Chapter 35

Ian

 

 

I was completely irritated.

Stupid! Ridiculous! Who thought it was a good idea to reopen the school?

I had really wanted to spend the day with Tessa. After my confession, she hugged me. She didn’t tell me what a piece of shit I was or run out the door. We’d spent two glorious days together, and she made sure I was smiling the entire time. Miriam was forgotten, and as for Ally, well, the pain was dulled.

When the alert came in last night that the school would open for regular classes on Friday, we were both bummed. The past forty-eight hours had been absolutely the best of my life. I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.

The rain wasn’t the kind that made me want to stand outside and spin around while trying to catch raindrops on my tongue. It pissed me off. It made me cranky. It was soggy, gray, and wet. Why bother having school on a Friday? It was dumb as far as I was concerned. I could have thought of a hundred other things to do, but here I was, headed towards class. The campus was fairly quiet, and I was guessing a lot of the students probably chose to enjoy their very long weekend and would skip regardless. That was fine with me.

I rounded the corner and froze. Everything suddenly went into slow motion. Dean Scribbs was sitting at my desk, and she didn’t look happy. She knew. I knew she knew and I didn’t know what to say. I stood in the doorway, coffee in one hand and briefcase in the other. She looked at me with a mixture of disgust and self-righteousness.

“Did you need something?” I asked, not even trying to be all that nice. She was about to fire me. No point in kissing her ass now.

“We need to talk. Now. In my office,” she said, standing and walking towards me. She narrowed her eyes and somehow managed to look down her pointed nose at me, even though I was much taller than she.

I nodded, turned, and followed her out the door. I wasn’t going to argue. This job had been great, but what I had with Tessa was far more important. As we made our way down the empty hall, outside, and across campus, she never spoke. I didn’t bother asking what was happening.

We entered her very large, though sparsely decorated office.

“Sit, please,” she said, gesturing to a chair.

She walked around the large cherry wood desk, sat and then scooted forward to rest her elbows on the surface, assuming a praying pose while looking at me.

“There are some serious charges being leveled against you, Professor Dunlap. We have a problem,” she started.

I nodded, pretending to care. “What kind of charges are we talking about?”

The word was purposeful. We both knew I had done nothing illegal. She was hoping to intimidate me by using such a loaded word. It wasn’t working.

“A student has brought it to my attention that you have been spending time outside of the classroom with another student, engaged in activities of a sexual nature.”

I nodded but said nothing.

She cleared her throat. My nonchalance was making her uneasy. Good.

“Tessa McShane is your assistant and a student here at the school. A romantic relationship with her is against school policy. She will be immediately expelled, and you, Mr. Dunlap, will likely be asked to leave after next semester.”

I grinned. It was a ‘fuck you’ grin, and she knew it. “Tessa will be expelled, and I keep my job. Double standard, isn’t it? Do you actually think that is an acceptable solution?”

Her response was nothing more than a blinking of her eyes.

“Where did you hear these accusations?” I asked, suddenly curious as to who could have possibly known.

The dean leaned back in her chair. I watched her debate whether she should tell me or not, “Another student. Jennie is her name. You needn’t know anything more than that.”

I smiled. Of course. My favorite student, Jennie, who couldn’t bully me into giving her an easy A. Jennie who wanted all of my attention, and when I refused to fall for her silly nonsense, she was trying to get back at me by hurting Tessa. It still didn’t answer all of my questions. How did Jennie guess?

“An immature, spoiled student who is angry because I wouldn’t let her skip an assignment she felt was too hard has made these accusations.” I stopped. “They are only accusations, you realize. There are no charges here, let’s get that cleared up.” The dean looked uncomfortable. “You are telling me, that you have already made decisions about my future and the future of another student because of one young girl’s accusations? Is this correct?”

At first, it looked as if Dean Scribbs would back down, and then she leaned forward. “Are you admitting to having a sexual relationship with Miss McShane?”

I shrugged. “I don’t think who I have sex with is any of your business. I asked you a question. Can you or will you answer?”

Spots of red bloomed on each of her cheeks. She was getting pissed. Good. I was already very pissed. “I don’t need to ask you anything. It is quite clear the accusation was dead on. You are a professional, Mr. Dunlap. We hold our professors to a much higher standard. I’m quite disappointed in your behavior,” she said, in a haughty tone.

I guffawed. “Are you? I’m quite disappointed with the way you handle yourself and your student body. Where’s the investigation? Who’s verifying what Jennie told you? We haven’t had class for two days, so when was this accusation made? I have a lot of questions that I expect answers to.”

She glared at me. “This meeting is over. You have the day off. Your classes have been canceled.”

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me, Professor Dunlap. Your students have been alerted that there will be no class today. I need time to handle the mess you have created. I suggest you go home and get your head on straight. Sleeping with a student is despicable.”

I stood, and narrowed my gaze at her. “You can’t expel Tessa; you know that.”

“Yes, I can. Quite easily, really.”

“No. That is completely unfair.”

An evil smile spread her lips to the point they were an ugly white. “I should think this will be an excellent life lesson for the young lady. You can’t sleep your way to the top and not expect there to be consequences. Tessa is expelled. There is nothing you can do or say that will change that.”

I turned to leave. I wanted to knock the bitch out. I wasn’t prone to violence, but in this one instant, I really want to slap that grotesque smile off her face.

“Professor Dunlap?”

I stopped and turned to look at her. “Keep your dick in your pants and out of my students if you will. Thank you.”

My eyes widened with shock at her vulgarity. I considered telling her to go fuck herself but thought better of it. I didn’t want to make anything worse for Tessa. I had already cost her too much.

I took a deep breath and made my way outside. I needed to call Tessa and let her know what was coming. How was I going to tell her? This was going to crush her. I loved her. I knew I loved her and I was more than willing to sacrifice my job, but she needed this degree.

I fished my phone out of the pocket of my slacks and quickly pulled up her number. She didn’t answer. I couldn’t bring myself to leave her a voicemail. I sent her a quick text instead.

We need to talk. Call me ASAP.

I held the phone in my hand, waiting for her to call or at the very least, text me back. By the time I reached my car, she still hadn’t done either. Maybe she already knew. She was probably pissed and wanted nothing to do with me.

I got in my car and sat there, processing everything. What the fuck! After the best two days of my life, how could everything blow up in a matter of minutes? It wasn’t right.

Still holding my phone, I called Jake.

“Dude, I fucked up,” I said, the second he answered.

“What? What did you do? Do you need a lawyer?”

I had to laugh at his instant response to come bail me out of jail.

“No. At least I don’t think so. Tessa and I got busted. She’s going to be expelled, or maybe she already got expelled. I don’t know; she isn’t answering my calls.”

“What about you?” he asked.

“The dean sent me home and said I won’t be needed after next semester. Can you believe that shit? She wants me to keep teaching, but expelled Tessa!”

“How did she find out?”

I shook my head, getting more pissed by the second. “One of the sniveling little brats in my Monday class turned us in. I don’t know how she could have known. Tessa and I never left the house!”

Jake let out a long sigh. “I don’t know. Sounds like your little brat has a major crush on you and got jealous. Or she really hates Tessa. Girls are pretty vindictive.”

“No, it’s me she hates. She’s pissed I wouldn’t let her out of an assignment she claimed not to understand. She’s lazy, wants the ‘A’ but doesn’t want to do the work, so she ran to the dean with some bullshit story.”

I took a moment to process it all. “Tessa is going to be crushed,” I said in a soft voice.

“I’m sorry. Really, I am. Maybe I can help. I am a lawyer after all.”

“I wish, but I don’t think a lawyer can do anything in this situation. I fucked up, and Tessa is going to pay the price. Are you at work?” I suddenly had an idea.

“Yep, had to come in early,” he said, crushing my excitement.

“Damn, I was hoping Maria was with you. Okay, I better go and see if I can track down Tessa. She may not want anything to do with me. I’m sure she is going to blame me.”

“Relax. Maybe she’s in the shower or driving to school. Don’t freak out yet. If she hasn’t called you or texted you by the end of the day, then I think it’s safe to say she is pissed. Go home, chill, and I’ll check in with you later,” he ordered.

“Thanks.”

I sat in the car, hitting the call button on Tessa’s number and waited. It went straight to voicemail.

Shit! She had to know and was mad as hell at me. I started the car and drove home. Once inside, I looked at the dishes in the sink and the past two days came rushing back. It had been absolutely amazing being holed up here with Tessa. I never wanted it to end. I should have known the real world was out there, waiting to crush the happiness we had managed to create for ourselves. Fate hated us. That was evident by the loss we had each endured in our lives.

I picked up my phone and sent her another text.

I’m sorry. Please, call me.

I vowed to leave it at that. If she didn’t want to talk to me or see me ever again, I wasn’t going to bother her. She had every right to be angry and hurt. I shouldn’t have pursued the relationship. I was the older one. I should have known better.

I plopped down on the couch. Dexter came to sit beside me. I had no energy. I felt as if my world had been tipped over. Where do I go from here?