Long Day After That Evening

Laura walked toward the lobby that connected her to the street leading to the General Pathology Lab building, where her office was. She would just put down her bag and prepare the lecture materials.

Meanwhile James walked to room 101. Many younger generation looked at him with adoring eyes and whispered with their friends.

"That's Brother James passing by... Really cute huh..."

"He's really cute, but he doesn't want to date. Even though a lot of people have tried to shoot him, you know."

"Duh, his gaze really melts. sob sob..."

James continued to walk with a straight face ignoring the whispers on either side of the road he was taking. The younger generation must be studying for the Microanatomy practicum pretest.

Actually, James got an offer as a Microanatomy Lab assistant last year but he chose the position of Microbiology Lab assistant because it was more fun to practice.

He is also eyeing the position of assistant to the Anatomical Pathology Lab if there is an open recruitment, of course, in order to be able to meet often with Prof. Laura who is the lecturer in charge of the Anatomical Pathology practicum. The old Pathology Lab assistant had entered the professional boarding school and had to resign.

"Bro, sit here." Deon exclaimed, waving his hand at James.

James walked to the empty seat next to Deon. "Hey Deon, have you heard of the open recruitment for PA Lab assistants?" James asked dryly.

"There is, Bro. Need 3 replacement assistants for older siblings who have entered the Coass. Are you interested, Bro?" asked Deon curiously because James had been a super busy assistant for the Microbiology Lab, practicum 3 courses with 3 practicum sessions a day.

Sometimes he was surprised by James's stamina, which seemed never tired. His course scores every semester are almost perfect, even last semester James finally got a 4.0 GPA, his brain is really brilliant.

"Good morning everyone," Prof Laura's voice sounded clear and suddenly made the crowded class immediately quiet.

"Today's lecture material on respiratory tract pathology can be downloaded on the FKH website as usual. We will look at the normal anatomy of the respiratory tract organs first before comparing it with organ abnormalities with the process of tissue damage. Pay attention to the following slide show because this will be the material for the final semester exam," Laura spoke calmly and straightforwardly with her lecture material this morning.

James watched each of Prof. Laura's explanations carefully. He must get an A for this course if he wants to become a PA Lab assistant. "Seriously bro." said Deon, nudging James' arm with his elbow.

"Hmmm..." James answered simply. He tried to focus fully on Prof. Laura's lecture, even though her beautiful lips made him crave last night's kiss. It was James' first kiss.

*****

*Flash back on last evening*

The FKH campus was already silent, the garden lights were turned on because dusk was starting to fall. The man glanced at the red HRV which was still in the parking lot east of the Anatomical Pathology Building.

That beautiful and sexy girl still hasn't come home, he thought.

Since a month ago there was a new lecturer who was young and beautiful, different from the old and unattractive FKH lecturers. The majority of female lecturers in this faculty look like nerds, the new lecturers are very different.

The man has served in the veterinary college for the past 5 years. The activities are monotonous and boring, but it's good that he can wash his eyes seeing the female students who are still young and energetic. Sometimes he can also flirt with college students who need his help because he holds the keys to all the lecture halls.

Looks like today he can prank the beautiful new lecturer, Mrs. Laura. He wanted to know what Mrs. Laura would do if the power went out. Fearful women are usually easy to conquer. Maybe she could hug and grieve if Mrs. Laura was scared in the dark.

15 minutes passed the woman had not left the PA building.

30 minutes passed and still not showing up! An hour passed, still not out, the woman felt really at home in the dark in there.

The man was getting restless because his plan failed.

Plan B. The man deflated Mrs. Laura's red HRV in the dark, no one would know. Later, after the electricity was turned on, Mrs. Laura would definitely rush home, she would hit the nape of her neck until she fainted. It must be great to be able to enjoy that helpless sexy body in an HRV car.

The man chuckled impatiently waiting for the woman to appear, he was waiting behind a grove of ornamental plants in the parking lot. The lights have started to come back on.

Yes, as expected Mrs. Laura walked to her car. But damn! Why is there a male student?! The student's stature was tall and burly in contrast to his short stout stature.

He also watched as Mrs. Laura and the male student got into the white Fortuner parked on the west side of the PA building near a palm tree. The white Fortuner car drove away from campus.

The man was very disappointed because his plan failed miserably. But that just made him even more obsessed with getting Mrs. Laura's body. He would make plans next time when Mrs. Laura was working late again. He knew very well that Mrs. Laura was a workaholic, there would be many opportunities to frame her. Just wait for the play date!

"Mr. Udin!" call the figure behind him.

"Eh, Mr. Dean. What's wrong, sir?" replied the man who had just recovered from his shock.

Mr. Charles approached Mr. Udin and asked, "The lights went out for a long time, Sir, what's wrong?"

"Oo oh... there's a short circuit, Sir. I've been looking for the source for a long time, where the electricity has turned on for a long time. It's safe, sir, now, there's no need to worry." Mr. Udin replied making up stories so that Mr. Charles would not be suspicious.

He didn't expect that the dean wasn't home this late either. Doesn't he have the number one position on this campus, why work overtime like a lowly employee like him who has to work hard like a horse?!

"Okay, if it's safe. I'll go home first, Mr. Udin. Come on..." said Mr. Charles as he walked towards his car.

Mr. Udin stroked his chest with relief. He was worried that the dean would be suspicious of him.

*****

Laura walked to her office after completing a 3-session lecture marathon from morning to noon. It was almost 1pm, she glanced at her watch. No wonder her stomach felt very hungry. She felt her schedule on campus was very busy from Monday to Friday. Luckily it's Thursday, the day after tomorrow she can relax and enjoy her weekend break.

Laura sat in her chair and then realized that there was a box of food on her desk. There was a piece of paper on the lid of the box. She peeked inside the food box, apparently gado-gado (Indonesian veggie salad) with 1 chicken egg.

How lucky that Laura was so hungry right now. She also read the message on the paper. "Enjoy your lunch, Prof. Laura. I hope the menu suits your taste." There was a signature with the name of the lunch sender. James Peter.

This child is very thoughtful, Laura thought. Laura immediately cleaned her hands with hand sanitizer and tissue then tasted the gado-gado. Hmm delicious!

Laura took her cellphone and typed a message to James's number. "Hi James... thanks the gado gado is delicious. How do you know I haven't eaten yet?"

Shortly after, a message came in. "You know, lecture session 3 has just finished. I'm afraid you'll faint in the office because you haven't had lunch yet."

"I'm really tired. I feel too lazy to drag myself to the cafeteria for lunch. I think I need catering services." Laura replied jokingly but it was the truth. Her body was completely exhausted.

James read Laura's reply and smiled to himself. Then he remembered that there was a bouquet of flowers on Laura's office desk earlier. "By who's bouquet of flowers is in Prof Laura's office?" he type again.

"Oh yes, it's been a few days someone has sent me a bouquet of flowers. But, I don't like flowers, I like gado-gado," replied Laura teasing James.

James almost choked on drinking water when he read Laura's WA chat reply. James is waiting for the 2nd wave of Bacterial and Mical Microbiology practicum which will start in 15 minutes in the Microbiology Lab assistant room with other Lab assistant colleagues.

"James drink slower...," said Vera, his generation older than 1 year.

"Yes Sis," James answered simply.

James was excited to read the chat reply from Prof Laura. He can only reply with emoji eyes with heart and a smile.

Laura saw James's reply in the form of emoji eyes with love and a smile. She didn't reply anymore and finished her lunch.

The plan is that the rest of the afternoon she will provide thesis consultation for several students whose thesis manuscripts have passed to the final stage. This means that one more step for the thesis trial after the revision is completed.

James began to be busy with his work as a Microbiology Lab assistant. He is in charge of reading the questions about the practicum pretest.

After that he also gave an example of planting Staphylococcus aureus bacteria on blood agar plates and several other media.

James is Prof. Widya Hartanto's trusted Lab assistant because his hands are very skilled and his brain is very brilliant. James always has the opportunity to accompany Prof. Widya to do his scientific research.

His name is always included on the posters of Prof. Widya's research that adorn the walls of the corridors of the Microbiology Lab. Many of his older siblings were jealous of James's achievements.

One by one the afternoon practicums were finally finished. James and his colleagues also cleaned up the practicum tools before they went home.

"James, don't forget to take the probandus data in the PA Lab and feed the mice." message of Renata, who is in the thesis research group with him.

"Ready," answered James casually.

"Thank you, James. It's crazy that your stamina is different from us. I feel like I'm going to faint. I'm doing 3 waves of practicum today." Renata said while busy packing books into her backpack.

"Is that so? It's just normal. So don't date too much, it's a waste of energy and time." Tease James who knows that Renata has a boyfriend.

"Yes, when I have to stay single like you, James. That's called wasting my youth. While I'm still in college I have to be happy, I need a distraction!" Renata chirped defensively.

"Hmmmm," James replied curtly, lazy to argue with Renata.

They were separated on the 1st floor, the Microbiology Lab is on the 2nd floor just above the PA Lab. Renata waved her hand and walked towards the motorbike parking lot, while James headed to the PA Lab.

James passed Prof Laura's office which was open, there were 2 final semester students who seemed to be consulting for thesis guidance. He didn't want to interfere and rushed to the research room.

"Hi James. Go ahead," said Ronald, his classmate who is also a research fellow at the PA Lab, has finished working on his group assignment.

"Okay Ron. Go ahead," James replied.

2 weeks later according to the research schedule, the white rats will be euthanized and their internal organs taken to make histopathic preparations for research data. This research has been running for almost 3 months.

James who most often gets the task of taking care of the white rats even though his team consists of 4 people, but he never complains because he is used to doing research with Prof. Widya.