Mr. James: A Forbidden Romance (10 page)

She wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his chest, crying in confusion and pain as she tried to figure out what she was going to do. The only thing she knew for certain was that she was going after Reggie and her best friend had better run.

Chapter8

Catalina might have cried herself to sleep the night before, but by the next morning she was full of fire and ready for a fight. She arrived at the campus early and hunted for Reggie in his regular haunts. She found him walking across the campus on his mid-morning break between classes and she went straight for him, giving him a hard shove in the arm and he stumbled to the side a few steps and then turned and looked at her.

“What in the world was that for?” he asked in surprise, rubbing his hand over the spot on her arm where she had plowed into him with both of her fists held together.

She gave him a hard look. “I can’t believe you’re asking me that. More than that, I can’t believe you went to my father and told him about Connor and me! How could you do that? How could you betray me and betray our friendship like that?” she demanded furiously.

He turned to look at her, his own anger stirring deep in him and rising up as he defended himself to her. “I had to do something! You’re out here screwing your life up royally and nothing I can say or do is going to change your mind! I can’t let you wreck yourself like you are! You won’t admit to yourself that what you’re doing is wrong! You just want to keep on screwing up and making bigger and bigger mistakes!

“Well, I’m not going to let you. I love you, Cat, and I’m not going to let you destroy yourself and your life, and our friendship over some useless old man!” He lifted his chin defensively and looked down at her. “I knew that the only thing that could stop you would be your dad. I knew that if I went to him and told him what you were doing, he’d put a stop to it, and from the look of it, he’s already done that.” He nodded his head at her in satisfied approval.

“Good. I’m glad he chewed your ass out and made you stop. Look at you. You’re miserable. You never would have been miserable if you had just left that man alone. You’d be just fine right now, and as happy as you’ve ever been. I’m glad I did it. That’s what true friends and
true love
does.”

She glared at him hatefully. “You stuck your nose in business that isn’t yours and you hurt my father and you hurt me, and you made a much bigger mess out of things that were already fine! Connor and I weren’t going to keep up the affair because we both feel like we need to have just a student and teacher relationship on campus!” she snapped at him.

“Oh yeah…” Reggie said smartly, rolling his eyes. “That’s exactly what I saw when he was feeling you up in the doorway to his office. Teacher and student relationship. Yup. I make out with all of my teachers like that, too,” he threw at her snidely.

She launched her fist at him but he dodged it easily and stepped back closer to her. “Why are you so angry about it? Can’t you see that your dad and I are trying to do what’s best for you because we care about you and what you’re doing with your life? He and I, we’re in it for the long haul with you. We both love you, Cat. We both want what’s best for you. I’m best for you, Catalina, and I want you to open your eyes and see that!” He stepped closer to her and though she wanted to back away, she stood her ground, looking up at him defiantly.

“I’m what’s best for you. You should be my girl! You think that professor cares at all about you? He doesn’t. You think he loves you? He doesn’t!” he raised his voice a little as emotion strained his voice and his face.

“He does care about me! He cares a great deal about me!” Catalina retorted to him angrily.

“Yeah?” Reggie asked her, stepping even closer and looking down into her face. “He cares about you, huh? Has he said it? Has he said he loves you? I love you. I say it. I want you. Has he said that he loves you, Cat, or does he just try to get you into his bed?” Reggie shot back at her.

She bit her tongue and looked at him in outrage. She couldn’t argue the point. Connor had never said that he loved her. He had made love with her, he had made her feel better than she ever had in her life, and he said that he cared about her, but he had never told her that he loved her. There was nothing that she could say to Reggie about that.

He caught it. “Ha! See? I was right! He hasn’t ever said it to you because he doesn’t care about you enough to say it! He doesn’t love you, Cat, and you need to see that! You need to pay attention and open your eyes! You need to realize that you and I should be together! You should be my girl. I love you, Cat, and you know you love me, too. You know it,” he said, shaking his head as he stared at her eyes.

He reached for her suddenly and pulled her to him, lowering his mouth to hers and kissing her firmly, just as he had the first time, and for a moment she was too shocked to react, but as his mouth moved over hers, that same feeling of ownership and possessiveness that she had felt the first time he kissed her came flooding back over her. It didn’t feel like passion. It didn’t feel like love. It didn’t feel anything like Connor’s kisses, and that showed her all that she needed to know.

She pushed herself away from him and he stared at her in surprise, his mouth parted slightly and his eyes glazed with the heat of just having kissed the girl he loved. She gritted her teeth and shook her head, reaching her hand up to slap him in the face, hard. He blinked and shock registered in his eyes as she backed away from him.

“Don’t you ever do that to me again, Reginald Brown. You keep your hands off of me and you stay away from me and from my dad. Go to hell, Reggie.” She spat at him and then she turned on her heel and stomped away from him.

He watched her go and the expression on his face shifted from one of utter shock to one of complete dismay.

***

Harold sat in the austere and richly appointed front office of the dean of the college, his hands folded together between his knees. He’d dressed in the only suit he owned; it was old, but it was clean and pressed. His hair was combed back and he had a tie on.

He glanced over at the secretary for a moment as she typed away on her computer. She had told him that the dean would be with him shortly. He looked around him at the walls of dark wood, the bookcases that stood with books lining their every shelf, the fat leafed green plants that mocked the slowly dying trees of autumn outside. He drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly, trying to relax himself and keep his nerves still.

The office was silent except for her typing. He sighed again and looked up at the big grandfather clock standing against one wall. He’d been waiting twenty minutes and each one felt like an eternity.

Finally, the door behind the receptionist opened and the dean walked out and smiled at him in greeting. Harold rose to his feet and walked toward the Dean with his hand outstretched.

“Good morning, sir, I’m Harold Marshall,” he said politely, feeling that he had never been more out of place at any point in his life.

The dean nodded and shook his hand. “Good morning, Mr. Marshall. I’m Dean Hargrove. Please come in. May I have Jeanie get you some coffee or water?”

Harold shook his head. “No, sir. Thank you. I’m just fine.”

The dean nodded and closed the door behind them. They walked to his desk together and Harold waited quietly to be invited to sit down. The Dean looked at him and nodded, indicating the chair beside which Harold was standing silently.

“Please have a seat, Mr. Marshall.” Harold sat stiffly and kept his eyes on the dean.

“What is it that I can do for you today?” Dean Hargrove asked as he sat opposite Harold.

Harold cleared his throat and felt like he was embarking on an impossible quest. “I’m here about my daughter, sir.”

The dean nodded patiently. “Yes?”

“Well, sir, it seems that one of your instructors has seduced her and has coerced her into having an affair with him, and I’m paying a fair amount of tuition for her to attend here for an education that she can use to make a good life for herself, not for her to get hauled into her professor’s office for an indiscretion. Something has to be done about this,” he stated firmly.

He might feel intimidated by the old school, the wealth of the head of the school, the vast education around him that he knew nothing about, and the total unfamiliarity of the environment around him, but he wasn’t about to let any of that stop him from taking care of the mess his little girl had gotten herself into.

The dean’s mouth fell open slightly and he stared at Harold, livid. “One of our professors here is involved romantically with your daughter?” he asked as if he might have misheard Harold.

“Yes, sir,” Harold replied simply.

Dean Hargrove sighed heavily and shook his head. “I’m gravely disappointed to hear it. We have a zero tolerance policy for things like this at this educational facility. Do you know the name of the professor by chance?”

Harold nodded. “I do. His name is Connor James.”  It had been tempting to him to go see Professor James on his own, but he wasn’t a rule breaker and he understood that there was a procedure for dealing with everything, including situations like the one his daughter was in.

Dean Hargrove rubbed his forefinger over his lower lip as he shook his head. “Ah yes… our handsome young media professor.”

Harold blinked in surprise. “Young, Sir? I was under the impression that he was quite a bit older than my daughter.”

The dean looked up at him. “No, not really. I believe James is twenty seven or so. He’s not that much older than most of the students here, but he is quite a handsome fellow, and there are many in the student body, and if I was being honest, on staff, who tend to go after him. I’m not surprised that he is being reported for an affair, I guess it was bound to happen, but I am surprised that it took him being here this long before it did happen.”

Harold furrowed his brow, looking at him in confusion. “This hasn’t happened before with him?” he asked curiously.

The dean shook his head. “No, no this is James’ first offense of any kind with the college. He’s been a model professor up until now. I actually rather like him, and I’ll be sorry to have to discipline him in regards to this, but we must stand by our rules and regulations, Mr. Marshall.”

He looked at Harold and pursed his lips, speaking delicately. “Have you spoken with your daughter about this situation at all?”

Harold nodded. “I did indeed, sir. It was the first thing I did. She understands how serious it is. I’ve told her she is to have nothing whatsoever to do with him again.”

The dean nodded. “It’s likely that she will be facing some sort of discipline as well. I hope that you understand that, Mr. Marshall. Affairs are two way streets, and both parties will be under investigation on this, and pending the final report, both of them will receive disciplinary action.”

Harold nodded. “I understand, sir.” He was sorry to hear it, but not surprised. She had made a mistake and there were consequences to face for having done it.

Dean Hargrove frowned slightly. “What year is your daughter in?”

Harold lifted his chin proudly. Whatever mistakes she might have made along the way, she was very close to completing her time there, and that was an accomplishment that he felt deserved some recognition.

“She will be graduating in the spring, sir,” he answered, and then he added, “Actually, she’s on the Dean’s List.”

Dean Hargrove looked slightly horrified for a moment and then recovered, coughing subtly and rubbing his hand over his mouth and chin again. “Well, we will have to see what comes out at the end after we’ve talked to them both. Separately, of course.”

Harold nodded. The dean looked at him intently. “I’ll speak to them and then let you know what course of action we will be taking. Will that work for you, Mr. Marshall?” he asked solemnly.

Harold nodded and the dean stood up and extended his hand. “Thank you for coming in and letting us know about this. I’m sorry we couldn’t meet under better terms,” he said apologetically.

Harold stood up and shook his hand. “Thank you for taking the time to see me, sir, and for taking care of this. I want the best for my little girl.”

Dean Hargrove nodded and sighed. “We all want that, Mr. Marshall. You have a good day.”

Harold nodded and left and then thanked the secretary on the way out of the building. He felt a little better after having spoken to the dean, and he was intrigued to have discovered that Connor had never been reported for an affair in all the time he had been there, which at such a young age, couldn’t have been very long, but it still made him wonder and think about what his daughter had told him.