Professor Abraham
As early as possible in the morning, I got up.
Today, we will continue with our field trip. We have allowed the students to rest for a day so that they can refresh their heads and bones. They have been walking for three days, and I am sure most of them are not used to these harsh conditions.
Anyway, we would continue giving them their lectures today, and we would only be looking around Rhino Ridge for the next few days.
I got up from my sleeping bag and folded it away.
There she is, still laying in bed and sleeping peacefully.
Her blanket has been pulled away during sleep, and so her top was seen. At least she has not worn the revealing nightwear that she wore yesterday.
I remembered all the stunts that she pulled off yesterday. She really did put all of us on the edge, but I am glad that I got to wake up to see her face once again.
I wouldn't have known what I would have done if she hadn't returned, and I am glad that I wouldn't be finding out.
She looks so peaceful in her sleep that I don't want to wake her up, but she has to, and now I'll leave her to get some more sleep till I finally get ready.
I head over to the bathroom and take my bath. Even though the water was cold, it was still soothing to the bones. Plus, I didn't take my bath yesterday before going to sleep.
I turn off the shower and walk over to the mirror. Looking in the mirror, I can see just how tired my face looks, and that makes me look years older than I actually am.
There are black eye bags underneath my eyes, showing just how sleep-deprived I have been for the past few days.
My stubble is also filled with hair, as I haven't shaved my face for the past three days, and I can see the hair starting to gather. Soon, I'll look like a mess.
Even the hair on my head looks like a mess, as it hasn't been trimmed for the past few days as well.
Two of these issues cannot be fixed as of yet, but I could at least try to shave my beard and maybe look less of a mess than I am now.
I picked out my shaving cream and my shaving cream, and I got to work.
"Aww!" I wince as I accidentally scraped my face while I was trying to shave off the hair.
This shows just how absentminded I have become, as I can't remember the last time I injured myself while shaving.
I wipe out the blood and continue on with my business.
I look into the mirror, and I see a different person from earlier.
I do look a bit younger now.
I rinse off my shaving stick and return it to my bag, and then I pick out my toothbrush.
After I have finished brushing, I change into some casuals.
When I walked out of the bathroom, she was still sleeping peacefully.
She looks so peaceful while sleeping that I feel like I don't want to wake her up.
I check my wrist watch to see that it's seven already.
Well, I guess she's got to get up now, as attendance will be taken by eight, and then we'll be on with our day.
I walk over to the bed and sit beside her.
She had a rough day yesterday; maybe I would just call her sick today so that she could rest, I thought.
It just feels so cruel to wake her up from her slumber.
But then I remembered that guy from yesterday.
What if he tries to get closer to her when we're not around?.
No, I won't ever let that happen, I thought to myself.
I frown all of a sudden, as if the person with whom I am angry is in front of me.
I patted her shoulder a little bit harder than anticipated.
"Please, please don't eat me," she jerked up from her seat.
Who is going to eat her?.
Is she having some bad dreams?.
Maybe she was traumatized by what happened yesterday.
Poor thing.
"Hey! Wake up, it's just me; you are just having a bad dream; you are safe." I softly tap on her cheek.
Finally, she looks up at me in recognition.
"Sir, it's you," she says in her sexy, sleepy voice.
I know that there's nothing sexy about a hoarse voice, but hers sounded so angelic.
"Good morning." I greet her first.
She seems so ashamed of the gesture.
"Good morning, sir; I'm really sorry," she greets.
"Gosh! What is wrong with me?" she mutters under her breath, but I still hear it.
"It's time for you to get up; it's getting late," I say, and I move away from her.
I walk away to the exit, but then I turn around again.
"Be sure to be on time for the roll call," I say, and I walk away.
I am feeling really down today, and being close to her is making me feel all sorts of emotions that I don't want to feel.
"Good morning. I hope you had a lovely night." Lily, Nina's friend, appears out of the blue.
I wanted to just move past her, but then I stopped.
I might as well just say a word or two before I have my breakfast.
"Good morning," I answer.
"So, where's Nina?" she asks, looking behind me as if she were expecting me to piggyback on her or something.
"She is in the tent, getting ready," I answer.
I just walked away from them before she could continue asking me all sorts of silly questions.
"Ok, thanks, sir," she still calls out.
I walk over to the cafeteria.
"Good morning, sir." Everyone present keeps greeting me.
"You don't look well, sir. Is everything alright? Should we cancel the lectures for today?" Mrs. Frida, one of the instructors, asks with so much concern.
Mrs. Frida is a few years younger than I am, as she is 49 while I am currently 52, but if you look at the both of us right now, you'll say that she is an older sister to me.
She is a lot shorter than I am, probably standing 5'5", and she always looks fat in her tight jeans and t-shirt.
Her face has also been wrinkled all over, probably from all the hard work she has had to endure.
Her hair—almost all of it—has turned gray, while you could only see a few strands on my head if you looked harder.
But she is a very hard-working and dedicated woman, and I will give her.
She is my assistant here, and she handles everything whenever I am not available.
She is also as caring as a little sister to me.
We have grown close to each other during one of my trips here to Masai Mara Park, and she has been there to help me out with all my research.
Yes, she has worked here at the park for all her life, as she has told me, and so she knows this place more than any of us could.
"No, I'm fine; I'm just feeling a bit tired, that's all," I say.
I don't want my stressed-out life to affect these students.
In fact, if you ask me, I want to be quick with all this stuff so that we can wrap up and all should be on their way in one piece.
"Alright, if you say so, but don't hesitate to just take a rest when you feel like you need one; we'll always be there to cover up for you," she says.
I nodded at her once again as I sipped on my freshly brewed coffee, and just like all times, it did the job and kicked me back to life.
"It's ok; I think I can handle all the stress for the next few days," I say.
But even I knew I needed a rest. Not just of the body but of the mind and soul.
I looked around, and I could see some of the instructors looking at me with pity.
One thing I hate is people pitying me. I am capable enough of doing what I think is right for myself.
But it's always people's job to judge anyway.
"By the way, how's your wife? I hope she is alright; she hasn't had any traumatic experiences, right?" Mrs. Frida asks again, changing the topic.
My mind went back to the dream I think she was having earlier, when she thought that someone was going to attack her.
But there's no need for them to know that. I'm sure it is nothing serious, and if she ever has this dream again, I'll be by her side to support her.
"She is fine; I think she'll also be joining us today," I answer.
"Where's she now?" she asks.
But before I answer, she speaks again.
"Oh! There she comes," she says, pointing in a direction.
I look over, expecting to see her walking over to us, but what I didn't expect to see was some lowly looser holding her hands, with both of them laughing as if they don't care about the world around them.
I could see her laughing at something that he was saying.
That guy was none other than Mike.
I had clearly remembered telling her never to go close to that guy again, but it seemed like she didn't hear well.
I have to teach her a lesson for that now.