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I take a seat at the front of the table and twine my hands on the desk.
“Adam is not an exceptional student. I know it’s the first week, but he has trouble paying attention and has not been keeping up with his assignments. Yesterday, he sat down next to one of my female students and was getting aggressive with her because, apparently, she did not stay for their entire date and at that point she was becoming very uncomfortable. So, I asked him to move to the front of my class and begin the discussion on Great Expectations.”
I stop and pause to give them time to process what I’m saying. “I have done nothing wrong here. It’s not my fault that he didn’t do the homework and could not adequately talk about the chapters. At no point have I bullied him, but he might feel singled out because I had to move him to the front of the class. But that does not equate to bullying. Am I correct?”
The director glances over at the man next to her, and clears her throat. “Let me be clear, Professor. Because of the other complaints in your file, we have to take this seriously.”
Fire enters my body and my hands slam down on the table. “What do you mean, other complaints? Those weren’t valid and you know it. The only reason is because their parents paid a substantial donation to this university. I was told they would not be held against me.”
I stand up from my chair, and hover over the conference table. “Let me be clear, Director. If you don’t remove those from my file, I will get a lawyer. My reputation and tenure at this university will not be threatened by a bunch of students who can’t handle assignments. Their parents might get them out of things, but I’m not going to stand by and let them ruin my career.”
I fix my jacket, walk straight out the door, out of the building, and to my car. Classes are cancelled for the rest of the day. I will not standby and idly be attacked from this establishment over something that they did. My best interest is to protect my career, and the first thing I need to do is get a lawyer.
My car door closes and I pull out my phone to text Jaden. He might have someone he can refer me to. Honestly, if I show up with a lawyer, I highly doubt they will refuse to remove them from my personnel file. It will leave them with no choice.
Me: Listen, I need a lawyer to help me get some complaints removed. Know anyone?
I drop my phone into the passenger seat, and take off toward the house. There is no way I will be able to focus on anything related to that place today, so I’m just going to call it an earlier weekend.
I go straight to the den and boot up my computer. Something needs to distract me from all this bullshit. As soon as it displays, I open up Word, and the document and press Read Aloud on chapter seven. Maybe I can knock out a few more chapters before dinner tonight.
My phone vibrates against the desk.
Jaden: Maybe Sulikowski. 785-676-9853
I put the phone back down and try to give my attention to the manuscript. After listening to the first six chapters from this morning, it isn’t as bad off as I thought. Sure, it might have taken me ten years to write it, but it’s actually quite good. In some parts, I forget what’s coming and it surprises me. That’s pretty good since I wrote it.
Honestly, my eyes can’t be the only ones to see this. Leslie is a qualified editor, and I could ask for her help. Of course, I would pay her. Her being my girlfriend doesn’t mean she does the work for free. She might be able to help me polish it up, and make it ready to turn into a publisher.
Me: I’m home early. Don’t want to talk about it, but working on editing the book. You still on campus?
It’s only one, so she might be in between classes right now.
Leslie: At the coffee shop. Next class is in fifteen. I’m sorry you are having such a rough day. TGIF
I’ve never been so excited for a Friday.
Me: Alright. I’ll see you in a couple hours.
I have four hours until she shows up for dinner, and I plan on utilizing that time to get at least five chapters marked up. Leslie plans on getting some work done this weekend, too, and that will push me to work on this even more. She might actually rub off on me and I’ll kick my ass into gear and get this done this weekend and talk to her about editing it for me. Or, at least, marking it up where she thinks things can be better.
I set a timer on my phone to count down until four-thirty when I have to change for dinner.
You can do this!
21
LESLIE
It’s our first official date outside of the house, and going to Dallas is the best option. The traffic isn’t too bad until we get into the city, and then it's a shitshow. Thankfully, he’s driving because I don’t do well with large amounts of congestion. I’m a small town girl, and people here just don’t know how to drive. Whipping in and out of lanes, and it’s road rage galore. His hand is on my thigh, sending surges throughout my body.
He gets off of highway 36 and cuts across to the restaurant. I’ve never been to Landry’s before, but he says it has good food, so I’ll take his word for it. As long as I’m with him, I could care less.
When we come to a spot in a parking spot, he hurries out and opens my door for me.
“Thank you,” I say, standing up and getting my footing. It’s been a while since I’ve worn heels, but it seemed necessary for tonight.
“That dress looks amazing on you. I think red is definitely your color.”
