Page 45 of Reluctant Chemistry

After a moment’s hesitation, CeCe flung her bag over her shoulder and marched from the room.

The principal turned to Luka. “You, in my office. Now!”

His stomach tied in knots, Luka grabbed his jacket and followed her down the corridor, across the rain-soaked quad, and into the admin block. Carole didn’t slow her stride or glance back once, and when she opened the door to her office, Frank Dobson, his face like thunder, already lay in wait.

As she closed the door and settled behind her desk, Luka tried to gather his wits.

“I assume you two have been introduced?” She gestured toward the empty chair in front of her. “Sit down, Luka.”

He’d met CeCe’s father when they’d both attended a school meeting on cyberbullying. He’d found him pleasant enough, if a little curt. But now, as he caught the older man’s stare, his gut flipped. “Mr. Dobson.”

Frank took a deep breath then sighed, but there was no response to the acknowledgment, no extension of his hand.

“The board has received a formal complaint about your association with my daughter,” Frank eventually said. “The second such complaint since we employed you.”

What?Luka struggled to keep his reaction in check as he looked at Carole for an explanation.

She regarded both men in turn. “There was an informal question mark over Luka and CeCe’sfriendshipwhen Luka joined the staff. As they’re both of age, and it was an unsubstantiated rumor, I left it where it belonged. Off campus.”

“So what have you got to say for yourself?” Frank asked Luka.

Luka couldn’t believe how calm the man was. According to his colleagues, Frank Dobson could be a real hothead, but the man before him appeared in total control. Scarily so. “What am I being accused of?”

Luka watched Frank slowly come to a simmer. “So, we have a smart-ass, do we? You know darn well what you’re being accused of.”

“Look, if you want to ask me a direct question, I’ll give you a direct answer, but all this innuendo is just wasting both my time and yours.”

A few degrees off boiling point, Frank narrowed his eyes. “Fine. Did you drive my daughter home from the beach last Saturday evening after the Kombi broke down?”

“Yes.”

“Did you go inside my home while I wasn’t there and spend the night with my daughter?”

Some of the fight left him. Out of respect for CeCe, Luka wouldn’t lie to her father. “I did.”

“So, while the wife and I were away for a relaxing weekend, you were making yourself at home in my house and sleeping with my daughter in a bed that I paid for, is that correct?”

“It was a one-off. I can assure you it won’t happen again.”

“So what? She’s only good for a one-night stand now?”

The hairs lifted on the back of Luka’s neck, and a trickle of sweat tracked from his forehead down his hairline. Frank Dobson by reputation was showing his snarling face. “That’s not what I said. I care for CeCe, very much, and I won’t sit here and minimize what we had simply to save face. But I agree, what we did was inappropriate and, ultimately, lacked judgment on my part.”

Frank leaned back in his chair and studied Luka with suspicion. “You’re her teacher, for shit’s sake. You can’t brush this under the carpet with some lame ‘lack of judgment’ excuse.”

“I’m not trying to excuse what I did. I’ve given you my account. It’s not like I can undo what happened that night, and in truth, I don’t want to.”

“Well, I must say, I’m extremely disappointed that it’s come to this, Luka.” Carole crossed her arms over her chest. “Sleeping with a student is gross misconduct.”

“You think I don’t realize that?”

“Then why did you do it?” Frank asked.

Luka rested his elbows on his knees and scrubbed his hands up his face. “Because some days, doing the right thing is too damn hard.”

The three of them sat in awkward silence.

“You do realize she’s being bullied, don’t you?” Frank eventually continued.

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