begmetwice | Office Hours [Saturday]

Office Hours [Saturday]

Irene was, naturally, not used to coming in to her office on a Saturday, but she was here and in fairly bright spirits all the same. It wasn't every day that the one and only person from home who knew you still lived and breathed actually turned up to spend the weekend with you. (There was more to it than that, of course, and that was perhaps part of the reason why Irene was in such a good mood today. She'd never tell, though.)

In any case, she was in her office today with a cup of coffee and any and all paraphernalia out of sight. You're welcome, kiddos.

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So, Kathy was really, really 100% not looking forward to the meeting of this particular teacher and her parents. Granted, she thought Ms. Adler would be fine (as opposed to certain other teachers), but she was not looking forward to her parents' reactions to finding out what Ms. Adler taught.

"Excuse me, Ms. Adler? Are you free? My parents would like to meet you, if you are."

IT WAS OKAY, IRENE! YOU COULD SAY NO!

No such luck, Kathy. "Couldn't be freer," she said, standing up from behind her desk. "I would love to meet your parents, Kathy!"

She wouldn't be that embarrassing, not with this one. Now, if Johnny Storm had brought his parents to visit....

Well, there was a terrifying thought ~~and not just because at least one of his parents were dead...~~

Kathy gave Ms. Adler a wobbly smile and stepped inside so her parents and little sister could follow her in.

"Mom, Dad? This is Ms. Adler. She teaches...Health."

Yes. Health. So if you wanted to go along with that, Ms. Adler? That'd be cool of you.

Sarah, being thirteen, drifted into the door and then continued to play with her phone, giving Irene the barest of nods. Look, there was important texting to be done back home with her friends.

Health, huh? Who the heck does K think she's kidding?

Kathy's parents, however, came all the way in, Mr. Li stepping forward to offer Irene his hand. "A pleasure," he said, giving her a too-warm smile. "You teach Health here? I can see why they'd hire you."

Mrs. Li's greeting was a little more frosty. "Mmm," she said, pointedly not reaching for a shake. "Aren't you a little..." Her eyes traveled over Irene. "...Young?"

Excuse her, everybody. Kathy was just going to sink into the ground forever and live in the sewers. And be grateful.

"Thirty-one on my last birthday," Irene told Mrs. Li with a smile, shaking each of the offered hands in turn. "And I've been a leading expert in my field for some time, as well."

The field of 'Health,' yes.

"You certainly don't look it," Mr. Li told her at the same time Mrs. Li asked, "Oh? And what makes you a leading expert in Health? Where did you go to school? Have you published any articles in your field? Katherine has the potential to get into a very good college. We'd hate to see it squandered on substandard..." Again with the once-over. "...Classes."

"Ms. Adler is quite respected in her field!" Kathy jumped in. She had no idea what that even meant, considering Ms. Adler ran the sex store in her spare time and seemed to know her way around a riding crop very well, but it was something to say that would maybe...stop...whatever this was.

She was just going to pretend that she was not watching her father flirt with her teacher. For sanity reason.

"And she makes the material quite accessible! We were just covering, uhh, public vectors for diseases and she...uhh...was very...good? At explaining?"

Good save, Kathy.

"We've been going over avoiding common communicable disease," Irene said warmly. "You both must be so proud of Kathy -- she's contributed so much to our class discussions. I'm not surprised that she has so many prospects. Any university would be lucky to have her."

To Mrs. Li, specifically, she offered a sweet smile. "I'd be happy to put in a good word for her at Cambridge, in fact. They still remember me from my days there."

Please note how she hadn't said she went to school there. Irene was very practiced at seizing control of a situation and using her words and body language to enforce the outcome she wanted -- which was why she'd made sure to flash Mr. Li a charmed smile when she was sure his wife wasn't looking.

Anything to get poor Kathy out from oppressive parental thumbs.

Edited 2014-09-27 23:15 (UTC)

"That doesn't surprise me," Mr. Li said, beaming proudly at his eldest. "We've been telling Katherine for years that she's got a bright future ahead of her as a doctor. Is she your TA? She mentioned to us that that she has been TAs for teachers these past few semester."

Kathy gave him an uncomfortable smile back. At least the mention of Cambridge had quieted her mom's barbs. For a bit.

"I don't have a TA," Irene said apologetically. "But I'm sure she'd be an excellent candidate if I found myself in need of one."

She slanted a look at Kathy, trying not to look too curious. "I didn't know you were looking to become a doctor, though," she said carefully. "That's very exciting -- you certainly have the mind and bedside manner bit down, dear."

"Erm..." Kathy shifted uncomfortably. "I mean, I do? Mostly? Though being at school, I've been thinking about other--"

"Katherine will make a fine doctor," Mrs. Li interrupted. "Since she was little, we've told her time and time again what a good doctor she will make and how proud we'll be of her."

Irene glanced at Kathy, pursing her lips a bit. "I'm sure Kathy will excel in any field she chooses," she said diplomatically. "She's an extremely bright student. I'm sure she'd make a fine doctor, or...nursery school teacher, or artist, or anything she should put her mind to."

That felt like she might be laying it on a little thick, but. Well. She knew quite well what it was like to not have one's parents approve of one's life path.

Oh, no! They certainly approved of Kathy's life plan! It was the one they'd chosen for her years ago!

"Oh, no. Katherine's not going to waste her talent on art--"

"Or teaching!" Mrs. Li's smile was sharp.

"--or anything like that," Mr. Li said. "She's too smart a girl for that. And we're not spending thousands on tuition every year for her to pursue something frivolous."

Irene's smile widened a shade, mostly to combat how annoyed she was. "Medicine isn't the only non-frivolous field," she added, shrugging like it didn't matter to her. "But I absolutely understand your concerns. Have you met Kathy's other instructors? We have a very diverse faculty here -- her education is, I assure you, extremely well-rounded."

Topic change for the win, yes.

"No, Ms. Adler, you were the first," Kathy said, for which she was profoundly apologetic for. She stood, hoping that would signal to her parents that it was time to leave and go bother some of her other teachers. "Thank you so much for seeing us, I know you're very busy today, with all the other families..."

Maybe she could spontaneously develop telepathy to send an entire slew of apologies to her teacher directly? Was that a thing she could do?

Or should she save her energies for picking out a nice fruit basket? Cause she could do that!

"Oh, your Miss Adler doesn't look busy," Mrs. Li said. "And I'd love to hear more about the curriculum she's designed for your class, Katherine."

Now hush, dear, the grownups were talking.

"Oh, certainly. Next week we'll be discussing the reproductive system," Irene chirped, hoping that Kathy would have the sense not to chime in that they already had covered that. She reached into her desk drawer, drawing out a very detailed diagram of the female anatomy. "We'll be studying it for a few weeks, of course -- there's so much to go over! -- but on Tuesday we'll work on labeling the parts of the vagina."

She helpfully started pointing. "So many people get the labia majora and the labia minora confused, and it's really a subtle difference, so we'll be spending some time there, of course." Of course.

Both adult Lis were looking pained. "Is such detail really necessary?" Mrs. Li objected. "They're only children..."

Contradict her? Was Ms. Adler crazy? Kathy was gonna run with that as far and fast as she could (which, admittedly was not very, as she was rather bad with deception).

"But it is an advanced class, Mom," Kathy said. "And anatomy and physiology are key foundations of any medical education."

Notsmilingnotsmilingnotsmiling.

"She'll have a leg up on her pre-med compatriots," Irene agreed solemnly. "Too many schools gloss over things like this, which means she'll end up lightyears ahead of her colleagues in university. Half those kids will be wondering where the clitoris is while Kathy's busy moving on to brighter and better things."

She paused, and added, "It's here, by the way," and pointed. "Don't let anyone know I gave you an answer ahead of class, Kathy."

"I won't, ma'am," Karla said solemnly, luckily avoiding the look her mother shot her father at that.

Sarah, however, was not so lucky and now was looking incredibly disturbed forever.

Mr. Li cleared his throat, not at all uncomfortable, why would you even think that?

"Yes, well, that is very informative, yes," he said. "I'm glad to see that Katherine is getting such a--" He blanched as he realized he did not want to use the phrase 'thorough education' right here. "--an advanced course of study."

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Office Hours [Saturday]

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