Chapter 29 #2
“I am sure. I’m just letting her know what he said.
It’s about time we started lodging things about him.
There’s a reason he’s moved schools every few years, and I, for one, won’t be sad when he moves on again.
” My voice softens, some of the anger dissipating now.
The touch of her hands grounds me. “But I’m not having him talk about you like
Yes, Miss
that, whether we’re together or not. I’m not having him tarnish your reputation here just because he is bitter.”
Her hands drop from my arms, and she straightens up, standing tall. “Well then, let’s get that fucker back,” she says and takes off walking ahead of me to Rebecca’s office.
Rebecca is finishing up on a call as we knock on her door and open it.
She waves us in and points to the seats across from her desk, rolling her eyes at us and signalling to the phone as she appeases the other party on the call.
Hanging up, she sighs and sits back in her seat, a genuine smile crossing her lips.
“James, Isabelle, I’ve only just left you all. How can I help?”
“It’s Daniel, Rebecca—” I start, my anger spilling out.
Isabelle puts her hand on my forearm, her grip stronger than I would have expected, cutting me off before I can get started.
Her fingertips dig in slightly, catching me off guard and making me remember what was said and done this morning.
She whips her hand away from me and places it in her lap, her professional mask slipping back in place.
“Rebecca, Daniel made some comments in the staff room that were far beyond professional.” Isabelle’s calm voice brings my attention back to her face. “And we’d like to lodge a complaint about him with you. There have also been other instances where I’ve heard comments that
Alexandra Ravensbrook
were homophobic, misogynistic, and downright disgusting,” Isabelle states, clearly and calmly. How she isn’t showing any anger at this is a testament to her maturity and strength.
Rebecca sighs and looks out of her window across the yard to the staff room.
“Okay, I expected as much but thought it might have happened a little sooner, so I have that to be thankful for at least. I’m sorry to hear you’ve had to suffer this so soon into starting your career here with us, Isabelle. Can you tell me what’s happened?”
Isabelle keeps her calm focus as she reels off a litany of comments Daniel has made to Jennifer about her sexuality and her girlfriend, comments that make the fury burn hotter in my body.
Isabelle starts listing comments Daniel has made to her, comments that make me want to inflict ungodly pain on the fucker.
How he has thought that it’s acceptable to make comments about her curves, her young age, her having ‘blow job lips’ is beyond me.
Why hasn’t she mentioned any of this before? Did she feel she couldn’t tell me?
“Rebecca, I want to add something, and I want to be honest with you, because Daniel made comments in the staff room in front of the other staff, and I’d rather you heard it straight from us than from any rumours,” Isabelle adds.
Yes, Miss
My heart stops. Are we ready for this? Already? I look across at her, my eyes questioning. Her smile and a wink do very little to calm me at this point.
Rebecca smirks and looks at me. “I thought you had seemed a little happier recently,” she says and lets out a little laugh. “I assume it’s still very early days?”
“It is, Rebecca. My concern is that Daniel made assertions that Isabelle is with me to somehow further her career or something of that ilk,” I say, my anger starting to subside with Rebecca’s smile reassuring me.
Rebecca laughs. “Isabelle, I understand there was somewhat of a confrontation in the yard yesterday as you were leaving between yourselves and Daniel. Would you like me to add that to the complaint?”
My head spins to Isabelle. She seems as surprised as I am.
How does Rebecca know about that? Rebecca laughs again.
“I must say I was impressed by your suggested use of superglue and your ability to reduce Daniel to an angry little imp.” She laughs and sits back in her chair, her hands folding in her lap as she looks at us both in turn.
“I was across the yard, and the acoustics from the surrounding buildings made it quite clear what was being said. I was hoping to catch you at lunch to talk to you about it and see if you were okay.”
Alexandra Ravensbrook
Isabelle lets out a surprised mix of a gasp and a laugh. “Erm, yeah, may as well add everything in. If I had known you were listening, I would have spoken louder!”
Rebecca turns and opens a drawer from the filing cabinet, giving us both a copy of a form to complete to inform the school of our relationship.
“Can you fill that in and return it to me as soon as possible, please? I’ll formally talk to Daniel today.”
As for the comments he made to Isabelle that she hadn’t told me about… we need to talk about that. I want to know about anything like that; I don’t want her to feel alone in dealing with him. I’m here. I wasn’t there for her in the past like she needed, but I can be now.