We both waited patiently. Her room was sparse compared to some of the other faculty offices, with only one picture of her grandchildren on her desk.
“I see you’ve heard the good news,” a woman’s voice called. The three of us turned to see Dr. Smith leaning against the doorframe. “I had no doubts.”
Jessica beamed at her professor. “Thank you, Dr. Smith. It was an honor working with you.”
Dr. Cameo turned back to the computer. “Here we go,” she said. “It says here that your entry was disqualified last week.”
“Disqualified?” I said.
“He didn’t tell you?” Dr. Smith asked.
“Tell me what?” I asked.
“He removed his authorship from the essay, which meant that your essay was no longer qualified,” Dr. Cameo said.
A flush ran through my body like a firework. He had removed his name?
“There’s only one explanation when it comes to him,” Dr. Smith said. “He must have been working on the opposition and found a good place for publication. I tried to warn you.”
“That asshole,” Jessica said, scowling.
I touched my face, expecting to feel it on fire. My fingers were cold on my cheek in comparison. I looked to Dr. Smith, then back to Jessica.
“He wrote an opposing paper?” I asked.
“He can’t publish an article with you saying one thing, then expect to get a publication elsewhere saying the exact opposite.” Dr. Smith shook her head. “Come on, Mara. Be realistic. I thought you were smart enough to see through him.”
He didn’t take me seriously. He never had.
My heart ached in my chest, but I refused to believe it. There had to be some other explanation, something that made sense. I blinked the tears out of my eyes, holding them back. I was not going to cry in front of them.
“I’m sorry, girl,” Jessica said. She put a hand on my shoulder. “I told you he was a dick.”
I couldn’t say anything without potentially breaking down. The professors said their regards, and Jessica responded, but I said nothing, unable to think straight. We walked down the hallway, Jessica holding my arm, but as we neared the corner, right at Nate’s office, I stopped. Jessica stared at me.
“Mara?” she asked.
“You go on ahead,” I said, steadying my words.
“You sure?”
I closed my eyes. Bracing myself. “I’m sure.”
The humming coming from his room was loud, overwhelming my ears. Every shift that he made—the scratch of a pencil, the taps of his thumbs on his phone, the clicks on the computer—were insufferable, making it hard to think of anything. At the corner, Jessica looked back and waved. I could barely nod back.
Once she was gone, I took a deep breath and pushed the door open.
Nate looked up. Like nothing had changed. Like he hadn’t betrayed me. A few papers were scattered on his desk, articles I recognized, ones that he had written. In the midst of it, the wordsCurriculum Vitaeblinked back at me.
He was preparing for his tenure review.
His jaw became stern, matching the hostility in my own expression. “You wanted to talk about our conversation at the ceremony?”
The ceremony. The fucking ceremony.
“Not at all,” I said.
Both of us stared at each other. But I wasn’t going to bend this time.
