“I'm sorry, Maya.” His voice was sad, full of sympathy, and when she looked at him, she saw that it was genuine.

“No, it's ok…” She put her hands in her jeans pockets and looked across the pond, watching a couple walking on the other side. “But what I wanted to tell you… I always remembered that story. How the little duckling grew up into something really spectacular.”

He touched her shoulder. It was a brief thing, but it held the same heat, the same connection, she had felt before. She didn't look at him. She was afraid to. “Sometimes I think we need fairy stories-romance, love, happy endings. Just to have something to hold onto, when our own lives seem so dark.”

They were quiet for a moment, both of them staring off into the distance.

“Anyway, that's all,” Maya said. “I have to get to work. I'm already late.” She turned to go, and she felt his hand again, this time on her wrist. She looked down at it, and then up at him, her breath caught.

He was smiling, his eyes full of something she didn't quite understand. “Thank you, Maya.”

She shrugged. “I'll see you tomorrow. Your office at two?”

“Yes.” He nodded, letting her go.

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Chapter Two

“Professor Reardon?” Maya raised a hand to knock on his door when she heard voices inside. She took a seat on the chair outside and waited. It was a feminine voice she heard, along with the professor's.

Maya took out her notebook and started scribbling a few notes about her next story. She had gotten an idea last night at work, watching two freshman girls arguing at one of the cafeteria tables. It was crazy, sometimes, the things that inspired her.

She checked her watch. It was now quarter after two. He had said two, hadn't he? The voices inside were growing louder, and she could make out some of the words now.