Tuesday morning it quickly became apparent that it was not going to be a good day for writing. I was squirrely and unfocused, and of course Hope and Joy picked up on that. I got them out the door on time, but just barely. I decided to run up to my favorite coffee shop, up by the campus, and then head out someplace that would give me space to think.
I caught Espress Yourself in a bit of a lull, so I didn't have long to wait in line. I ordered a venti tiramisu cold brewâtiramisu syrup in the coffee and some sort of cold foam on top, better than what Starbucks does, with a dusting of cocoa powderâand sat down to people-watch and eavesdrop. There were a lot of people there, but there wasn't a lot of conversation, so after a few minutes I sat back and closed my eyes, drinking my coffee and letting my mind wander.
"Mr. Andrews?" asked a surprised female voice. I opened my eyes to see Isabella standing next to my table holding a drink and wearing a Victorinox laptop backpack. I grinned happily at her. "I've never seen you here before," she said.
"Do you need to leave, or can you join me?" I asked, gesturing at the table.
"Iâsure, I can join you," Isabella said, putting down her drink. She carefully slipped off the backpack and set it on the floor, then slid into a chair. "I've never seen you here before," she said again.
"Haven't you?" I asked lazily. "How would you know? You only met me last week."
"I think I would have recognized you," Isabella returned stubbornly.
"Maybe so, maybe no," I replied. "It's not like you get a good look at everyone in the place unless you're trying for one."
"True," she conceded.
"But this might be the first time we've both been here at the same time," I admitted. "I don't spend
that
much time here; I come here often, but I rarely stay and hang out. So," I went on, changing the subject, "you here to get some work done?" Isabella nodded. "One of your lit classes?"
"Not exactly," she told me. "It's a history class, but it's cross-listed with the English department and I can count it toward my major."
"Oh," I said, sitting up and leaning forward a little. "Interesting. What is it?"
"It's a new upper-level course called
History, Fiction and Truth
," Isabella said. "We read works of historical fiction and study the period they're about, then compare and contrast. The prof's field is American history, so it's all American stuff, no
Wolf Hall
or anything like that. So, like, we read
The Crucible
and studied the Salem Witch Trialsâand also McCarthyism, looking at what was going on that Miller was reacting to. We read William Styron's novel about Nat Turner. That sort of thing. The prof's basic thesis is that really good historical fiction can be truer than the best history because the writer's imagination can go deeper than what we can prove."
"Very interesting."
"It has been," Isabella agreed happily. "And then for our final paper, we have to pick a work on our own and do the same thing with it. So, someone's doing
The Scarlet Letter
, someone else is doing
The Killer Angels
âactually, someone's doing one of your novels, too."
"Huh," I said reflectively, sitting back in my seat. "I don't belong in that company. Not Hawthorne, certainly, and I don't think Shaara, either. I'm not likely to ever win a Pulitzer."
"Whether that's true or not," Isabella replied diplomatically, "Jay has been really happy with his choice. He says you've given him a lot of good material to work with."
"Which one is he doing?" I wondered.
"
The Ballad of Tippecanoe
," she told me.
"Well, I'm glad it's served him well. I enjoyed writing that one; Tecumseh and the Prophet are both interesting characters. What are you doing?"
"
Hamilton
," Isabella replied with a gamine grin. "It wasn't on the prof's listâI had to talk her into it. She finally agreed, but she was firm that I couldn't just do the musical and Chernow's book, and if she felt I was relying too much on Chernow, it would come out of my grade."
"You're obviously feeling good about it," I observed.
"I am," she agreed. "The book about the musical has been a real help, because Miranda's wide-open about his creative process. I'm already proud of this paper, and I can't wait to see what she makes of it."
I finished off my drink. It was time to get moving. "Well, Isabella, I wish you well finishing your paper, in every confidence that you would do well regardless of me." I grinned at her; she grinned back. I stood up and gathered my stuff. "I need to have you in to babysit soon so the girls get a chance to meet you."
"And then stay after to do a different kind of sitting?" she asked, her voice low, her grin hungry.
"Why, Isabella, I have no idea what you could possibly mean by that," I replied wryly. Her grin transmuted to a smirk. "Wicked woman," I added in a low voice, earning myself a smile that abruptly redirected my bloodflow from my upper head to my lower one. "I'll see you soon."
"I look forward to it."
*****
It was obviously "right place, right time" day: I walked out of the coffee shop and right into Nia. Not
quite
literally, but it was a near-run thing. Her face lit up. "Mr. Andrews! Sweet! I was going to text you, but now I can just ask youâI'm in a writers' group with some other girls on campus, and I was hoping you'd be willing to come and talk with us at our next meeting."
"Depending on when you all meet, I can probably do that," I said.
"We meet on Saturday mornings at 9, in 421 McCabe Hall," Nia said promptly.
"That should be fine," I told her. "My wife will be home, and the girls will no doubt be up, but they shouldn't be doing anything requiring extensive supervision."
"Thanks, Mr. Andrews!" Nia burbled. "You're wonderful. I'll text you the information, too, just to be safe. I need to get some coffee and get to work, but I'll see you Saturday!" With that, she was through the door and gone.
*****
Megan Ivy was my last scheduled interview. She was the oldest candidate, a week older than Nia, but in most respects she could have been 14. She had a sharp-featured, foxy face, rose-gold rectangular wire rims, long blonde hair that reached past her shoulders in frothy curls, and a full set of braces with hot-pink rubber bands. She was short and slender, with a runner's tight little bubble butt. The only thing about her that didn't fit that picture was her nice full pair of tits. She wasn't trying to show them off when she came to my door, but they were easy to appreciate all the same.