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His eyebrows shot up. “Fun? This is a college, not a kindergarten, Ms. Murphy. We’re not here to dummy down the curriculum for children. God knows what else you’ve been teaching your students,” he said with a derisive laugh.
Colleen remained still. She’d just been fired. She would need a reference from Robert for another job, but she couldn’t sit here like a potted plant and allow this arrogant jerk to mock her. Was she ready to burn it down? There was more to teaching than climbing the bureaucracy ladder. It was about education. She made her decision. It was time to burn it down.
Getting to her feet, she looked Robert directly in the eye, and said in a deliberate measured tone, “The world has changed. It’s time to get on the bus or be left behind. Giving tired old lectures to students won’t work anymore. I’m a teacher. It’s my job to challenge my students to learn about art using critical thinking skills. Talking down to them from an ivory tower is demeaning and boring.”
“Are you finished?” he asked with a smirk.
“Yes,” she said, turning away, and then snapping back to him. “No. I hate your stupid mustache.” Without waiting for him to respond, she pushed out the door.
Climbing into her car, Colleen tossed her computer bag on the passenger seat and started the engine. She stared out onto the mostly empty parking lot, the air shimmering with the heat from the asphalt. A couple of students lingered by their cars. They roared with laughter, as if they didn’t have a care in the world. After grading exams and turning in the final grades, she would be officially unemployed. She’d never been out of work before and shame crept through her chest that she had failed miserably. She fiddled with the air conditioner knobs until she remembered it hadn’t been working for weeks. Her eight-year-old used Honda Civic was paid for, but she couldn’t afford any unnecessary repairs. Slamming her fists on the steering wheel, she broke down in tears. It had been one month since her father’s funeral. Her brothers had returned to their lives in other cities while she remained behind.
She rolled down the windows and shut off the car. She leaned her head back against the headrest and closed her eyes. A heavy coat of exhaustion passed through her as she considered how her life—a life she planned when she was a little girl—had turned out so shitty. She’d been a good daughter, an excellent student, a hardworking teacher, a loyal friend, and a devoted girlfriend. But now she had no father, no Ph.D., no job, a best friend who lived on the other side of the world, and a boyfriend who didn’t value her. Life wasn’t fair; she’d learned that lesson a long time ago. But what was she going to do to turn it around? If she didn’t have a job, she wouldn’t be able to afford her share of the rent. As it was, her roommate had been paying a larger portion of the rent for months. Colleen would have to move in with her mom until she could get back on her feet. Brian might ask her to move in again, but that would be an epic mistake. There was no way she was going to grovel to him.
Opening her eyes, she took a deep breath, and looked at her surroundings. The students had left the parking lot. Only the drone of highway traffic in the distance and a few birds chirping in a nearby tree broke the silence. A soft breeze brushed over her face, cooling her skin from the hot sun. The fog must be coming in from the ocean. A solitary white cloud drifted across the bright blue sky. She concentrated on it until it was out of view. By late this afternoon, the fog would arrive, obscuring the blue sky. But the blue would still be there, above the gray clouds. The sky was vast and could hold all kinds of weather. Eventually the sky would clear, and it would be blue again. This insight filled her with hope. Things were not good now, but they would get better. She would stop her pity party and meet this adversity like she always had—with a determination to succeed.
Wiping her eyes a final time, Colleen started the engine and drove out of the lot with the resolve to move forward. Turning on the radio, she hummed along with a popular breakup survival song. Inspired by the lyrics, she turned the volume up. She was supposed to make dinner for Brian tonight. Her stomach twisted in the now-familiar knots about confronting him, but she pushed it down. They needed to have a serious talk and now was the time to do it.
CHAPTER 10
COLLEEN
Colleen cleaned the tomato sauce splatters off the stainless-steel stove. All she had to do now was wait. The lasagna was warming in the oven and the salad was ready to be tossed. She’d set the table with Brian’s Kate Spade dinnerware and Riedel stemware. Colleen peeked out the window of his Santa Monica condo. It would be dark soon. He’d texted her he was running late, but that was two hours ago. Traffic was always heavy on the 405, but this was extreme, even by LA standards.
She explored his wine collection and chose a Tuscan red wine. She opened the bottle and poured a generous amount of into an oversized wine glass.
Taking a deep sip, Colleen wandered through the pristine living room. Every piece of the white and gray contemporary furniture was balanced by tasteful framed black-and-white photographs. For weeks Brian had deliberated over the precise shade of white paint to create the ideal backdrop for his collection. She’d been impressed when he first brought her here, but not anymore. This wasn’t a home; it was a staged living space.
Setting the wine glass on a coaster, Colleen switched on Brian’s stereo system and browsed through his small, but of course—noteworthy—vinyl record collection of mostly classic rock albums. She didn’t think Brian cared a lot about the music he owned; it was the collecting that was important to him. He focused on buying the records considered must-haves for audiophiles. He hoped to persuade the people whose opinions mattered to him, that he was a connoisseur.
She found a Stevie Wonder album. “Perfect,” she said, carefully removing the vinyl disc and setting it on the turntable. With extra care, she placed the needle on the record.
The front door closed. She turned to see Brian scowling at her.
“What are you doing?” He marched over and lifted the needle from the record. “I told you to never turn on the stereo if I’m not here,” he snapped.
“I got bored, so I thought—”
“Did you clean the record before playing it?” He took the record off the turntable to inspect it, then slid it back in the album sleeve.
“No, I didn’t.” She crossed her arms. “It won’t hurt it just this once. Besides, you’re late.”
Without saying a word, he removed his jacket, folded it in half, and laid it over the arm of the couch.
He was late, he scolded her, and now he was ignoring her? She couldn’t shove this disrespect down any longer. Colleen’s body tensed, poised for confrontation. While he went to the breakfast bar to plug his phone into the charger, she grabbed his jacket.
He glanced up at her, his cold stare giving nothing away.
Colleen held the jacket to her nose and took a large inhale. Same scent as before. “Who is she?”
“What are you talking about?” he asked with irritation, turning his attention to shuffling through his mail.
Colleen took a deep breath. This was an important moment and she knew it. Everything stilled inside her, silencing her thoughts and calming the pounding of her heart. Finn’s words echoed in her ear:Why be a princess when you were born to be a queen?
When Finn spoke those words, she’d been confused, but now she understood with startling clarity. If she caved, like she always did with Brian, he would keep disrespecting her. If she didn’t confront this now, she would be surrendering her dignity to a man who wasn’t worthy of her. She deserved someone better than Brian, and now was the time to prove it.
“This isn’t the first time I’ve smelled someone else’s perfume on your clothes.” She let the jacket drop to the floor. “Who is she?”
“I’m not in the mood to argue with you,” Brian said dismissively. He went to the dining table and lifted the wine bottle. “You opened the Antinori for a cheap lasagna dinner?”
