"Tables"
flash fiction
I NEVER THOUGHT I would be in the presence of Professor Melinda Burke again. Ten years have passed since I went running out of Burke’s office in shambles. The mounting anxiety of life back home and school pressures —namely being roared at by a professor of an otherwise insignificant elective— made me drop out only two days later. But here she is sitting across from me at a hightop in Sullivan’s Bar & Grill for lunch.
“I just love an Irish pub, don’t you, Norah?” Burke says, munching on her wings and fries then taking a swig of her Pilsner. She never struck me as someone to fancy a lager, but it’s been a decade. Life happens. People change. Blah Blah Blah.
“Yup. It’s actually strange being here with you, considering…”
“Your having dropped out? Oh my goodness. I know. I remember when I heard. Tragic. So much promise, but it seems you’re doing well for yourself, yes?”
Yes. I had managed to pick myself up after such “tragedy.” “Life has been a lesson in pivoting. Didn’t need a degree to learn that I suppose.”
“Well that’s one thing I always admired about you: your ability to adapt.” She clenches her fists and gives them a shake between us.
“Thank you?”
“Oh, of course! You know, I don’t have favorites, but if I did…” she jabs a fry at me then takes a quick bite.
My eye twitches as her teeth chomp into a smile.
Believe it or not, you ungrateful shit: You’re gonna need me before I need you! These were the last words Burke shrieked at me. Her lips snarled and teeth bared. Before I escaped that office and college all together.
I look toward the bathroom. I may need a moment. Then towards the front door. I may need to escape again, but before I have a chance to make my final decision:
“So let’s get into the good stuff. A smart, pretty girl—well woman now!—like yourself must have someone in your life. Family? Husband? Wife?” she winks.
“No. Just me… I mean, I am seeing som… Wait a minute! What is this about?”
Burke starts at this inquiry. Then licks the ketchup and buffalo sauce off her fingers. “Well…” she says.
“Well? Why am I here, Professor Burke?”
“Please! Call me Melinda!”
I egg her on with a furrowed brow.
“Well. I need a favor.”
