Chapter Twenty-Two
Griffin
“Good morning,” Benson says as I walk into the econ department. He’s a nice guy, if a little awkward at times, still slightly unsure of his place in academia. He might be able to disguise it better if he presented himself with a little more care. His white cotton dress shirt hangs off rounded shoulders like an uninspired rag, and his slacks are missing creases and slightly frayed at the bottom. The short brown hair on his head sticks out in all different directions like a poorly constructed bird’s nest—and unlike with some of my students, the effect is wholly unintentional.
Currently, his owlish brown eyes are extra wide in awe.
He’s only given me that look once before, when he learned that I won the John Bates Clark Medal. Why is he showering me with unspoken admiration today?
But he isn’t the only one looking at me with awe, speculation or petty vindication that silently screams, I knew it! Everyone is. And all the while, they murmur that polite “Good morning” as I walk down the hall.
It might be morning, but there’s nothing good about it!
Then it hits me. According to the gleeful text Noah sent this morning, the video from yesterday has gotten hundreds more likes and shares. He’s certain everyone on campus knows. No shit, Sherlock. If I’d known it’d come to this, I might’ve let Todd mouth off instead of getting involved.
I shake myself mentally. Be honest. You would’ve still said something.
But I might not have implied that Sierra and I were dating. There were other ways to shut Todd up.
A couple of women laugh. I turn a corner and see Professors Julia Manchester and Lori Johnson, who are ambling in the same direction I am. I want to snarl, What’s so damn funny, until I catch a bit of their conversation.
“…apparently got the reaming from Chuck he deserves,” Julia is saying loudly with excitement.
“He didn’t think Chuck would know by now?”
“Guess not. I wish I’d been there. I heard it was epic. Like Beowulf.” Julia sighs. “If English professors are saying that, you know it’s good.”
They’re gossiping about the English department. What’s so exciting about somebody in another discipline getting reamed?
“Ask around for the video,” Lori says. “Somebody’s bound to have recorded it. Everyone hates him.”
“Except his mother.”
Julia looks skeptical. “If I had a son like that, I would’ve disowned him a long time ago. Cut my losses and had myself a new one who could do better.”
“A high-strung poodle could do better than Todd.”
Guess Chuck finally grew a pair after two years of disrespect from Todd.
If Chuck’s been being obsequious due to Todd’s marriage to Sierra… Well, that makes him even more spineless than the average administrator. It isn’t as though the Fulliloves are going to take their endowment back.
“Any functional mammal could do better.” Julia stops in front of her office. “And speaking of mammals, did you know he has a Hello Kitty tattoo on his butt?” She smothers a giggle.
“Seriously?” Lori laughs. “How do you know?”
No, hell no! I stalk past them, my strides longer than usual. I don’t need to know how Julia knows, just like I didn’t need to know about Todd’s butt tattoo. Neither do the other econ professors, but I don’t feel like warning them—not that it would do any good. There’s no secret Lori can keep, and everyone in the department is going to know about the Hello Kitty tattoo on Todd’s ass before lunch.
Just as I reach my office, Charles glides up. It’s as though somebody texted him that I was coming. He’s in his best shirt—so impeccably starched and pressed that the cotton has acquired a satiny sheen. His black slacks are sharply creased and similarly pristine. There’s even a maroon tie around his neck with a shiny platinum pin with a winking diamond on the tip. He only wears it when he has an important meeting.
“Good morning!” For once, his tone isn’t ponderous. It’s bright and eager, like he’s a college boy ready for a dream date with the hottest sorority girl on campus.
From the intensity of his gaze, I gather that the important meeting is me.
My internal alarm goes on full alert. “Good morning.” I unlock my office. “Would you like to come in?”
Whatever Charles has to say probably isn’t something I want to discuss in the hall. More than one curious professor is loitering.
“If I may,” Charles says with a broad smile.