Office Hours - August 29

[bigdamnprincipal]

Zoe had to admit, she looked forward to this time of the semester a little bit every time. Sure, she was drowning in paperwork, but at this point, before any of the students or teachers had arrived, she could tell herself that they would all be good people who would never, ever give her a headache. It was nice to dream while she could.

[Open!]

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[idontlooktired.livejournal.com]

Harriet knocked lightly on Zoe's door, looking slightly less than her normal immaculate self, a folder under one arm and an envelope in her hand.

[bigdamnprincipal]

"Harriet, hello," Zoe said, her smile faltering a little as she took in how Harriet looked.

[idontlooktired.livejournal.com]

She gave Zoe a brisk smile in return, but there was something perfunctory about it. "I'm afraid I'm here to make your life more difficult than it already is," she said as she stepped into Zoe's office. "For which I apologise."

[bigdamnprincipal]

"Is everything all right?" Zoe said, before shaking her head. "That was a poor question. What's wrong?"

[idontlooktired.livejournal.com]

"Sarah Kerrigan is," dead, "gone and she won't be coming back." Her voice was completely steady, and so were her hands as she set the envelope on Zoe's desk. "And this is my letter of resignation. I'll be leaving on Sunday morning. The timing couldn't possibly be worse, I'm afraid, but I've wrapped up everything I had left to do for the new semester."

[bigdamnprincipal]

Zoe took the envelope, but didn't open it, not really wanting to read what was inside right now. "I'm very sorry to hear that, in both cases. It won't be the same without you or Sarah."

[idontlooktired.livejournal.com]

"I'm sorry to go. My time here has been like nothing else." She smiled, and this time it was something more than mere form. "It's been a pleasure working with you, Zoe, and an honour to watch you run this school."

[bigdamnprincipal]

"It's been a pleasure working with you as well," Zoe said. "Where are you going to go next?"

[idontlooktired.livejournal.com]

Completely unconsciously, Harriet stood straighter. "I'm going home. There's work there that needs to be done. They may have decided they don't need me, but I realised last night that they were wrong."

[bigdamnprincipal]

Zoe couldn't resist a soft smile at that. "If anyone can prove that decision wrong, it'll be you."

[idontlooktired.livejournal.com]

"I intend to try." Though if her plan came to fruition, no one would ever know that she'd been right. "Well, I have a few more loose ends to tidy away, so I'd best go and get them done."

[bigdamnprincipal]

"All right," Zoe said with a nod. "Good luck, Harriet. I mean that."

[idontlooktired.livejournal.com]

"Thank you. I'm afraid I'm going to need all the luck I can get." Harriet gave her another quick smile, and headed back to her office. Everything else she wanted to say was in the letter she'd given Zoe.

[bigdamnprincipal]

Zoe took another glance at the letter, before setting it aside on her desk. She would read it later, when she'd had some time to process the idea of Harriet truly leaving.