I couldn’t believe what was happening. It was so easy to fall for someone, to do something without thinking of the consequences. Suddenly, my career at UCLA was a big question. My future as a professor was unsure. I had no idea if I would retire with a pension. I tried not to work myself up too much, but it was hard to keep calm when I knew that they were investigating me for an affair with the students.

It had only been one woman, one kiss. How could this have gotten blown out of proportion so much?

I hadn’t spoken to Isobel since we had the conversation about the allegation. She was distant from me when I had my classes. She sat in the corner, minding her own business, reading textbooks for her own degree instead of the class that she was supposed to be assisting me with. I didn’t blame her. I was just as worried as she was.

I wasn’t sure what scared me more; losing Isobel or losing my career.

The investigation was still pending. Harry Nicholson had called Terence into his office and gotten a written statement from him. Isobel and I had to meet with Nicholson in the few days after to talk about our side of the story and if it couldn’t resolve the issue then and there, it would go to a disciplinary hearing. Something like that would ruin me.

I didn’t want to lie to the Dean for the sake of my career and deny that anything had happened in front of her, not in a way that she would think that what we had wasn’t important. It was very important to me. At the same time, I didn’t want to lose all the years that I had worked as a professor at the college, building up a reputation.

I had no idea what to do. That I didn’t have Isobel to talk to about all of this made it that much harder.

After my classes, I went to a bar close to town. I had called Liam and told him what was happening, and he had offered to meet with me. Having someone to talk to about this really helped and as far as I knew, he had been in a similar situation. Whatever the case was with his love life, he had a daughter, so he understood what it meant for me to lose my career.

When I saw Liam, I held up my hand, greeting him. He looked great, as always. He had aged a couple of years – make that eighteen – since we had been in the military together, but he was confident as ever.

“Thanks for meeting with me, man,” I said when we walked into the bar. We sat at a small table in the back, after ordering beers.

“Anytime,” Liam said. “What’s going on?”

I explained to him what happened, what Isobel and I were doing and how a student had caught us. When I was done talking, Liam raised eyebrows at me, sipping his beer. I did the same.

“Can I ask you something?” Liam asked.

I nodded.

“How do you feel about her?”

“I told you, we’ve been fucking.”

Liam shook his head. “Fucking each other has nothing to do with feelings,” he said. “I want to know how you feel about this woman.”

I took a deep breath, ready to say no when I stopped myself. How did I feel about Isobel? How would I feel if she walked away now? I couldn’t say that I didn’t feel anything about her at all. In fact, I felt quite a bit.

“Okay, maybe I’m into her.”

Liam grinned. “That’s good enough for me,” he said. “Do you know who she used to work for?”

I blinked at Liam. Isobel had told me that she used to work in a bike’s parts store, I didn’t think I had to know him.

“It’s Spencer Daughtry,” Liam said.

I frowned. “Spencer? As in Spence, the kid from the platoon?”

Liam laughed and nodded.

“My God,” I said. I couldn’t believe it. Spencer Daughtry had served in the military along with me and Liam. He had been just a kid back then, a high school dropout that had wanted to join the Army to get away from home. I couldn’t imagine that Spencer and Isobel knew each other.

“Damn, small world,” I said.

Liam nodded.

“Why are you telling me this?” I asked.

Liam shrugged. “I just thought you needed to know who you are dealing with.”

“What, do you think he’ll knock me off if I break her heart or something?” I asked.

Liam laughed. “Always so defensive, Alec. That’s not what I’m saying at all. What I’m saying is that you have got a good woman, don’t let her go for something as stupid as an allegation. You can always make it happen, but losing a woman like that, a woman that you love, it’s a whole different kind of loss.”

I nodded. I knew all about losing someone and having to work through the pain. When I’d lost Liz… I couldn’t even think about going through that again. I didn’t know how I had survived in the first place. And Beth was old enough to know Isobel now, too. I didn’t think she would be as hurt as I would be, though, I wasn’t sure she even liked Isobel. Still, introducing people into her life just to have them ripped away again wasn’t fair.

Liam took another swig of his beer, and we sat in silence for a while, drinking.

“So, what are you going to do?” Liam asked

I shook my head. “I have no idea. I need some time to think about it; a lot is at stake.”

Liam nodded. He had a daughter. He had lost a wife. He had a career. He knew exactly what was at stake and what I was going through, even if he hadn’t experienced losing his career himself. There was a lot for me to think about and I had no idea where to start.