I barely hear the shouts of the department staff behind me, and their hands are like gnats I shake off as I split his lip open.
“Nathan, oh no, baby, you’ve been hit.” Kayla’s distress breaks through my rage. I let her haul me off a dazed Jack and pull me to the side. Her lovely eyes are filled with worry as she dabs at my cheek. “He must be wearing a ring because it gashed you here.”
I capture her hand and press it to my lips. “Doesn’t hurt. I swear.”
“I smell a lawsuit,” murmurs Rachel, who is nearby.
“Jack touched me first,” Kayla protests.
“But you’re not the one who hit him. It was Dr. Amherst, so it’s not self-defense.”
I wonder when Rachel became a lawyer, although maybe sorting those issues out is part of her job. “It doesn’t matter.” Punching the asshole felt good and if I have to spend a night in jail, it would be worth it. I give Kayla a wink and then wince when pain arrows into my eye above the cut.
“Don’t do that,” Kayla chides, rubbing my eyebrow. I dip my head down so she can have better access. I should’ve let Jack get in a few more punches. I’m liking all this tender attention she’s delivering.
“You two look cozy.” What is with this girl? Can she not take a clue? How did she ever pass my class? “You know it’s against administration’s policies to date any student although it doesn’t look like you guys dated much but just jumped right into the sack. Don’t worry, girl. I’ve got your back. I’ll file a report on Dr. Amherst tomorrow. I had the same experience with him. He took me out for dinners and told me unless I got on my knees, I wouldn’t get a good grade.”
A crowd has started to gather with Jack and Dean Campbell at the front. Jack’s broken mouth forms a proximate smirk while Dean Campbell grows pale, likely at the thought of the way the department’s funds are going to plummet if I’m not here.
“Wait a second—” I start.
“You better not say anything,” Rachel warns. “It can be used as fodder in the lawsuit.” She turns to the student. “Come with me and we’ll have you write up a complaint.”
“Better put him on administrative leave,” Jack advises. “And you—” He points a finger at Kayla. “You’re done.”
I charge at Jack again, but a dozen hands pull me back. He slinks away toward the food table.
“Come on.” Kayla pulls at my arm. “Let’s go home. We’ll sort this mess out later when everyone is sober and your cheek is taken care of.” She throws a dark glance toward Jack’s back. “Who knows? You might have rabies or something.”
Rachel nods briskly. “Good idea. You two go on and you”—she nods toward the student—“you come with me.”
Kayla marches out of the party room with her head high and her shoulders straight, totally unconcerned about her future, but once we reach the elevator and are out of sight of the rest of the staff, she wilts like a flower without enough water. Her head bows, and her snowflakes twinkle sadly under the bright fluorescent lights.
“Knew we should’ve gotten rid of the breakroom,” I mutter as I jab the elevator button. “You’re going to be fine, Kayla. I’ve got a lot of contacts around the country. There are plenty of other science departments.”
“That’s nice,” she replies, but her tone says she’s miserable.
I rub the back of my neck and try to think of something else to comfort her with. “I can pay Jack off. I have plenty of money. My patents earn several million—”
“It’s not about the money,” she cries. The doors to the elevator slide open, and she jumps inside, furiously pressing the parking button.
Caught off guard, I nearly let the doors close before I come to my senses and slam a hand against the edge of one of them. I push the heavy doors aside and climb on board.
“Were you trying to get away from me?” I growl, backing her into the corner.
“Yeah, I was. After all, isn’t that what you want?” She puts her chin up. “Talking about sending me away to another department.”
“You don’t want to continue to work?” I’m full of confusion now, anger at her trying to escape warring with puzzlement over her not wanting to leave this hellhole.
“Of course I want to work. Leaving here in the middle of my studies is not great for my resume or my future.” Something glittery flashes in her eyes before she turns her head to the side.
“Yeah, I get that.” Changing in midstream can mean a setback of a year or more. “Which is why you should let me use my contacts to find a new place for you. Joy Patterson has a great program in Seattle at Washington U. They’re doing some breakthrough work with vertical farming and solar energy. You’d be a great fit there.” Patterson has been begging me to come work with her, but Dean Campbell has basically let me do whatever I wanted so leaving this place wasn’t appealing. Or, I should say, it wasn’t appealing before. But now that Kayla’s career and reputation are in jeopardy, it’s a good time to move on. I pull out my phone. “Let me give her a call right now.”