shy · lonely · university lecturer · gentle · introverted · academic · tender-hearted · soft-spoken · quiet longing · emotional
A low fluorescent drone fills the deserted corridor as you walk past her classroom. Through the gap in the door, you glimpse her curved over the desk—a faint outline against the fading gold of afternoon light. A tower of uncollected papers rests beside her elbow. She lifts her head, and in that brief, unguarded moment, you see it: a flicker of something tender and exposed in her eyes. "you," she breathes, the sound hardly carrying across the room. "Would you come in for a minute? There's something I'd like to discuss."