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I was not prepared, so Annalise’s words hit full force. Truth? I’m also still processing her confession about Kyle, the slime, and now this. I think what she was saying was that Kyle was her first, and I’m not gonna lie, I’m having a hard time reconciling that with the woman who left Jake’s with me. On the other hand, it might explain some things about the enigma she is.
As for a creepy professor? I’m angry, not surprised. I wish I could say I was scandalized, but this kind of thing happens all too often, and if ever there were a likely target, it’s Annalise Walker. In regards to her concerns about getting pulled over, I bet it happens all the time. With that sporty Jeep, blonde waves blowing in the wind…yeah, she’s a target alright. I’ve known law enforcement guys who, over a few beers of their own, admit to pulling over the pretty ones just for the fun of it, so some sleezy prof hitting on her doesn’t shock me. She’s just so freakin’ hot.
My increasingly sensitive conscience flinches. She’s so much more thanhot.I should expunge that word from my vocabulary.
“I took one of his classes my freshman year. I was struggling and started going to his office for help. I should have realized sooner that something wasn’t right, but like I said, he had a reputation for helping students, so I didn’t think twice when he asked to exchange numbers and told me I could call anytime. With questions, yeah, right.” She snorts, then falls silent for a moment. “Anyway, eventually we started meeting for coffee. I guess I was a little flattered. He was good looking and relatively young. It wasn’t until he started asking to meet at his house that I put on the brakes. But, then he started sending texts, pictures…”
She shudders, and I am instantly grossed out, as well.
“I told him to stop, to leave me alone. But he wouldn’t, and then he got mean, and my grades got unfairly bad. Finally, I dropped the class and retook it with someone else the next semester.”
“Did you tell anyone?”
She shakes her head. “I deleted all the messages, too. I just wanted to pretend it never happened. I was so stupid.”
“No. You were young.” And terribly naïve. Oh, how I’d love to be the one to teach that loser a lesson.
“I mean, who was going to believe me, some ditzy blonde, over the most beloved prof on campus?”
My stomach has begun to hurt. I’d say it was my giant breakfast, but I can’t fool myself on this one. Still, words slip off my tongue of their own accord. “But you took his class again.”
Judging by her glare, my tone was not neutral, and I admit, I can’t imagine why anyone would do that.
“Yes, I took his class again. I didn’t have a choice. It was either his class or not graduate on time.” She huffs. “Sooo…I sucked it up and prayed for the best.”
“I understand.”
She eyes me. “I hope so. I practically got an ulcer last spring. I got nauseated every Tuesday and Thursday, even though the worst he ever did was glare at me. I told myself everything would be alright—and it would have been if I hadn’t missed that test.”
I get it now.
“I tried to plead my case.”
Bet that was fun.
“I’m telling you, he enjoyed it. He was so smug. I appealed to the dean, but like I said, I had no proof.”
If some creep did that to my sister… “I’m very sorry you had to go through that.” Truly, I feel sick. For her. For me.
Orofme. No, I’ve never abused my position as a law enforcement officer. I’ve never dated a teenager, either, for crying out loud. But for all my I-have-sisters talk, I am increasingly concluding that I don’t want the spotlight shone on my track record with women.
“I guess the worst part of it is it cost me the job I’d been recruited for. When I failed to graduate, the company rescinded their offer. So, all my friends left town, but I got to stick around to take a lousy class I’d flunked once already and do the wedding circuit all summer. And let me tell you, it was so awesome having a front row seat to everybody else’s happily ever after.” She folds her arms and watches the cactus and sand fly past.
Man. I am beginning to get a clearer picture of things. Of why a woman as awesome as Annalise would succumb to a loser like Kyle.
Why she was at a low enough place to succumb to my charms at Jake’s.
“A wedding does not necessarily equate to a happy ending, Annalise. You know that. And you’ve got lots of time to make your own happily ever after. But I am sorry about the job. Any chance they’ll reconsider?”
She shakes her head. “Their last email was pretty final. And anyway, I’m not so sure that’s where I want to go anymore.” She tilts her head. “I could move to…Colorado?”
I check my mirrors and pull into the left lane. “Why Colorado?
“I like the mountains,” she answers almost wistfully.
“Huh. I figured you for a beach bunny all the way.” I mean, the body she’s got was built for sunny days and sandy beaches.
Argh. There I go again.DoI have a problem objectifying women? Not a comfortable thought, given the litany of abuses Annalise has listed. Sure, she’s made some less than stellar decisions, but haven’t we all? She did not and does not deserve to be used and taken advantage.
