Page 66 of Loved

“No, I should go.” I wanted to be a better man for Penny. And that meant seeing Dr. Clark on a regular basis. I wouldn’t be able to go on Sunday because Rob was visiting. So I needed to go talk to him now.

“You’re sure everything’s okay, James? You know I’m here if you want to talk.”

“Thanks, Ian,” I said and wiped my face off with a towel. “But if I talked to you about all my shit, you might quit on me.”

“Nah. No one will pay me as good.”

I laughed.Fair.“I should go. Thank you for making the appointment.”

“Any time.” He cleared his throat. “One more thing. You should probably check your email.”

I sighed. “Just tell me what it says.”

“The investigation isn’t going in the direction Joe hoped. Another girl came forward.”

“What the fuck?”

“All your classes are being cancelled. They’re just handing out As to everyone.”

“Well at least Penny got an A.”

“Actually she’s getting an incomplete. Joe’s pissed that she isn’t cooperating in the investigation.”

I ran my fingers through my wet hair. “And he sent all this via email?”

“Yeah.”

He didn’t even have the balls to call me?What an asshole.No one seemed to care about finding out the truth in this so-called investigation. They were making me out to be a monster.

I took a deep breath. But…wasn’t I?

***

“I thought you’d have a little more to say after Ian called my office ten times to get you this appointment.”

I stared at the newspaper on the coffee table between us. A copy of the Delaware Post. I knew there’d been more articles written since that first one. One announcing my resignation and the investigation. For all I knew, the investigative findings were in that paper there. “You already know what happened.”

“I read the articles. But we both know that wasn’t the truth.”

“At least you believe me.”

“Does Penny not?”

“Honestly? I don’t know. I hope she does. But I wouldn’t blame her if she didn’t. The dean is running this sham of an investigation and three girls have said I seduced them too.”

Dr. Clark nodded. “And how does that make you feel?”

“Pissed.” I shook my head. “Confused. The detectives knew Penny came to my office hours. They seemed to know everything that happened. But I don’t care what people think about me. I just want Penny to trust me.”

“You don’t care what anyone else says about you?”

“No.”

He adjusted his glasses. “Not even a little?”

“The article is all lies. But they painted me just right, don’t you think? So who cares how they got to that conclusion?”

“And what do you think the article painted you as?”

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