“I’d like you to explain it to me.”
I gulp.
“The…picture?” I ask, voice wavering.
“Yes.”
“It was nothing. Sonya…I meanwewere just playing around.” I can’t let her take the fall for everything even if she deserves to. “She superimposed your face and my face on top of a picture of a celebrity couple.”
I wish desperately that he’d find a bit of humor in this, but he’s completely stoic. He sits at his desk, and I stand a few paces away, aware that he’s not asked me to take a seat. His office is neat and orderly. Behind him, a bookshelf is filled to the brim with volumes of text on architecture. I wonder if it’s his own private collection or if the books are on loan from the library.
When he stares on, not speaking, I realize he’s waiting for me to elaborate.
“It wasn’t a real picture, obviously. She was just trying to be funny, playing around in this dumb app she found.”
I think I see his jaw tick.
“Why was I involved?” he asks harshly.
“I…”
I can’t admit the truth. I will not tell him out loud what Sonya’s true motives were. I’d die right here on the spot. I take the coward’s way out.
“I don’t know.”
He sits forward in his chair, and I gulp.
“Try again.”
I inwardly groan, knowing there’s no way I can get out of this the easy way.
Sonya, you’re dead.
“Okay…well…how do I put this delicately? Um, surely you must realize you’re not like other professors at the university, obviously. You’re…” I almost say attractive, but then I think better of it and switch course last minute. “Young.” He doesn’t seem to understand what I’m getting at, so I add, “It’s why all those girls sit in on your class even though they’re not officially enrolled.”
Finally, realization dawns, and I almost,almostfeel bad for him in this moment. Ah, the plight of the ridiculously handsome.
“Sonya was trying to be funny, putting your face in the image. I can assure you there was no malice behind it.”
“No malice,” he repeats as his jaw tightens in anger. “Right. Well, I’ll tell you the same thing I told your friend. Though it might have been a joke to you, a picture like that could ruin my career. Do you realize that? It could jeopardize my standing with the university. A rumor is an idea, and ideas are hard to kill.”
Oh jeez, he’s taking this really seriously. Did Sonya show him the picture? Did he see how silly and unbelievable it looks? I want to explain that to him, but I bite my tongue. Instead, I assure him we would have never showed anyone.
“She just had it on her computer. It would have never gone anywhere or been shown to anyone else.”
His blue eyes burn with anger. “And yet somehow other students already managed to see it and warn me.”
I flinch at his biting tone.
This is not going well.
“I gave your friend a warning, but this is your third strike, Ms. Mercier. There is no way you and I can possibly proceed from here.”
If I speak, I know my voice will break.
Proceed…
Does that mean…?