Thursday, September 1, 2011

Saving Professor (Part 8)

And then they realized that they were plummeting down. Petra screamed and clung onto Collier.
Down they went, underground.
Finally, the elevator beeped, and the screen overhead read ’15.’ Petra looked at Collier with large eyes.
Collier rushed her out.
“Come on, Petra, we don’t have all day!”
They stepped out into a nicely furnished hallway that stretched before them. The carpet was teal and the walls were a bright shade of white.
“Let’s go,” Collier urged.
They tiptoed down the hall to the only door at the end, which read “Vice-President Stein.’
Petra peeked in and saw a normal office.
“What’s in there?” Collier asked.
“Nothing,” Petra answered.
“There can’t be nothing.”
Collier pushed Petra aside and peeked in.
“There’s a desk, a chair, a—“
“Well, I know that, I was just saying that there was nothing strange.”
Collier came back down.
“Well, now we know where his office is. Wait. What’s that sound?”
The twins froze as they heard a distinct sound—the elevator coming down.
“Where do we hide?” Petra hurriedly asked.
“I don’t know, there’s nowhere—“
Just then, the doors opened and Professor stepped out.
“Oh, of course! My little secret agents.”
Petra stepped forward.
“I can explain, Professor. Collier and I were just—“
“Oh, no, I’m not mad.”
“You’re not?”
“No. I am not. I’m glad, in fact. I’m very proud that you two were curious enough to try to find my office, and smart enough to do so. Curiosity and smartness are exceptional qualities of secret agents. But now it is time for dinner. We’ll go back up and I’ll take you two out to eat. It’ll be a pre-celebration.”
The children showed puzzled looks.
“Well, because you two are going to be on your mission to stop Asher Alexander from exploding all the water towers. Tonight will be the last night before you start that. So what do you say about going out for dinner?”
The twins nodded.
“Okay, then. Do you have any requests?”
“No, anywhere’s fine,” Collier responded.

Sitting in a booth in a fancy Italian restaurant, Petra sipped her iced tea.
“Professor, when will my tutoring begin tomorrow?”
Professor swallowed a piece of bread he was eating and answered, “9:30 in the morning. Mr. Murphy will bring all the books you need. You’ll have the conference room 5H as your classroom. It’ll end whenever you get everything done.”
Then a waitress walked up to the table. Petra noticed that her nametag read ‘Vanessa.’
“Are you ready to take your orders?” she asked.
“Yes,” Professor answered. Pointing in the menu, he ordered chicken fettuccine.
The waitress looked at Collier.
“I’d like the Italian sausage pizza, please.”
The waitress nodded, wrote down Collier’s orders, and looked at Petra.
“And you, little Mister?” she asked.
Collier choked on his water and began to snicker. Professor shot him a glare. The waitress looked back and forth between them, and tucked her hair behind her ear self-consciously.
“I’d like the three-cheese lasagna,” Petra said quietly.
“Okay, your order will be out in about fifteen minutes,” the waitress said, taking up their menus.
“Petra?” Collier asked.
Petra didn’t know what to think of this. It was funny, but hurtful. After all, the waitress didn’t mean to.
Then she broke out in a grin. A wave of relief washed over the table.
“She thought you were a boy,” Collier laughed.
“Well, I do look like one, don’t I?”
Professor turned to Petra.
“By the way, how should I tell you two apart?”
Collier and Petra studied each other’s features.
“Well, I’m not sure you can,” Collier responded.
“Hey, I have an idea!” Petra exclaimed. “I’ll wear certain colors, and Collier will wear others.”
Collier nodded.
“I’ll wear red, orange, yellow, brown, and black. You can wear white, green, blue—“
“Yeah, I get it. Do you think that’s a good idea?” Petra turned to Professor.
“It’s a great idea.”
Collier pushed his Kid’s Meal menu to Petra.
“Look. I finished the word search.”
“Well, I finished the maze.”
“Hey! Let me look like that!”
“No! You do it yourself!”
Professor smiled. These kids were perfect—they were mature and they were also still kids.

1 comment:

  1. I love all your stories so much! but what about the parents what are the thinking about their missing kids

    ReplyDelete