Behind the Scrim
folder
Romance › General
Rating:
Adult +
Chapters:
1
Views:
776
Reviews:
1
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Category:
Romance › General
Rating:
Adult +
Chapters:
1
Views:
776
Reviews:
1
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Disclaimer:
This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance of characters to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. The Author holds exclusive rights to this work. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited.
Behind the Scrim
Behind the Scrim
A/N: These characters have been in my head for a while. However, when it occured to use them in the same story, I had to get it down on paper! (or word processor.) For those of you who have been patiently waiting for updates of "Looking Glass:" please continue to be so! I'm a little burned out on it I think--it usually doesn't take me five hours to write two paragraphs. I'm hoping that directing my attention elsewhere for a while will give Deirdre and Noah a chance to decide what the hell they plan on doing! In any case, I do hope you enjoy this one; let me know if you do (or don't)!
There were some things a small college town in the heart of Midwestern farming country didn’t see or expect to see. A limousine on a Tuesday morning was right up there on the list.
Jenkins didn’t find himself too surprised, however. A limited edition SUV had preceded it two hours ago, two burly men in suits and a small woman in professional-looking pumps climbing out to unload a lot of luggage. Leaving the men to the physical work after removing only a small suitcase from the back, the woman had approached Jenkins. As head residential assistant of Samson Hall, Jenkins had stationed himself behind the desk, where the students arriving had to stop first to check in and pick up their keys.
“I am here to pick up Anna Van Curen’s keys, please?” she said in a tone of command rather than request.
“Are you Anna?” he asked politely, already looking for the paperwork she would have to fill out before he could turn the keys over.
“No. I am her assistant, Vivian Tollery.” She held her hand out for the keys.
Judging by the severe angle of her eyebrows, Ms. Tollery was not going to be pleased with the pronouncement that Jenkins couldn’t give the keys to anyone but Anna. Indeed, her eyes only angled even more, almost touching each other with the force of her frown. She pulled out her cell phone, punching in a number on speed dial. She walked away, barking orders at the hapless recipient of the call.
Not ten minutes had passed before the Dean of Residential Life himself showed up. He looked terrified. He spoke to Ms. Tollery out of Jenkins’s earshot, but the man’s apologetic expression and gestures implied that whoever this Anna was, she was important. The dean extricated himself from the stern woman and hurried to Jenkins at the desk.
“Didn’t anyone tell you?” he asked angrily.
“Tell me what?” Jenkins asked curiously. “I was just doing my job, sir.”
Dean Korsen sighed. “Of course. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to snap. Miss Van Curen is an exception to the rule. Ms. Tollery can fill out her forms and take her keys to prepare her room. Miss Van Curen will sign them when she arrives.”
Jenkins shrugged. “Okay, whatever.” He called to the woman, and handed her the large envelope bearing Anna’s name.
“Sorry, ma’am, for the inconvenience. If you’d like to return the forms when you’re finished, I can have Anna sign them when she gets here, and we’ll be all good.” He wondered if Ms. Tollery usually bestowed the look she was currently directing at him on bugs. He grinned at her, his cheek showing only in his eyes. Ms. Tollery turned without a word, directing the meatheads to start bringing the luggage to Anna’s room.
“Down the left-hand hall; it’ll be on the left,” Jenkins supplied helpfully. If the woman heard him, she didn’t acknowledge it. She marched off, and Jenkins turned his attention to a nervous freshman who had been waiting at least five minutes. After the boy trotted off to check out his room, followed by a weeping mother and stressed father, another RA asked, “Do we help?” She nodded at the SUV parked just outside the door, on the sidewalk. Cars were supposed to stay in the parking lot, a short distance away, but Jenkins figured that anyone who was important enough to have an assistant to set up her room ahead of time wasn’t going to be fined by campus security for parking on the sidewalk.
“Nah, I think they have it under control,” he said. The RA nodded, looking relieved. Part of her duties included helping students bring all their stuff in, but the brief break to rest didn’t seem to constitute the entire reason for her relief. He wondered how much trouble this Anna girl was going to give him this year. Looking on his list, he was surprised to note that she would be living in a double instead of a single. He felt a little sorry for her roommate, especially if Ms. Tollery was going to be around all the time.
Through the glass double doors, he saw the limousine pull up and knew who had to be inside. The driver got out and opened the door for her, offering her his hand. He had to admit, she was very pretty. Tall, her blond hair cut to perfectly frame her face. She wore only blue jeans and a button-down shirt, but even he could tell the outfit wasn’t purchased in a store you found in your average mall. She swung a white leather backpack over one shoulder and headed his direction.
“Hello. I am Anna Van Curen. Is dis de place where I sign in?” she asked coolly.
“Um, yeah. But your, ah, assistant hasn’t returned the forms to me yet.” Jenkins was surprised. He hadn’t expected her to be an international student. Ms. Tollery had had no trace of an accent.
She pursed her lips. “Yes, she would. Vahn—“ She cleared her throat. “One moment, please. Which room will be mine?”
He told her, and she strode off. In just a few minutes, she was back in the lobby.
“I am sorry. I have signed in de proper places, I believe. Sank you for waiting.” She nodded her approval of his behavior, and he felt his temper prickling. She handed him the forms and left to answer her jangling cell phone without waiting for him to check that they were filled out properly. He hoped that she didn’t plan on treating all the RA’s like servants.
“Yes, Moeder, I will remember to do dat. ...No, sings are going fine. I sink de driver is leaving just now. But Vivian has made de wrong bed. I told her I vant—sorry—want de oder one, so she is making it up for me now. De room is quite small, however, and de window is atrocious! A little and dirty sing. I know, I know, I should have expected it. It is just as you told me it would be. Well, I will speak to you later. Sank you for calling, Moeder. Goodbye.” She flipped the phone shut and turned to see Jenkins watching her.
“Anysing else you want to know about me? To save you de trouble of furder eavesdropping.”
“Oh. Sorry. Didn’t mean to stare.” Damn! Why didn’t he say anything about not meaning to listen in? Since he hadn’t, maybe she thought he had meant to. But if he said something now, would he look like he was trying too hard? No, he wouldn’t add anything. If she wanted to assume the worst about him, she could go right ahead. It was her right, after all. A free country, even if it wasn’t hers.
She wrinkled her nose slightly, as if she smelled something bad. Ms. Tollery rushed into the lobby, apologizing for making the wrong bed and assuring the young woman that everything was fixed now, and if there was anything else wrong, please tell her, and she would fix that too, immediately. They left the building, perhaps to join the first of the orientation activities. Jenkins rolled his eyes heavenward and hoped she would keep to herself.
A/N: These characters have been in my head for a while. However, when it occured to use them in the same story, I had to get it down on paper! (or word processor.) For those of you who have been patiently waiting for updates of "Looking Glass:" please continue to be so! I'm a little burned out on it I think--it usually doesn't take me five hours to write two paragraphs. I'm hoping that directing my attention elsewhere for a while will give Deirdre and Noah a chance to decide what the hell they plan on doing! In any case, I do hope you enjoy this one; let me know if you do (or don't)!
There were some things a small college town in the heart of Midwestern farming country didn’t see or expect to see. A limousine on a Tuesday morning was right up there on the list.
Jenkins didn’t find himself too surprised, however. A limited edition SUV had preceded it two hours ago, two burly men in suits and a small woman in professional-looking pumps climbing out to unload a lot of luggage. Leaving the men to the physical work after removing only a small suitcase from the back, the woman had approached Jenkins. As head residential assistant of Samson Hall, Jenkins had stationed himself behind the desk, where the students arriving had to stop first to check in and pick up their keys.
“I am here to pick up Anna Van Curen’s keys, please?” she said in a tone of command rather than request.
“Are you Anna?” he asked politely, already looking for the paperwork she would have to fill out before he could turn the keys over.
“No. I am her assistant, Vivian Tollery.” She held her hand out for the keys.
Judging by the severe angle of her eyebrows, Ms. Tollery was not going to be pleased with the pronouncement that Jenkins couldn’t give the keys to anyone but Anna. Indeed, her eyes only angled even more, almost touching each other with the force of her frown. She pulled out her cell phone, punching in a number on speed dial. She walked away, barking orders at the hapless recipient of the call.
Not ten minutes had passed before the Dean of Residential Life himself showed up. He looked terrified. He spoke to Ms. Tollery out of Jenkins’s earshot, but the man’s apologetic expression and gestures implied that whoever this Anna was, she was important. The dean extricated himself from the stern woman and hurried to Jenkins at the desk.
“Didn’t anyone tell you?” he asked angrily.
“Tell me what?” Jenkins asked curiously. “I was just doing my job, sir.”
Dean Korsen sighed. “Of course. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to snap. Miss Van Curen is an exception to the rule. Ms. Tollery can fill out her forms and take her keys to prepare her room. Miss Van Curen will sign them when she arrives.”
Jenkins shrugged. “Okay, whatever.” He called to the woman, and handed her the large envelope bearing Anna’s name.
“Sorry, ma’am, for the inconvenience. If you’d like to return the forms when you’re finished, I can have Anna sign them when she gets here, and we’ll be all good.” He wondered if Ms. Tollery usually bestowed the look she was currently directing at him on bugs. He grinned at her, his cheek showing only in his eyes. Ms. Tollery turned without a word, directing the meatheads to start bringing the luggage to Anna’s room.
“Down the left-hand hall; it’ll be on the left,” Jenkins supplied helpfully. If the woman heard him, she didn’t acknowledge it. She marched off, and Jenkins turned his attention to a nervous freshman who had been waiting at least five minutes. After the boy trotted off to check out his room, followed by a weeping mother and stressed father, another RA asked, “Do we help?” She nodded at the SUV parked just outside the door, on the sidewalk. Cars were supposed to stay in the parking lot, a short distance away, but Jenkins figured that anyone who was important enough to have an assistant to set up her room ahead of time wasn’t going to be fined by campus security for parking on the sidewalk.
“Nah, I think they have it under control,” he said. The RA nodded, looking relieved. Part of her duties included helping students bring all their stuff in, but the brief break to rest didn’t seem to constitute the entire reason for her relief. He wondered how much trouble this Anna girl was going to give him this year. Looking on his list, he was surprised to note that she would be living in a double instead of a single. He felt a little sorry for her roommate, especially if Ms. Tollery was going to be around all the time.
Through the glass double doors, he saw the limousine pull up and knew who had to be inside. The driver got out and opened the door for her, offering her his hand. He had to admit, she was very pretty. Tall, her blond hair cut to perfectly frame her face. She wore only blue jeans and a button-down shirt, but even he could tell the outfit wasn’t purchased in a store you found in your average mall. She swung a white leather backpack over one shoulder and headed his direction.
“Hello. I am Anna Van Curen. Is dis de place where I sign in?” she asked coolly.
“Um, yeah. But your, ah, assistant hasn’t returned the forms to me yet.” Jenkins was surprised. He hadn’t expected her to be an international student. Ms. Tollery had had no trace of an accent.
She pursed her lips. “Yes, she would. Vahn—“ She cleared her throat. “One moment, please. Which room will be mine?”
He told her, and she strode off. In just a few minutes, she was back in the lobby.
“I am sorry. I have signed in de proper places, I believe. Sank you for waiting.” She nodded her approval of his behavior, and he felt his temper prickling. She handed him the forms and left to answer her jangling cell phone without waiting for him to check that they were filled out properly. He hoped that she didn’t plan on treating all the RA’s like servants.
“Yes, Moeder, I will remember to do dat. ...No, sings are going fine. I sink de driver is leaving just now. But Vivian has made de wrong bed. I told her I vant—sorry—want de oder one, so she is making it up for me now. De room is quite small, however, and de window is atrocious! A little and dirty sing. I know, I know, I should have expected it. It is just as you told me it would be. Well, I will speak to you later. Sank you for calling, Moeder. Goodbye.” She flipped the phone shut and turned to see Jenkins watching her.
“Anysing else you want to know about me? To save you de trouble of furder eavesdropping.”
“Oh. Sorry. Didn’t mean to stare.” Damn! Why didn’t he say anything about not meaning to listen in? Since he hadn’t, maybe she thought he had meant to. But if he said something now, would he look like he was trying too hard? No, he wouldn’t add anything. If she wanted to assume the worst about him, she could go right ahead. It was her right, after all. A free country, even if it wasn’t hers.
She wrinkled her nose slightly, as if she smelled something bad. Ms. Tollery rushed into the lobby, apologizing for making the wrong bed and assuring the young woman that everything was fixed now, and if there was anything else wrong, please tell her, and she would fix that too, immediately. They left the building, perhaps to join the first of the orientation activities. Jenkins rolled his eyes heavenward and hoped she would keep to herself.