Life Is So Unfair

Thanks to Dollybigmomma for her wicked Beta skills.

Thanks to Stephenie Meyer for bringing us these wonderful characters.

Thanks to all who read and review.

Chapter 26

EDWARD

After Bella left my office, I heard a little of what Victoria said to her, making it sound as if Bella couldn't see me if I were available. I would like to see Mrs. Samples try to stop her. Her iron-fisted ruling of her secretarial duties and her possessiveness toward those she worked for was quite scary. I was glad that I had little to do with her, even though I knew she hated the fact that I managed all of my correspondence myself. A security monitor on my email account had reported that she had tried twice to gain access, and this was after I had told her my security details had been changed and she would not be required to access my account. I couldn't help but wonder what she playing at, and I most certainly didn't trust her.

I also knew from comments I'd overheard that the rest of the professors were petrified of her. She had them by the short and curlies and I was glad I had stuck to my guns from the offset. Something really needed to be done about her. If I still had a job tomorrow, it might just have to be me.

Nervous was only a partial description for what I felt as my appointment drew closer. My poor hair was taking the brunt as my fingers found it over and over, raking and pulling. Jesus, I'd be bald if I didn't get a fucking grip. A strong cup of coffee was no help, either, as I sat at my desk drilling my fingers on the smooth hard wood.

I set off in good time and made my way to where the administrator's offices were. His secretary told me to take a seat while I waited. I knew I was a good few minutes early, but I wanted to make a good impression. He was in with someone already and I could not go in until that meeting was over. Now my fucking nails were chewed down to the wicks.

The office door to my left opened and a youngish-looking man who was really skinny and looked like he had stepped out of a time machine the way he was dressed walked out. Poor bloke looked like his mummy dressed him. I had never seen him before, but he looked harassed and very nervous as well as totally stressed out. He did not look at me, but sidled away with his head down. I knew just how he felt. I was sweating buckets now and felt sick to my stomach.

The shrill ringing of the telephone on the desk of the administrator's PA made me turn my head to look in her direction. She motioned for me to go in. This was it then I told myself, getting up slowly and walking toward the closed door.

I knocked and waited to be told to enter. Once inside, I was told to take a seat in one of the two vacant chairs in front of his desk.

"Edward, thank you for coming on such short notice, I know how busy you are. So, young man, how are things going this year so far? How are you finding juggling two subjects? Going okay is it?" he asked sounding relaxed and not accusatory.

I relaxed a little, too, before answering. "Well, Sir, it was hard at first; the first couple of weeks were all about finding the right balance, but I think I found it and now it's all good. The lessons and subjects are working really well and I think my students are progressing as they should be. I make myself available for interviews and questions as much as I possibly can."

"Good, good. So, Edward, I think you must be wondering why you're here?"

"You could say that, yes."

"You're associated with Victoria Samples, the secretary assigned to you, are you not?"

"I am, of course. Is something wrong?"

He sighed deeply and I wondered what the hell was going on. "Edward, she's made some allegations against you. She's put in a formal complaint against you for sexual harassment."

"What? Why would she do that? I don't even know the woman beyond her secretarial status in the department, and I've certainly never sexually harassed her or anyone else for that matter. Can I see her complaint? What can I do about it?"

"Edward, calm down, please. She's filed a written report that you'll receive a copy of. You need to get yourself some representation so that you can defend yourself. Now, I know she has a reputation for being forward and I myself have had to speak to her on several occasions about the way she dresses, but this is serious, Edward; this time she's gone over me and straight to the college board. They're duty-bound to investigate and I wanted to give you a heads up, lad. You'll be suspended with full pay pending their enquiry. Can you think of anything you might have done that could have been misconstrued? Anything at all?"

I was absolutely dumbfounded. Here I was thinking this would be about my relationship with Bella, but no, it was even worse because at least if it were about me and Bella, it would be based on truth. This was just a vicious set of lies from a woman who I knocked back. After our initial meeting in the car park on orientation day, I had had little to do with the woman. Sure, she was about three doors away from me and did act as my secretary, but I did all my own correspondence and I only needed her to do the more formal college stuff. Maybe she was not used to being knocked back, or being surplus to requirements.

"The only thing I can think of, Sir, is that I told her I'd be dealing with my own correspondence and would only need her to handle the official college stuff. I run a pretty tight ship and my previous students have responded well to emails coming directly from me. I thought it would be a good idea to continue like that and I have. Oh, and I changed all my passwords to my email account so she couldn't have access. She's tried to get access a couple of time since, even though I told her not to. I have a new security system in place that reports to me when an incorrect password has been used. Maybe she feels I've snubbed her somehow. I really don't know; I can't really believe it."

"Edward, I can tell by your face that this is a shock and, well, my gut instinct tells me you're being honest. I believe you, lad, but it's not up to me and what I think will have no bearing. Do you know any good lawyers?"

"A friend of the family, Jason Jenks, he'll help me. But when he shoots all this down in flames, he's going to want her fired and I think that's only right and just, seeing as she's sullying my reputation. I still can't quite believe it. When will the board meet to discuss the complaint? Do you know?"

"They received it first thing today, so my guess is that they'll call an emergency meeting and want to meet with you tomorrow or the day after. They might ask me to suspend you before they meet with you. I just don't know."

"Okay, look, I'll get onto Jason tonight. Ring me if I'm not to come in tomorrow. I can't believe this is happening. Why would she do something like this to me? I hardly know her."

"She's an odd one, that's for sure. The gentleman you saw leaving my office before was her unfortunate husband. Poor bloke. He delivered the written complaint after she phoned it in."

"The guy who looked scared to death is married to Victoria? Jesus, no wonder he looks like he did. She'd eat him alive, poor guy. Will I be okay getting Jason on board before I know officially? Will I be able to bring him to the meeting if they want one?"

"Once they contact me, I'll know more. I'll be the one to ring, too, you so you can tell them you've instructed your solicitor then. I'll do whatever I can to help, Edward, but my hands are pretty tied. Victoria's personnel file will be made available to you and your representation. It has some, let's say, interesting things in there. Make sure you use it to your advantage."

"Well, she has nothing on me, nothing at all. Her whole claim is a ridiculous lie."

"Go on then, lad, be off. Look, I know this is a stupid thing to say, but try not to worry; the truth will come out in the end." I got up and shook his hand, still more than a little dazed.

I was glad I had brought all the stuff I needed from out of my office because if I had to go back there right now, I just might have killed a certain someone. My shock turned to anger as I drove home.

Jason was happy to come to mine after work so we could talk. Shit, what would Bella think about all this crap? I needed to make sure she wasn't dragged into this. God, her dad was going to have a field day with this juicy news.

If I thought the knowledge of me and Bella was stressing me out, it had nothing on this. Pacing seemed to have become what I did nowadays, that and chewing my fingernails until the ends of my fingers were sore. When a small knock came to my door, I knew it was her.

"Bella, come in," I said opening the door and moving aside to let her move past me.

"Edward, what is it? You look terrible. Please, baby, talk to me." She grabbed hold of my hand and pulled me over to my sofa.

"We're in the clear, Bella, for now at least. It's something else entirely. I really don't know how to tell you."

"Just start at the beginning, please; you're worrying me now."

I told her word for word what I was told. Her lovely face changed from one of shock to anger, and then she was upset. Tears flowed freely down her cheeks and I could not help but pull her to me.

"Why would she do something like that, Edward? What could she hope to gain? I'm so, so sorry, what can I do to help? I'll admit our relationship if it helps. If they know you're committed to me, they'll see she's lying."

"You haven't even asked me if she's telling the truth."

"I know she isn't."

"You have that much faith in me?"

"I have total faith in you, in us, how you feel about me. I love you, Edward. I know you're not interested in her, you told me so. Don't forget about her coming on to you, too. I can be a witness for you if you'll let me. It was ages ago."

"An old friend is coming by tonight. He's a lawyer, he'll be my representation. Maybe when she sees I'm going to fight her on this, she'll back down. Once we get the letter, we'll know what she has. It can't be much, if anything at all."

"Shall I stay to meet with him?"

"No need, love. Maybe later on if it's absolutely necessary. I'll probably be suspended from teaching while they investigate. I'll miss you, not seeing you in class and at lunchtime," I whispered and kissed her tenderly on the lips.

"I don't want to go, I want to stay and support you, Edward; that's what partners do. Please let me stay," she clung to me.

"Not tonight, Bella. I want to keep you out of this if at all possible. I'll tell Jason about you and me tonight, see if he thinks it'll help, but I don't want you here, not for our initial meeting. Look, I love that you have complete faith in me, truly I do, but I'm kind of struggling to think that someone could do something like this to me. It makes me feel dirty, you know?"

"Okay, I'll go now, but I'm coming back when he's gone. No arguments, I want to spend the night wrapped up in your arms. I want to comfort you, be here for you if you need me. I love you, Edward, let me help you. It'll make me feel better, too."

"How can I say no to an offer like that?" I led her out of the door, following her so I could drop her off like we'd planned earlier in the day.

Jason's knock a few hours later startled me, as I was away with the fairies. I'd been sat here going over and over each and every bit of interaction I'd ever had with Victoria Samples. There was nothing, absolutely fucking nothing that could be classed as any sort of sexual harassment. Polite, short conversations, all work related, curt and to the point, were all we had ever shared. She definitely wasn't someone I conversed with on a social level.

"Edward, how are you holding up?" Jason asked shaking my hand.

"How do you think? Thanks for coming, mate."

"Well, let's sit down see if we can work out this mess, eh?" Jason smiled reassuringly.

For the next couple of hours, I talked, and I mean talked. It all came out, from how I met Bella, to falling for her, to my meeting today. Jason was quiet; he was busy taking notes and did not interrupt.

"So, that's it, all in a nutshell."

"Okay then, well, first off, I'm shocked that you're disregarding college rules and having a relationship with a student. I get that she's twenty-one, but she's still your student, Edward. If this gets out, on top of this complaint, it could make it so much worse. Now, from what you said, you've had little to do with Mrs Samples?"

"Correct, very little, I do all my own emails and letters. She does the official college stuff, that's all. She wasn't happy when I took over control of all that stuff or when I changed my passwords so she couldn't gain access to my email account."

"Have you ever argued with her or had to reprimand her for anything?"

"Sort of, we had words about her dress sense one day when she came to my office for a meeting. She said something about 'getting to know each other better,' her eyes making suggestions. She was dressed like a tart, really short red leather skirt, see through blouse. I told her not to bother on my account. I told her that her dress sense was not appropriate for around school. She left in a huff."

He pondered for a few minutes. "I wonder if your rejection is the basis of her complaint then. Has she seen you with Bella? Do you spend time in your office, you know, together?"

"I don't have sex with her at work, Jason. Sure, we've spent a few lunchtimes eating our lunch together. But apart from a few stolen kisses in private, it's all been above-board. No one has seen anything that could be misconstrued. Bella came to my office today, in an official student capacity. Victoria had to ring me to see if it was okay to see her. There seemed to be nothing out of the ordinary."

"So you saw Mrs. Samples today and she acted normally, like nothing was out of the ordinary?" I nodded. "Okay, so I guess we're just plucking at straws until we know exactly what she's saying. Look, ring me when you hear, arrange to meet with the board straight away. You've got nothing to hide, man, so the sooner we address this shit, the better it'll be for you. Have you told Carlisle and Esme?"

"Not yet, I was going to do that tonight, but Bella's coming back, she wants to be here for me. I'll ring them, maybe go over later."

I showed him out and sent Bella a quick text letting her know he was gone and she could come back when she was ready. I decided to ring my parents and ask them to pop round. I think I needed to tell them about this face to face.

Bella bounced in about a half an hour after Jason left. She carried with her an overnight bag and her school bag for tomorrow.

"Hi, baby, you okay?" she asked linking her arms around my waist.

"I'm surviving, how about you?"

"Good now I'm here with you again. So, tell me what he said?"

"Soon, mum and dad are coming round. I need to tell them as well, so it's best I do it all at once if that's okay with you?" I asked nuzzling into her neck where I felt safe and loved.

We were curled up on the sofa a little while later when my parents arrived.

"Edward, Bella, is everything okay? Oh, no, you haven't been found out have you?" my mum asked sounding worried.

"No, Mum, we're okay, it's something else entirely. Please, both of you sit down," I gestured to the spare seats in my lounge.

My mum's reaction to what I told them was to resemble a goldfish, her mouth bobbing open and closed without anything coming out. Bella was tense at my side, her shock now having been replaced with anger. My dad was the first to speak.

"Is Jason on board, Son? He's the best, you know. He can smell a rat a mile away."

"Yeah, he's been round. He'll come with me when I hear from the board. We're a bit in the dark at the moment not knowing what she's actually accusing me of. We've been through everything and she has nothing. Not a thing."

"Edward, your father and I would never doubt you. I'm just glad Bella's here to support you, too. Victoria Samples must be a pretty sad individual to accuse someone of doing something like that," mum told me quietly.

"I guess only she knows why she's done it. I'm just relieved that everyone believes me. Bella, you two, none of you doubted me for a second and that means an awful lot right now." My voice was full of emotion and I felt immediately better when Bella's small hand slipped into mine and caressed my palm.

"We all love you, and of course we believe you," dad added getting up. "Look, we'll be there if you need us. Just call, okay? We'll leave you two to get some rest, talk some more." My dad stood, taking mom's hand, "Come on, dear, let's go home."

Hand in hand, Bella and I walked into my bedroom. It was still early, but I was exhausted and Bella looked all in, too.

"We okay hitting the sack so early?"

"Mmm, I just want to be close to you, Edward, be in your arms. I love you so much, and right now, I need you to know I'm here for you."

"I know, love. Thank you, for everything."

So, did anyone see that coming? Any ideas on what Victoria will accuse Edward of? Let me know!

Until next time...