“And you’re a man who’s not easily impressed,” I said.
“Consider me captivated in the worst possible sense of the word,” he mumbled.
By now we’d reached the giant glass doors. Inside, we could see familiar and unfamiliar faces working the room, champagne flutes in hand.
“See you boys on the other side,” Oren announced, heading in first with a sigh that made it known he was not particularly looking forward to the rest of the evening. I couldn’t blame him. Even the most passionate of academics tended to find these sorts of events tedious.
Fake smiles and presentations, stuffy greetings and stiff conversations. There wasn’t exactly much to enjoy.
Ronan turned to me. “Godspeed.”
I nodded grimly before we both headed into the fray.
The following half hour of scripted socializing and introductions dragged on forever. I loved my field of work, I truly did. I loved teaching. The lectures I gave always breezed by, especially when it was a particularly productive class. And when I came across another individual whose vision scoped beyond just the paycheck, I always genuinely appreciated the discussion.
But most of this was just routine mundanity.
Nothing like the dinner I’d shared with June and Oren and Ronan. I was still thinking about that evening with a sort of melancholic fondness when none other than Abe Halliwell tapped my shoulder.
“Apologies for the interruption, Lucas, but I wanted to have a word with you,” he said with an almost jittery urgency. I excused myself from the conversation I’d just been having with a visiting professor and nodded towards Abe.
He led me to a quieter part of the room, as though this were some covert, highly sensitive information exchange. I couldn’t help but notice with wry amusement that, despite him being Ronan's age at thirty-nine, he looked two decades older.
Short, portly and balding with a rodent-like countenance, it didn’t help that his eyes constantly darted around the room. Made him look shifty. When he seemed satisfied that we were out of earshot from everyone else, he leaned in as though confiding a secret.
“There’s been some rather unsavory rumors going around campus lately,” he said.
My whole body tensed.
Did someone find out about what happened between June and me? I knew for a fact that June wouldn’t have said anything, and I certainly hadn’t. Were we seen? My blood ran cold as I recalled the damn boathouse door. I hadn’t checked to close it beforehand.
But Abe’s next words unwound the coil of anxiety that had me in a vise.
“I’m not sure how well acquainted you are, but apparently Professor Bass has a concerning predilection for alcohol,” he said with some disdain.
This was about Henry Bass, the Professor of Practice.
“You mean he likes to drink?” I asked, relief causing an involuntary laugh to accompany my words.
Abe’s face pinched in contempt. “It’s not funny, Lucas. New England University has a pristine reputation that should be on the onus of every staff member to protect. And from the sounds of it, it’s less a passing hobby and more of a lifestyle problem.”
I frowned. “I didn’t mean to make light of it. But if it’s that much of a problem he’s dealing with, then perhaps there should be more focus on getting him help and less on the university’s reputation.”
“His personal life is none of our business insofar as it doesn’t impact us,” he spat. “I don’t think you realize how serious this is. It’s one thing for your personal life to be a mess. But when it’s something that could potentially be broadcast for public consumption, well, that changes things, doesn’t it?”
His words landed like a blow.
“Yes, that does change things,” I murmured.
And once again, my thoughts were brought right back to June. If a simple drinking rumor was enough to cause this much of a stir, then I didn’t want to imagine what would happen if it was discovered that a professor had sex with one of his students.
On campus grounds, no less.
Abe looked relieved, as though just speaking about this was enough to assuage his concerns. “I wish everyone else could be as serious as the academics in our department. We would never have any issues like that.”
Oh, if only you knew, buddy.
I gave him a forced smile. “Thanks for the heads up. I’ll… keep an eye out, I suppose.”
