Knight in Shining.... Tweed?

Monday didn’t begin well. Myrtle slept in a little bit, hitting the snooze button more often than she should have. By the time she became conscious of how late it was, she had to really hurry to get ready for work. Myrtle hated being rushed. She just grabbed a protein bar for breakfast and decided to get a coffee from the cafeteria at work and have it at her desk. She wondered briefly how Fred was managing, and then sort of decided that he probably wasn’t even up yet. She figured he didn’t have to be, so why would he be? She hoped he'd be able to get his breakfast all right on his own, then turned her mind to the demands of her own morning.

In fact, Fred was up and around, wondering what to have for breakfast. There was bread, a new toaster, butter, jam and peanut butter, but there were also bananas, eggs, and a couple of different kinds of cereal and milk. There were also waffles in the freezer and syrup. Too many choices, he thought. It was enough to bumfuzzle a sleepy-headed fellow. He noticed that there was coffee and water already in the coffee maker, so he hit the button and decided to give the matter of breakfast a little more thought.

The atmosphere seemed somehow tense at work when Myrtle got there. She looked around and couldn’t really see any reason why it should. She thought maybe it was just her and her rushed morning. Setting her coffee on her desk, she put her purse away in the desk drawer and sat down. Pulling out her work file, she was glancing through it and sipping coffee when a shadow darkened her door. She glanced up into the angry glare of Mr. Pelham.

“I hope you’re satisfied,” he hissed.

Myrtle shrugged. “I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said, quite surprised by his presence.

“Bah!!” he yelled. “You lost me my job because I made some precious students cry... the babies!”

Myrtle just stared at him for a moment. The man was clearly quite mad and he sort of had Myrtle cornered in her office. “That’s ridiculous,” she stated firmly, deciding the bold approach was really her only recourse. “You lost your job when you didn’t show up for work and didn’t call. Moreover you screamed at both me and the Dean over the phone. You made your own trouble with your behaviour!”

“Only after you had those students stare at me during my classes!” he accused, hunching his shoulders and taking a step closer.

Myrtle chuckled deeply and glared right back at the man. “You flatter me,” she said. “You make it sound as if I’m running the students by remote control. Well here’s a newsflash: those students were unresponsive to you because they dislike you. I had nothing to do with it. If you want respect from people, you have to show them some. And you didn’t,” she finished in a low voice.

Pelham took another step toward her, then suddenly yelped as a large hand fell upon his arm, squeezed hard and yanked him backwards. Pelham grabbed onto the doorway to regain his balance as a large man stepped between him and Myrtle.

“What business have you here, Pelham?” asked Professor Dilby in a deep, resonating, yet quiet voice that somehow seemed to convey menace.

But Pelham only leaned toward the larger but older man, as if he thought he could intimidate him. “I’ve been called in for a dismissal hearing,” he hissed in his face.

Far from retreating, Professor Dilby leaned even closer to the younger man’s face. “Is this hearing taking place in Myrtle’s office this morning?” he asked in a low and deliberate tone, so much so, it was a little frightening.

“N..n..no,” responded Pelham uncertainly.

“Then . get . out,” said Professor Dilby, slowly and succinctly.

Myrtle’s own heart was pounding. She certainly hadn’t expected the dismissal hearing to take place so soon. The replacements hadn’t even been given a trial run yet. Nor would she have expected to be cornered in her office by Pelham this way. Moreover, she certainly wouldn’t have expected the benign Professor Dilby, in his tweed jacket with suede patches at the elbows, to be her hero. She gave her head a shake, just in case it was all a dream.

The two men seemed frozen in time for a few seconds. Myrtle couldn’t see the look in Professor Dilby’s eyes from where she was, but Pelham’s own eyes had widened and he actually looked quite fearful of the older man. He sort of squirmed away from him in a manner that put Myrtle in mind of a garden snake getting out of the way of a hoe. Professor Dilby followed Pelham’s every move, leaning closer as the younger man squirmed away, until Pelham reached the hallway and walked quickly away. Then Professor Dilby squared his shoulders, cleared his throat and turned slowly back toward Myrtle. He took a deep breath, and smiled.

“Are you all right, Myrtle?” he enquired softly.

“Yes... yes I am,” she smiled, still not sure if it wasn’t all a dream. “Thank you, Professor. I ... I don’t know what he would have done. He clearly isn’t a well man,” she sort of trailed off.

“Delighted to be of service,” said the professor, bowing deeply. Then he chuckled and stood upright. “Could I possibly get an envelope?” he asked softly.

Myrtle could have laughed out loud... possibly a little hysterically. But she held it in and smiled gratefully at the professor, then gave him an envelope.