“I have to go to counseling once a week next semester?” I raise my eyebrows at the dean.
He shrugs. “Standard procedure.”
I sigh. “We could all use a little therapy, I guess.”
The dean chuckles softly as my heart and breathing stop at the words that follow.
By signing this agreement, both parties acknowledge the potential consequences of maintaining or reestablishing a consensual romantic or sexual relationship if they are both part of the Driscoll University community.
Rereading the document, I find the list of consequences.Grayson would lose his job if he chooses to keep teaching here and is in a romantic or sexual relationship with me. Meaning he either quit or signed the document, agreeing not to see me again.
I double-check what I see next.
Nothing would happen to me?
Because of my parents. They saved me from being expelled entirely, unless I choose not to sign the agreement.
I almost word it out loud, then I look up to the dean. He gives me a dip of the chin, knowing what part of the document I’ve reached.
Staring at the pen, I close my eyes and ask what I need to before signing the document, since I have no choice but to do it.
“Did Professor Hayes quit, or did he sign the same agreement?”
The dean coughs. “I really can’t say, Ms. Brighton.”
My eyes narrow, and for the first time, I decide to pull a Jake. “Dean Lombardi, I’m asking you because you’re here, and it’s more convenient than calling my father, who knows your boss’s boss, who will then reach out to one of the deans that’ll give him the answer, who will pass it on to your boss’s boss, who will hand it to your boss, then to you, which you’ll then be forced to tell me. Do you feel like staying here for an extra hour?” I check my dainty watch. “It’s already four forty-five, sir, and I’d much rather go home to study as much as you’d rather spend the night with your wife and kids.” I point to the picture of them by the small library in his office. He turns his head to look at the picture, then back to me with one raised eyebrow. I smirk. “It’s up to you, sir.”
Dean Lombardi leans back in his chair and, after giving me a semi-disgusted look—which leaves me completely unaffected—decides to take the easy way out.
“Professor Hayes didn’t sign, he quit.”
My smirk falls immediately, my eyes burning with tears of hope.
He chose us over his job?He chosemeover his job?
“When?” I ask quietly.
“Yesterday.”
My entire body stiffens. He was free and clear to talk to me, but didn’t call to tell me the great news? Nowhere does it state that there would be consequences for us seeing each other if either one of us leaves the university.
What is there left to sort out?
My heart’s thudding so loudly with the number of questions flowing through me, unless he didn’t do this for us at all.
No. He told me to wait for him, only I’m not a patient person.
Before I can stomp my feet out of frustration in front of this stranger, I pick up the pen and sign on the dotted line. Sliding the paper over, I throw on my coat as Dean Lombardi says one last thing.
“It’s also important for you to know that the student who leaked the pictures did so using a university email address, which means they are also under investigation.”
I nod. “I know. My friend, Jake, is the one who told you guys that Samantha Anderson did it.”
Samantha Anderson.It didn’t surprise me one bit when I found out.
Jake linked the time of the email to when she was using a computer in the library to send it to a group of students. The idiot made it so easy—using a school email address and a university-owned computer. Jake also managed to obtain the security footage, just in case the university got lazy and didn’t want to investigate further.
Ben texted me three days ago and said she had been kicked off the paper. Her leaking the pictures and another phone complaint that came in were the last straw of her time at theDriscoll Wolf Weekly.
