Authors: Kate Vale
C
e
c
e
lia said good-by
e
to Sam and
trott
e
d
in th
e
dir
e
ction of h
e
r moth
e
r’s offic
e
.
She
e
nt
e
r
e
d
th
e
building
, absent
mindedly touching the top of Shakespeare’s shiny cap
. H
e
r
moth
e
r’s door was op
e
n, but sh
e
wasn’t th
e
r
e
. Sh
e
h
e
ard
her
voic
e
fa
rther
down th
e
hall
and follow
e
d
th
e
sound.
Amanda
continued
exchanging words
with
Evan
, their voices getting
l
ou
der
.
“
E
van, my class is my class. You can’t simply barg
e
in and tak
e
ov
e
r. Wh
e
n I invit
e
d
you to com
e
in, it was as a gu
e
st, not as th
e
p
e
rson in charg
e
.”
“So
,
what did it hurt? I got th
e
stud
e
nts int
e
r
e
st
e
d
in what I’m doing. I
sn’t that what you want
e
d
?”
“As a matt
e
r of fact,
no
. I want
e
d
th
e
m to b
e
int
e
r
e
st
e
d
in what your work r
e
pr
e
s
e
nts. That go
e
s much fa
rth
e
r than what you,
as an individual writ
e
r,
accomplish
.” Sh
e
back
e
d
away from him and found herself
trapp
e
d
n
e
xt to th
e
far
wall
of his office
as h
e
look
e
d
down
at h
e
r.
H
is eyes
seemed to
stud
y
her face and her upper body
, one hand on either side of her shoulders
.
He lowered his voice and
asked,
“Why is it you’
re the
only on
e
in th
is
d
e
partm
e
nt who
doesn’
t s
ee
m to appr
e
ciat
e
that
I’m here?”
He paused as he moved closer to her
.
“I lov
e
it wh
e
n your
e
y
e
s snap at m
e
lik
e
that,” h
e
croon
e
d
. “And your lips b
e
g to b
e
kiss
e
d
.
”
She was shocked into silence as
he moved
closer
, his head descending toward her
.
“Mom!” C
e
c
e
lia’s voic
e
at
his
open
offic
e
door
stopp
e
d
E
van’s
forward mov
e
m
e
nt.
“
Y
ou didn’t s
ee
our last goal.”
Amanda
took advantage of Cecelia’s distraction and
ducked under Evan’s arm and walked
out
of his office
. “I’m sorry, C
e
c
e
. Prof
e
ssor Workman want
e
d
to talk to m
e
and th
e
r
e
was too much nois
e
on th
e
fi
e
ld. Did you
r team
win th
e
gam
e
?”
“No, but sh
e
assist
e
d
on
one
goal
,
and kicked in the last
one
,” Marcus answ
e
r
e
d
for h
e
r
, smiling at C
e
c
e
lia
as he
stood next to Evan’s door.
The
three of them
moved
back
toward
Amanda’s
office
, leaving Evan where he was
.
“Can we go home now?”
C
e
c
e
lia
frown
e
d
at
Marcus
and
turn
e
d
to glar
e
at th
e
very
tall man
when he
sid
led in
to
Amanda’s office.
“Y
e
s, of cours
e
. Just l
e
t m
e
g
e
t my things
.
”
She smiled at
Marcus. “Thanks for watching th
e
r
e
st of th
e
gam
e
.
I should have stayed.
”
C
e
c
e
lia s
at
down in th
e
small
e
r chair
, her back
to
both men
.
“C
e
c
e
lia, ar
e
n’t you going to say hi to m
e
?” Marcus ask
e
d
qui
e
tly.
She refused to look back at him. Instead, u
nder her breath
, she
said
, “Hi.”
Evan move
d
past Marcus and place
d
his large hands
on Cecelia’s shoulders, pressing her into the chair.
“Well, how about me, little lady? How about a hi for me
, too
?”
Her daughter appeared to
f
ree
ze
, then suck in her breath,
her eyes widening
as she tried
to wriggl
e
out of his grasp.
Amanda
’s heart skipped a beat
and
she
shov
e
d
Evan’s
hands off
Cecelia’s shoulders
. “Do not do that—
e
v
e
r
!” H
e
r voic
e
was
cold. “Com
e
on, C
e
c
e
, w
e
’
re going
hom
e
.”
Cecelia slid out of the chair and put her hand in Amanda’s as they walked out of the building.
Th
e
n
e
xt morning, b
e
tw
ee
n class
e
s, Amanda approach
e
d
E
van. “I n
ee
d
to sp
e
ak
with
you.”
“Sur
e
thing. My offic
e
or yours?”
“Min
e
.”
She did not return his smile.
H
e
follow
e
d
h
e
r down th
e
hall
.
Amanda turne
d
to
face
him. “Pl
e
as
e
shut
th
e
door.”
“Gr
e
at! You want to g
e
t to know m
e
b
e
tt
e
r.” H
e
r
e
ach
e
d
for h
e
r.
“I was hoping you’d want us to get friendlier.”
“No!
” She pulled her hand away.
“
And stop coming on to m
e
. I don’t appr
e
ciat
e
it
,” he
r voic
e
icy
. “
I
don’t
want you to touch my daught
e
r
like
you did yesterday
…
ever
.
Are you clear about that?
”
“H
e
y, I was just trying to b
e
fri
e
ndly.”
“Well, s
h
e
didn’
t
like
it, and n
e
ith
e
r did
I. Don’t do
i
t
again
.”
H
e
took a step back
. “Mind t
e
lling m
e
why?”
“Sh
e
had a bad
e
xp
e
ri
e
nc
e
with a man and
…
sh
e
do
e
sn’t r
e
spond w
e
ll to such ov
e
rtur
e
s. If sh
e
’s in my offic
e
, whether
I’m h
e
r
e
or not
, l
e
av
e
h
e
r alon
e
.
Don’t talk to her and do not touch her
—ever
.
I m
e
an it.”