Harold smiled as he waved Melissa off that morning and then prepared for what would be the next few things that he'd have to handle. In theory there were plenty of things to do that would relate to his job as a history professor for the college, but he also knew that there wasn't much that he could do in that regard until the professor he was replacing finished the semester. It'd probably mean for a rather hectic Christmas break period when he'd have to set up his office and meet with the others in the Social Sciences/Humanities Department before the spring semester started, but that was what it was. Harold couldn't change that even if he wanted to.
But he did have his own missions to attend to that he could deal with, and that namely related to marrying Virginia McCoy. He had all the mutually filled out paperwork that the court needed to file for the marriage license and schedule the ceremony in advance, which would be a good thing given how tough to predict a judge's schedule could be. Harold didn't even want to guess what might happen if someone tried to rush things there without a schedule made in advance, and was glad that he and Virginia got all that paperwork filled out. The only thing that would be left would be to handle the issue of witnesses, which secretaries at the court offices said had to be legal adults and that there had to be two. Virginia could probably get the High School principal, since she'd already invited him and that left Harold with the College Dean.
"Though... he only knows Virginia from weretiger meetings," Harold thought to himself as he arranged the paperwork in a manila folder and placed in a briefcase, "they may not actually be close... and the only connection to me is that I was hired to the college's social sciences/humanities department. In this... he might not wish to spring for being a witness at a wedding for two people he barely knows..."
However, Harold also knew that he didn't have many other options. He was still relatively new to town and new to being a were, in that sense he wouldn't know many of Moon Lake's residents. Thus it would make some sense to at least try, after all, maybe the dean did like him despite their having limited contact before now. Harold couldn't know for sure until he asked, and thus went about seeing to that issue. The walk to the car was fine, and Harold didn't mind the relatively sunny morning as he folder under the arm rest in the front seat and then sat down in the driver's seat. From there it was an easy drive down from his home down to the college's administration building on the college's northeastern corner.
As he entered the administration building, he found some things fairly hectic as the staff members there moved to start their respective days, which made sense. One of the secretaries did note his appearance and motioned to him.
"Good morning Professor Jenkins... is there anything we can do for you this morning?" the secretary asked.
"Well... I would like a moment of the dean's time... is he in?" Harold asked.
"I believe he is... do you have an appointment?" the secretary asked, "I mean... you don't have any classes until our "Interim" session in January and it'll be more than a month before you'd be able to set up your office in the Humanities Building..."
Harold understood the scheduling. This "Interim" session was something new when compared to the University of Michigan. There, the Christmas break could carry over into January before students actually returned for the spring semester. When he'd interviewed for the position, both Dean Myers and the head the Social Science/Humanities office explained that Moon Lake College's "Interim Session" lasted about a month with students taking one class for the month, but it was an everyday class. Some classes would be shared between professors and there were even times where fields overlapped. It was different, but not one that Harold was opposed to seeing how it worked.
"No... I don't have an appointment," Harold admitted, "this is more something that has developed over the week end... and could be a bit of a personal request. In this, if he's busy, I can wait to fit his schedule."
"Okay... though, you'll have to meet with his secretary to see to that," the front desk secretary spoke, "I assume you know the way?"
Harold gave a warm smile and nodded. He then made his way to the near by stairs that went up to the building's second floor and the floors above that, which would have more of the administrative offices for the college that dealt with more than just accepting student applications to the college or the scholarships that would be accepted by the college as payment. When he reached area outside Dean Myers' office, he got a warm reception from the dean's secretary.
"I have a bit of a question to ask the dean... if it isn't too much trouble," Harold said to her after an exchange of "hellos."
"It shouldn't be too much trouble," the secretary answered, "I think he's only just come in and might have only just gotten started, so hopefully there isn't too much difficulty with this business..."
"It's more a personal request than anything formal... so I can wait if need be," Harold responded and moved to a couple chairs that were opposite the secretary's desk.
They weren't much, but things were presently calm and it was to be expected that. After all this was still a sort of office environment and putting in easy chairs wouldn't be appropriate. Harold sat down and quietly waited as Dean Myers' secretary passed on Harold's message. Harold had barely sat down when the secretary waved to him and motioned to the door with a polite smile.
"He can see you now if you think this won't take long," the secretary told him.
"Thank you," Harold commented and calmly walked in.
He entered the dean's office to find him straightening some papers that were on an end table beside his desk for the moment. He was quiet as he approached and sat down in on of the chairs opposite the dean's desk. They had a bit more cushion than the ones outside, but still weren't necessarily something that Harold would think people would want to sit in all day.
"Hello, Professor Jenkins," Dean Myers spoke calmly as he finished straightening the papers and then looked to his new history professor, "I'm told you had a personal request..."
"Yes, sir," Harold said respectfully, "though as I told your secretary, I didn't want to interrupt anything important..."
Dean Myers waved him off, "for the moment things are relatively calm and outside the points in which things can be hectic. The admissions office may be the busiest office in this building in the next month or two as they go through those who have applied from Moon Lake and those who have applied from outside Moon Lake..."
"You get out of town students?" Harold wondered curiously.
"We can get out of state students sometimes, too," Dean Myers answered, "in fact I think we have a family that's supposed to be coming in with a student from your part of the country in Michigan... but I don't know for sure on when they're supposed to arrive. The head of the admissions office said they had some funding issues, so I don't know if they're moving here or not... but for the moment, that's not something I know, nor can share."
Harold nodded, getting some sense that this was in reference to the Van Direstag family if what Melissa had told him was right. However, he wasn't at the college to speak on that, largely as he hadn't formally started work for the college, yet, and thus wouldn't be a professor for any of his daughter's friend's older brother's classes this semester.
"It's okay..." Harold answered, "I'm actually here on a matter that's more personal than business. You see... Virginia was ultimately cleared of all charges relating to what happened. My guess is that they didn't find anything that would concretely prove that she deliberately clawed me or that Alice forced her paw as it were, and thus had to leave that issue as an "accident." Which is good..."
"Good that it was an accident?" Dean Myers asked, though with a small smirk that gave Harold a slight indication that he was already aware of his and Virginia's more amorous activities after her release and the lifting of the restraining orders against her while the police investigated the possible Statute 1A violations against her.
"Yes... for, well... I must be honest that I think a part of me was already falling for her," Harold admitted, "I was still adjusting to the loss of my wife and worrying about losing my daughter besides and was thus fighting that there was some interest in Virginia... that was... instinctive, might be the word for it. But what happened... becoming a weretiger... it got me over that hump and I recognized that I was romantically interested in Virginia and gave me the sense that Melissa's mother was fine with that interest. So, once the police couldn't hold her to anything... Virginia and I started something of a relationship."
"And you're happy?" Dean Myers asked.
"Very," Harold managed, "and well... by the Halloween dance... things had advanced to a level... that... well, I can't fully explain it. Everything just feels so right with her... and well, we'd like to get married."
"I'm happy for you, but I don't think my position as the dean here would grant me the power to legally marry you and Ms. McCoy," Dean Myers answered.
"We've been handling that legal aspect of things," Harold answered, "paperwork and everything. But the courts will require legal witnesses to be present for the ceremony to make it legal. And there... with the fact that we're looking at this coming Saturday for the wedding date, and our families too far away to bring into Moon Lake for the wedding... and that I'm still pretty new to town... I was hoping that you'd be willing to be guest and witness. Given that you've already done a lot for me, even when you didn't have to..."
"I see... well, I do like to help where I can, and I am glad you've adjusted to being a were so well," Dean Myers answered, "Do you know for sure when the ceremony will be?"
"Besides being on a Saturday?" Harold answered, "No. City Hall and the Court House was going to be my next stop to turn the paperwork in. I'd figured I'd call you once that was done to let you know on when the exact time would be... I just wanted to make sure you were okay with it before I had things finalized..."
"Ah, good planning," Dean Myers answered and stood up, "You have my number, correct?"
"It should be with the paperwork from when you'd agreed to hire me, sir," Harold answered as he stood up as the dean came around his desk.
"Just be sure to get the call in before four thirty PM," Dean Myers answered as the pulled a small card from his desk front as he came around the side and then handed it to Harold, "if not, the lower number is my home phone number. You can call that number at any time... though, do not expect an answer after eight PM."
"I'd imagine that you and Mrs. Myers would be otherwise engaged," Harold commented.
"Or dealing with our daughter's parent teacher conferences, depending on the night," Dean Myers answered as they walked toward the door, "you'll have to check the school's website for that calendar information. High School can be a tough time for parents... particularly weretiger parents, just for warning. Young cubs start growing up and flights of independence start going through their heads and they start thinking they don't need parental supervision as much... Particularly when it comes to their grades."
"I think that goes for all high school students, regardless of whether or not they are weres," Harold quipped, "I kinda remember thinking I knew more than my parents why I was that age... by the time I started teaching and working on my masters program to move on to becoming a professor... it was amazing to me on how much my parents "learned." If you catch my meaning, sir."
Dean Myers chuckled at that, as thoughts of his own daughter flashed through his mind. In that, he supposed he could agree. The two made it to the door of his office and he was about to give Harold his thanks when the sound of arguing came up from the ground floor and essentially echoed up the stone staircase. Both weretigers could hear it and it sounded like someone was arguing with the admissions desk, which was essentially the front desk that Harold had passed on the way in.
"I suppose this probably isn't on the schedule..." Harold gave a sigh.
"Probably not," Dean Myers agreed, "best to see what's going on... Generally this time of year we don't have any problems with admissions. The students are already enrolled, and since they're college students, they're also adults and those that are from out of town and even out of state that find out about Moon Lake's secret and want to join, there is no rule forbidding it..."
Little did they know just what was being argued on...