ChristopherIt took me less than a second to come up with an answer. “Because she is all those things you said and beautiful. I like that I can talk to her. I know you might not understand it now, but as you get older, you come to realize people can be very shallow. You’ll have a lot of relationships in your life, but they are the kind of relationships that are all on the surface. There’s no real deep connection. Leila is different. She’s the first person in a very long time that I felt like I could actually talk to. It isn’t just an acquaintance.”Olin seemed to be listening. “I get it. Maybe not like a wise old man understanding, but I get it. She’s a good friend.”I smiled, relieved to know he understood where I was coming from. “She’s a very good friend.”“Maybe you should bring her around more often,” he suggested. “She seems to make you happy.”I nodded. “She does make me happy. I’d like to have her come over more often. Maybe we can do something together this weekend. Her job k
LeilaI wondered if I was having an out of body experience. It felt unreal. Christopher had mentioned a roller coaster. I was convinced he had pulled me along for the ride. Yesterday had definitely been an up. The whole weekend was up.And this morning, I felt like the car dumped me out from the highest point of the ride and I had fallen face-first onto the ground. I could almost feel the skinned knees and palms from my fall to the hard pavement. The moment the dean had hollered at me from across the courtyard, I had started tumbling.I had seen the look on his face and knew it wasn’t good. It was like a sixth sense. I felt like a dead man walking, except I was a fired professor walking. As if to draw out my suffering, he refused to tell me what he so urgently needed to talk to me about. Then, there was some emergency he had to take care of when we got to his office. I was convinced it was a ploy. He was trying to make me sweat.I lifted one arm and sniffed, making sure my sweat didn’
LeilaI had to choose my words carefully. At the moment, I still had a job. I knew it wouldn’t be long before my identity was exposed. I had to decide just how big of a hole I wanted to dig for myself. “I’m saying, I think there could be exceptions.”He shook his head. “No exceptions.”“Is it somewhere in the handbook?” I questioned.“Is what in the handbook?”“That students, assuming that man is a student, are not allowed to have sex on campus?”His face turned lobster-red. “Well, no, but that is not the point. Do I really have to explicitly tell people not to have sex in the library?”I sighed. “No, probably not.”“You’re free to go back to class,” he said. “I expect the identity will be revealed by the end of the day.”I got the impression he was enjoying the search a little too much. He looked downright giddy. I dreaded the moment he realized it was me in the video. “Good luck,” I said getting to my feet.“I’m sorry to have brought you in on this.”“Why did you bring me in?” I ask
ChristopherI felt the phone vibrating, letting me know there was a voicemail after the three phone calls. I hated when people called and didn’t leave a message. I hadn’t dared pull the phone from my pocket to check to see who was calling. I kept it tucked in my pocket, as it always was when I was in class. The professor was a stickler on the no phone rule. The first day I had witnessed the professor snatch a phone and read the text messages aloud. I did not want to suffer the same humiliation. I didn’t want to make a name for myself as a rebel.An old rebel was not quite as sexy as a young rebel. I would look desperate and old. I wasn’t necessarily trying to impress any of them, but I also didn’t want to look like a total loser either. I had some pride. I shifted, reaching my hand in my pocket to push the button on the phone that would stop the vibrating. I was worried everyone would hear the damn thing and call me out.The lecture was underway when someone dared to break the rule of
ChristopherI grinned. “I suppose I’ll just have to go fishing more often.”“Excuse me?” he snapped.“Fishing. You put a worm on a hook and toss it in the water with the hopes of catching a fish. You’ve heard of it, right?”“Do not get smart with me young man.”I leaned forward. “No offense, but I’m guessing you might be ten years older than I am. I appreciate the compliment, but I haven’t been called a young man in a very long time.”“This isn’t a game. I will ruin you.”“I don’t think you understand, your threats are empty.”He leaned back. “You think because you are wealthy, rules don’t apply to you.”“I never said that.”“Look, I can see you care about furthering your education. It’s important to me everyone has access to higher learning. I’m willing to make you a deal.”“A deal? You’ll let me finish the semester?”He nodded. “In exchange for a donation to the school and the name of your partner in crime, I won’t put this on your permanent record.”“A donation?” I questioned, skep
LeilaI sat at the table, sipping my coffee and staring out the window. My eyes burned from lack of sleep. I could hardly think straight. The cup in my hand was my third. I was going to need a dozen more to concentrate.“All right,” Kami said sliding into the seat. “Sorry about that. That was a crazy rush.”“It’s fine,” I said, not pulling my eyes from the window. I was spacing out, staring at nothing and seeing nothing but my own thoughts.“What’s going on? You look horrible.”I sighed and pulled my eyes away from the window to look at her. “I feel horrible.”“Did you and Hot Stuff break up again?”I groaned. “I don’t know. I think so.”She looked confused. “How do you not know?”“Remember when I told you about the thing in the library?” I asked.She grinned, nodding her head. “How could I forget? I’m pretty sure that’s the wildest thing you’ve ever done.”“The dean has it on video.”Her mouth fell open. She slapped her hand over it, her eyes laughing. “Oh my god!”“It isn’t funny,”
LeilaShe held up three fingers. “Scenario three; you go to work, the dean doesn’t know shit, and you go on with your life.”“And what about Christopher? I think in every one of those scenarios he’s expelled.”“You could be his private tutor,” she grinned. “Wear a sexy little outfit, rap his knuckles with your ruler.”I rolled my eyes. “You’re deranged.”“If he cares about you, he’ll respect your need to keep your involvement a secret. If your identity has been revealed and you are fired, then he will understand if you have to move to find a new job. If he cares, he will offer to support you in whatever you do.”I wanted to buy into that line of reasoning, but that was the best-case option. “And if he doesn’t?” I whispered.She looked at me, the sympathy I saw making me ill. “Then it wasn’t meant to be.”I physically recoiled from the words. “I don’t want it to be that way.”“I understand, but sometimes we don’t get those choices. Sometimes, the choice is taken away from us.”“Can thi
ChristopherI felt like a bum, but I didn’t suppose it really mattered. I had no reason to jump out of bed. I had nowhere to go and no one to see. Lying in bed under the warmth and comfort of my blankets was about all I had the energy for.I knew I was being weak. I was caving in. I was letting the world win. I had been fighting for so long, and I was tired. I was tired of having everything only to have it cruelly yanked away. I didn’t have the energy to get out of bed and face the world. I just couldn’t do it.I would do it tomorrow. There was no reason I had to get out of bed. No reason at all, which was probably what bothered me the most. Olin was old enough to get himself to school. No one needed me. I could lay in bed for a week and the world would keep marching on without even a hiccup.Maybe that was my problem. I was so used to being significant. My business depended on me showing up for work and kicking ass. My wife had depended on me to support our family. I had a nice littl