Forevermore Read Free Page B

quickly with a cheeky smile. “No chance you can just replace the C with the one I’ll get on this paper?”
    “No chance.” My tone was firm. My students knew they could get away with quite a bit in my class, joking around, talking over each other, talking out of turn, but I wasn’t a softie when it came to grades.
    “Thanks anyway.” He stood and headed for the open door.
    I glanced down at my laptop and checked to make sure he was the last appointment of the day. Shutting down the computer, I sorted through my lecture notes until I found the topic for tomorrow’s classes. Those were added to my bag with the laptop and I exited, pausing to lock the office.
    Several doors stood open in the hallway. My stomach clenched. In the past, I would have walked right over to the staircase without even glancing into the offices much less saying anything to anyone on my way out. These days I had to be seen making an effort for Briony’s sake. She was a well-liked faculty member on campus. At first no one understood why she’d be with me, the faculty outcast. Over the last couple of years, she’d gotten me to attend more faculty functions and people were forced to deal with me. They still considered me odd, didn’t understand Briony and me together, but no one seemed to fear me as they used to. I would be happy to go back to barely speaking to anyone, but because it would reflect poorly on Briony, I made an effort.
    The first two offices had student appointments. The professor in the third was on the phone. Only one more open office door before the staircase. Fourteen steps away. I could do this.
    Dr. Goldberg looked up as I was passing by. Tension tightened my neck and shoulders. I’d maybe spoken to this guy once at a faculty party. I knew nothing about global marketing and that was pretty much all he talked about.
    “Afternoon.” I added what I hoped was a friendly expression and nod of my head.
    “Dr. Desiderius,” he replied and looked like he wanted to say more, but my pace had taken me past his office and the stairwell door loomed in front of me.
    I tried not to take the stairs two at a time as if running from any possible encounter, but it was difficult to break old habits. Meeting someone on the stairwell was even worse than walking past an open office door. Thankfully, it was getting hotter outside and almost everyone took the elevators when it was hot outside.
    Pushing through the exit door, I felt the first wave of spring heat roll over me. The end of March shouldn’t be this warm, but it was a nice change from the frigid days we’d had in February. I checked my watch and smiled at the time. I could make a detour before I had to pick up the kids.
    Briony’s class schedule flashed in my mind. She had a venture capital overview class going right now. Was it in the i.Lab or not? No, on Mondays, she was over in the regular classrooms. That gave me just enough time.
    As I stepped onto one of the brick pathways crossing Flagler Court, my eyes caught sight of a familiar figure. Quinn, the women’s head basketball coach, was striding toward Saunders Hall. I didn’t often see her at work. If I did, it would be closer to her office at the sports complex, but occasionally she came up this way for the excellent café.
    Any normal human would go over and greet her friend. Quinn was a nice lady, married to the best friend I had. Of course, I should go over and say hello. I shouldn’t immediately want to duck back into the faculty building to ensure that she not see me. We could talk. I’d talked to her at many of her dinner parties, but she wasn’t Willa. No one in the group was Willa, and because of that, I still wasn’t comfortable striding over with the sole purpose of striking up a conversation.
    I checked my watch again. If I went to say hello I might miss my window with Briony. If I didn’t and Quinn saw me, I’d probably be teased relentlessly at the next dinner. Physical torture would be easier than