Sallinger, Elene - Reflection (The Chrysalis Series)

He was blowing her off!

She glanced at the screen. The dean had grabbed Skyler.

Bridget’s heart began to race and her hands shook. There was no time.

She tapped him again and said, ‘President Harvey, you need to see this!’ She raised her voice to be heard over the crowd.

He looked over his shoulder again. ‘Ross, I’m sure it can wait.’ He turned back to the group and resumed pontificating on the impending budget cuts.

‘Damn it, Brad!’ she hollered, her patience gone, ‘No one gives a damn! You need to watch this and see what’s going on under your friggin’ nose!’

Silence fell over the room like a curtain. The president turned to face her, his plump face almost cherry red with indignation.

He opened his mouth – to yell most likely – but the dean’s voice rang out from the iPad and all attention focused on the device in Bridget’s hand. Within moments, a crowd had clustered around her. President Harvey was to her immediate right and Bill Fogarty, the vice president, flanked her to the left.

Both watched in disgust as Whittier manhandled and threatened Skyler. Bridget’s stomach clenched as the tension and violence ratcheted higher. She bit her lip, determined to keep the focus on the dean while they watched as much as she wanted to repudiate Harvey for putting money over integrity when he hired Whittier.

She couldn’t hold back a cry of distress when Whittier hit Skyler. The crowd erupted as well. Bridget whirled and pushed through the throng, determined to get to her student.

She didn’t have to go far. Skyler flew into the music room at a dead run. The side of her face was bright red and a small trickle of blood trailed from her lip where Whittier had split it.

The crowd erupted at her appearance. The din was almost overwhelming, but it cut off as if someone had thrown a switch when Whittier appeared in the doorway. Bridget snatched Skyler by the hand and pulled her close, wrapping an arm around her waist.

Whittier scanned the crowd, who all stood staring at him with varying degrees of disgust on their faces.

‘What?’ he asked, his eyes wary. ‘Has something happened?’

President Harvey pushed through the crowd. ‘You have some nerve, Dale. Acting as if you didn’t just molest and then viciously attack this young woman.’

‘I have no idea what you’re talking about.’ He straightened up to his full height. ‘This woman –’ he sneered the word ‘– attacked me when I refused her advances. I was defending myself.’

President Harvey’s eyes narrowed and his face pinched as if he’d smelled something foul. ‘We saw what you did, you sick bastard.’ His voice shook with outrage.

‘We have you on tape,’ Bridget said, speaking up to be heard over the murmurs of the crowd. She tapped the screen and set the video she’d recorded to replay, holding it up for Whittier to see.

All colour drained from his face, giving him a deathly pallor. He backed up, stumbling and hitting the doorframe.

‘You’re finished, Whittier.’ The president advanced on him. ‘As of this moment, you are officially suspended. Given the extensive contributions your family has made to this university, I will give you 24 hours to have a resignation letter on my desk. But, you are done here.’

Pushing past Whittier, he left without a backward look. The rest of the guests followed suit. Not wanting to be alone with the dean, Bridget hustled Skyler out with the throng.

The last sight she had of Whittier was him sinking to the floor in the doorway, looking for all the world as if the earth had just fallen out from beneath him.

She felt not one shred of sympathy.

One month later …

‘Leave it. You’ll mess it up,’ Skyler admonished Bridget as she adjusted her hair for the millionth time.

‘I’m a mess, Sky.’ Bridget’s voice cracked audibly, reflecting the way she felt inside.

‘You’ll be fine.’ She came up beside Bridget and put an arm around her shoulders. ‘You look hot. He won’t be able to resist you.’

Bridget smiled at her young housemate. Having Skyler with her had turned out to be one of the best decisions she’d ever made. They’d grown close in the weeks since Skyler had come to live with her and it had been a joy to witness her pregnancy. In many ways, when it came to that, she was living vicariously through her former student.

Skyler was solidly into her second trimester and showing. She’d taken to pregnancy well and looked radiantly beautiful. She’d also been a comfort and a distraction from her pain over Connor. That they’d been wading through the fallout from the scandal over the dean at the university had helped to keep her mind off of him as well.

Bridget’s tenure had sailed through and Skyler’s scholarship was safe. Dean Whittier had resigned as ordered, but a full-scale investigation into all of his oversight decisions had been launched. Several improprieties had already been discovered on tenure decisions for two of Bridget’s colleagues and at least one other student had come forward with allegations of harassment.

He was officially ruined. Bridget had searched for compassion, but found that while she didn’t hate him, she didn’t forgive him either. He’d played too fast and loose with people’s lives.

‘Bridget?’

‘Hmm?’ She pulled herself back to the present.

‘What are you thinking about? You look fierce.’ Curious brown eyes met hers in the mirror.

‘I was thinking about Whittier. And –’ she turned and hugged Skyler to her ‘– how happy I am that you’re here.’

Skyler grinned and returned the hug before pulling back and turning Bridget to face the mirror once again.

‘Are you ready?’ she asked.

‘I don’t know, Sky.’ She eyed herself critically. ‘I feel so exposed.’

In truth, she felt naked. Victor, at her request, had made this outfit especially for her. She’d expected something chic and elegant, like the items of lingerie he’d designed for her. Instead, he’d given her urban and sexy.

A mix of leather and silk, the dress was sleeveless and backless. The chocolate, leather bodice was quilted and flowed into a bronze silk skirt that hugged her so tightly she was afraid she’d split a seam. Victor had assured her she wouldn’t and that it was designed to stretch, but it darn sure wasn’t designed for panties or a bra. She was completely naked under it!

Victor had even gone so far as to provide strappy, stiletto sandals and jewellery as well as instructions on how to wear her hair. She didn’t even have the option of deviating since he’d be there tonight.

The net result was that Bridget looked sexy and powerful yet inside felt nothing but nervous and scared.

She wanted her man back, and she was determined to get him, but she wasn’t sure he wanted to be gotten. There’d been not one word from him. No phone calls. No messages. He’d even left what few belongings of hers he’d had in her office after hours one night.

She’d cried for a long time over that discovery.

Then she’d gotten the invite to his show. He’d written on it in scrawling print, “I hope you’ll come.”

Mona, the traitor, hadn’t said a word. She hadn’t been a bit sorry about it either when Bridget had confronted her. She’d just shrugged and said, ‘He swore me to secrecy, so I guess you’ll just have to take that up with him.’

Bridget wasn’t going to. She was too happy for him. She hoped it meant that he’d put his past into perspective as she had been working to do.

It was still a work in progress for her, but between her sessions with Cathy and the reading and talking she’d been doing with other kinky folks courtesy of Evan, she’d come to accept that her desires weren’t something to be ashamed of.