Sophie Ch. 04-05

This is chapter four and five of a series. It will make a lot more sense if you read them in order.

Thursday (Sophie is missing)

He walked into his classroom on Thursday, looking forward to the day. He had remembered his umbrella today and good thing as the rain had not let up since yesterday. He hung his slightly wet raincoat up in the closet. He realized he was smiling as he walked back to his desk.

His new outlook was invigorating, he liked feeling this way. He couldn't remember why he had fallen into such despair before. He found it so much easier to have a positive outlook and look for the goodness all around him. The bad stuff would be there, he knew that, but now he just didn't seem to care about it as much.

He was early again so he went to his door. He exchanged smiles and greetings with many students as they passed in the hall. Why were they all of a sudden so friendly to him? He couldn't believe such a simple change of outlook could change everything else so drastically. He heard a male voice next to him and he turned to see a boy holding up his hand. He gave him a high five and the student smiled and continued into the room. Doc Smith followed him with his eyes and wandered back to his desk.

The class flew by as they had started to do for him. He almost wished they were longer as he felt he had so much knowledge to share with them. The time expired and they filed out. He sat behind his desk and started to gather up his materials. He looked up to see an empty classroom. She was probably delayed in her other class, he thought and picked up his folder.

He looked at his watch and saw it had been 10 minutes since the end of class. He walked to the door and the hallway was light with students. A few of them greeted him but the one he was looking for was not there. He felt a small surge of sadness as he looked desperately down the hall. He saw a young girl standing at her locker with shoulder-length brown hair. She was wearing a cute schoolgirl outfit and his heart lifted.

He stared at her as she worked in her locker. She closed the door and started to walk towards him. His heart felt heavy as he saw the pretty girl look at him and smile. She said hello to him and he responded. It was not her. He confirmed it as he watched her ass swing under the short skirt. An evil thought crossed his mind and he diverted his eyes before he got too creative.

He made it to the door again and saw the rain still falling. He felt like he may have to start looking for an ark soon. Two women approached the door and he heard them groan. He turned to them and saw they only had briefcases and purses.

"Ladies, please take this." He said to them, holding out his umbrella.

"No, no, that's ok. We will be fine." The first one said.

"Don't be silly. My name is Doc Smith and I am in room 134 right down the hall. Use it and bring it back tomorrow." He said, putting the umbrella in her hand.

"Thank you so much. You are so kind." They said and smiled wide at him.

He watched them scramble to their car with his umbrella keeping them dry. He thought of their smile and a surge of happiness hit him. Sophie would be proud of him again. The thought of her made him smile but then he felt a little darkness enter his heart as he realized he had not seen her bright eyes today.

He began to walk towards his car. He was fighting the sadness, she would want him to be stronger than that. He took a deep breath and held the door open for two women. He smiled at them as they thanked him. He felt a resurgence of lightness in his heart. He continued to his car and vowed to himself he would make it to tomorrow. She would be back then and all would be well.

Friday (Sophie Returns)

The rain continued on Friday morning. He tried to remember if it had ever rained this long before. He left a little earlier for work but his commute was not impacted by the rain. He ended up getting to class horribly early. He arranged his things and went to the door. There were hardly any students in the hall. He looked at his watch and saw there was still 15 minutes left before class. What a loser, he thought and laughed at himself. He leaned on his door and waited. More and more students appeared and he found himself brightening up as they came through the door. He exchanged a few more high fives and greetings as his room began to fill up.

She showed up in front of him out of nowhere. He turned from one of his high fives and looked down to see her sparkling green eyes. They were bright green and her face was surrounded with what looked like a wet mop. Her hair was soaked and then he looked to see that her clothes were pretty wet too. She was holding what looked like a wet hoodie over her arm, dripping water on the floor.

"What happened, Sophie?" he asked.

"Well, Doc, it's sort of raining and I got a little wet." She said and opened her arms, her voice sounding different as she appeared to be congested.

He saw she was wearing a pair of jeans and they were sprinkled with dots of moisture. She had on a green shirt that was soaked. It was sticking to her but it was dark so it just looked really wet. He saw beads of moisture on her chest running down into the slight cleavage showing over the shirt.

"Sophie, didn't you have an umbrella?" He asked and immediately realized it was a stupid question.

She looked at him and turned her head with a simple little smile. He made a mental note to buy her an umbrella this evening.

"You sound bad, are you sick?" He asked, concerned as he remembered that her voice did not sound right.

"Yeah, I felt bad yesterday but I feel a little better now. You are my last class so I think I can make it through." She said in her little voice that sounded like no air whatsoever could pass though her nose.

She walked past him and he watched her walk slowly down the aisle and slide into her seat. He noticed most of the students were watching her and if he didn't know better he would think he saw concern and worry on all of their faces. He walked to the front of the class and started his lecture.

The class moved fast but she was silent. He could tell she was listening but her hand did not go up once. He found the class was a lot quieter without her voice. He felt it was productive but it seemed to lack energy. He dismissed the class and they started to file out. He gathered his stuff and looked up to see her standing in front of him.

"Sophie, you look bad, are you sure you feel ok?" He asked as he saw she now had bags under her eyes.

"Yeah, Doc, I'll be fine. What do you have planned for the weekend?" She said in now what was a raspy voice.

"I hadn't thought of it to be honest. I guess I'll just play it be ear." He answered, not wanting to tell her that his son and ex-wife were going to be away visiting his in-laws and he planned to spend the weekend on the couch in his underwear. The thought of his ex-wife brought a deep sadness to his heart.

She smiled her cute little mischievous smile and tilted her head. He felt the sadness quickly flee his now light heart as he looked at her beautiful smile.

"Sounds very spontaneous and fun." She said softly.

Her eyes continued to sparkle but they seemed out of place in her face. He noticed now she seemed a little paler than usual. She was never as dark as the tan queens but she would never have been called pale. Her skin was perfect as he recalled, not the washed out look he was now seeing. She continued to smile at him.

"What do you have planned, Sophie?" He asked, trying to mask his concern. She started to speak and then coughed.

"Sorry, Doc. I am going to hang around the house with my sisters. We will probably have a long slumber party." She said, her voice now sounding as if it hurt to talk.

"How many sisters do you have?" He said.

"Two, they are twins. They are 18 and still in high school." She answered.

"Are they as pretty and fun as you?" He said in a teasing voice. She laughed and he thought her face seemed to get a little less pale during her laugh.

"Oh Doc, you're so sweet, they are much prettier than me and at least as much fun." She said with a sweet smile.

He couldn't imagine any other girls prettier then her and he was amazed again at her modesty. He noticed her hair had dried a little and it was getting a little frizzy.

"Nice hair, you should fix it like that more often." He teased, smiling big to make it obvious he was picking on her.

"Yeah, you like it, I call it my post-wethead look." She said, twirling her fingers around some of the wild curls around her face.

He smiled as he was blown away again at how cute she could be, even sick as a dog and with frizzy, wet hair. He shook his head at her.

"Listen, Doc, do you mind if I get going? I really do have to get home, my sisters are coming home tonight from a week at music school and I want to help my mom get ready." She said, a little pout forming on her lips.

"Baby girl, absolutely, you run off and have a good weekend. Please take care of yourself." He said, impressed again at her selflessness, she really needed to get home and get into bed but she was more concerned with helping her Mom.

"Thanks, Doc. You have a great weekend too and I will see you Monday." She said and started towards the door.

He watched her walk in her wet jeans and stop at the door. She turned and blew him a kiss and then she was gone. He sat there for a couple of minutes, just thinking about how she looked and smelled. He got a smile on his face and opened his folder to make sure he had everything. He shoved it all into his briefcase and zipped it up. He stood and walked out the door towards his underwear couch weekend.