Emma Watson paused with her fingers over the keyboard as she stifled a yawn, her essay still only half completed. Looking up at the clock she thought ‘Damm, two thirty and I’m still no where near finished. The ‘Profs’ going to kill me if I don’t hand it in on time.’
Nearing the end of her first term at university, Emma was a straight ‘A’ student in the Liberal Arts and one of the subjects on the curriculum was history, and at the moment she was struggling with an essay on the origins of the American Revolution. Normally this wouldn’t have been a problem; she loved history and liked nothing better than to immerse herself in books for hours on end researching a subject.
Unfortunately she was ill prepared for this assignment however, because at the suggestion of her producer of the forth coming film, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows”, she had agreed to
appear on the David Letterman show to promote the film, and she had spent most of the late afternoon and evening at the studio, leaving her little time for research.
As she contemplated the sparsely worded essay before her, she cursed herself for agreeing to do the show, but realised it was too late now. She’d just have to make the most of it, and recommenced typing, her hands flying over the keyboard as she raced against time to complete the work for submission to Professor Schlumberger that morning, cursing both her producer and herself for the position she found herself in.
At four O’clock she finally printed out a copy and shut the computer down with a sense of relief, hoping she’d done enough to maintain her ‘A’ rating. Climbing into bed, she set the alarm clock for eight thirty, deciding a half an hours extra sleep was more important than breakfast, silently vowing that she’d give no more interviews during term time.
Waking up the next morning to the incessant ringing of the clock, Emma groaned in dismay and hauled herself out of bed, groping her way to the shower so that its’ powerful jets could start the process of waking her. Fifteen minutes later she was towelled, dressed and walking over the campus to her first lecture, feeling slightly more human than she had done a little earlier, the essay inside her brief case ready to be handed in to Professor Schlumberger.
Emma left the lecture hall one hour later in the company of her friend Jennifer Warner, a nineteen year old freshman from the mid west who Emma had taken an instant liking to. Not only was she fun to be around, but she treated Emma as a normal girl next door, not as famous child star protégé as some of the other students did. They’d both joined the field hockey team and were playing in the first eleven, Jennifer at centre half and Emma on the wing. This was a further reason for the growing bond between them, but more importantly they felt they could confide their troubles to each other.
Sitting in the refectory drinking coffee, Jennifer looked across at her friend and asked “Is everything alright? You don’t seem your usual self today.”
Emma looked up. “I’m sorry, is it that obvious?”
“Well, you haven’t said much all morning, and you seemed a bit subdued as we left Professor Schlumberger’s lecture.”
“It’s just ….. well I was on the Davis Letterman show last night.” said Emma.
“I know; I saw you and you looked really cool in that little black dress. But I must admit I was a little surprised, as I thought you’d told your producer you’d do no interviews during term time.”
“I had, but he can be quite persuasive when he wants to be.”
“So what’s the problem?”
“It’s the essay I’ve just handed in.” answered Emma miserably. “You know I want to concentrate on my studies, which is why I didn’t want any distractions like last night. Up to now I’ve managed straight “A’s”, but because of that dammed interview I found myself short of time and ended up working until four this morning finishing the essay. Unfortunately I don’t think the ‘Prof’ is going to be too impressed with it.”
“Look, it’s not the end of the world.” said Jennifer, giving Emma what she hoped was a reassuring smile. “You might be pleasantly surprised; after all, the ‘Prof’ seems to like you and under the circumstances will probably make an allowance.”
“I hope so; it’s really important to me that I keep my marks up. I managed to do it in school while filming, and I don’t want to let myself down now, but at the moment that’s exactly how I feel.”
“Well there’s nothing you can do about it now, so you’ll just have to wait until next week to find out what he thinks. In the meantime, we’ve a match this Saturday and Megan’s called an extra practice session for this afternoon.”
“I know; she’s determined to maintain our unbeaten record this season, and Yale have traditionally been our bogey team so she’s taking no chances this year. Let’s hope we can turn the tables on them.” said Emma, brightening at the prospect of the weekend match.
The following Monday the whole campus was still basking in the ladies historic three one victory over their traditional adversaries, none more so than Emma who had provided the cross for the last goal. Her mood soon changed however as she opened the essay handed back to her by Professor Schlumberger. In bright red letters at the bottom was scrawled a ‘B’ with a terse message: ‘See me in my office at 4 O’clock.’
Emma felt a flutter of apprehension as she read the message; not only had her worst fears regarding the grade come true, but she now had the decidedly unpleasant prospect of an interview with the formidable professor, an event she was certainly not looking forward to. For the next hour she had difficulty in concentrating as Professor Schlumberger lectured them on expansion of the nation westward and the effect this had on the indigenous Indians.
Over lunch she confided in Jennifer. “You know I was worried about my essay last week. Well it turns out I was right. I got a ‘B’.” Emma said with a glum expression.
“Oh dear.” replied Jennifer, not sure what she could say to cheer up her friend. “It could have been worse.” she ventured.
Emma looked up from her plate of pasta she’d been stirring absently around. “I’m afraid it is worse; not only did he give me a ‘B’, but he’s asked to see me at four this afternoon.”
“What are you going to tell him?”
“I think it’s more a case of what he’s going to tell me, don’t you?” replied Emma, sighing. “What a mess; I was doing so well and now this. I suppose I’ll just have to face the music.”
“It may not be as bad as you imagine.” said Jennifer, trying to lift her spirits. “After all he isn’t an ogre or something like that.”
“I know, but when he fixes me with his eye and calls me ‘Miss Watson’ I feel like a little girl. Why can’t he call me Emma, like he calls some other girls by their Christian name?”
“I don’t know. He never calls me Jennifer, but I’ve noticed he calls both Sarah and Teri by theirs. I don’t suppose it’s that important, so I wouldn’t let it worry you.” Looking at her watch Jennifer scrambled up from the table. “Sorry, I’ve got to fly or I’ll be late for my art lecture. Just remember, he doesn’t bite.”
“Thanks, I’ll try and remember that.” replied Emma with a wan smile.
Two hours later Emma approached Professor Schlumberger’s office with a certain trepidation. Stealing herself, she knocked on the closed door. On hearing a muffled “Enter” she closed her hand on the door handle, and entered his office, careful to close the door behind her as her nostrils were assailed by the sweet smell of tobacco.
“Ah, Miss Watson, I’m glad to see you are punctual. Please take a seat.” said Professor Schlumberger, seated behind his desk that was strewn with papers, surrounded by a cloud of smoke emanating from his pipe
Emma walked to the chair in front of his desk and sat down, fidgeting her hands as the professor fixed her with a steely gaze over the tops of his half moon glasses. After what seemed an eternity he slowly removed the pipe and cleared his throat.
“Do you know why I have asked to see you?” he asked.
“”I … I think I can guess.” stammered Emma.
“Guess Miss Watson, you are not at this university to guess.” said Professor Schlumberger with slow, measured words. “You are here to learn, to make reasoned judgments based on factual evidence. So, based on this new found insight as to why you are attending this distinguished centre of learning, perhaps you can tell me why I have asked to see you.”
Feeling slightly in awe under the withering gaze, Emma gulped. “I’m sorry Professor. W ..what I meant to say was I know why you’ve asked to see me. It’s the ‘B’ you gave me for last weeks’ essay”
The professor smiled for the first time since Emma had entered his office. “That’s quite alright my dear, I accept your apology. Now, what happened with this essay? You’ve been a model student up to now and I’ve been very impressed with your work. Not only are your essays well researched, but you marshal the salient points and write with a style that covers the subject matter succinctly, leaving me in no doubt that you understand the topic clearly. It is for this reason that I’ve always awarded an ‘A’ for your work. So tell me, what happened last week?”
“It’s my fault really.” replied Emma, looking up and holding his gaze. She decided to tell him everything, hoping he’d understand. “When I joined the university I’d resolved to devote all my time to studies during the term time, and told my producer I wouldn’t be available for any promotional work for “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” during this time, you know, the film I’d just completed before coming here.”
“I’m well aware of your success as an actress; we all are, and were very proud when you decided to join us here as a student. Go on please.”
“Well last week I received a call from my producer to tell me that Daniel, one of my co-stars, was due to appear on the David letterman show that night, but he’d gone down with the flu, and would I step in at the last minute. Foolishly I agreed, with the result that I left myself very little time to research the essay and only finished it at four in the morning before your lecture.” Emma paused before concluding. “I know it’s no excuse and I take full responsibility; I’m sorry.”
Professor Schlumberger stared intently at Emma, trying to discern if there was any insincerity in her words. Finding none he smiled. “I did wonder when I saw you on that show ….”
“You watch David Letterman?” blurted out Emma, unable to contain her shock.
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