“Liam wait,” I holler. He looks as though he is hesitant to stop, but he does.
“Siobhan, I don’t want to discuss what happened right now. I’m late for practice. I’ve had a month to think things over and although I’m pissed that you’re seeing Professor Michaels, I was wrong for the things I said to you.” He has the audacity to look remorseful.
“You’re pissed that I’m seeing him so you decide to hurt me more by trying to get him fired. If he goes down, so do I. Can’t you see that?”
“What are you talking about?” He stops mid stride and gives me his full attention now.
“Two girls in my class were talking about Grayson sleeping with a student. Apparently it is campus news and he is in a lot of trouble when he gets back into town. What did you do Liam?” He looks genuinely confused. He runs a hand through his already tousled hair.
“Shit Shiv. I’m sorry, but I didn’t do this. I haven’t been able to face you because of the names I called you and what I accused you of, but I would never hurt you like this. I don’t agree with you seeing him, but I knew there was no way to report him without involving you. You have to believe me. I chose to walk away instead.” His eyes belie the truth. Well if it isn’t him then who? That fucking Vanessa. She has moved forward with the threat she made that day at the hospital.
I have to get in touch with Grayson now. I have to warn him. My fingers tremble as I pull my phone from my purse. “Is there anything I can do Shiv?” I forgot Liam was still standing there.
“Um, no. You go on to practice. Maybe we can talk later. Right now, I have to get to the bottom of this.”
“Okay,” he says reluctantly. “I’ll check on you later.” He walks off, but every few steps he turns to look at me. I believe him. Shit, this is so bad. I continue dialing Grayson’s number— praying that he is not in a meeting. The call goes through after a few rings.
“Hello,” a saucy female voice answers. I know that bitch’s voice from anywhere.
“Vanessa, put Grayson on the phone,” I demand. I really want to light into her, but I need to make Grayson aware of what’s going on first.
“Oh, hello Siobhan,” she purrs. Fucking cunt. I know she could see it was me calling from the caller I.D. And what the fuck is she doing with his phone, let alone answering it? “Grayson is busy at the moment with a meeting. Can I take a message?” I want to scream, but I'll be damned if I give this skank the satisfaction.
“Just tell him that I called and that it is very important that he call me back ASAP.” God, I just want to tell her I’m on to her shit. She thought that slap was something. I’m going to kick her bony ass.
“I’ll be sure to deliver the message,” she says. I can hear the underlying sarcasm in her voice. She hangs up before I can say anything else. Damn it. I need Jordan. I dial her number next.
“What’s up chic?” she answers her phone on the first ring. I delve into today’s events up till now. “Holy shit! Okay where are you now?”
“Outside the football practice field.” I’m a nervous wreck and I guess it transcends over the phone.
“Take a deep breath Shiv. Meet me at the car. I’m heading that way now.”
“Okay.” We end our call and I work to bring my breath back to non-hyperventilating levels. What does this mean for Grayson? Will he lose his job? That will just kill me. Do they even know that I’m that girl? I walk briskly toward the car, hoping Jordan has a solution to this cluster fuck. We meet up at the car and she is immediately giving me a hug.
“It’s going to be okay Shiv,” she reassures.
“You can’t say that for sure Jordan.” She is silent for a second because she knows that I’m right. “Do they know the girl is you? Could it be someone else?” I give her my what-the-fuck-look.
“So, you actually think he makes it a common practice to fuck his students?” I snap.
“Of course not. I’m sorry. That was insensitive.”
“No, it’s okay. I’m just scared. I haven’t heard anything yet, but the girls in my class overheard they had evidence.”
“I wonder if Grayson’s heard anything. I know he is away on business, but surely they’ve left him a voicemail or something.” She gnaws at her lip like she does when she is deep in thought. “We need to call Bailey. Maybe she could give us some clues to Vanessa’s state of mind recently.”
“Who else could it be Jordan? You should have seen the worried look on Liam’s face. I believe him when he says he didn’t do this. Now let’s consider Vanessa’s motives. I slapped her in front of everyone, I told everyone how she was a scheming bitch, Bailey is now friends with us again—against her attempt to alienate us, and worst yet, she feels that I’ve taken Grayson from her. Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner. The conniving, revengeful, bitch award goes to Vanessa,” I say with conviction. “I’m telling you Jordan, you should have heard the smugness in her voice. She purposely didn’t answer his phone with professional etiquette. She wanted me to assume the worst, but I’m on to her games.”
“She may have been screening his calls to divert the shit storm she cooked up too. I’m with you. I believe she would do anything to sink her hooks into Grayson. She exudes desperation. I should’ve let you finish her off at the club. Too bad that would have surely ended with you both in jail.” Jordan is beyond pissed now. “In hindsight, we could have invited her to one of our margarita Mondays and then let you put the smack down on her ass.”
As Jordan pulls away from the school, she calls Bailey and tells her to meet us at our condo. “Should I call and tell my mom so she is not blind-sided with this?” She is going to be so disappointed, especially after the whole Liam fiasco.
“I don’t think so. Not yet anyway. There’s no need to worry her unnecessarily. Wait and see how much info the school has first and what Grayson’s plan is.” She’s right of course. This is why I needed her. Someone has to be level headed during this shit storm brewing. I’m tempted to call Grayson’s phone again, but only an hour has passed. I just need to know if he’s heard anything and that he is okay. This is my worst nightmare realized. When we arrive at our condo, Bailey is already in the parking lot.
“I’m so sorry Shiv. This is not good. We need to come up with a plan, pronto,” she suggests. We head upstairs and Jordan brews some chamomile tea. She says it’s to help me relax, but I don’t know if that’s possible.
“Let’s brainstorm. What do you know so far?” I share with her the discussion verbatim that the two girls were discussing.
“I think it was Vanessa,” Jordan says from the kitchen. Bailey looks doubtful.
“I just can’t see her doing that to Grayson,” she says looking unsure.
“How else would you explain it? Unless you think it was one of the girls.” As soon as this statement is out of my mouth, I want to take it back.
“Of course not,” Bailey frowns. “It’s just that our suspect pool is shallow. There was no way to out one of you guys without hurting you both. So who would want you both to suffer?” Her nicely threaded eyebrow arches in suspicion.
“Well, I don’t think it was Liam.” She knows everything that happened that day between Liam and Grayson.
“Are you certain?”
“By that same logic, it can be Vanessa.”
“But you can’t be certain either way,” she pushes.
“I guess not,” I admit. I’m pretty sure that Liam didn’t do this, but I can’t say with absolute certainty. After all, I didn’t think he would cheat either.
“Well my vote is still for Vanessa,” Jordan chimes in. “And Liam is not my most favorite person.” We sit on the floor around the coffee table sipping on our tea. Were at an impasse. My phone rings and I nearly jump out of my skin. It’s Grayson. Oh, thank god.
“Oh. My. God. Grayson,” I start, but he interrupts me.
“Baby, I know. I just listened to my messages. Please don’t worry.” His voice is calm, but I’m anything but.
“Are you freaking kidding me? What did the messages say Grayson?”
“I can’t really talk now baby. I’m not alone. I left for New York this morning after I left your place, but I’m trying to wrap this up as soon as I can.” I can hear the concern in his voice. “Okay I just stepped out of the room for a second. Listen closely love. I need you to take a couple of sick days from class. Have Jordan pick up your assignments if possible.”
Shit, it’s worse than I thought. “What are you not telling me Grayson?”
“Baby, they have pictures from last semester to prove that we were seeing each other. They want to meet with me when I get back, and they’ve sent an official letter to the address you have on file. You should be getting it soon. Don’t go for the remaining of the week in case they’re trying to talk to you first to compare stories. We will figure this out when I get back.” Tears threaten to fall, but I hold them back for his sake. True we’re in this together, but I don’t want him to feel any guiltier than I’m sure he already does. “I’m sorry baby,” he says. My heart crumbles and I can’t help the sniffle that escapes.
“I’m sorry too.”
“Oh baby, please don’t cry. Fuck!” he screams out. I can hear male voices on the other end of the line and Grayson assuring them that everything is okay. “I have to get back to my meeting sweetheart, but I’ll call you in a couple of hours. Until then, please try to calm down. You won’t take the fall for none of this if I have anything to say about it.” He blows me a kiss over the phone and then hangs up. Bailey and Jordan stare at me, waiting to get the dish, but I just fall over in a ball and cry.
“Damn, this is not good,” Jordan deduces.
She kneels beside me and pushes my hair away from my face as Bailey rubs my back. I’d be lying if she didn’t cross my mind as a suspect. What if she did this when we were still feuding and only made up with me to cover her tracks or out of remorse? I’ll have to speak to Jordan about it later, but for now, I’ll try not to speculate. The girls help me to the sofa and wait for me to calm down enough to share what Grayson told me.
“Damn. I know my brother. He is going to fall on the knife to protect you. We have to find a way to keep you both safe so it won’t come to that,” Bailey says.
“I wonder what evidence they have. Grayson is right though, you need to hang low until he gets back so the two of you can come up with a plan. My guess is they would want to get your side first since they know he is away. You can’t let them corner you,” Jordan advises. I listen to the advice from them both, but my heart aches. Life is so fucking unfair. He’s not even my professor anymore. It would kill me if I ruin this man’s reputation or if I mess up my standing at the school. The collateral damage will be my mother’s feelings and the feelings of his family. They were indirectly clear that they didn’t want him to be with me anyway. Holy Shit. What if it was his dad who turned us in?
Okay so maybe I’ve become quite the conspiracy theorist, but what if this was a way to kill two birds with one stone? The dad may have wanted to get Grayson to leave me and by losing his job as a professor he would have to focus all his time at their company. I’ll have to let Jordan in on that theory as well. I’m pretty sure that accusation wouldn’t go over well with Bailey so I’ll keep it quiet for now.
“I have a headache so I’m going to lay down now. Maybe the whole sick ruse won’t be an act after all,” I say begrudgingly. Jordan wipes the tears from her eyes and simply nods. “Thank you for coming over so quickly, Bailey. I appreciate your help.”
“Of course,” she says waving her hand. “We’ll talk more after you’ve had a chance to talk to Grayson.”
“Okay.” I agree, but I still have my eye on her. I don’t want to discredit our trust again, but the truth is, aside from Jordan, anyone can be a suspect. I continue to my room, close the blinds, and strip down to my panties and bra. I snuggle under my comforter, just barely able to catch a whiff of Grayson’s lingering scent. It’s enough to bring me some comfort though. I have to believe that we will get through this. Love is not volatile, it’s what we make it. This is just one more barrier to get past to find our way to happiness.
My phone rings somewhere in my bed and I scramble to find it. By the time I find it in the tangled sheets, it stops ringing. It was Grayson. Three hours has passed. I guess I was both mentally and physically tired. I quickly tap on his name to return his call. He answers on the first ring.
“Hey baby, did I catch you at a bad time?” I look and see that it is only a few minutes after seven here so that means it’s after ten his time.
“No. I took a little nap. That must have been some meeting.”
“Sorry. One meeting turned into one giant strategy meeting that continued over dinner.” He lets out a deep breath. “I wanted to text you, but I knew that would’ve had me distracted. Bad enough, I had to know that you were there crying and I wasn’t there to comfort you.”
“Grayson, I’m fine. I just needed to get that out. All the girly emotional crap will be dealt with and out of the way by the time you get here,” I promise.
“You’re feelings are not crap and I don’t want you to ever hear you say that again. You have the right to be scared and hurt. The good news is that I have one more meeting tomorrow afternoon and then I’m heading straight to you. By this time tomorrow, I should have you in my arms.” That’s a comforting thought and actually brings the first smile to my face since I overheard the gossip.