Chapter Five
FIVE
Micah
I stand in this empty classroom, rattled and stunned by Aidan’s insult. And pissed. Really fucking pissed.
I throw my pen on top of my notepad and tug a hand through my hair.
You’re the worst thing that’s happened to this university.
This isn’t the first time someone has lobbed a critical comment my way during an audit. I normally can take comments like that in stride. It’s the nature of this job. People are never happy when there’s an auditor in their workplace, observing and evaluating them. I expect them to be mad and irritated at me.
But to be disrespectful? That’s crossing a line.
And that’s exactly what Aidan did when he said I was the worst thing that’s happened to this college.
I make myself take a slow, deep breath. I can’t let him rattle me like this. I’m here to do my work, not make friends.
I almost laugh when I think back to before class started, when he said he wanted to clear the air. When he apologized for making fun of my name in the elevator, I started to get my hopes up. I actually thought that was a friendly gesture from him. And I thought that he was going to apologize for how hostile he was to me during yesterday morning’s meeting too.
But no. I was wrong.
And when I hinted at it, he looked at me like he was totally clueless. Like he had no idea what I was talking about.
And that’s when it dawned on me. He didn’t apologize because he doesn’t think what he did was wrong. He didn’t see anything wrong with mocking my degree and my qualifications in front of a room full of people.
Anger and frustration steamroll my insides.
I can accept that he doesn’t like that I’m here. I can even accept that he doesn’t like me.
But what I refuse to accept is the way he’s treating me. Like I’m nothing, like he knows better, like I don’t matter.
My heart pounds in my chest. God, he’s a jerk.
I scoop up my things and walk out of the room, down the hall toward the next classroom I’m due to observe.
I can’t keep thinking about him. I force myself to take another long, silent breath in an attempt to calm myself. I need to refocus so I can go into my next class observation with a clear head…
“…she’s a menace, Dr. Wauncho. Her presence is a blight on this department. And she’s only been here a day.”
I stop dead in my tracks at the sound of Professor Scott complaining about me to his boss.
I glance ahead and see an open office door a half dozen feet ahead of me.
“Professor Scott, I understand your concern. But there’s not a lot I can do about this,” he says. “Ms. Mila’s presence here is mandatory. She was hired by the university. It’s out of my control.”
“Oh, come on, Ronald.”
I jolt back at the jump in volume in Aidan’s voice.
“There must be something you can do. She’s bringing everyone down. Morale is at an all-time low. Not a single one of us in the English department is happy she’s here. You heard how dismissive she was in yesterday’s meeting. It’s obvious she doesn’t value what we do here. She doesn’t care about literature or the arts.”
“I understand you’re upset,” Dr. Wauncho says in a placating tone. “But my hands are tied. Ms. Mila is here to stay for the next six weeks.”
“I can’t believe this,” Aidan mutters. “There’s got to be some way to get rid of her.”
I frown at his blunt phrasing.
Get rid of her.
Like I’m a pest.
Rage pulses through me.
“Can we file a complaint with her boss? Maybe if we complain about her enough we can get her fired.”
My jaw drops. Is he fucking serious?
Anger and adrenaline surge through me. I stomp up to the open office door, step into the doorway, and see Dr. Wauncho sitting at his desk. Professor Scott is standing in front of him, his back to me.
“You’re brainstorming ways to get me fired?” I blurt.
Aidan whips his head around to face me. His blue eyes are wide with shock, but a half second later he’s glaring at me.
He crosses his arms over his broad chest. “Yeah. I am. Feels pretty awful when someone tries to mess with your job, doesn’t it?”
I step toward him. “I’m not messing with your job. I’m here to observe you in your position and bring my findings to your university. I’m not actively trying to get you fired. Don’t you dare say that.”
He rolls his eyes. “Don’t insult me, Micah. You and I both know that’s a bunch of corporate BS you recite so that you feel better about what is it you do for a living. Because admitting that the whole point of your job is to make other people lose theirs is just too on the nose, isn’t it?”
My jaw falls open. The fucking audacity of this guy.
He tilts his head at me. It’s a slight move, but it screams condescending .
“Did I hit a nerve?” he asks.
The anger and frustration inside of me morphs into raw determination. I start to smile. The satisfied look on his face fades. He frowns like he’s confused.
I shake my head. “Nope. In fact…”
I grab my phone and pull up the number of my boss, Carl, at the firm I work for.
I move to hand my phone to him. “You can call my firm right now and tell them whatever complaint you have about me.”
Aidan frowns at the phone in my hand. “What?”
“I’d love for you to talk to my boss. His name’s Carl, by the way.”
“You would?”
I nod at him. “I want to stand here and listen while you tell him whatever excuse you’ve made up about me to get me fired. Because I’m certain it’s absolute crap. And I’m certain my boss will laugh in your face.”
Aidan’s frown turns into a full-on glare.
“And I’m going to laugh in your face too, Professor Scott. Because clearly you have nothing on me. There’s not a single thing I’ve done in the day and a half that I’ve been here at your university that would warrant me getting fired. I’ve been professional and honest with you. And the hard truth of the situation is simply that you don’t like it. You don’t like me.”
Intensity flashes in those soft blue eyes. His gaze falls to the phone in my hand, but I know he’s not going to take it and report me to my boss. Because I know he’s got nothing on me.
He’s just a cranky, entitled jerk who’s mad that someone is challenging him for once.
I drop my hand at my side and take a step forward, closing the space between us. “It’s completely fine that you don’t like me, Professor Scott. I don’t like you either. But that has no bearing on how I do my job. So why don’t you devote less time inventing ways to get me fired and spend more time focusing on your own job so you actually have a chance of retaining it at the end of this audit?”
When I see his eyebrow lift, I’m surprised. He almost looks intrigued. Actually, more like impressed at what I’ve said—the way I’ve stood up to him.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Dr. Wauncho stand up and round his desk toward us.
“All right, you two, why don’t we take a second to cool off.”
Aidan blinks, and that hard expression returns.
“No need,” I say, turning to leave.
When I step out of the office, I stop, surprised to see a dozen heads peering out of every doorway in this hallway, looking in my direction.
They must have overheard us…or we must have been louder than I thought…
I clear my throat and walk down the hall. I ignore the stares and make my way to my next classroom, my heart racing from the adrenaline rush of confronting Aidan.
I’m glad I stood up for myself, but I hate feeling like I just made a scene. How embarrassing.
When I walk into the classroom, I’m relieved to see it’s empty. I have some time to collect myself before the professor and students walk in. I set my things on a nearby desk and take a moment to close my eyes and breathe. It takes a few seconds for my heart to stop pounding. I can feel the adrenaline leave my body as the seconds pass, but then I start to feel antsy.
I let out a heavy sigh at the thought of powering through the rest of the day. But then I think about going home tonight and unwinding with a glass of wine and bingeing my favorite stories from ShakespeareInLust on Scribble Share. The perfect reward for a crummy day at work, and I instantly feel better.