Chapter 44
“Dr. Reeves, Dr. Moorehead is in his office with a student right now. You can’t—”
To hell, I can’t.
Ivy yanked the door open.
“Dr. Moorehead, we need to—”
Ivy’s mouth snapped shut. The student was none other than Zeke Godfrey. He looked demure. Head down, hands folded in his lap.
“What the hell is he doing here?”
“Dr. Reeves, sit down.”
“Dr. Moorehead, Zeke—”
“Sit down.”
Ivy grabbed the chair next to Zeke, pulled it across the office, and sat.
“Dr. Reeves, there have been some serious allegations made against you. It has come to—”
“Me? Me? This is—” Ivy was aghast.
“You’ll get your chance to speak.”
Dr. Moorehead dared her to interrupt. When Ivy didn’t, he continued, “The allegations involve you at a bar, intoxicated, approaching a student.”
Ivy couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Had to literally bite her tongue to stop from speaking out.
“At said bar, it’s alleged that you made inappropriate comments.
These come on the back of previous innuendos made during class time, in reference to STIs.
” Dr. Moorehead leaned forward. “Now, I’ve seen the little TikTok video that you posted, Dr. Reeves.
Posting lectures on any social media without prior approval by the department is in direct violation of your contract. ”
Dr. Moorehead, his lips a thin line, stopped speaking.
Ivy waited.
“Now, you may go ahead.”
Calm, Ivy. Calm.
“First of all, I never approached anybody at the bar. I was approached. Zeke was aggressive and threatening. I was not. As for the comment in the class, it was made by a student—not by me. And the video? I did not post the video. I have no idea who did.” Ivy leaned back hard in her chair. “This is insane.”
It was. Ivy couldn’t believe that she was being forced to defend herself.
“Insane or not, these are serious allegations.”
“I agree. Couple this with the cheating and we have more than enough to expel Zeke.”
“Both of your allegations are serious. The way I see it, we have a he said, she said situation.”
Ivy almost blurted, Bullshit.
She was a goddamn professor, Zeke an entitled asshole student.
“I have witnesses.”
“As does Zeke.”
Of course he does. His fellow douchebags from the bar. She had Abby and—blegh—Blake, but they’d all been drinking. Abby had an ace up her sleeve, however.
“One more thing,” she said, daring to look at Zeke. He still had his chin pressed to his chest, but now, he was nervously alternating interlacing his fingers and spreading them out. Jesus, he was a good actor. Pretending to be nervous, ashamed, even. Goddamn psychopath was what he was.
“Yes?”
Ivy got her phone out.
“A student came up to me after class this morning. This woman said that Zeke not only threatened her, but also assaulted her. I have photos.”
Zeke’s head shot up.
“No way, I didn’t—”
“Mr. Godfrey, please remain silent. Dr. Reeves, show me the photos.”
Ivy pulled them up and started toward Dr. Moorehead’s desk, phone in hand.
“This is a lie!” Zeke’s placid demeanor vanished completely.
“Mr. God—”
“It’s a fucking lie!”
Zeke leapt to his feet.
“Rebecca’s lying! I didn’t touch her!”
Ivy suppressed a smile. She hadn’t mentioned Rebecca by name. This was an admission of guilt if she’d ever heard one.
“Sit down!” Dr. Moorehead yelled.
Zeke had no intention of sitting down.
“Samantha, call security!”
Zeke snarled. This was the angry student that Ivy knew from the bar, finally showing his true colors. And this time, Dr. Moorehead was here to witness it.
“Give me the phone!”
Someone took the phone, but it wasn’t Zeke. Dr. Moorehead snatched it from Ivy’s hand and moved around the front of his desk, putting himself between Zeke and Ivy. Zeke didn’t back down. Reached for the phone again.
“Mr. Godfrey!”
Ivy cowered, thinking that Zeke was actually going to hit the department head.
“Give me the phone!” Zeke screamed. He grabbed Moorehead’s wrist. “Give me—”
The door flew open and two Princeton security guards stormed in. One of them wrapped an arm around Zeke’s waist and pulled him back.
“Do you know what my father will do to you?! Do you have any idea—”
“Get him out of here!” Dr. Moorehead shouted.
It took both of the guards to remove Zeke from the office.
“Escort him off campus! If he even steps back on Princeton property, arrest him!”
“My dad—”
“Quiet, kid,” one of the guards warned. They dragged Zeke down the hall, past a terrified-looking secretary.
“Dr. Moorehead, are you okay? I heard shouting, so I called security even before you—”
“I’m fine.” He rubbed his wrist where Zeke had grabbed him. “Thank you, Samantha.”
“Are you sure—”
“I’m fine. Put in a report with security. I’m serious; if Zeke Godfrey is seen on campus by anyone, call Princeton PD.”
“Okay.”
Samantha, still reeling, went back to her desk and picked up the phone.
“I told you he was unhinged.” Ivy was sweating. “You should call the cops now. He grabbed you and he—”
“Zeke is just angry. And I’ll be fine.”
Ivy felt her upper lip curl.
“He’s a psycho. You need to call the cops.”
“Let me deal with Mr. Godfrey.”
“Stop calling him Mr. Godfrey! His name is Zeke. I told you about the cheating and you did nothing. Now he’s assaulted a student and you!”
“Dr. Reeves—”
Ivy knew that she should stop now. Couldn’t do it.
“It’s because his father donates money to the school, isn’t it? If it were any other student who did any of this shit, you’d get his ass hauled out of here in cuffs. Get him thrown in a cell, right?”
“Dr. Reeves, that’s enough. You’re suspended pending a full investigation.”
She’d gone too far. Still couldn’t reel herself in, though.
“No hesitation acting now, huh?”
Dr. Moorehead stared her down.
“You going to leave on your own, Dr. Reeves? Or am I going to have to call security for you, too?”
Ivy ground her teeth.
“No, I’ll leave. But first, I want my goddamn phone back.”