I finish cleaning up the dining slash living area of my apartment. Keeping it clean, that will be a bit of work, but I only need to do that for three more days before Nat shows up. Once she’s here and sees it clean, it’ll be easier for them to keep it that way. He sighs as he carefully places the stacked papers he’s just finished grading into a box in the corner. Once he returns to the Villa in a few weeks, he will file all those papers away, but for now, he just needs to keep them safe and secure. He’s already sent in the grades, so technically he didn’t need to do anything with them, but the old tests and papers from previous years had helped him out with planning and writing, so in turn he hopes he can help whoever takes over MT201 from him. Because, if everything goes well, next year their Villa will get some fresh, young Magister to force into the position. And I will be nothing but kind and grateful when they do. One final look around the apartment, I stand up, grab my phone, keys, and wallet, and head out of my apartment’s front door. I really just need a drink. I already went once this month, but hey what are the holidays for if not spending money.
I head down the narrow stairwell and out onto the street. I nod a polite hello to one of my neighbors, who is just getting back from somewhere. Fabian is a short, friendly fellow who works in some office building unrelated to CERN. He, as he does whenever we cross paths, asks me in French, “So, how are you?”
I smile, shrug, and, as I do whenever we cross paths, reply in English, “Not bad.”
He continues in French. “Do you have to work late? Or is something wrong?”
I reply, still in English. “Not really. A friend from college is stopping by in a few days, and I’m just stressed out over it.”
My neighbor chuckles as he heads inside saying, “Bien. Parfaitement,” and waving. When I first came to this town, I barely understood French. Now, I’m almost confident enough to speak it. Fabian’s grasp of English I have never doubted, though he also never thought to speak it back, even back in those early days when it was clear I barely understood him. I head down the street, walking to one of the bars nearby. I decide to go to the one further from work, under the hope that no one sees me there and gets the wrong idea. Heading inside, I order a drink and settle in. Sipping my drink and trying my best not to think about anything important.
My phone rings. I pull it out and answer with a simple, “Hello?” I try to keep it polite and sober, in case it’s Mister Litholm.
It isn’t. There’s a pause before Demi speaks. “Magister Ike,” she says, “Isa was wondering about some things, and while I told her you’d be off campus and might be busy, she was hoping you had some time to talk.”
Great, I muse, more reasons to drink. Days like this helps me understand where Ter is coming from. I sigh. But even though she’s not a scientist, and is a lot more like Ter than I’d really like in my life, I don’t want to set a bad example. “Okay, fine,” I say, “But fair warning, I’m currently drinking and I don’t really plan on stopping.” I give them the name of the bar, and they say they’ll be there soon before hanging up. Isaline has a car, and the drive from campus is around 15 minutes, give or take traffic and following laws. I order another drink and find a table to wait and see if they show up.
A little past fifteen minutes, a pair of young women walk through the door. Demi smiles and nods to me, then makes her way to the bar. Isaline makes a beeline for my table. Sitting down across from me, she looks curiously. “This place isn’t cheap,” she offers up, “What’s wrong? Is it something we did?”
I chuckle. “Besides bother me at the bar? No. A friend is coming to visit and I’m behind on my thesis.”
Isaline smiles. “Well, you’ve got a lot on your plate with the classes and the internship, maybe your friend will understand.”
I wave that off. “Nah she will. Nat’s great like that, I’m more worried about…” I stop myself and shake my head. “But we’re not here to talk about me. You had something you wanted to talk about so urgently you forced Demi to call me and figure out where I vanished to.”
She sighs, shaking her head. “If only I weren’t driving,” she sighs out. Then, focusing back up, she restarts, “Alright, I’ll admit this is a bit much. But I was looking at my grades from last semester and thinking about the classes I want to take next year and realized I know what I want to do but I don’t know what I need. I was hoping as an Advisor you might be able to advise?”
I sigh. She’s smart, but not quite as smart as she thinks she is. And, more importantly, she’s known she’s smart for most of her life. “You want the honest truth of it?”
Isaline shrugs. “I don’t know, but I think I need it.”
“If all you’re looking for out of the Villa is a degree, some new knowledge, and a bit of mystic knowhow, you’ll be fine. Pass, learn some things, coast through. You’re smart enough and good enough at comprehending stuff that what specifically you do won’t matter much.”
“And if I’m interested in more?” she asks, leaning in and steepling her fingers like she’s trying out to be a supervillain.
“Then, if you’ll pardon my language, you need to get your shit together.” She looks a little shocked. “You’re smart, you’ll pass no problem. But quite frankly, you’re too unfocused. You’re a car in Neutral rolling down a hill. You’ll be fine, pick up pace, and once the road flattens out momentum will take you past graduation. But anything beyond just getting your four year and becoming a Magister, that will take work. That’s an uphill battle, trust me. And if you don’t start to focus and actually drive that car, you’ll stop well short of where you want to be.”
“How?” she asks me the one question that I actually kind of know the answer to. Not the specifics, but in general.
I sigh. “Find something you want to work towards. Find something you can focus for.” With another sigh, I add, “And ideally speaking, those two are close enough to aligned that you stay on course.”
“Were they for you?” she asks. Again with the really good questions.
I smile. “Close enough for long enough to get here,” I admit, “But not all my choices should be emulated.”
“So for you one of those was a girl that broke your heart,” Isaline presses.
“Not quite,” I counter. After all, if I’m being technical about it I was the heartbreaker. Or Ter. Either way, she certainly wasn’t. “So, what do you want?”
She smirks. “Why would I tell you?” she says, “It’s a secret.”
I look up to the sky and ask, “Can you tell me?”
“Are you praying to god for answers?” she says as she starts to laugh.
“Not god,” I say, “A totally different egotistical bastard.” my phone buzzes. I pull it out. A number I don’t recognize texted me. It just reads ‘Council. Not a bastard’. I laugh. At least she finally admits she’s egotistical.
I look at my advisee. A councilor, that’s a difficult thing to achieve, especially for an outsider. And yet, the same could be said about Ali, Ter, and my plan. “Look, whatever you want to do in the future, anyone will tell you to break it down into manageable goals. And you should, it can help you feel like you’re making progress towards your future. But never lose sight of what you need to get to. Where you will eventually need to be. Who you will eventually need to be.”
Her eyes widen slightly. “She didn’t break your heart,” Isaline realizes, “Your future did.” As I said, frustratingly similar, though in a different way.
While I’m trying to think of a reply, My phone buzzes again. Damn it Ter, I think, and answer the phone exasperated. “What else?” I ask, only realizing it might be my boss after I finish saying it.
“Always great to chat, Ike,” Ali says. So, not quite my boss.
I sigh. “So sorry, I forgot. What else, oh enigmatic they,” I joke. Isaline looks confused at me. I turn the phone and tell the apprentice. “Sorry, it’s an old friend.”
“Who are you calling old,” Ali counters over the phone.
“Not talking to you until you answer my question,” I say to her.
Isaline shakes her head. “I’ll think about what I can focus for, but just a warning, not going to be a girlfriend,” she says.
“Glad I could help you, Isaline,” I say. She heads over to chat with Demi by the bar. “So?” I ask Ali.
“First you steal Nat away for the winter, now you ignore me?” Ali pouts.
I wave that question off. “You could come, too, if you want. I’m not sure you remember this, but you’re kind of rich.”
She pauses, maybe thinking about it, or at least wanting him to think that she’s thinking bout it, before saying. “I could, but I’m a bit too busy. And Jase’s office has this whole holiday party thing that, according to Ginny, has a bunch of powerful lobbyists showing up at, and according to the evil genius, I need to be schmoozing at.”
“Hey, I could be an evil genius, too,” I insist.
She lets out a chuckle before she takes a deep breath. In a much more serious voice, she asks, “And what of your other work?”
I shake my head. “It’s going. If you want to have a long serious talk about it, I’m open to that, but tonight I’m both drinking and in public, so you should probably call again tomorrow once I’m more sober, and less overhearable.”
“Okay.” There’s another pause, before she asks, “Wait, you’re at a bar and chatting with one of your advisees?”
“Yeah…” I say, drifting off. I’m not sure where this is going, but I don’t like where it’s starting.
“Are you helping someone make the same mistakes as you? That’s so sweet,” she says.
I groan. “Would you say the same thing if the crazy one was meeting one of their advisees at a bar?”
“Of course not,” Ali replies, “But A, she practically lives at bars; B, we both know she’s not the sort be interested in that; and C, whoever this Isaline is must be super hot because you’re getting real upset at the implication.”
“Shut up,” I say.
She does not shut up. “Just saying, this is exactly the sort of bad decision you might make. Heck, you have. So don’t blame me when it all goes terribly.”
I can’t believe her. I look over at the pair of advisees at the bar. Chatting, enjoying themselves, flirting with the bartender. “It isn’t,” I insist to her as I watch them having a good time, “Now, unless you’ve got something else, I have a whole couple minutes worth of drinking to catch up on and your cruelties weird jokes aren’t on my list of things to do tonight.”
“But is your advisee?” she jokes, then adds through a chuckle, “Sorry, had to get one last one in. Anything you want me to tell Nat while she’s getting ready to go?”
I smirk. “After this conversation, I think I’d prefer telling her about your weird wet dreams about your boyfriend’s coworkers in person. Don’t worry about deleting anything, I screenshotted them to keep receipts.”
“You better be accurate if you do,” she counters, “It was not wet dreams, just sex dreams. It doesn’t get all the way to that point before I wake up.”
“But you’re fine with me telling Nat?” I ask. Demi looks over at me and whispers something to Isaline, and they both laugh.
Ali sighs. “I can’t stop you.”
I laugh and jokingly add, “Great. She’s more likely to know when this holiday party of yours is and who best to get in touch with about it.”
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