed back out to where she had left Finn. When she saw him, her smile widened, happy that he had found his phone. “Is this it?”

  “Yes!” Finn exclaimed as a look of relief filled his face. “Thank you so much, Ms. Warner.”

  “My pleasure,” Emmy replied. For the first time, she gave him a smile that she truly meant.

  “I guess I will see you tomorrow,” Finn said with a nod as he took a couple of steps backward. “Goodnight, Ms. Warner.”

  “Goodnight, Professor,” Emmy replied as she smiled once more before Finn turned and headed back towards the door. Emmy turned and smiled at Tom too, “Goodnight, Tom.”

  “Goodnight, Em,” Tom smiled before Emmy too turned, heading towards the door.

  As she stepped out into the night, she saw the rain falling hard, Emmy pulled her jacket tighter around her, trying her hardest to keep herself as dry as she possibly could. Emmy hurried to where Rosa, her faithful mini cooper was parked. As she reached her car, she rummaged for her keys in her pocket when she spotted she had a flat tire.

  “You have got to be kidding me!” Emmy cried as she looked down at her flat wheel. “NO!”

  Just at that moment, the sky above her lit up and moments later a low rumble of thunder broke the silence of the dark carpark.

  “Shit! Shit! Shit!” She exclaimed as she hurried to the back of her tiny, classic mini cooper, pushing back the collection of crap she had in the trunk. The moment she did, she saw the other wheel in the trunk was flat too, as the memory of the last time she had a flat tire crashed into her mind, and she realised she had her spare on the car already, but she had forgotten to get her other wheel fixed. “DAMN IT!”

  “Are you okay?” A familiar voice came from behind her. Emmy instantly spun around. She was surprised to find Professor Murphy standing in front of her, sheltering beneath his large, black umbrella. “Is there something I can help you with?”

  “I have a flat tire,” she sighed as she wiped the rain from her now soaked face.

  “Do you need help changing your wheel?” He asked as he looked from her to the flat tire of her car.

  “Not really,” she sighed feeling completely mortified. She was glad the darkness of the carpark offered her some cover to hide her burning cheeks. “There’s no point. That is my spare wheel.”

  “You have no spare?” Finn asked, and Emmy cringed when she saw a trace of irritation on his face. “Don’t you know how careless it is for a girl to be driving around without a spare wheel in her car, not to mention how dangerous. What if you got a flat on some deserted road…”

  “I know I’m an idiot,” Emmy snapped, unable to bite her tongue. She felt stupid enough already, without the professor making her feel worse. “I don’t need you to tell me that.”

  “I’m sorry, I…” Finn said, giving her a strange look.

  He stared at her for a moment, and Emmy had no idea what the hell he was thinking.

  “Look,” Emmy sighed, regretting her outburst a little. “I’m grateful for your concern, also for your help, but clearly my car isn’t going anywhere tonight.”

  “Do you have a breakdown service you can call?” Finn asked, and once more Emmy cringed.

  “No,” she sighed, knowing her reply would be met with more contempt.

  However, Finn didn’t reply, instead he released a long, frustrated breath, pulling his phone from his pocket. Then, without saying a word, he tapped in a number.

  “Hi,” he said down the phone to whoever he was talking to. “This is Professor Finn Murphy. I’m in the carpark of Roberto’s Bar, down by the water front. I need a car p
icked up and brought to your garage.”

  Emmy stared at him unsure of what to say. She wanted to insist that she didn’t need his help, that she could take care of things herself, but something stopped her.

  “Yes,” he continued into the phone, “I will text you the details, you have my credit card details already.”

  He glanced at Emmy before he turned his attention back to the car.

  “Thank you,” he said before he hung up the phone. Then he quickly tapped in a message to whoever it was he had been talking to, before he turned back to Emmy. “I have someone coming to collect your car, and it should be fixed for you by morning.”

  “You didn’t have to do that,” she said, unsure of what else she should say.

  “And what should I have done?” He asked, as he raised his eyebrows, giving her a questioning look. “Leave you here alone, in the pouring rain to be murdered by some deviant?”

  “I can take care of myself,” Emmy insisted, unable to hide the irritation in her voice.

  “Well evidence would suggest that’s not entirely true,” Finn replied with a tight smile. Emmy knew he was trying to keep his annoyance to himself. “Now, if you would follow me, I would like to get home before we both catch a cold.”

  Without waiting for her, he walked back across the parking lot to his BMW, pulling open the passenger door, before he turned back and looked expectantly at Emmy.

  “Ms. Warner,” he said this time unable to hide the impatience in his voice. “Can you please get into the car, or are you planning to stand there all night, pointlessly staring at me?”

  Emmy walked slowly to the car, before climbing into the passenger seat without saying a word.

  What the hell did you just do? She asked herself with an inward sigh as the professor closed the door. You have officially lost your mind!

  Chapter 5

  What the hell were you thinking? Finn scolded himself silently, as he walked around the car to the driver’s side. The one rule he had always stuck to was not to get too involved with his students outside of the classroom. Yet, here he was, in the pouring rain, almost midnight, with a student in his car.