Chapter Twenty-four
Alexandr Miroslav
“Alexandr, it’s nice of you to finally join us.” Mr Browne’s strong voice came to me like the voice of a ghost. Not in a melancholic way, as I’m sure you assumed, but rather a jolting, out-of-body, panicked experience.
He sounded suspicious as I lifted my eyes from the ground they’d been glued to, instructed repeatedly by my mind that with minimal eye contact came minimal attention. It seems I’d been wrong.
He was waspish, almost eager to call upon me before class even began.
“Did your repose from my class prove most beneficial?”
This was going to be hell. “Sorry, sir,” I said, not letting myself mumble, making my way to my chair in the back and sitting before speaking again, “If you’d like an explanation, I’d be happy to offer it after class?”
His eyes turned to slits, as if trying to find the underlying mocking in my speech, and when he found none, he nodded curtly a moment later. “See to it that you do.”
I didn’t have a reason; save the ones I wouldn’t be giving him.
I only hoped he wouldn’t take the bait and agree with me to stay after class, except he did.
And so, after Wolf shot me a look–brows raised, lips pursed in a ‘good luck’ kind of way–I spent the entirety of LAW 400 coming up with enough lies should any one fail to get Mr Browne off my back.
Today was an important day, and I wouldn’t let him distort my judgment over a few missed classes.
A ‘few’ being subjective.
I found that I could be quite an excellent student with the right incentive, and so I didn’t crumble assignments when professors handed them out, in contrast to my actions prior to Castle Hill. There was also nowhere for me to run if Thaddeus set his sights on any failed class work.
After Mr Browne’s lecture on carve-outs and non-complete clauses, he assigned the class the mock contract agreement.
“You will break into pairs of your choice, one of you will come up and pick up the information needed for their role from this,” he held up one of two plastic boxes before placing it back on his desk, “box over here, and the other will pick up their packet from the other box. Take a few moments to read through what’s important, carefully, before beginning negotiations.
The roles and scenarios are all the same for each pair.
That means that I will be grading the best win-win negotiations.
So don’t be so eager to squeeze more for yourself out of the deal.
After all, enemies can only do you so many favors. ”
Without a second thought, I turned to Wolf, who had already caught my eye. With a barely-there nod, we stood and walked to the front, slowed down by a few pairs making their way there as well.
I avoided what I was sure was Mr Browne’s gaze, burning the side of my face, and made it an in-and-out situation.
Returning to our seats, Wolf cleared his throat and straightened, reading through his short booklet with keen interest.
I opened my own and found myself impersonating one Koda, a founder and CTO, who was selling their small but high-potential tech company to Halston.
In this case, that would be Wolf, who plays a startup buyer.
His priority is to protect the value of the company he’d just bought from me by preventing me from joining another firm or starting a competing one.
My priority would be to acquire freedom to work while maintaining my reputation and independence.
However, the business contract wasn’t the main focus for this exercise, instead, we were meant to look into the non-compete clause.
It didn’t take long to look over the information before Wolf and I began, him speaking first, “Alright, Koda, I can offer you six months of non-compete after the sale closes. You stay out of the software market, and I get the time to lock in my customer base. I think that’s a pretty fair deal.”
He smiled, proud of himself, as I leaned my head back and scrunched my face. “That’s hardly fair. It’s a joke. I designed the entire core system–my name is on the patent. If I walk, so do my codes. Two months, that’s my offer.”
Wolf raised a brow. “Two months is barely enough time to blink. I’ll still be integrating legacy systems and if you join a competitor, you’ll tank my valuation. Five months.”
I titled my head side to side, seeing his point, but it didn’t sound like he was going to budge on the timeframe. Mr Browne did say he wanted to see a win-win. “Four months. And I want a carve-out for consulting. I can advise, I just won’t build.”
Wolf nodded with the facade of grace. “That’s fine, only if you disclose clients and I approve of them.”
I reared back at his audacity. “You’re being an idiot, and your idea is garbage. That’s surveillance, not a clause.”
Wolf opened his mouth to speak, taking a breath before pausing. “Alright, we can speak without such obscenities. This is, after all, a business meeting.”
I rolled my eyes before taking a moment. If Wolf–Halston wants those six months, I’ll give them to him. It makes sense to lock down clients and stabilize valuations. However, I wasn’t going to be sidelined. “Alright, I’ll let you have the six months. But I still want that carve-out.”
When Wolf went to protest, I spoke over him quickly, “Within narrow restrictions–not surveillance, and strictly advising. I won’t develop or code software, I won’t provide service to competitors, and I most definitely will not use proprietary language… How does that sound?”
I smiled knowing just from his expression that I was speaking his language. When he took a few moments to answer, most likely taking his role seriously, I said, cockily, “Take it or I will start my own firm tomorrow and outbid you on your first three clients.”
He narrowed his eyes, amused, before grinning and outstretched his arm. “Deal.”
We shook on it and drafted the non-compete clause with our names signed at the top. Wolf stood to hand it in, as I was too put out to make it to the front without at least thinking about bolting out through the door.
Mr Browne stood at the front when around half the class seemed to have finished. “When you are finished, you can leave. We only have a few minutes left anyways. I’ll see you all next week.”
I cursed under my breath at his implication and watched as Wolf sent me a pitying look before departing, August as well. Rain paused at the door and waited to catch my eye before conveying very clearly without a word, do not mess this up.
It was only Paris, who upon placing her booklet, along with her partner Ayana, Callum’s second–I didn’t know they were friends–turned to me and smiled dimly before disappearing past the threshold.
I was still worried about tonight, knowing well enough that she looked completely gone during breakfast, and had a particularly dismal air surrounding her during class.
I slumped back until the last pair disappeared out the door, and when I went to stand, Mr Browne came to meet me instead.
A small knot of nerves built in my gut at his approaching figure.
Leaning against the desk in front of me with a raised brow and a stern and set lip, he spoke first, “Alright, Alexandr. You’ve got my attention.
Usually, students don’t run away when a professor asks for their time.
And I took the liberty of speaking to your other professors, who told me you’ve been attending their classes just fine, with exceptional enthusiasm, in fact.
So really, it’s just me. Tell me, is there something bothering you about my class? About my lectures?”
You, I wanted to say but held my tongue. Rain’s sharp eyes and warning felt as if someone had stuck a dagger between my tongue and my desk.
I grappled with the only answer I thought believable for someone of my age and character, a simple lie; those were always the most believable. “Your class is on a Monday morning. It’s tiring to get to.” I shrugged. “Besides, I’m not behind on any work.”
Mr Browne’s eyes narrowed but he didn’t comment on my words, because he wasn’t determining the deceit through words but rather through my body language. I only noticed when his eyes shifted between my own and then down to my limbs, forcefully calm and motionless.
His gaze slid back to meet mine. “You’re not. Somehow, your assignments are always handed in, despite your absence. Though, I know who to thank for that. But attendance is a mandatory and typically upheld standard here at Castle Hill. One, I would understand. But you’ve missed more than a couple.”
I didn’t want to sit here under his heavy gaze, and unconsciously glanced at the door, trying to speed things along. Adults liked being agreed with anyway. “You’re right, I should have at the very least spoken to you prior to skipping class. I’ll do better next time.”
Mr Browne raised his brows in surprise at my placating words, most likely expecting more of a fight from me. But my mind was a tunnel vision, leading to tonight, and I didn’t have any mental capacity to spare on this.
It was silent for a beat, and he seemed to choose his next words carefully.
I imagine it was hard to reprimand someone who seemed to see the error of their ways and was so willing to fix them.
He cleared his throat and crossed his arms over his chest, letting out a sigh that sounded as if it came from a particularly hard time in his life and was only now making its way out. He shook his head. “Alexei…”
My shoulders stiffened.
A frozen ball of ice seemed to press against my heart, threatening to cut off my breathing as my heartbeat sped up in panic. My eyes widened only a fraction before I quickly schooled my features, fisting my hands and focusing on the sharp half-moons digging into my palm.
I didn’t know if he was testing me or it’d been a slip of the tongue, a force of habit, but I wasn’t going to fall for whatever bait he seemed to throw my way. “Alexandr.”
Mr Browne blinked at me, furrowing his brows. “What?”
I pressed my feet deeper into the soles of my shoes, having the urge to rip off my skin, a mask, and run away. Hide and never come out. “You… called me Alexei. It’s Alexandr.”
Mr Browne straightened, his hunched shoulders now taking on the form of a metal suit armour, ramrod straight and impenetrable. His eyes shuttered before closing over, taking on a look of indifference. “Yes. Sorry, Alexandr. So many students can do that to a professor.”
His brittle smile didn’t reach his eyes, and I didn’t expect it to. “Well… if that’s all. I’ll be going now.”
I didn’t wait for his reply, swiping at my bag, barely throwing it over my shoulder in my hasty rush to the exit, and leaving without a glance back. Mr Browne didn’t stop me, and if he did, I wouldn’t have anyways.
Out in the now secluded hall, where oxygen entered my airways more easily, I tried making it as far away from that godforsaken classroom as I could, but I couldn’t bring myself to reach my next lecture.
When I forced my body to stop moving on its own, I found myself near the staircase.
There, in an act of hysteria, I pulled at the strap of my bag that seemed to tighten around my neck like a noose with each step away and threw it against the wall in front of me. I felt suddenly out of breath and aware of it, no matter how much I tried gulping down each inhale.
How dare he call me that stupid boy’s name?
How dare that stupid coward not die where I’d left him?
Die.
His body, soul, memory.
Was I never going to escape him?
Alexei was a coward, and I was glad to finally rid myself of him. And yet.
I couldn’t stop the rush of memories now that I’d opened the floodgates with a single thought.
All the times I’d lain bruised and broken on that scratched and sticky wooden floor.
All the times those boys cornered me and toyed with me, while he stayed hidden and out of sight.
I saw him. I always did when my mind gave up and my body was nothing but a heap of bones and blood in that devil-imprinted boys' home.
Creeping from behind the door, too afraid to do something and yet never afraid to stop watching.
He never stood up to them.
That was his mistake.
Because if he’d just done something, maybe I wouldn’t have–
“Sasha?”
I jolted, palpably.
“Sasha, what’s wrong? Did Mr Browne do something?”
Paris. It was Paris coming to check on me. She didn’t go to our next class, but she must have been waiting near it until I failed to show up. Her voice was soft and hesitant.
I blinked, and with each drop of my eyelids, another memory locked itself away, returning to its rightful place behind those shut and bolted doors in the farthest crevice of my mind.
I released my aching fingers from the tight fist they’d been in and walked so leisurely, too leisurely, to retrieve my bag.
The very one sitting slumped and sad on the checkered marble floor.
“He didn’t do anything.” I scoffed, the hatred I’d felt for the man coming back in full force.
“We came to an agreement, and I needed a moment to think, is all.”
The silence she’d chosen to keep us in, no words following, proved that she didn’t believe a single thing coming out of my mouth.
I could still feel the ice cracking and stinging through my veins, and with every passing second, I kept it reigned in underneath, I felt like banging my head against the wall.
I turned to her when I straightened, watching her hard swallow and jerky nod before turning to walk back to class.
She didn’t say another word to me until I’d arrived at her dorm just after nine to head to Fenlon Hall. Perhaps it was fear or self-preservation. Or maybe, because it was something plausible for Paris and something I was most hoping to be the case, she was giving herself space.
By the time we all reached Fenlon Hall, I’d made up my mind.
I was going to kill Mr Browne if it was the last thing I ever did on this earth.