Unfinished Business: Her Thesis

"Can you believe it's over?" Megan asked Sarah. Megan's smile was a faraway one as she leant against the wall outside the exam room, her bangles clinking against it. She could feel the fresh air from University Avenue blowing in through the department doors.

"Craziness!"

Focusing, Megan took a quick look at Sarah who, for some reason, was inspecting the cracked corner of one of the corridor's tiles. "Hey, you!"

Pursing her lips as if squeezing away her smile, Sarah met her friend's eyes and gave her blonde head a little shake.

"Let's go fetch those theses and get out of here." Megan pushed away from the wall, taking one last look into the exam room. Only the little, old lecturer was left struggling with the piles of exam books. Megan allowed herself one more look at all those empty seats, none of which she would ever sit in again; it was a bit unbelievable.

"Just think – next time we write exams we're going to be on completely different continents." Megan sighed. "Oh well, chin up."

Megan strode off to the stairwell. Before making her way up the stairs, she stole a glance back at Sarah. Still standing in the corridor next to the stairwell, Sarah seemed to be nervously smoothing down her curls. Megan quickly concealed a smirk. It served Sarah right for having a gorgeous supervisor. One thing Megan didn't have to do for the old lady was look good.

Leaving that thought behind, Megan marched quickly up the stairs. Just this one last piece of unfinished business left and then she'd be onto the next adventure. She and Sarah had been intending to take this long-extended trip up the Garden Route for years – now they finally had the chance.

Megan made her way from the brightly lit corridors flanking the classrooms to the darker warren of offices. She followed the route to her supervisor's office almost subconsciously.

Finding herself in front of the oak door, she couldn't help but indulge in a brief moment of nostalgia as she remembered her first nervous visit to this office. As a first-year, she had struggled to find the courage to even knock. Four years later, she'd barely knocked with the one hand before she was opening the door with the other.

Prof. Greys examined Megan over her spectacles, relaxing her pursed lips into a smile. Megan grinned; if she'd still been a first-year those pursed lips would have given way to a lecture. After four years of effort and one year of slavery, Megan had earned that smile.

"What can I do for you, Meg?" Prof. Greys asked her.

"I would very much like to pick up my thesis."

Prof. Greys moved her always-manicured fingers unerringly to the pile on her right. Unlike most lecturers Megan had come into contact with, Prof. Greys' office was always ordered and organised.

"Here you go," Prof. Greys said, placing the folder on the end of her desk. "I've told Dr Weir at Stanford that the first order of business when you get there is to get that paper to a publishable standard."

"If I get in."

"If? You and Sarah! Dr Liebenberg said she wouldn't believe she'd get into Oxford and, of course, she won the Rhodes."

Megan shrugged, the edge of her mouth curling upward.

"Well, off with you, girl. You have a holiday to start. Just don't forget us."

"I won't." Megan looked one last time at the woman who had been her mentor. She suppressed the lump in her throat and then let herself out the office.

As Megan made her way down the hill, she unerringly navigated around the anxious first- and second-years whose exams had yet to finish and across the main street separating the University of Cape Town from the suburbs. Reaching the gate to her apartment block, she punched in her code, walked through the courtyard and then unlocked the apartment that she and Sarah shared.

Sarah, who always moved seemed to move at a snail's pace, was not back yet. Megan still found it amazing that the girl could move that slowly. After almost half an hour of making tea, drinking hers and watching Sarah's get cold, Megan heard the key in the door. Picking up the kettle to re-fill it, she called, "Hey slowpoke, come in here. I want to read Dr Leibenberg's comments."

"I didn't pick it up."

Megan set the kettle down in the sink and then turned to stare at Sarah's tall form standing in the kitchen's doorway. "Why not? Wouldn't Dr Liebenberg give it to you?"

"I'm sure he would have." Sarah looked down, inspecting tiles for the second time today. "I didn't go see him." Without once looking up at Megan, Sarah left the room.

Megan followed her, leaving the kettle in the sink. Sarah was standing in the middle of the lounge, staring fixedly out the window and up at the university on the mountain. "What's going on, Seh?"

"Nothing, Meg."

"Cut the crap, Seh. You've been moody for over a week now and I know it's not your time of month."

"Don't be crass, Meg. You sound like such a guy." Megan could see Sarah was clenching her fists.

"Please, Seh. Don't give me that – I know when something's bothering you."

Sarah whispered, "Eventually."

Megan could only roll her eyes. Impatiently, she flicked her dark hair off her face. She sighed. "Can I get you some tea?"

Sarah shrugged, flopping down on their weather-beaten couch. "Sure."

After giving her friend one last intent look, Megan went back to the kitchen. Taking the kettle out of the sink, she put in just enough water for one cup and then set it to boil. This done, she leant against the counter. For the life of her, she didn't know what had gotten into the normally bubbly Sarah.

She threw back her head, wiping the sweat from her brow. It was true that Sarah had been moody before leaving home to come to university in the city. But it had never been this bad. Though, Megan had to admit, that time they'd been coming together and very soon the girls' would be going their separate ways.

Once the kettle had boiled, Megan mechanically made Sarah's tea. She paused only once she had finished, cupping her hands around the mug. Even on such a warm day, there was something innately comforting about the warmth of the mug and the smell of the tea.

Sarah was curled into the couch, her long legs looking uncomfortable in such a congested position. After setting the tea down, Megan drew up a chair.

Keeping her voice quiet, Megan leaned down so her head was level with Sarah's dejected one. "Come on Miss Sarah. Chin up. I know it's going to be tough but even on different continents we'll always be the Terrible Two."

Even though Sarah was still looking down, Megan could make out Sarah's slight smile. It had been a while since Megan had seen Sarah upset on her own account. Normally, it was Megan's problems that reduced Sarah to tears.

"It's not that, Meg." Sarah looked up now, biting her lip. "I don't want to talk about it."

Megan twisted her neck to the side, staring intently at her friend. "Seh, just tell me"

"No!" Sarah got up. She turned but before she could march out the room, Megan had grabbed her in a restraining hug. Sarah might be taller but Megan knew she was heavier.

Megan felt Sarah struggling but eventually her friend settled for pulling out a hand to wipe the sweat dripping down the left side of her face. "You'll think I'm being stupid, over-sensitive."

"No, I won't. Now sit down." Once Sarah had nodded her acquiescence, Megan let her go. Both girls sat back down.

"It's Dr Liebenberg."

"What?" It didn't make sense for Sarah to be that attached to her supervisor. Sure, he was a good supervisor and total eye-candy despite being almost double their age but it wasn't like he'd been a confidante. "Seh, I don't get it."

"Oh God," Sarah said. Knowing that Sarah never ever took the Lord's name in vain, Megan shifted uncomfortably.

In what seemed like seconds, Sarah's body went from being immobile to being racked by silent sobs. Reacting almost subconsciously, Megan knelt down on the carpet in front of Sarah and then took her friend in her arms. It was awkward for her small body to balance the weight of her taller friend's but after all the crises Sarah had held her through, it seemed a small price to pay.

"Hey, hey," Megan soothed, patting Sarah's back. She could feel the half-retching, half-crying sobs reverberating through Sarah's slim form. Just after Megan had heard the second train rattle into the station behind their apartment, Sarah's shaking stopped. Megan felt her take a deep breath; then Sarah leant back into the sofa leaving Megan kneeling in front of her. Though Sarah was again looking out the window and avoiding eye contact, she left her hand in Megan's.

"I'm so ashamed."

"Why?"

"I was so silly. I don't know what I did but somehow I made him think..." Sarah lifted her free hand to cover her mouth and then pulled it away. Megan could see that Sarah's lower lip was trembling again. "Megan." Now Sarah did look at her, her blue eyes full of pleading. "He made a pass at me. He asked me out – he tried to kiss me!"

For a second, Megan said nothing, her mouth hanging open. "What?"

"He said now that I was finished, we could..." Sarah's eyes were filling with tears again. "Oh Megan, do you think this is why he asked me to be his teaching assistant until I go to Oxford next year?"

"The bastard!" Megan stood up. "I'll...I'll..."

Sarah brought up her hands to shield her face. "It's my fault. I think I encouraged him. I would imagine ... but I never thought."

With her mouth drawn up in disgust, Megan repeated, "Bastard!"

"Don't say that."

"Well, he is. You're a student and he's taken advantage of you."

"But part of me wanted him to."

"Oh, please. Imagining something and wanting it are completely different." Megan knelt back down. "This isn't your fault, Seh. I know you – this isn't your fault."

"But you don't know..."

"Yes, I do! I know you." Megan paced up and down the lounge a few times before sitting back down. "Sheesh, so when did he ask?"

"Last week – I haven't been able to think about anything else. I know it could have been a lot worse. That other people." Sarah paused. She sniffed. "But I couldn't study and I'm sure I flunked today's exams."

Megan couldn't help but smile. "No, you didn't. You could have done it in your sleep."

Pulling her lips together, Sarah twisted them to one side. Then she gave a small, brief smile. "Well, maybe," she conceded.

Megan patted her knee. "If you didn't pick up your thesis, what took you so long?"

"I was hanging round in the department's basement thinking of everything I should say." For a second, Sarah rested her head back in her hand. Then she looked up again, "But I didn't have the guts."

Shaking her head, Megan said, "Then write them down; I'll say them and add a few choice words of my own."

"Thanks, Meg." Just managing a teary smile, she told Megan, "But I'd rather you didn't. Let's just leave tomorrow and forget."

"What about after the holidays? You can't take the TA post now."

"No, I won't." Sarah nodded. "Thanks for taking this seriously."

"No problem," Megan said, "You know me – you want a dramatic reaction..." The girls shared a smile.

"Can I still come to Europe with you, 'stead of being a TA?"

"Oh course you can," Megan said.