Another week passed. I called it hell. Other people called it Monday through Friday. I tugged on my messenger bag and the case load I had on Lana Foley. My heels echoed in the hall. I hadn’t bothered to change into my walking shoes when I left my office.

Professor Harrison’s building was in one of the prominent parts of campus. A place that was allotted for the noble. For the professors who had accolades behind their names.

I knocked on Max’s door.

He walked around his desk to greet me.

“Don’t you look stunning today.” He led me inside.

The comment took me off guard. I didn’t bother to thank him. I didn’t bother with a lot of mundane things in the past week. I had enough energy to get myself to work. Enough to kick ass while I was there and then enough to get home.

After that I spent the night locked in my room with wine. One, sometimes two bottles. I switched from red to white. I didn’t care. As long as it helped me forget, I didn’t care about any of it.

Max had an oval table in the corner of his office. It was well-worn. I imagined he had crafted brilliant arguments and closing statements here. Researched historical cases. Mentored some of Americans most prestigious graduates. It should have felt like an honor to sit on one side while he sat on the other. The moment was lost on my struggle to move through it.

I handed him a copy of one of the files I made. It had the latest transcript from Lana’s statements.

“This is great work Emily.” He read one page after another. “Your interview questions are on point. I can’t think of anything else I would have asked her. This is extremely thorough.”

“Thank you.” I waited while he sifted through the material.

“How many aides do you have working on this with you?”

“Only two,” I reported. “Jessie and Gregory. They are my mentees. Because of the sensitivity of the case I didn’t want to broaden the scope. It’s a huge research commitment, but they are up for it.”

“I think that makes what you’re doing even more impressive. You’re handling a lot right now.”

I bit the inside of my cheek. There were moments when the cracks in my armor would appear. I didn’t know when they were going to come, but I respected Max Harrison. His approval meant something to me.

“You are interested in staying on in the faculty position?”

I nodded. “Absolutely. It was the reason I came here, and even if it doesn’t work out. I know the field is competitive, I think I’d like to stay in the city. I want to continue to help the clinic somehow even after I’m no longer in the program.”

“I would say given your dedication to your class, your students, and this.” He pointed at Lana’s file. “You are easily in the top five for the position.”

“Really?” My eyes widened. “You can’t be serious.”

“I am.” He smiled. “I can see you here. And at the clinic,” he added with a wink.

The last part made me squirm.

“Great. Great.” He tapped his pen on the table. “You know this case reminds me of a review I worked on a few years ago. I had it printed in the Harvard Law Review.”

He rose from the table and strolled to his bookshelf. He paused on a leather-bound volume and handed it to me.

“You might find this interesting. I’m extremely proud of it.”

I moved to stuff it in my bag.

“Why don’t you look through it now?” he suggested. “We could discuss it.”

“I know your time is valuable, Professor Harrison. And limited.” I smiled. “I can read it tonight at home. Thank you for sharing it with me.” I didn’t feel comfortable sitting here while he watched me read.

“Really, it’s fine. Take your time.”

He returned to his seat, but nudged it closer. “I had another idea about the Foley case I wanted to discuss. It’s an important angle we have to consider. This suit is going to be in the headlines. I thought we could go over some strategies for handling the press. Using their influence to our advantage.”

“All right. Do you want to set that up for next week?” I retrieved my phone so I could check my schedule.

I felt the tap of his hand on my wrist and I looked up. My skin prickled.

“I was hoping we could grab a bite to eat and discuss it,” he revealed.

I knew I had frowned. I couldn’t help it.

“Are you asking me out?” It was hard to say the words. There was the possibility I had misread his intentions. My radar was permanently off course after Vaughn.

“Would that be so horrible?” He smiled. “We share a lot of similar interests, Emily.”

I shook my head. “I don’t think we do.” I pushed my chair back. I needed to leave.“You run the department. You run the residency program.” I was angry. I was insulted.

“Those are both true statements.”

“And we are colleagues on this case. A case that has huge implications for our government. A case that will affect Congress by possibly removing a current senator. And you want to ask me out? In the middle of all of that, you think it’s ok to ask me out?”

The irritation festered into something sharper and stronger. I glared at the man I had thought was someone I considered a mentor. I felt a new level of betrayal.

“I’ve enjoyed working with you. And you’re a beautiful young woman. I didn’t mean to offend you. I don’t see why it’s an insult that I think those two things can go together.”

I pulled the bag over my shoulder, removing his review in the process and slamming it on the table. “And it’s the fact that you don’t see it that makes you so dangerous. You’re no different than Senator Mitcherson,” I blurted. “This is the same shit Lana Foley dealt with. Only she didn’t see it until after she was pregnant.”

Max put his hands up. “Emily, I never suggested anything like that. I-I never meant to apply that sort of relationship. I never mentioned sex.”

I saw the panic in his eyes.

I didn’t care. I was furious.

“You didn’t have to,” I warned. “It was there in every word you spoke. Otherwise you never would have asked me to dinner.”

He looked stunned.

He had no right to hit on me. To tell me I was attractive. To want to spend time with me outside of this case. I was a professional. An intelligent woman who had earned her way into an incredible program. Who in the hell did he think he was?

“Emily, please wait.” He followed me to the door.

I spun around on my heels. I had been right on my first day. They did make me feel powerful and in charge.

“I apologize if I have offended you in anyway.”

“You have in every way.” I looked at him with a new level of disgust. “I think I’ll take the Foley case back.”

“Of course. Anything you need.”

“No more meetings.” I was halfway out the door. “None. I want nothing to do your supervision.”

“That shouldn’t be necessary. Nothing occurred.”

I glared at him. “It did. And I’ll report you. No more meetings.”

He nodded in defeat. “No more meetings.”

I stormed down the hall, but just before I reached the outside door, I braced myself against the wall. My knees buckled for a quick second.

I pulled my shoulders back and walked out of the building. I had a ten-minute walk to the clinic. My head pivoted to the right. I had this feeling Max was behind me. I spun around, but he wasn’t there.

I walked through campus and turned again, knowing someone was watching me. I could feel the stare needling my neck. It was as obvious to me as the trees in my path. Only, I couldn’t find where it was coming from.

I returned to work.

“Everything ok,” Meg asked.

It wasn’t, but I lied. “Yes. You can send in the next client in five minutes.”

I walked behind my desk, ready to put my conversation with Max Harrison behind me.