Chapter 21
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
ADONIS
Clover
We have a serious problem. Can you meet me off campus?
Adonis
I can’t leave right now. Just come to my office.
Clover
No, we can’t be seen together.
Adonis
Of course we can. I’m your advisor.
Clover
It’s not safe. Please, just meet with me somewhere else.
Adonis
You’re scaring me. What’s wrong?
Clover
I’d rather say it in person.
Adonis
Just tell me.
Clover
Fine.
Maggie saw me leaving your office the other night.
Adonis
Are you sure?
Clover
Positive.
Adonis
Fuck. Where are you?
C lover asked me to meet her at a bookstore that’s several blocks away. Despite leaving my office immediately after she told me Maggie saw us together, it takes me forty minutes to get there by cab. Traffic is terrible. I probably could have made it faster if I walked.
I get not wanting to be seen together considering what she told me about Maggie, but I don’t understand why we had to meet so far away from campus. We could have found some place closer that would have been just as private. I’m sure of it.
The bookstore is two stories with a small coffee shop inside it. There are tables around every corner and a couple of lounge areas for reading. I make my way to the staircase in the center since she told me she was on the second floor.
The upstairs is less open, with rows that remind me more like the stacks of the library rather than a bookstore. Heading in the direction she said I could find her, I cut through the first aisle I come to and walk along the left side wall.
When I spot her, I freeze.
She’s pacing with her down while rubbing her bottom lip between her fingers. She pulled her hair back into a tight bun, which strikes me as odd. I’ve never seen her hair pulled back before. She always wears it down around her shoulders. But it’s her outfit that has me most confused.
She’s got a scarf wrapped around her neck in such a way that it hides her face. Instead of a skirt, she’s wearing jeans with knee-high boots. I’ve never seen her in jeans before. She always wears skirts.
It’s as if she’s trying to disguise herself, but I can’t for the life of me understand why.
“Clover,” I say as I approach. Her eyes snap to mine and she lifts her finger to her lips to shh me.
I narrow my eyes in confusion. “There’s no one else in this part of the store but us. Why do I have to be quiet?”
“Don’t attract attention. No one can see us together.”
Her eyes dart around the store nervously as if she’s expecting someone to jump out and scare her.
“Clover.” I take her by the arm and lead her around the corner where we’re hidden from anyone who might walk by. “What’s going on? Did something else happen?”
“Besides Maggie seeing us?” She whisper-shouts. “It doesn’t get much worse than that.”
I take a deep breath and search her eyes. She’s scared. Maybe even terrified. “It’ll be okay. I promise.”
She shakes her head. “You can’t make a promise like that. You can’t control people like Maggie or the people she’d sell this information to.”
Her body is vibrating with nervous energy, and I can’t stand it. I pull her into a tight hug and hold her close to my chest. “Just tell me what happened.”
She relaxes against me but only for a second. Then she tenses and pushes me away. As soon as she’s out of my hold, she looks around with a panicked look on her face. It’s almost as if she’s expecting to find someone watching us.
“We shouldn’t stand so close,” she says after she confirms we’re alone. “If someone sees us like that, it could be bad.”
“Clover, you’re acting paranoid. Did something else happen?” I take a step toward her, and she shuffles backward like a scared cat. I stop. I can’t imagine what Maggie said to her to make her this spooked.
She shakes her head. “Not yet. That’s what I’m trying to avoid. Until we solve this Maggie problem, we can’t be seen together outside of work. Strictly professional.”
“Okay, we can be careful.” I reach for her hand but stop myself. I don’t want to make this worse for her. Something else is bothering her. There’s no way Maggie spooked her this much. “Tell me what Maggie said.”
She clenches her hands into fists and releases them like she’s trying to relieve some stress. Then she takes a deep breath. “She came up to me yesterday and said she saw me leaving your office. She saw us kissing and repeated some things I said to you, almost verbatim. If I don’t quit and give her credit for my work, she’s going to out me to the entire department.”
“Never going to happen,” I growl. “I won’t stand for it.”
Her eyes widen and tears form in the corners. “Then what am I supposed to do? I can’t go through this again.”
“Again?” I furrow my brows. “What do you mean again?”
She shakes her head and waves me off, but I can see from the look in her eyes that she didn’t mean to say that. There’s definitely something more going on here.
“I just mean school is important to me. If she leaks that you and I are having an affair, it’ll make it impossible for me to stay here. I can’t transfer again. It’ll ruin my career.”
Her reasoning makes sense, but I don’t buy it. There’s more she’s not telling me. I can see it written all over her face.
“Does this have to do with why you left Harvard?” I ask.
“No.” She scoffs. “That was for personal reasons.”
I don’t believe her. Whatever happened was bigger than this. I can feel it. “I’d say this is pretty damn personal, Clover.”
“It’s not the same!” She yells, and then covers her mouth. She closes her eyes and takes several deep breaths. She’s spooked and I hate it.
Not giving a damn about whether or not someone sees us, I step closer to her and rest my hand on her arm. She tenses but I don’t back down. I need to comfort her. “Maybe we should go to Dr. Carver. If he hears it from us first, she’ll look stupid and childish.”
“We can’t do that,” she says like my suggestion is the craziest thing she’s ever heard. “It’ll ruin our reputations.”
“I’ll admit, having an affair with a student isn’t the smartest thing I could do, but it’s not the end of the world either. The university doesn’t have a fraternization policy against dating.”
She shakes her head. “Everyone will judge us.”
“Then let them.”
She stares at me like I’m speaking a foreign language. “You’d really be okay with that?”
“Yes.” I don’t hesitate. “I care about you. Deeply. This stopped being about sex a long time ago. You have to know that.”
She nods and shifts her eyes to the floor. “Yes, but still. You’re my advisor. How will this work?”
I reach out and cup her chin, lifting her face to mine. I press a light kiss to her lips before I speak. “Please, don’t look away from me. I need you, Clover.”
Tears fill her eyes, and she struggles to hold back her emotions. “I’m so scared.”
“I know, baby. I know.” I can’t hold back any longer. I need to comfort her and the only way I know how is to hold her close.
I pull her into my arms, and she sobs. I don’t know how long we stand there before her tears stop. It doesn’t matter, though. I’ll hold her for however long it takes.
When she looks up at me, I cup her cheek and press another kiss to her lips. “I’ve got you. Whatever it takes.”
“Why?” she asks. At first, I don’t understand her question. But then it hits me. She wants to know why I’m willing to risk everything for her.
I brush a loose strand of hair back from her face and tuck it behind her ear. “Because when you love someone, you stand by their side no matter what.”
Her eyes well up again and she sucks in a breath. “You love me?”
I nod. “Yeah, I do.”
She flings her arms around my neck and hugs me tight. “I love you too,” she whispers in my ear.
“I’m glad we agree on that,” I say and tighten my hold around her.
I’ve no clue how Dr. Carver will take this news, but I don’t see any other way to silence Maggie.
But for now, I’m just going to hold Clover and comfort her as best I can.
Tomorrow, we’ll devise a plan.
Clover didn’t like any idea I came up with regarding how to best handle Maggie. I still think talking to Dr. Carver is the best path forward. Getting him involved will probably mean Clover will have to be transferred to a new advisor, but that’s not the end of the world. Nor is it that uncommon. It happens in academia.
But she wasn’t ready to get him involved just yet. More so because of the impact it’d have on my career than hers. It’ll hurt, that’s true. But I fear it’s inevitable at this point. We’ve taken our relationship too far to continue like this.
As a first step, I call Maggie in for a meeting. If anyone can talk sense into her, it’s me. I don’t enjoy doing this, but I can use her crush and unwavering need to please me to my advantage. I don’t think she’ll do anything that will hurt her ability to continue working with me.
“Dr. Rosi, you asked to see me?” she says from my office door.
“Yes.” I wave her in. “Please shut the door and take a seat.”
“If this is about the extra research I’m doing for Dr. Oliver, I’m almost done.” She smiles as she takes her seat. “It’s quite extensive, but it’s going quickly.”
“It’s not.” I lean forward and rest my elbows on my desk. “This is about Clover.”
“Oh.” Her smile fades and she sinks back into the chair. She holds my stare for a moment before she nods in understanding. “She told you?”
“Yes, and I don’t know what you think you saw, but you can’t go around making accusations like that. It could be very damaging.”
“Accusations?” she scoffs. “I know what I saw. She’s no good, Dr. Rosi. She can’t be trusted.”
“From what I can see, you’re the one that can’t be trusted Miss Clemons.” I use her last name because I know it’ll sting. She needs to understand that I am not playing games with her.
I open a folder on my desk and pretend to read some notes as if they might pertain to her. “I hate to see something as petty as this impact your position in my program. You’ve already put in so much work. But it’s important to me that all my students are team players. We should help each other, not betray our colleagues.”
Her eyes widen in shock, and she presses her hand to chest. “Sir, I don’t know what she told you but—”
I hold up my hand to stop her. “Your accusations would not only hurt Clover’s career, but this would hurt me and, by proxy, you. No one likes a snitch. If you end my career here, other faculty in the department will not take you on as a student. You’d be marked as problematic.”
“I would never do anything to hurt your career. I only want what’s best for you, and it’s not Clover. Just listen to me. She can’t be trusted. She’s done this before.”
I furrow my brow. “What do you mean? She’s done what before?”
“Here, let me show you.” She pulls her phone out of her pocket and pokes around until she finds what she’s looking for. “Just look at this, and you’ll see.”
It’s an article detailing an affair between a Harvard graduate student and Senator James Klint. The text is damning and hard to read, but it’s the pictures that do me in. My stomach boils when I see Clover in a very intimate position with another man like she’s some sort of porn star.
So this is what she’s been hiding.
Now her behavior at the bookstore makes so much more sense. She was afraid someone would recognize her, take our picture together, and then put them out there for the world to see.
I shove Maggie’s phone back at her. I can’t look at it any longer.
“I suggest you delete that and forget you ever saw it,” I say. I don’t want Maggie to use this against Clover, but I also don’t ever want to see it again.
“But Dr. Rosi.” Maggie looks confused by my suggestion. “She can’t be allowed to get away with this. She ruined a man’s career and marriage. If you don’t take action, she’ll do the same to you.”
I shake my head. “No, she won’t. And neither will you.”
“But sir. Dr. Carver needs to see this. It’s the only—”
I slam my hand on my desk. “No! You can’t share this with anyone. If you do, it’ll ruin my career. Let me handle this. Understood?”
She nods. “I only want what’s best for all of us. I hope you know that.”
“If that’s true, you will never speak of this again. Trust me to take care of it.”
“Okay, I trust you.” She stands and puts her phone back in her pocket. “May I go now?”
“Yes.” I wave her off. As soon as she disappears into the hallway, I drop my head into my hand.
So much for love. Was any of what she said to me true? Or am I just another man helping her rise to the top?