by Carsen Taite
“Spoken like a true old married lady.”
“I am not a lady. Please, allow me to live vicariously through you. Now that you’re single, you’re bound to have a ton of great adventures and I want to hear about every one. Don’t shoot me for speeding things along.”
Morgan sighed and resigned herself to Yolanda’s good intentions. “Tell me your own life isn’t so boring you waited here to find out about my dinner.”
Yolanda’s features rearranged into a more serious expression. “Actually, no. I need to talk to you about something and I wanted to get it out of the way. Can we talk now?”
Morgan gestured Yolanda into her office. “Okay if we talk in here?”
As Yolanda took a seat across from her desk, Morgan wondered if the Burke family had gone over the dean’s head to try to keep Morgan and her students from working on the case. She had told Yolanda about the incident with Teddy the day after it happened. The day after she and Parker downed a bottle of Scotch, she remembered. Yolanda told Morgan not to worry about Teddy’s outburst. She had made it clear to his father the university had to be free from monetary influences when it came to student projects. She had told him she regretted this particular project would have an impact on his daughter’s case, but their grief did not give his son, Teddy, free rein to threaten one of her valuable and popular professors. Morgan hadn’t heard from Teddy Burke since, but she wondered if perhaps he found a sympathetic ear on the board of regents. She was completely unprepared for the real reason behind Yolanda’s late night visit.
“Are you romantically involved with Parker Casey?”
Morgan looked at the earnest expression on her face. Frantic thoughts raced while she fought to hide a telling reaction. She made a snap decision to deflect. “What in the world would give you that idea?” She struggled not to wince at the insincerity of her response. Yolanda was her friend. She had shared years of life’s ups and downs with her, yet she couldn’t bring herself to answer the question directly. Should she share her feelings or the reality of the situation? She had decided nothing was going to develop between her and Parker, but she couldn’t deny the steady pull of attraction whenever she thought about her. The allure extended beyond the desire to touch. Her glimpse of Parker’s vulnerable side tempted her to seek out the bigger picture of her heart and soul, but she was firmly set against giving in to temptation. Aren’t I?
Yolanda waited through the silence as if giving Morgan time to reconsider her initial response. Morgan took the cue. “No. And yes.” Noting Yolanda’s raised eyebrow, she pressed on. “Remember at the beginning of the semester, you and I had brunch at La Duni?”
“Yes,” Yolanda replied, hesitantly.
“We talked about the first night I arrived back in Dallas? I went out to surprise Tina and I was the one who got surprised?”
Yolanda nodded as she recalled their beginning of the semester brunch. “Of course. Yes. I remember—Tina was all over some other woman right there in front of you.” She stopped as if waiting for Morgan to say more, but Morgan merely widened her eyes, urging Yolanda to remember more details. Realization dawned in shades. “Wait, I remember! You met some hot woman, had mind-blowing sex, and went home the next morning with nothing but a smile to commemorate your night of wild abandon.” She smiled when Morgan confirmed her recollection, then frowned. “What does your night of passion have to do with my question?”
Morgan dove in. “The hot woman with whom I had mind-blowing sex? Well, that would be Parker Casey.”
“Fuck.”
“Well said.”
“Seriously, Morgan. This isn’t good.”
“What was I supposed to do? It wasn’t like I knew who she was.”
“Tell me this—have you had sex with Parker since you found out she was one of your students?”
Silence. Morgan knew her lack of response spoke volumes and she waited for Yolanda’s judgment.
“Shit.”
“Language. I don’t think I’ve ever heard you cuss so much.”
“I’m upset. This is a grave situation and you don’t seem to be taking it seriously.”
Morgan considered her assessment and decided Yolanda was wrong. She did take the situation seriously. After all, wasn’t she the one who had been so adamant with Parker about their inability to see each other anymore, once they discovered their respective roles? Why was she so resistant to let Yolanda see how seriously she considered these circumstances? Well, for one thing, she wasn’t used to having a boss. For years, Morgan ran her own show and was used to operating by her own set of rules. Plus she and Parker were both adults. She knew her assessment was shallow and Yolanda considered this a serious situation. She held a position of authority over Parker and even though her strong ethics enabled her to separate personal feelings from her professional ones, the mere appearance of impropriety would be enough for someone to question any grade she gave Parker, high or low.
“Morgan?”
“I heard you. I don’t know what to say without making you mad. Maybe I’m not cut out for this teacher gig after all. All my life, my every move has been calculated toward a specific end. I have one spontaneous tryst and next thing you know, I’ve thrown off the balance of the universe. If I were back in practice, this never would have happened.” Even as she spoke the words, she cringed at her lapse of logic.
“What, you never would have slept with her?”
“I don’t know. All I know is things wouldn’t be so complicated if I hadn’t.”
Yolanda looked long and hard at her, then said, “You haven’t acted like things were complicated. I never would have known if someone hadn’t said something.”
“Who?”
“Who what?”
Glaring, Morgan asked, “Who said something?”
“I can’t tell you who.” As Morgan’s face become heated with anger, she held up a hand. “I can’t tell you, because I’m required to keep anonymous the identity of anyone who reports a violation of the honor code.” She continued deliberately as if willing Morgan to hear beyond her words, “Because, if you knew the individual’s identity, you might be inclined to retaliate against him,” she paused for a few beats, “or her by taking some action like,” long pause again, “giving whoever it is a bad grade.” Yolanda’s long, hard stare punctuated the obvious meaning of her words.
Morgan turned through each phrase carefully and considered. So, a male student in one of my classes ratted on me. He must be in the Advanced Evidence class because it was the only place he would have seen us together. He chose to report me, not Parker, so he must be mad at me for some reason. The answer was crystal clear. She could see him now, fuming over his assignment to make trial notebooks for the team, while the others handled more substantive work. What in the hell could he have witnessed and why was he so sure his story would be believed? Like a flash, Morgan recalled the day she offered subtle comfort to Parker in class. Gerald’s eyes had watched her, full of rancor.
Morgan stored away the knowledge that Gerald Lopez had it in for her and directed her attention to dealing with Yolanda. “So, what are you going to do about this?”
“I guess it depends on what you’re going to do.”
“What kind of answer is that?”
“A reasoned one.” Yolanda sighed. “I don’t know what to do, but I have to figure out something. I have no doubt if I don’t deal with this, I’ll have another formal complaint to deal with”
“And I’ve been the cause of all of them.” As Yolanda started to protest, Morgan waved her off. “Seriously, Yo, it’s true. I don’t mean to cause so many problems. I’m not cut out for the politics of academia and, frankly, I don’t want to be. You better start looking for my replacement.”
“Whoa, there. I’m not replacing you, but we do need to figure out how to handle this. Go, do your trial, and when it’s over, we’ll figure this out.”
“What about Parker? Are you going to talk to her about this?” Morgan silently willed Yolanda to wait u
ntil after the trial. She didn’t want her action to rob Parker of the ability to work on the case, and she knew whatever Yolanda decided, she would be better equipped to deal with the fallout if this case were behind her.
“I do need to talk to her and I intend to. This situation affects her most of all.” Yolanda looked hard at Morgan, reading her plea. “It can keep another week. Go get ready for trial.”
*
Morgan stewed in her office for another hour after Yolanda left. She didn’t accomplish any real work, but did manage to work up quite a storm of anger over the complications caused by Yolanda’s late-night visit. She had half a mind to pack up her office and leave university life behind. Then she could see whoever she wanted and everyone else could be damned.
Did she want a relationship with Parker so badly she would pull up roots here so soon after having found a place to settle? The question sent her spinning. She could name a few things she knew she wanted, but none of them answered the larger question about a relationship. She wanted to crawl up next to Parker and trade whispered versions of their most intimate secrets. She wanted to run her fingers through her thick, unruly hair while listening to her share her favorite color, her favorite food, her favorite music. She wanted to gently slide her hands along the buttons of Parker’s jeans and feel her passion on her fingers while they shared their dreams and fears.
Strong knocks jerked Morgan from her thoughts. She scrambled to compose her heated thoughts and croaked “Come in” toward her office door.
“Burning the midnight oil?”
She was surprised to see Jim Spencer. Though their offices were next door to each other, she’d been too busy over the last few weeks to do more than give him a quick wave as they passed in the hall. Ever since their outing at Rangers Ballpark, he made a point of stopping by her office each week to renew his offer to help her with anything, anything at all. While she appreciated his earnest desire to make her feel at home, she had actually settled in on her own. Other than asking him to judge the competition to determine who would work on the Chavez trial team, she brushed off his regular offers of assistance. Seeing him here, late at night, she felt a twinge of guilt at not having reciprocated with some goodwill of her own.
“Actually, I might be merely burning out.” She waved him in. “What in the world are you doing here so late on a Friday night?”
“Ruining my reputation as a Casanova, apparently.” He grinned. “I had no idea anyone else was here. I could lie to you and say I ran by here after a hot date, but frankly I was on a geeky exam-writing roll and didn’t want to risk losing the evil genius mindset. Then I saw Yolanda leaving your office and was overcome with curiosity as to what she would be doing here so late on a Friday night. So I came over to see if you have any juicy gossip you’d care to share. It is your turn, you know.”
Morgan stared at his eager expression and pondered an appropriate lie. She decided her efforts to dissemble weren’t worth the energy and she plunged in before she could change her mind. “I have a hypothetical question for you.”
“Go ahead.”
“Suppose a professor had an affair with one of her, or his, students.” She stopped to gauge his initial reaction. He nodded, encouraging her to continue. “Is there any way to resolve the situation without sending the world crashing down around them?”
“Pretty broad question, Professor,” Jim said, pointedly. “I assume both parties are legally adults?” He waited for her nod. “And the student is currently enrolled in the professor’s class?”
Morgan nodded again and added, “The affair started before they ever even knew they would have a teacher-student relationship.”
Jim rubbed his chin. “Interesting. So they started seeing each other when there was no professional benefit to be gained by either party.”
“Right.”
“And they kept seeing each other after they entered into the professional relationship?”
Morgan squirmed a little at the word “seeing,” certain Jim assigned more to its meaning than the casual sex she’d experienced so far with Parker. She almost corrected him, but held back. Though she kept referring to her encounters with Parker as casual, they were anything but. Casual sex by definition wouldn’t have left her filled with such raw and open need for more.
“And I assume part of the problem stems from the fact neither wants to end the personal part of the relationship.”
She had no idea how Parker felt about their relationship or even if Parker thought what they had constituted a relationship. As for herself, she was no closer to an answer about what she wanted. She decided since the question was supposed to be hypothetical, she may as well go out on a limb. “Yes, they want a chance to see where the relationship goes.”
“Pass/Fail.”
“Excuse me?”
“Pass/Fail. If both parties agree, then she, the student, can get a pass/fail grade, thereby eliminating any suspicion her loving professor gave her a good grade in class because she gets good grades outside the classroom, if you know what I mean. It’s more of a big deal for the student, since if she was on track for an excellent grade, her transcript will suffer, but it’s better than having to take the whole class over or have no credit for the class at all.”
Morgan rolled the thought over in her head. “Interesting solution.”
“Sure it is. Of course, my advice is worth what it cost you.”
“Then I better pay you something to make it golden. I went to dinner already, but I didn’t feel like eating. Are you hungry?”
“Always.”
“Lead the way.” As she turned off the light to her office, Morgan wondered how Parker would feel about Jim’s solution. Even as she had the thought she felt silly. Parker had a lot at stake. She was on track to graduate at the top of her class with an impeccable transcript full of high marks. What in the world was she thinking to consider asking Parker to take a simple “Pass” for six hours of grueling coursework in her chosen field, all because Morgan wanted to see if they had a chance at a relationship? Hell, she didn’t have a clue if Parker wanted anything more than what they had already shared. Considering she wasn’t sure herself, she had no business asking Parker to join her in disclosing a relationship, especially in light of Parker’s past. Parker had already suffered enormous loss as a result of telling the truth. Morgan wasn’t going to ask her to risk a similar sacrifice. Doubt crawled in and chilled her warm thoughts of happily ever after. No, better to finish the trial and bow quietly out of this politically charged teaching gig. There would still be enough time left in the semester for someone else to take over and assign a real grade to the star student.
Chapter Eighteen
“We’ve talked to most of her friends and we keep hearing the same thing. ‘Camille was a wonderful person, a kind and gentle friend. We can’t imagine anyone who would want to hurt her.’” Dex pushed aside his notes and rubbed his red eyes. None of them had gotten much sleep in the last week and Parker and Dex, still carrying a full class schedule, were both feeling the pain. They were gathered in a conference room at the law school on Friday afternoon to begin a weekend’s worth of last-ditch trial preparation.
“We have one more name: Leslie Hammond. She’s out of the country, but she gets back Tuesday. I’ll hang out near her apartment and try and catch her when she gets in from the airport,” Jake volunteered, seemingly undaunted by the schedule they had all been keeping the last week.
“Okay, but I don’t think she’ll have anything to add. Even Camille’s acquaintances can’t imagine she would have any enemies.” Parker looked toward the door of their makeshift war room, wondering when Morgan and Ford would join them. The team had worked on separate assignments during the past week, so she hadn’t seen much of Morgan and when she had they had been in the company of others, which meant they hadn’t spoken about the “incident.” Parker was ambivalent. She wanted to square things with Morgan, but she wasn’t sure what “square” meant in these circumstances. She was hor
ribly embarrassed that she had run like a chicken at the sight of Morgan with another woman. Hell, they’d only been talking. For all she knew there was nothing going on between them. Even as she finished the thought, she knew she was deluding herself. The blonde had been drooling. And who wouldn’t? Morgan was a supreme catch. She was brilliant, tough, sharp, and witty. As if those attributes weren’t enough to attract hordes of admirers, she was beautiful as well. Parker resigned herself to the fact she was only one of many admirers and even though she felt like there was more of a connection, Morgan’s actions since the other night put a chill on any such thoughts. Morgan had been polite but cool. No more subtle touches and grabbed chances to be close. No more glances held beyond the bounds of professional courtesy. All weekend long, Morgan had directed more questions at Dex and Gerald and rarely met Parker’s eyes. She seemed to be making a point to keep both a physical and emotional boundary erected between them. It was as if she had decided to adhere to her original resolution, shared on the park bench the first day of classes, to keep their relationship completely compartmentalized. Fine, Parker thought, I can compartmentalize too. The only chinks in the boundary are a few rounds of sex and me spilling my guts after too much alcohol. Consider it forgotten. But it wasn’t, and she knew in a place deep inside that she had been more intimate with Morgan than with any other person in her life.
*
“Sorry we’re late.” Morgan and Ford entered the room, and the group launched into a discussion of what was left to do to prepare for trial. Stealing a glance at Parker, Morgan fought to put her discussion with Yolanda out of her head and concentrate on trial prep.
The one thing Morgan knew she couldn’t teach was the most important thing of all. Flexibility. She remembered her first trial. Though she was the lead attorney, a partner at the firm had sat second chair. She wasn’t sure at the time if his presence was to provide assistance or to take over when she got so nervous she threw up. She didn’t throw up, but she did learn the limited value of the many nights she spent carefully planning the clever cross-examination questions she would ask and the insightful objections she would raise.