Quentin didn’t even try to stifle his laughter before he hung up.
“Problem?”
“Mother has been mothering Grevin and panicked when he left the room she expected him in.”
“Ah, she probably has a bit of an empty nest syndrome.”
“Grevin isn’t the one to fill it.”Quentin scribbled a few more notations on his whiteboard.“He would strangle her in a week and refuse to bring her back out of spite.”
Lars laughed.“Luckily, she is hardier as a vampire.”
“Luckily.”
His phone dinged, and a message from his mother popped up.“Found him!”A little smiley face beamed up at him.
“Poor sucker.”He set his phone on his desk.
He barely took a step away before it rang again.
“You have an active social life,” Lars commented.
“Not usually this active.”Right now, he’d prefer inane conversations if it meant the people he cared about were living boring lives.He really wanted a telemarketer he could gleefully hang up on without remorse.Less crises and more mundanity was his goal for now.Not one he appeared to be able to keep if his Caller ID was correct.
He groaned before answering with fake cheer.
“Hello, Dean Mearson.What can I do for you?”Please say that his suspension is permanent.If they were going to kick him out, he’d rather know now than have the situation drawn out.He was ready to move on.
“Hello, Dr.Heart.I’ve had an interesting conversation with Professor Rendell, and after a thorough investigation, we’ve decided to reinstate you.Your students were quite vocal about your dismissal, and if you promise to use regulation chalk from now on, I don’t see a problem with you continuing to teach.”
He opened his mouth to tell her where to shove her class and her regulation chalk.She cut him off before he could object, as if she were reading his mind.
“Don’t forget your contract states that you are obligated to teach one class each semester for the next year.”Her tone had more steel than sweetness.
Fuck.
“Is that still in effect with the suspension and everything?”he asked, mostly to mess with her.He was pretty sure that since they hadn’t fired him outright, it was still an active contract.Not to mention, he was barely suspended for a day.
“Yes.We’ll see you next week.”She hung up.
“Well, that lacked her usual cheer,” he said to his silent phone.
“Whose cheer?”Lars asked.
“The dean of the department I’m teaching in.”
“You’re a teacher?”
“Of spell creation.Mother didn’t tell you?”
“She only shares the dangerous parts.”
“I just started this year.”He didn’t go into the details of the suspension or the explosion.
“Do you enjoy it?”
“Somewhat, but I’m not going to make it my career.I have other things I’m interested in doing.”He nodded toward the board where he was scrawling his ideas.
“Good.You don’t strike me as the type who would do well working for other people.Too independent.”
