Bad Behavior [Confuct Series #2]

by Jennifer Lane

  “Sí, bueno,” he said. “Sounds interesting. One truth I’ve learned in all my years of academia is that we tend to conduct research on personally vexing subject matter.” He paused. “So, Nora, is that true for you?”

  She cleared her throat uncomfortably. “Um, is what true, Dr. Alton?”

  “I heard you’re recently divorced, is that correct?”

  “Yes.”

  “Your ex-husband must have been an idiot to let go of a girl as pretty as you.”

  “I had no idea what to say to that!” Nora interjected, hitting the pause button. “I was totally blushing.”

  She hit play and David’s voice continued.

  “But what I’m trying to ask is, are you researching marriage to make sense of what went wrong in your own?”

  “Stop the tape!” Tanya demanded.

  Nora quickly clicked the button.

  “That is highly inappropriate of him to ask you that question,” Tanya continued.

  “I thought so,” Nora said.

  “Yeah, it’s like he’s your therapist, not your professor,” Sophie added. “I hope you didn’t feel pressured to answer that.”

  Nora grinned. “You’ll hear how I handled the question.” She rewound the recording a bit and pressed play again.

  “Are you researching marriage to make sense of what went wrong in your own?”

  “I could ask the same of you, David,” Nora said. “You study marriage—why is that?”

  “Touché,” David responded. “I’ve found that marriage can be quite complex and difficult—I guess I want to examine it and pick it apart in my research, to try to make sense of it all.” He chuckled. “Though I’m twenty-five years into my own marriage and still as clueless as ever. Ah, one second.” The sound of David’s chair squeaking came through clearly on the recording. “Here’s the old ball and chain now—sending me a text.” After a pause, David emitted a long-suffering sigh. “She wants me drive to Wisconsin this weekend to visit her parents.”

  “You don’t want to go?”

  “To visit those windbags? Hardly. Besides, I have some writing to do. My wife will never understand the demands of acadème. I bet you’d understand, though, Nora. You wouldn’t be incessantly nagging your man to spend every waking hour with you.”

  “That’s enough,” Sophie said. “I don’t want to hear any more.”

  “Do you think that’s good enough to confront him with?” Nora asked.

  Tanya nodded. “Yes. Great job, Nora. And I know his office hours last a little longer, so let’s do it now while we’re sure he’s available. But first I want to make a copy of this on my computer, just in case.”

  She attached a cable to the digital recorder and her hard drive and quickly downloaded the recording.

  “So, are we ready?”

  Sophie felt suddenly nervous. “Wait, don’t we want to plan this out?”

  “I’ve been rehearsing what I’d like to say to that slick bastard for over a year,” Tanya replied. “Let us handle this, Nora. You have more to lose as a student than we do as faculty. C’mon, chicas!”

  Sophie and Nora exchanged amused glances and dutifully followed Tanya down the hall. Once they reached the office, they were grateful to find David alone, typing on his computer.

  “Oh, David,” Tanya called in a sing-song lilt. “Could we have a word with you?”

  He glanced up and seemed startled to find three self-possessed women standing in his doorway. He squinted his Richard Gere eyes and ran one hand through his Richard Gere hair. “Well, sure, lovely ladies. To what do I owe this pleasure?” He gestured toward the two empty chairs across from his desk and looked back at the three women. “Hmm.” His eyes took on a naughty glint. “Nora, perhaps you could sit on Sophie’s lap?”

  Sophie looked stunned.

  “Uh, no thanks,” Nora stammered, blushing. She scooted behind the chairs and pointed to them for Sophie and Tanya. “I’ll just stand.”

  Wasting no time, Tanya folded her arms across her chest and said, “We’ll all stand.” She glared at David. “We’re here to discuss your wretched behavior with the women in this department.”

  He immediately dropped his smug grin. “My…what?”

  Tanya had been correct; they didn’t need any preparation. The words came spilling out of Sophie.

  “Your behavior has been deplorable, David,” Sophie said. “We’re tired of the mind games you’ve been playing with me, with Tanya, and now with Nora.”

  “What the hell are you talking about?”

  Sophie glared at him. “I’m talking about how you shamelessly flirt with young women—mostly students or new faculty—to get them to like you. You lead them on by inappropriately disclosing your own marital woes, trying to forge an intimacy with them. Then when the woman finally flirts back, you pretend like she’s making up the whole thing. You act like she’s some desperate floozy trying to break up your marriage.”

  “I do no such thing!” David protested. “Listen, Sophie, if you’re still bitter about me turning you down, when I already told you I had a happy marriage…” His voice trailed off as his eyes locked on to the digital voice recorder Nora had extracted from her book bag.

  Delighted in his shocked expression, Tanya snatched the recorder from Nora. “You do no such thing, huh? Let’s see about that.”

  Nora and David’s recorded voices filled the office space. As David listened to his compliment about Nora being pretty, he narrowed his eyes. “What girl doesn’t want to hear that she’s pretty?”

  “First of all, David,” Tanya said, clicking off the recording. “Nora is forty-one years old. She’s not a girl—she’s a woman. Secondly, it’s not okay to comment on the physical appearance of a student like that. As a professor in this department, you have power over her, and that comment could create an intimidating or offensive environment. But that comment was not your worst, by any means. Let’s proceed.”

  They played the rest of the recording, this time continuing past David’s comment. “I bet you’d understand, though, Nora. You wouldn’t be incessantly nagging your man to spend every waking hour with you.”

  “It does seem easier to get my graduate work done as a single woman,” Nora agreed.

  “Sometimes I wish I was single,” David sighed. “It would certainly make things more interesting around here.”

  “This is ridiculous,” David interrupted with blustery anger, and Tanya paused the recording. “You girls are way off base, and you’ve illegally recorded my private conversation. I should report you all to the chair.”

  Sophie had been studying his reaction intently. “Why do you look so nervous, David? What’s next on that tape?”

  “I’m not nervous. I’m furious! How dare you—”

  “Play the tape, Tanya,” Sophie ordered brusquely, and her friend obeyed.

  David slumped in his desk chair as his recorded voice spoke again: “Being married does have its advantages, though.” There was a faint rustling sound, and suddenly his voice became louder, as if he’d leaned in closer to Nora—and closer to the recorder. “Like sex any time I want it. It must be tough to be divorced, though you certainly don’t look deprived. What’s your secret, sexy Nora?”

  Sophie and Tanya both dropped their mouths open.

  “This is totally taken out of context!” David blathered. “She was sitting there with her short skirt, coming on to me—”

  “Don’t you dare try to blame this on Nora,” Tanya fumed. “You know you were inappropriate. You know better, David.”

  “Listen, I’m sorry if my comments were misconstrued.”

  “Misconstrued?” Sophie asked incredulously. “How is a woman supposed to take ‘What’s your secret, sexy Nora?’ You know, David, you try to act so suave and subtle in this sick little game of yours. You’ve been playing it for years, and you probably would’ve gotten away with it for even longer, but I’ve dealt with men even more devious than you, so nobody’s going to pull the wool over my eyes
. We’re not going to tolerate this from you.”

  “That’s right, David,” Tanya confirmed. “Let me see your cell phone.”

  David’s mouth dropped open. “No!”

  “I bet that text message from your wife never happened. I bet you made it all up as part of your little seduction act.”

  “That’s ludicrous!” he spluttered.

  Tanya simply shook her head. “If you ever try to lead on another woman like this, we’re giving a copy of this recording to your wife.”

  He inhaled sharply, narrowing his eyes. “You’ll do no such thing!”

  “If you don’t like our way of handling this situation, we can surely go to the university ombudsman and initiate sexual harassment charges,” Sophie countered. “You might still be able to keep your job…”

  That shut him up quickly, and Tanya added, “Nora’s a student in this program, and we expect you to treat her fairly. If you try to use this against her in any way, the tape goes public—to your wife, to the chair, to anyone we deem appropriate. You will stop hurting women with your games.”

  David looked completely defeated. The gray hair and crinkles around the corners of his eyes, which usually added a dash of distinguished allure, now just made him appear aged and weary. “I didn’t mean to hurt anybody.”

  “Well, you hurt me. I felt completely embarrassed after you led me on and turned me down,” Sophie informed him, feeling stronger with each word. “I’ve met your wife, and she seems like a really nice woman. She deserves better. Get some help, David.”

  The three women rose to leave, and Nora, who’d been quiet up to this point, could not resist a parting comment. “Even though I’m divorced, David, I still have a very stimulating, satisfying sex life.”

  With that, the three swiftly departed, barely containing their excitement until they fell into Tanya’s office, where they broke out laughing.

  “That was so fun!” Nora exclaimed. “Can we do that again?”

  “Hopefully we won’t have to do that ever again,” Sophie said. “Surely he’s learned his lesson.”

  “Thank you both so much for saving me from that man,” Nora said, smiling suggestively. “Now I can focus on the Mexican cutie I’ve met.”

  “Oh?” Tanya responded with a devilish grin. “Is he ‘your secret’?”

  “Careful, Tanya,” Sophie advised. “David may cross the teacher-student boundary, but it doesn’t mean we have to.”

  “Ah, I don’t mind,” Nora said. “After what we just went through, I know I can trust you both. His name is Esteban…”

  “Do you realize what you just did?” Hunter asked as Sophie finished.

  “What?”

  “You set some boundaries,” the psychologist responded. “Not only with David, but also with Nora. You insisted that you and Tanya avoid exploiting your power by protecting Nora’s privacy.”

  Sophie shrugged, and Grant tilted his head to the side.

  “Don’t you see how much progress you’re making?” Hunter prompted. “Crossing a boundary—exploiting your power—was the very reason you were sent to therapy. Violating a sexual boundary with your client was what got you into so much trouble. I think you’ve learned a lot, judging by how you handled the David situation.”

  As Sophie tried to process her psychologist’s words, Grant narrowed his eyes. “Are you suggesting Sophie is the same as David?”

  “There are differences,” Hunter said quickly. “Given David’s repeat offenses, his behavior seems a hell of a lot more premeditated. I think Sophie got in over her head and didn’t realize the implications of her decisions. And the consequences of the boundary-crossing were much more severe for Sophie. She went to prison. David simply got a slap on the wrist and a threat of exposure if he ever does it again.”

  “I never would’ve thought to compare my behavior to David’s,” Sophie said, knitting her sculpted eyebrows together. She gave a sad smile. “But you’re right. I exploited my power, and I crossed a sexual boundary with Logan.”

  “The difference is you’re learning from your mistakes,” Hunter added.

  Feeling acutely uncomfortable, Grant jumped in. “And you shouldn’t have gone to prison for that, Sophie. That’s on Logan—not you.”

  She slowly raised her eyes to meet his, and he continued.

  “I know how manipulative my brother could be. Maybe he learned that from my father, I don’t know,” Grant said. “But I’m sure Logan exploited you too.” He gazed into the distance. “I remember one time he asked me for a lot of money—he was in deep with some bookie—and when I couldn’t help him, he stormed off. I felt awful, and I wished I had the money to give him. I knew it’d be wrong to enable his gambling addiction, but there was nothing I wanted more than to help him out. I know him. I know how persuasive he could be. And I know it wasn’t all your fault.”

  Sophie smiled through a mist of tears. Grant handed her a tissue, and she sniffed. “It seems like I always cry in here.”

  “Emotion precedes change,” Hunter explained. “If you’re crying, we’re probably getting to the heart of the matter. You’re doing some good work, Sophie. How’re you feeling?”

  “Kind of stupid and guilty.”

  “And how are you feeling about the David situation?”

  “Vindicated,” she replied immediately.

  “You confronted a demon from your past,” Hunter acknowledged appreciatively, “a man who led you to feel shame and unworthiness—a man who hurt you. You confronted him.”

  “I guess I did,” Sophie replied, easing into a slow grin.

  Hunter looked at Grant. “Is that something you want to feel as well? Vindicated?”

  Grant appeared puzzled. “Yes, sir?”

  “Then perhaps you need to confront your demon too.”

  A sudden understanding dawned on Grant, and his stomach clenched.

  “Did you find out from your PO if the visit is permitted?”

  Sophie caught on too and protested. “No, he shouldn’t visit his father! Don’t do it, Grant.”

  “Officer Stone said the DOC would allow me to visit him, since I’m his son,” Grant said grimly.

  “What do you think, Grant? You’ve been making progress too, dealing with the trauma from your father. Your nightmares have decreased, and you can talk about him and your brother more freely now. Do you feel ready for that next step?”

  Grant nervously glanced at Sophie and hesitated at her apprehensive gaze. “I’ve been thinking about visiting my father,” he finally confessed. “But I seriously doubt that confrontation would go as well as Sophie’s did.”

  “Well, what would be your goals be for visiting him?” Hunter asked. “Sophie reached her goal of stopping a colleague’s inappropriate behavior, but you obviously have no control over your father’s behavior. The one thing you have control over is speaking your mind, regardless of how your father responds.”

  “I do have some things I’d like to tell him,” Grant said tentatively.

  “I’m sure you do…Sophie, you look upset.”

  Her tears had started falling again, and she wiped them away with the balled-up tissue in her fist.

  “I’m scared for you,” she said to Grant. “I don’t want you to go. But if you think that’s what you need to do…”

  “He’ll be in a cage, Sophie. He can’t hurt me.”

  “Physically,” she said. “But what about emotionally?”

  Grant bit his lip.

  “Maybe we can check with Jerry to see if I could go with you,” she suggested.

  “No!” Grant snapped, startling her. “I don’t want you anywhere near that place.”

  “Okay, okay, I’m sorry—it was just an idea,” she said.

  “Is this what you were talking about, Sophie?” Hunter asked. “The tension you’re experiencing between wanting to be a strong, independent woman and wanting to be protected by Grant?”

  “Yes.” She slowly nodded. “I know how scared he is of his family hurting me�
��I know he just wants to protect me, but sometimes I want to protect him too.”

  “Well, what am I supposed to do?” Grant asked. “Just sit back and let them try to hurt you again?”

  “Of course not, Grant,” Hunter answered. “It’s complicated. But we’ll figure it out together.” Glancing at his watch, he added, “Next time. Grant, I want you to write down what you’d like to say to your father, and we’re going to review it in our next session.”