AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Ah, Jamie. Speak of the devil,” Ronny said, his smile too self-satisfied.
Jamie didn’t know what he’d walked into, so he proceeded with caution. “Gentlemen,” he nodded to the others, then turned to Ronny, lowered his voice, and said, “We need to talk.”
Ronny was the exact opposite of discreet. “Yes, we do,” he said, making no attempt to keep his voice down. “We need to talk about the fact that you have a student in tears downstairs. We need to talk about your deeply inappropriate relationship with her brother, who I believe is your academic advisee?” He glanced to Dr. Franklin as if exceedingly proud of himself.
Jamie went rigid with frustration. He turned to the others, particularly the donor, and said, “Mr. Pulsiver is referring to Aled and Dawn Keal. Tomorrow is the sixth anniversary of their parents’ death. As is understandable, Dawn is having a hard time of it, particularly considering the traumatic nature of her parents’ deaths.”
“Ghastly business,” Dr. Franklin interjected. “Murder-suicide. It was all over the papers. The children suffered quite a bit, thanks to some hack journalist’s implication that the eldest son was to blame.”
Epstein’s frown darkened, and the donor looked completely shocked. Jamie wanted to strangle Dr. Franklin for taking so much delight in something so tragic, like it was a television program and not someone’s life.
“Aled was in no way to blame,” Jamie said fighting to remain calm. “The father suffered from Lewy body dementia, and his depression and psychosis advanced faster than his loved ones realized, until it was too late.”
“My God,” the donor said, looking completely sympathetic despite his shock.
“Still,” Ronny said, flushed a bit, as though his gambit hadn’t worked. “It’s inappropriate in the extreme for Professor Croft here to engage in a sexual relationship with a student, especially one of such a disgusting and kinky nature.”
A brittle sort of silence fell over their small group that seemed heightened by the continued buzz of conversation coming from the rest of the room.
“Is this true?” Dr. Franklin asked at last.
“It is,” Jamie said, nodding openly and preparing himself for all the shit to hit the fan. “But, as Dr. Epstein here has been informed, my relationship with Aled began before the school year, before he was aware I was a professor here and before I was aware he was a student.”
“Oh,” Dr. Franklin said, writhing with discomfort. “Er, well, I see. Um, I suppose any relationship that predates the school year would be—”
“They met a week before the school year began,” Ronny blurted, throwing out a hand. “A week. That hardly counts as a relationship. And they met at a kink weekend, for God’s sake. It’s hardly appropriate for Professor Croft here to have his advisee tie him up, whip him, and then fuck him.”
Dr. Franklin and the donor both looked as though they might choke on their tongues at Ronny’s outburst. Dr. Epstein went stony. Worse still, Ronny had been loud enough that the table nearest to where they were having the conversation had overheard, and as it happened to be one of the tables full of students, more than a few of them gasped or snorted, and one burst into laughter.
It was the line, and it had definitely been crossed.
“Alright, enough,” Jamie snapped, whipping to face Ronny, ignoring the fact that his superiors and a donor were watching. “This unhealthy obsession has gone on long enough, Ronny. Yes, we were together once. Yes, you helped me through a difficult time in my life. But it’s over. It’s been over for years. Move on.”
“No!” Ronny shouted, drawing even more attention. “I will not move on. You are my care and my responsibility. I will not let you continue to make bad decisions and put yourself in a position where you will fall back on old habits.”
“It’s been over five years,” Jamie said, peeking to the side at the startled trio watching them.
He would have to make it up to them in a thousand ways once this mess was over. Either that or he would have to resign. Strangely, the idea of voluntarily leaving the university didn’t sting half as much as the idea of being sacked.
He went on, still glaring at Ronny. “Your right to have any say in my life ended years ago. I’ve made too many excuses for your failure to move on. I’ve allowed you to think you can still dominate me, and I take responsibility for that. But it ends here. You no longer have any say in how I live my life or who I see. Period.”
“You see?” Ronny said, gesturing to Jamie, as if he hadn’t heard a single word Jamie had said. “You make terrible choices. You need a firm hand to guide you.”
Jamie was at his wit’s end scrambling for some sort of reply that would make Ronny see the truth in front of him. His frustration actually mounted instead of subsiding when Aled and Dawn stepped through the doorway a few feet away. It wasn’t that he wasn’t grateful for their presence and support, but it felt as though adding yet another complication would just drag the situation out.
“What’s going on here?” Aled asked, full of strong, indignant energy.
“I’ll tell you what’s going on,” Ronny said, taking a step closer to Aled. “Your sordid relationship with a professor has been discovered, and do you hear that?” He put a hand to his ear, then sneered at Aled. “That’s the music you need to face.”
Aled let go of Dawn’s arm and faced Ronny squarely. Jamie half expected for a brawl to break out, which would have topped the evening off in surreal style. But Aled simply held his ground quietly and said, “Yes, Jamie and I are dating. What of it?”
Jamie couldn’t have been more proud.
Ronny, on the other hand, couldn’t have been more infuriated.
“It’s inappropriate and unethical, that’s what of it,” he said, gesturing wildly. “And now that key members of the faculty here know about your secret tryst, I am certain there will be dire consequences.” He turned to Epstein and Franklin, as though sending some sort of news broadcast about an unfolding catastrophe over to them.
Epstein, Franklin, and the donor just stood there, clearly beyond speech over everything they were witnessing.
