Page 75 of Prosecco with My Professor
The whole time, though, I feared Emma would see me. And that would have burned even more.
Now, hours later, Emma is frozen on the stairs, and I don’t know how to start. “Are you…Did you…?” What if she lost everything too?
Emma blinks, shaking her head clear. “You got fired?”
“Yes.”
She takes a deep breath, and with fumbling fingers, she digs out the key to her apartment and lets us in. I hover by the door as she puts down her bag and strips off her jacket.
“What happened?” I ask.
Emma perches on the couch and tells me about being called into Greco’s office and the conversation they had. Her hands fidget the whole time, tugging on her braid or picking at the seam of a throw pillow. I suck in my breath when she tells me she’s lost the internship.
Her eyebrows furrow. “He didn’t even ask me about you. He didn’t mention your name other than to say that you were no longer with the school.”
I scrape my palm against my beard. “No, he probably thought having less information would cover his ass. Minchia!” I pace away from Emma. Her apartment is not much bigger than the hallway, but having her here helps.
“What did they say when they fired you?”
“They said that they had explicit knowledge that I’d failed to disclose a previous relationship with you before the program started. If I had to guess, Vincente went to the director. He knew that I’d taken you home that night and he’s—resentful of me right now. He suspected that something else was going on but doesn’t have any proof, so the reason they gave me is the one they have the strongest argument for. I exhibited “unethical behavior” by failing to report our relationship.” When the director had asked me if I had taken Emma home that night at the bar all those months ago, I couldn’t lie.
“And my internship is gone. Just like that.”
Greco is punishing Emma. He doesn’t want to kick her out of the program, because graduation and placement rates matter too much, but he can punish her in other ways. “You got the internship, and that is a big deal. You will get another one.”
Emma’s fingers close around the pillow in a death grip. “I have to test again. Retake tests covering material I learned months ago. And now I have nine tests instead of six in the next few weeks. How am I going to study for all this?”
“I’ll help you.”
Emma’s eyes squeeze shut, and she bites her lip. Anguish rolls over me in a wave when she opens her eyes and I can see that they are filled with tears. Angry tears, frustrated tears.
“Emma,” I say, crouching down at her feet. “I am so sorry.”
She sniffs, hurriedly rubbing her eyes before they can well over. “I’d like to be alone right now.”
I hesitate. I feel like scum. Like the worst human on earth. Because of me, Emma, this beautiful woman who doesn’t think she’s light and bubbly and fun, is hurting and in pain. Worst, she’s doubting herself.
We’ve been spending so much time together lately, and it feels simultaneously like it’s been forever, and yet, just yesterday that I met her in a bar over glasses of wine.
Emma looks up at me, and while her gaze traces my face, her frown deepens, and I know that right now, she’s thinking about what our relationship has cost her.
Because that’s all I can think about right now too. Not even my own firing feels as unjust and sudden as Emma’s punishment.
“Okay,” I say, standing. “Just, if you need anything, call me.” I’d come running. What else am I going to be doing?
I have nothing left.
41
Emma
I feel stupid,honestly. Bad friends would say “I told you so” when I tell them how badly we’ve fucked up.
But I have amazing friends. They listen with sympathy and understand that I have to cancel our weekend trip together, and then they ask how they can help me.
“I don’t know,” I say. “I have so much to do. It’s overwhelming.”
“We could come visit you instead of going to Amsterdam?” Jade suggests. “We’ll stay out of your hair and bring you food and make sure you sleep.”
