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Harrison was angry. He wanted to tell Hoffman exactly what he thought about him. It was time to put this arrogant sonofabitch in his place.
But Hoffman had other ideas, and he had plenty more to say too…
‘Calm down, darling,’ Hoffman sneered. ‘All I’m saying is that you need to rethink your approach. You need to work harder. Do more around the place. Be a good boy and play by the rules. You’re not the hot shot author so much now, and I’m not the soft Dean who hired you.’
Harrison was seething with anger. This was simply not acceptable. In all his years working at the college, Harrison had never faced criticism like this. He did work hard and the students appreciated him. This was Hoffman talking out of his ass for his own reasons, whatever they were.
But Harrison knew that he had to keep his anger under control. The last thing he wanted to do was make a tricky situation a hundred times worse. Instead, Harrison attempted to reason with Hoffman. Surely that had to be worth a shot?
‘Dean, respectfully, I do work hard,’ Harrison said, ensuring to keep his voice calm and in control. ‘My student appraisals are amongst the best in the faculty. Hell, they’re amongst the best in the whole damn college.’
But Harrison’s words were falling on deaf ears.
Not only was Hoffman unmoved, but it seemed like he had something else he wanted to get off his chest.
‘We can work this out,’ Hoffman said, moving closer to Harrison. ‘We’re both adults. I’m sure we can come to some kind of… arrangement.’
Hoffman ran his thin, spindly fingers up Harrison’s arm and grinned a horrible, sleazy smile. Harrison felt totally repulsed and immediately backed away.
‘Fine, have it your way,’ Hoffman said, clearly furious at his advance being knocked back. ‘See how long you last. There are authors who would do anything for your job. And if I have anything to do with it, that’s exactly what will be happening!’
Harrison was livid. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Not only was this incredibly unethical, but it was the clearest sign yet that Hoffman’s problem with Harrison had never been to do with his work - it was all part of some twisted plan to sleaze onto him.
‘You know what, you can go to hell,’ Harrison said, turning and storming out of the office, slamming the door behind him to the sound of Hoffman’s cringe-making high-pitched laugh.
What had started out as a wonderful morning had suddenly turned into something else altogether. This was the last thing that Harrison needed.
The only comfort Harrison had was the thought of going home to Benji. If anyone could make Harrison feel better, it was his special boy…
Harrison was seething with pent up anger on the walk home from the Dean’s office. He simply could not believe what Hoffman had done or how he had behaved.
In all his years in academia, Harrison hadn’t personally witnessed anything like the way Hoffman had just acted. It was enough to make Harrison want to hand in his resignation and never step foot in a college again.
But as mad as he was, Harrison knew that Hoffman was out of line and there would surely be a way of showing this to some kind of disciplinary committee or the board of directors. Something had to be possible. Despite feeling like giving in, Harrison truly didn’t want Hoffman to win.
I should have kept my cool.
But he kept pushing me and pushing me.
Hoffman’s lucky he doesn’t have a busted lip…
Harrison kept consoling himself with the fact that upon his arrival home he would be met by Benji. In all likelihood, Benji would have a fresh snack or tasty new treat to present to Harrison for a taste-test. It might not totally solve the situation with Hoffman, but it would at least be a pleasant distraction from what had just gone down.
Upon arriving home, Harrison swung the front door open and called out to his darling boy…
‘Benji! Benji! You’d better have a sweet little cake for me to eat!’ Harrison said, doing his best to sound as positive and happy as he could. ‘If you haven’t made a cake, I might just have to put my mouth on your booty-cake!’
Harrison laughed a big, bellowing laugh.
But rather than hearing any response from Benji, all Harrison could hear was silence. This was strange. All the lights were on. There was no note or message from Benji to say that he wouldn’t be home.
However, as Harrison walked through the hallway and into the kitchen, he was met by a sight that immediately wiped away his optimism.
‘What the hell is going on here?’ Harrison barked. ‘You’d better not be doing what it looks like you’re doing!’
The guilty look on Benji’s face said it all.
Harrison stood before Benji with his hands on his hips and a furious scowl on his face. Benji was sitting at the table with his phone in one hand and Harrison’s iPad in his other. Not only was Benji on his social media accounts, but he appeared to be frantically typing responses, comments, and uploading videos.
