“Bree.” Her voice is strange. Too breathless. “Oh my god. Have you seen the news?”
My stomach drops.
In my experience, nothing good ever follows that question. “What news?”
“Your thesis adviser. Kendrick. He was fired. There’s an article. Multiple women came forward,exposing a pattern of harassment, and the university actually investigated this time. Theyfiredhim. Finally got the bastard.”
The words don’t make sense at first. They’re just sounds, syllables crashing together in my ear like a language I used to speak but forgot.
“What?” I manage.
“Chronicle of Higher Education,” Sora says. “It’s everywhere. Bree, he’sdone. Like, actually done.”
I mumble something about calling her back and hang up. My hands are shaking as I pull up the Chronicle website on my computer. The headline is right there, front page of the higher education section.
Prominent Professor Fired After Pattern of Harassment Uncovered.
I read the article.
Multiple women. A decade of complaints. Title IX investigation. Termination for cause.
Some victims are unnamed, but the descriptions of his behavior are so specific, so eerily familiar, that I can practically taste the cheap wine from his office.
The late nights. The special attention that turned sour. The way he isolated his targets.
Six women. Six other women.
I wasn’t alone this whole time.
I should feel relieved. Vindicated.
Instead, I feel sick.
Because I know exactly who did this.
“If you had a cat,” he’d asked, “and your cat stole food you’d spent all day cooking for someone else, would you forgive the cat?”
I thought it was just another one of his weird metaphors.
I didn’t realize it was a goddamn confession.
A cat. A stupid cat.
I’m on my feet before I consciously decide to move. Past my desk. Through the glass walls. Straight toward the corner office.
I don’t knock.
Nico looks up. His dark eyes meet mine and when he sees my expression he immediately says, “I’ll call you back,” and ends the call without waiting for a response.
He stands. All six feet one inch of him, towering over me, the scar along his jaw catching the morning light.
Normally I’d notice how attractive he is.
But right now, I just want to throw something at his head.
I close the door behind me. He fumbles with the smart glass panel, and finally turns the glass opaque.
“What did you do?” My voice comes out quiet.
