Chapter Six
Jamie
It had been a long time since I had sat and talked to Kay about anything in depth. She’d always been busy with work or her own social life and honestly, I had kept to myself about many things. Family was usually off limits.
I needed to vent. I needed a friend that I could confide in. I need to tell someone about everything that was going on or I was going to explode.
Kay typically spent the weekends recovering in the morning, then going out and partying all over again. I didn’t expect to come home to find her sitting on the couch, munching down on her usual buffet of Chinese food.
On the way home from Chase’s office, I had known I was going to need to get drunk. I had stopped by the corner market and grabbed twelve pack of some IPA craft beer from a local brewery and a couple bottles of white wine. Then I’d zigzagged across the street to grab a bottle of bourbon. Whatever Chase had given me was pretty good and had done the job of getting me buzzed. I needed something similar.
On the recommendation of the guy behind the counter, I settled on some Maker’s Mark. Not expensive and not cheap either. I wasn’t sure exactly what I was in the mood for, yet, but I wanted options and considering I now had a stack of money, I might as well spend a little of it.
“Hey, you’re home,” I said, attempting to not drop the bags of alcohol I had wrapped up in my arms. “That smells so good. Can I trade ya?”
“Whatcha got there?” she asked, raising her head in an attempt to see over the top of the bag.
“Something to drown my sorrows and shitty life in, and you get to help me. Beer, wine or bourbon?” I said, moving toward the kitchen.
“Beer please.”
I grabbed two beers and set them down on the coffee table. Without saying a word, I walked into my room and grabbed the envelopes and stacks of cash from my desk drawer. I walked back into the living room and emptied them on the couch next to Kay.
Her mouth dropped open as the bills came unclipped, splaying over the couch amid the photo of Chase and me.
“I need to talk,” I said, taking a seat on the other side of the pile.
“I knew it,” Kay exclaimed with a mouthful of noodles. “You’re sleeping with the professor. Is he paying you?”
“God no!” I yelled back. “I’d never do that.”
I explained the entire situation to Kay, including the first night when I had met up with Chase and Grant, the mysterious envelopes and texts, and then Grant possibly looking through the folder Chase had given me the day he had tried to kiss me.
“Jamie, you need to get out of this. Give this money back, stay away from Chase. And for God’s sake, quit that job at the university and get away from Professor Ashworth, that’s fucking creepy.” She placed her hand on my knee. “I’ll cover you, whatever you need, until you get on your feet.”
“I wish it were that easy,” I said, squeezing her hand. It was sweet of her to comfort me and offer to cover my rent. “I don’t know who it belongs to. They don’t answer my calls or texts unless they initiate them, and they’ve made it clear what they want. Chase knows, that was the best I could do for right now. He told me to let him handle it, so I am for now. I’m just going to keep my head down.”
I cracked open the bottle of bourbon and poured about an inch into two red Solo cups I had grabbed from the kitchen. After the six-pack that Kay and I had just finished, I figured this would put a nice ending note on my shitty day.
* * * * *
When I woke up, I wished I had stopped at the one shot of bourbon. Three shots later I realized I had finally had enough. Well, that and the other two beers that Kay and I had finished off.
It had been a long time since I really just let go. Let go of caring and let go of keeping things in, keeping them to myself.
I got ready for work at the university in a blur of half-closed eyes and clumsy movements.
After Grant’s lecture on campus, I bought a cheap coffee in the student union. Then I made my way to the business and marketing hall. I sucked down the last few drops of coffee and tossed the cup in the trash can in the front of the building. Then I stepped inside, unsure of whether I was up for dealing with Grant while nursing a hangover. There weren’t many options, though. I had somehow avoided speaking to or looking at him during his lecture earlier and it was clear he felt weird even being in the same room with me. He had left the lecture hall immediately after class, but I knew I’d have to face him at some time.
Looked like office hours would be that time.
Grant sat at his desk, flipping through pages in a binder. Screenshots and design mock-ups of software littered the pages. As soon as he noticed me standing in the doorway, he closed the binder and looked up.
“Late night?” he asked.
I could only nod in agreement.
“Listen, Jamie, can we talk about the other day? I’m sorry, it must have been the alcohol, and I have a lot going on.” He pursed his lips and took a step forward toward me. “It’s no secret I’m attracted to you, but–”
“Please, just stop, Grant. It’s done, over. Let’s just move on, professionally. I don’t want this to become something more awkward than it already is.”
He took a step back and nodded. “Okay. I guess we focus on work, then. Can you go through my emails and answer the ones from students that came in over the weekend, please? I need to take care of a few things outside of the office today.” He stepped aside and motioned for me to take a seat at his desk. “It’s all yours.”
A moment later he grabbed the binder and his backpack and slipped out of the office, leaving me alone.
I spent the next twenty minutes sorting through school emails, answering students and taking notes, but something nagged at me and I couldn’t put my finger on it. As I continued to scroll through emails, a new notification popped up on the screen. The notification displayed the subject, Where are you?
I scrolled to the top and noticed the new email with the blue circle next to it, still unread. A moment later, the circle was gone. Grant had read it. I quickly clicked it open and scanned the email. It was in response to a meeting reminder titled Biz Opp.
The meeting was set for 2:30pm and included a name I hadn’t seen or heard Grant mention before.
D. Franklin.
I guessed Grant did have a lot going on, skipping from meeting to meeting. I was about to close the email when I noticed the attachment and clicked to open it.
Familiar screenshots appeared on the screen. I felt my jaw drop. These were the same pages that were printed in the binder that Grant had been looking at. Mock-ups of mobile applications. The very same things that Chase had given me to look at.
I imagined that Chase and Grant had a lot in common since Chase had chosen Grant to take his place for teaching the class. Maybe they were working on this together, or maybe it was something else entirely. I scrolled back up, looking for Chase’s name to be mentioned in the email.
Nothing.
Something seemed off.
I scribbled down the address for the meeting, closed the email, and headed off to hopefully prove myself wrong.