Chapter 30
Chapter Thirty
Carter
The sunlight slowly ebbs from my tiny office. I sit in a chair and mark the last five exam papers. But my mind is elsewhere.
Specifically, I keep thinking about the last night in bed with Eve. How she curled up on her side against my chest and made me feel like I was the luckiest man in the fucking world.
For the first time in my life, I felt peaceful. Like my spirit had finally settled down to rest just because this fragile, beautiful girl laid her head on my chest and let out a breathy sigh. I’ve never felt like that before.
The question is, what do I have to do to keep feeling like that? The answer seems relatively straightforward.
Talk to someone at the university about what the fallout could be for dating a student. It’s better just to know so I can figure out what the best course of action will be.
I set the papers I’m grading aside with a sigh and walk to the Administration building.
Despite the workday being done, Dr. Mooney is still at her desk when I knock on her door. She looks up, her eyebrows rising slightly when she sees me.
“Dr. Morgan. What can I do for you?”
I hesitate. “I wanted to talk to you about something.”
She rocks back in her chair and casts a skeptical gaze over me. “Come in and sit down, then.”
My heartbeat picks up speed. I’m probably about to throw away my entire career at this school. Is Eve worth it?
But even as I think it, I know she is. Without a doubt.
I take a seat across the desk from Dr. Mooney. I suck in a breath, steeling myself.
“I know that it is important to you that professors that work here are honest with you.”
She squints, lowering her glasses to the desk. “That would be preferred.”
I nod. “I’m dating one of my students. Or rather, the woman I’m dating has recently become one of my students.”
I brace for Dr. Mooney to yell or even to fire me on the spot. But for several long moments, she does neither one. She just blinks owlishly.
“Young man, you are being extremely short-sighted. In a week or a month or six months, whatever feelings you have found for this student will fade. Trust me. I’ve sat on this side of the desk while twenty professors have been in your shoes, confessing to the same breach of ethics. Usually, I do not try to stop them from the terrible mistake they are about to make.”
She looks down her nose at me like I’m a bug that she’s about to squash.
“Dr. Mooney, I don’t think you understand. This student is… special.”
She heaves a sigh of disappointment. “You think that you’re the first one to ever feel that way about a student, Dr. Morgan?”
The back of my neck heats. I dip my head. “No…”
Dr. Mooney bangs her fist on her desk hard enough to startle me.
“I am trying to offer you the opportunity to recant. Now do me a favor, if you can’t find it in yourself to keep your mouth shut for your own sake. I am going to pretend that we never had this conversation. All right?” She pauses, giving me a chance to interject. But I don’t. My tongue is frozen to the top of my mouth, it seems.
“Do yourself a favor, Dr. Morgan. Find a girlfriend your own age. You’re a handsome guy. You have plenty of opportunities, I imagine. Stop sleeping with this girl. Stop responding to her calls and messages. Act indifferent like any other professor at this school. She’ll get the picture if you hold out for long enough and move on to greener pastures.”
I open my mouth and close it, startled. Did Dr. Finch go through this gauntlet?
Dr. Mooney stands up, startling me. She waves a hand toward the office door.
“If that’s all?” Her expression is empty, her tone disinterested.
I stand up and clear my throat. “Thank you.”
“Good. I don’t want to see you back here, Dr. Morgan. This matter is closed.”
I try not to look as though I’ve just swallowed my own teeth as she shows me out of the office. Once her door shuts with me on the other side, I mutter, “what the hell just happened?”
Dr. Mooney just completely ruined my resignation. So what do I do now?