He decided to play throughResident Evilagain, this time as Jill Valentine. He made it a quarter of the way through before saving and shutting off the system.
He headed to his bedroom, Ginger at his heels. He slipped into his gym shorts and T-shirt, and plopped onto the bed. Ginger opted for her dog bed on the floor. She curled up and fell asleep.
“Ginger, things are starting to look up for me.”
Bernard wanted more in his life, but he needed to be happy with himself first. Walking every day would be a step in the direction he needed. The walks allowed him to decompress. He didn’t care about weight loss; he wanted something fun to do with Ginger, and this was a start.
Chapter Eight
Rory
Friday, April 24
RORY HAD MADEthe most of the cramped, closet-sized office the engineering department had given him as part of his payment for the two courses he taught.
He’d placed his desk so that he could look at the beautiful garden below, covered in red, yellow, and white roses.
A bookshelf sat against one wall filled with books on basic engineering and texts he needed for more advanced courses. He’d even managed to fit a small table and chair opposite the bookshelf for meeting with students. Like his home, it was well organized and neat.
Rory stood, stretched, and walked down the empty hall to the staff room for a cup of tea.
While his water boiled, he idly wondered if someone had left any cookies or snacks lying around.
He opened the fridge to find it empty except for a sports drink, leftover cake, and a few lunch boxes.
A clearing throat from behind him stopped his search through the cupboards.
“Mr. Sinclair.”
Rory turned around. Dr. Yosef Sanchez, the department chair, stood in the doorway. Dr. Sanchez was a short man in his mid-fifties who’d opted to shave his head rather than show his bald spot.
“Oh, hello, Dr. Sanchez, I was just looking for a snack to go with my tea,” Rory said.
“No one is around, you can call me Yosef,” he said. “I think Dr. Montgomery leaves his cookies in the cupboard next to the fridge in the box labeled ginger root.”
“Thank you.” Rory found the box, took a few cookies, and replaced it. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”
“Well, it’s about your application,” Dr. Sanchez said.
“From when I applied for graduate school?”
“Yes, and we’ve decided to take another look at it.”
Rory’s heart stopped. He’d received his acceptance letter six years ago. Were they going to revoke his diploma now? He was so close. Wouldn’t they have pulled it before now if they were going to? What had happened? Six years of research and work down the drain. No one would hire him. Would he be able to apply to another school? He couldn’t do another six years of graduate school.
“Oh, is something wrong?” Sweat built up on his face. He swiped at it with a paper towel from the roll.
“Nothing bad,” Yosef said. “We want to meet with you to interview for an adjunct position.”
“Wait, what?”
“You’ve been teaching the lower division courses for three years now. You have the experience and education needed to be successful.”
“I…I don’t know what to say.”
“We’d like to meet you on Monday to discuss it,” Yosef said. “But if you feel it’s not for you, I completely understand.”
“Thank you, sir. I’d be happy to meet you on Monday.”
