"Baby."
She groaned and rolled over, pulling the sheets closer to her chin.
"Baby, your phone."
Charlotte's eyes cracked open and was greeted by bright sunlight, streaming through the sheer curtains. It was then that she noticed a faint buzzing sound coming from somewhere near her head.
"Please answer it, this is the third time it's gone off." Josh mumbled from beside her.
Charlotte grabbed at the area that the sound was coming from until she finally grabbed her phone, then sat up and answered it.
"Hello?" She said, trying not to sound too groggy.
"Good Morning Ms. Matthews, this is Kathleen calling from Dean Lewis' office. I hope I didn't wake you up."
A shock of energy shot through her as she registered the official sounding voice on the other end and she quickly cleared her throat.
"Oh, hi Kathleen. I mean, good morning. No, you didn't wake me up. What can I do for you?"
Charlotte imagined a model looking blonde sitting at a polished desk in a high end office as she searched for the clock in Josh's room. She finally found it and noted that it read nine thirty as she hopped out of bed and began searching for her clothes.
"Wonderful. Well Ms. Matthews, we were hoping you would be available today to meet with the Dean."
She had one leg in her jeans as she stopped and fell into a chair behind her. Josh looked at her in confusion, but she ignored him.
"A meeting? Today? I'm sorry, but what is this about?"
In reality, she knew exactly what it was about, but she was going to feign ignorance for as long as possible. She heard the receptionist typing away on a keyboard in the background as she apparently tried to figure out what the meeting was actually for.
"I'm sorry, there isn't an exact reason available to me, but there is a note on here that says it is very important. Can you be here by ten?"
Remembering that she was all the way across the city and not on campus, she told her no.
"Sorry, but I'm actually across town at a friend's and it'll take me longer to get there. Could we do eleven?"
There was more clicking as Kathleen typed away.
"Yes, it looks like eleven will do nicely."
"Oh good. Um. Do I need to bring anything?"
"Nope, just yourself and you're student ID. Thank you Ms. Matthews, we'll see you at eleven."
There was a click followed by silence, and Charlotte set her phone down on the chair, half in her jeans and half out of them. She slumped back into her chair and stared at the ceiling, willing eleven to never come, but she knew it would and she would have to go. She closed her eyes and started counting backwards in an attempt to calm her racing heart.
"Charlotte?"
Her eye's snapped back open to find Josh standing over her, managing to look amused and concerned at the same time. She didn't know how he did it, but he managed to still look sexy while doing it. The view didn't improve her mood though.
"It's the Dean. He wants to see me in less than two hours."
Josh quirked an eyebrow at her.
"Really? Well that'll be a short meeting."
Charlotte pulled her jeans on the rest of the way and stood up, her hands on her hips.
"Yeah, maybe. But the whole thing will seem like forever because I'll be stressed out within an inch of my life." She said sarcastically.
She walked passed Josh, who looked like he was suppressing a smile, and into the bathroom. This was just what she needed. A meeting with the Dean to deny her relationship with her Professor, all while said Professor was probably going to be waiting for her back at his place. And she was on her period. Great.
Sighing, she made her way way into the kitchen, where she found Josh completely dressed and sipping a coffee while reading off his tablet. She immediately grabbed a mug and poured herself some coffee. Adding minute amounts of cream and sugar, she sat on the stool next to Josh and glanced at his screen. It looked like an email, but she didn't get long to look because Josh chose that moment to lock the screen and set the tablet down.
"How are you getting to the school?" He asked.
Charlotte took a particularly large gulp of coffee and swallowed hard, making a face in the process.
"Aren't you driving me?"
Josh looked at her thoughtfully for a moment.
"Well, I could. But it may be a bad idea for you to be dropped off to a meeting about a policy violation by your professor."
She grimaced but agreed.
"Yeah, I guess you're right. Let's hope that Casey isn't hungover, I guess she's driving me."
Josh smiled wanly at her and stood up. He walked towards her slowly, then took the mug from her hands and placed it on the counter behind her. Then he pulled her into an embrace.
"You know I would happily drive you if I could."
Charlotte nodded. She knew he was right, but she still wished that he could take her. She was less antsy around him, and she knew that his presence would calm her down immensely. Sighing, she picked up her coffee mug and drained what was left, then placed it in the sink. It was already ten after, and she had put it off long enough; it was time to wake up Casey. If Charlotte knew her friend, and she felt that she did, Casey would be knocked out on the couch with an empty wine bottle on the floor. The phone rang four times before it was finally answered by a scratchy voice on the other end.
"Hello?" Casey said. She sounded like death, but at least she was awake.
"Casey? It's Charlotte."
"Yeah," she muttered.
Charlotte sighed, blowing some stray hair out of her eyes.
"I need a ride."
The weather wasn't much better than it was the day before. In fact, it might have been worse. Icy sheets of rain pounded the windshield of Casey's car as she drove Charlotte to the school. Traffic was backed up from the weather, and her wipers were on full swing as they slowly inched closer to campus.
"Ugh!" Casey slammed her hand against the horn as a green Honda cut her off. "How do you deal with this traffic?"
Charlotte shrugged as she settled back in her seat. It was barely past ten thirty, and they weren't far from the school, but the state of traffic was making her nervous. This was not a meeting she wanted to be late for.
"I don't ever have to deal with it. If Josh isn't driving me somewhere, then I'm usually walking." Their line crept forward another few feet before coming to a halt, and Casey pursed her lips.
"Speaking of Josh, did he tell you what the deal was with this meeting? What are you supposed to say?"
She nodded.
"He told me to be hurt by any accusation of having an affair, but to bring up Owen as someone who has it out for us-I mean me. Besides, I want to make Owen's life as difficult for him as he's made mine. It's not like I need any motivation."
Casey nodded darkly as traffic began to move again, this time creeping up towards a quicker pace. Finally they were moving again. Charlotte released a breath she didn't even know she was holding.
"Nervous?"
She swallowed hard as they passed the sign for NYU.
"A little," she lied. She was dreadfully nervous. "I would feel better if Josh were able to ride with us."
Casey looked at her sympathetically as she pulled to the curb and put the car in park.
"I know." She sighed and grabbed her friend's hand. "Listen, you got this. Josh said they don't have anything on you, and I believe him. The school is on your side too, just go with it and everything will be fine."
Charlotte nodded.
"Right. I got this." She looked at Casey. "Thanks for the ride. I don't know how long I'll be, so you may want to just head back to the condo. I can walk there from here, it's not far."
Casey looked at the rain pounding on the windshield.
"In this weather? I don't think so. I'll be waiting just across the street in the parking lot. Just text me when you're done and I'll pull around and get you."
Charlotte rolled her eyes but conceded, knowing that Casey had a point.
"Alright. Wish me luck."
"Good luck."
Charlotte pushed the door open and sprinted into the school, trying to stay as dry as possible. She didn't fair to bad, and she made her way to the Dean's office. Even though she walked there, she was constantly working to catch her breath, and she had to remind herself to calm down. She didn't want to appear nervous or scared; on the contrary she simply wanted to appear cool and maybe a little curious.
Before she rounded the last corner, she pressed herself against the wall and took a deep breath, giving herself a little mental pep-talk. Casey and Josh were right, what was there to be afraid of? All the school was doing was looking into a complaint, which they had to do legally. That's all. It didn't mean that they were going to kick her out.
Feeling slightly more calm and confident, she stepped around the corner and made her last stretch down the hall towards the Dean's office. She had slipped on her mask of curiosity and confusion and was prepared to check in at the receptionist's desk when the door to the office opened, startling her. She turned to see who it was and her mask slipped as Owen stepped out of the Dean's office, a look of smug victory on his face.
Of course he saw Charlotte. He looked right at her as he strode confidently past her and down the hall. He didn't speak to her, nor did he look back before he rounded the corner. The look on his face was burned into her eyes, and now she was shaking uncontrollably, all the plans that she had for this meeting were no longer in her mind. They were gone. The first thought she had was to quickly text Josh and find out what to do. But before she could pull out her phone, the receptionist had looked up from her computer and noticed her.
"Are you Ms. Matthews?"
Charlotte turned around to face the desk and forced herself to close her mouth. Her jaw had still been hanging open in shock.
"I-yes. Charlotte Matthews."
It turns out the receptionist was blonde, and she nodded as she typed away on her computer.
"Very good. Please have a seat and the Dean will be right with you."
Charlotte nodded blankly and slowly ambled her way towards a seat. Oh, what to do, what to do? Josh couldn't help her now, she would have to do this on her own. Just stick to the plan. At the very least though, she had to let him know Owen was here, but she was too paranoid to contact him directly. She settled on texting Casey, who could then get a hold of Josh and tell him.
Charlie: Owen just left the Dean's office before me.
Casey: What?! That bastard! Are you ok?
Charlie: Fine, I guess. You gotta tell Josh. I gotta go though. Text you after.
She shut her phone and set it to vibrate, then placed it in her purse. She didn't want to be caught on her phone when the Dean called her in, it just seemed unprofessional. Sitting and waiting was the worst part. She got antsy, wondering what he was doing, and what Owen had told him. Not to mention why Owen looked so happy. That couldn't mean anything good.
"Ms. Matthews?"
Charlotte bit particularly hard through her lip and she tasted blood. She didn't even realize she had been chewing on it until the receptionist called her.
"Yes?"
"You can go in. The Dean will see you now."
Her heart rate increased significantly as she nodded and walked towards the dark mahogany door. She turned the brass handle and stepped into the large office. It was bigger than Josh's by quite a bit; there were three large floor-to-ceiling windows on one side, rain pounding against them, with several large bookshelves along the opposite wall. Against the third wall, between the windows and the books, sat the Dean at a very large cherry wood desk. It seemed to be covered with files and paperwork, but the Dean paid no attention to any of it. He had stood up as Charlotte approached and extended his hand to her, which Charlotte took gingerly. They shook hands, and he gestured for her to sit, which she did.
"Ms. Matthews, thank you for meeting me on such short notice. I trust you know why you're here?"
Charlotte gulped but managed to find her small ball of confidence.
"It's really no trouble at all, sir. But no, I can't say I know the reason for my visit."
The Dean shifted uncomfortably in his chair, and Charlotte braced herself. This was it.
"Certain problems have recently come to my attention, Ms. Matthews. Certain problems concerning you. Tell me, what is your relationship with Professor Hutcherson?"
Jeez, she thought. He cuts right to the chase.
"I'm sorry sir, I don't know exactly what you mean. Professor Hutcherson is only a professor to me, albeit a very good professor. In fact I'd have to say he's probably the best Psychology professor I've ever had. Why do you ask? Has something happened to him?"
The Dean shook his head and leaned forward, folding his hands carefully on the desk.
"No, nothing has happened to the Professor. However, there have been recent complaints that you and Professor Hutcherson engaged in an inappropriate relationship in exchange for your grade in his class."
Charlotte's jaw dropped.
"Excuse me? That's outrageous. I would never-! Who is saying these things? I earned my grade in that class the same way everyone else did: by nothing more or less than hard work!" Charlotte could feel her face turning red, and in a way, she was glad she saw Owen before this meeting. It helped her to channel her anger more efficiently. "It was Owen, wasn't it?" She said quietly.
"I beg your pardon?"
"Owen Holt. I filed a complaint against him the other day for harassment. It was him that reported me, wasn't it? He was in Professor Hutcherson's class with me, and I refused to go out with him. Then he began to harass me and I finally had to report him. Now he's done this for revenge. Oh, I knew should have reported him sooner."
Charlotte sat back in her chair, emotionally exhausted. She was on a roll, thankful for all that time she spent doing theater in high school. The Dean appeared shocked at her emotional outburst, yet sympathetic.
"I can't tell you who reported you, Ms. Matthews, but I have to say that if Mr. Holt is harassing you, we take all complaints of harassment very seriously and we will be looking into your complaint against him. However, your explanation still doesn't explain the pictures."
Charlotte paled.
"Pictures? What pictures?"
The Dean had pulled out a manila envelope and took a small stack of pictures from it. The pictures showed Josh helping the movers take boxes into her new condo, and Charlotte was in a few of them too. Their faces were clear in both of them, there was no denying that it was them. Thankfully, there were only a few of them, and they showed nothing more than her and Josh carrying boxes. So this is what Owen had up his sleeve.
"Can you explain these, Ms. Matthews?"
Charlotte thought quickly as she pushed each picture aside, looking at them carefully.
"Yes, I can," She said. "This is kind of embarrassing...after the Professor found out that Owen was harassing me, he encouraged me to report it, but I was too scared to do so yet. However, he learned that I lived alone and was moving on account of Owen knowing where I lived.
"I don't have any friends or family in the area, Dean Lewis, and after learning that, the Professor offered to help me move and I accepted. I felt better having someone with me that I could trust. I'm sorry if I overstepped the line, but if this is the only evidence someone has against me and is using this to say I had an affair, then they are very much delusional."
The Dean stared at her. Charlotte couldn't tell if he believed her or not, but at the very least she believed herself. Her story explained the pictures, yet still put her in the light of the innocent victim who simply made a small mistake while looking for safety. The Dean sighed and shuffled the pictures in front of him, then slipped them back into the envelope.
"Be that as it may, Ms. Matthews, we still received the complaint long before your move, and now these pictures reinforce that complaint. These could be perceived as evidence to an affair instead of a simple good deed to some people, so until we find out more on this matter, I'm going to have to suspend your grade in Professor Hutcherson's class and place you on academic probation."