Chapter 21

The next morning, Megs sat in her plush roller chair in the back office of the medical center, her fingers flying across the keyboard. It had already been two hours. Each day she came into work, it was like pulling teeth to force herself to sit down at the computer and start working through the insurance claims. But once she got into it, her mind dropped into a flow that was almost dangerous. This wasn’t the first time she’d looked up to see that hours had passed when it had only felt like a few minutes.

But that was exactly what she needed. The events of the past week threatened to drown her, and this allowed her space to breathe. She loved that it was so quiet. The only sounds were the occasional printer or hushed conversation in the hall. Her office was small, but cozy. Her own little sanctuary.

"Hey, Megs!" Grace, one of her new coworkers, leaned through the door. "Lunch will be in the conference room today. We have a drug rep stopping by."

Megs smiled and nodded. She wouldn’t say no to that.

The day flew by, and though she’d only made a dent in the claims needing submission, she felt good about her progress. Since it was Wednesday, she left the office in time to drive up to Champlain for class, though today, that wasn’t where she was heading.

The quiet office had given her time to think. To process. To come up with a plan of action. When she’d woken up that morning, her night at the fall festival was still standing there in front of her face, waiting to be confronted. Gideon’s confession to Alli in the corn maze. Oscar’s attempt to kiss her.

Surprisingly, now she felt more centered than she had in weeks. Instead of breaking her down, once she’d been able to look from a distance, both of those events on the same night acted as a lens that brought everything she’d been wrestling with into perfect focus.

Megs got in her car and started the drive up to campus. She left a quick voice message with Haley to let her know she’d be at karaoke that weekend, then texted Frank at a red light to see if she could use his truck that night to take another load over to her new house.

It wasn’t until she parked in the lot at Champlain that her nerves kicked in. She turned off the car and gripped the wheel as she drew a deep breath and held it. This was the right thing to do. As she exhaled, Megs grabbed her bag and stepped out of the car, then headed up the walkway to the admin building.

Gideon stood at the front of the room and worked his way through that afternoon’s lecture. Megs’ seat next to Erik was noticeably absent, and he felt selfish that he was relieved. After his reaction to her standing in front of him at the bonfire, he didn’t trust himself to be functional in her presence.

When he and Alli had come out of the corn maze the night before, he hadn’t seen her there. When he’d asked the others where she was, Sean said he’d seen her go to her car at some point. At least he knew she’d left, but now he started to worry.

Not that Megs owed him any explanation for missing class, it just wasn’t like her. Which meant it probably had something to do with what happened at the back of this classroom. Guilt opened a hole in his chest.

"Professor, what are the cons of over-compressing a track?" Erik asked.

"Over-compression can cause a loss of dynamics and make the overall sound lifeless . . .” Gideon continued his explanation, the words muscle memory at this point. His students couldn’t be enjoying this. Even he was annoyed with his own voice.

As the class dragged on, Gideon thought about stopping by Professor Stace’s room again. It wouldn’t accomplish anything, but not knowing who filed that complaint was driving him insane. He hadn’t done anything inappropriate with Jennifer despite her incessant flirting. But the knowledge of what had happened with Megs wouldn’t let him rest.

He needed to make it right.

Regardless of when that complaint was filed, he should’ve taken action the second Megs turned in her first assignments. Though, he couldn’t have anticipated feeling like this.

He thought he had it under control, and he’d been wrong. He couldn’t be an unbiased judge of her work because he adored everything about her. She could record her thoughts on a busy street with terrible EQ and interference and he’d be obsessed with it.

Jennifer’s hand shot up, pulling him from his thoughts. Gideon cleared his throat and nodded for her to ask her question.

“I’m sorry, Professor, but I have to leave. It’s important.”

Gideon frowned. “Oh, okay. No problem.”

Jennifer was holding her phone as she gathered up her things and darted out the door. Strange. Gideon glanced at the clock on the back wall. Only fifteen more minutes.

He closed his computer and opened up the rest of the class for questions since his energy was sapped. He answered a few queries about their next recording project, and then when no other hands went up, he dismissed them early.

When the room was empty, he sat at his desk and pulled out his phone. No messages. It was the first time in days that Alli hadn’t texted, which meant their conversation last night had sunk in. At least there was that.

“Gideon, wait.” Alli crossed the distance between their cars in the parking lot. “I just need to know if there’s a chance.”

Gideon’s hand tightened on his door handle. “A chance for what?”

She gave him a look that said really? “A chance for this to work. You and me. Round two.”

Gideon chuckled. He liked Alli. She was fun and bubbly, just like she’d been in college. But based on the fact that the whole time they’d been walking through the maze he’d been wondering where Megs was, he knew there wasn’t anything more than friendship on the table for him.

“I’m glad we were all able to reconnect.”

Alli waited for him to continue. When he didn’t, she asked, “But?”

“But I think friendship is the only thing I’m looking for right now.”

She’d taken it well, all things considering.

Gideon tapped on his messages and scrolled to Megs’ number. He should apologize. Say something so she knew it wasn’t her fault. But he shouldn’t text a student.

Though, a claim had already been filed, so what more harm could he do? He pulled up their text chain and started typing when a call came through.

“Hello?”

“Professor Adams?” a woman's voice asked.

“Yep, that’s me.”

“Hi, this is Lucy. I’m the Title Nine Coordinator here at Champlain.”

Gideon’s chest tightened. “What can I help you with?”

“Actually, I was just calling to let you know that your meeting tomorrow won’t be necessary. The student listed in the claim that was filed against you submitted information detailing how she was the responsible party. I just sent some information to your email regarding your rights and the process you would need to follow if you’d like to pursue this further.”

“As in file a claim against the student?”

“Right. Though, based on what the student already admitted to, I don’t believe it would be necessary. It wouldn’t result in any further disciplinary action, but it could be good to have a written record on file.”

“Disciplinary action?”

“Yes, the student in question has been dropped from all classes at Champlain. She’ll no longer be on your roster or allowed to register for classes. We didn’t feel her actions warranted any further investigation or local authority involvement, but again the information I sent via email details that process if you wished to press charges.”

Gideon nodded, working to take this all in. The student in question has been dropped from all classes at Champlain. He thought back to Jennifer leaving class early. Had she gone over to the admin building and admitted to harassment? Yes, she’d been flirty, and yes, she’d tried to get him alone on multiple occasions, succeeded twice, but she hadn’t done anything harmful. She’d never crossed a line.

“Do you have any other questions for me?” Lucy asked.

“No, thank you. I appreciate your help.”

“Of course, Professor Adams. Take a look at that information and I’m always available via email or at extension four twenty-one if you have any questions.”

“Thanks.”

Gideon dropped the phone from his ear. Relief surged through him just as a pang of guilt pricked his stomach. Wasn’t that a bit harsh? He opened his email and saw the message Lucy had referenced. He clicked on the first attachment, but knew immediately he didn’t have the energy to read through those massive blocks of text.

He closed his computer and packed up, then walked into the hall. By the time he got to his car, he remembered what he’d been doing on his phone before that call from Lucy had come through.

Gideon tossed his bag into the passenger seat and sat down, then pulled out his phone and opened his messages. He could deal with Title Nine tonight after he had something to eat, but he needed to apologize to Megs now.

Hey. Didn’t see you in class today and wanted to make sure everything’s okay. I know a text is probably the exact wrong thing, but I needed to apologize. I’m sorry, Megs. I’m going to make this right, and I need you to know I never meant to cause harm

Cause harm. That was so clinical. Gideon pressed send anyway, then dropped his phone on the seat next to his bag. Pressure built behind his eyes as he drove home and took the stairs two at a time to his apartment.

It felt good to do something physical. He’d been so busy the past few nights, he hadn’t made an effort to get to the gym. He should have time to do that in the morning since the final audition with Oscar wasn’t until that night.

He was surprised at the relief he felt at knowing the competition was almost over. He hadn’t been lying when he told Alli he was glad they’d all gotten back together again. It had almost felt like a summer camp.

He wondered if Matt felt like it had been worth it. Based on the orange sticker next to Oscar’s book online, he guessed it had at least worked in one respect. Heartsong was in the top ten on at least the few online stores Gideon had checked out of curiosity, and while he hadn’t straight up asked Oscar whether he was happy with sales, that had to be good.

Gideon made himself a quick sandwich, no energy for grilled onions, and sat down at the counter with his laptop. He filled in the information for his department head, then started to type.