Janet’s eyes dart to Christopher before returning to me. “We’ll keep thinking about it. But I need you to put forth some effort, as well. I wouldn’t want to lose you as an instructor just because you’re unwilling to be a team player.”
Ouch.
I nod. “Thank you, Janet. And Christopher.” He inclines his head to me, like a king to his subject. “I promise I’ll give it a lot of thought and find something.”
“Good.” Janet stands and shakes my hand, then walks us to the door. “Your evaluations are excellent, and I know you’ll be a valuable professor here for many years to come.”
“Thank you.” As she opens the door, I find Claire standing right in front of the open door, chatting with the administrative assistants at their desks.
Crap.
I didn’t want her to know I had this meeting at all. Why would I want her to know I’m on the verge of probation, when she’s been a model professor these last three years?
But Claire looks right at me, alarm in her eyes. Any meeting with Janet and Christopher is highly unusual. “Everything okay?” she asks.
“Oh, yeah,” I say, waving her off. I take a step toward her out of Janet’s office. “Just…” My mind whirls, and I land on the first thing I can come up with. “Talking about Christopher’s next YouTube video.”
Christopher gasps behind me. “So you’ll do it?!”
Double crap. I didn’t think he was eavesdropping on my conversation with Claire. I turn to face him and see his hands clasped together like a toddler who’s going to Disneyland. How can I say no? “Sure, Christopher. I’ll do it with you.”
He opens his arms to give me a hug, but I step back and grab his hand for a shake instead. At first, he looks disappointed, then plays it off like he was planning that all along. He holds up his hand in a phone gesture and whispers, “I’ll call you.”
Fan-freaking-tastic.
“Well, that’ll be fun,” Claire says once he’s out of earshot. “What’s the musical number this time?”
I sigh. “No idea.”
Great. Just great. Now I not only have to figure out a new project that will get me involved on campus, but I have to spend a weekend working on Christopher’s video with him. But if it keeps me here, working with Claire, it will all be worth it.
Claire’s eyes search my face, and then she grabs my arm, pulling me back to our cubicles. I let her drag me to her desk. She holds my shoulders and fixes me with a serious glare. “Tell me. Now.”
I heave a sigh, knowing she won’t let me go until I tell her the truth. “It’s embarrassing.”
She tilts her head. “More embarrassing than the time you split your pants teaching linear algebra?”
“Yep.”
“More embarrassing than when your student hit on you before knowing you were the teacher?”
“Definitely.”
“Whatever. Just tell me.”
I look into her gray-green eyes and feel the moment I give in. “My tenure is at risk. I haven’t been doing enough in my service to the college.”
She twists her mouth to the side, her eyes full of sympathy. “Are you serious?”
I nod. “I found out in the fall, but I’m running out of time to figure something out.”
She murmurs a sympathetic sound. Her hands run down the sides of my arms, and while she means it in a friendly way, I can’t help the tightness in my chest at the feel of her fingertips against my skin. She squeezes my hands. “So what do we need to do?”
“We? There’s no ‘we.’You’redoing great. I need to figure out a way to show my worth beyond the classroom.”
She shakes her head. “I’m going to help you. We’ll find something for you to do. I don’t want to be here without you, and you’re too valuable of an instructor.”
My chest squeezes even tighter at her words. Shereallycares about me, and it does things to my stomach that I shouldn’t feel about a girl with a boyfriend.
