Page 66 of Atticus
Carlisle gives her a knife-sharp look. “Parenting would be my first suggestion.”
Mrs. Lane gasps.
Carlisle doesn’t care and drives on. “There are plenty of virtual charter schools you could enroll him in as an alternative. Pick one.”
Fuming, Mr. Lane stands. “You’ll be hearing from my law firm.”
“So be it,” Carlisle says coolly. “Tell your attorney I said hello.”
His eyes shoot wide open, and he goes red in the face before storming out, his wife in livid pursuit. After they’ve collected Colton and left, Carlisle unwinds, relaxing her shoulders.
I have to stop myself from cheering. I know she and I haven’t gotten along, but this goes miles for me in turning that around.
“That wasamazing!” I whisper, sitting down in front of her. Atticus remains standing where he is. “He has to know he has no leg to stand on.”
“He knows, and he won’t cross me,” Carlisle replies. “He’s not the only one with connections. It’s a small town, and his wife doesn’t know who he’s been seeing behind her back.” Her voice is terse. “Atticus, return to class and see to the students. I need to speak to Miss Warren alone.”
Uh-oh. I don’t like how that sounds. My stomach turns into knots.
A slight frown tugs at his mouth for a brief moment, but he nods. “Yes, ma’am. Right away.” He exits her office calmly.
Carlisle turns her hawk-like gaze upon me.
I won’t let her see me squirm, no matter how much my nerves gnaw at my insides. I’ve been through worse than this, I remind myself.
“Is something wrong?” I clasp my hands in my lap, willing through my own discomfort.
“I’ve heard an unsettling rumor.” Carlisle leans forward, elbows on her desk as she stares me down. “That you have been seen engaging in inappropriate behavior with that robot.”
“I see,” I reply.
Carlisle continues to stare unforgivingly at me, as if she’s reading my body language, my eyes, my very thoughts.
“I’m not sure who you heard this from, but I’ve done nothing inappropriate.” I’m not lying. Embracing Atticus, kissing Atticus, isn’t inappropriate.
“So you were not spotted in New Carnegie embracing in public?”
She’s calling me out so hard I have to be careful what I admit to. Renee is a gossip, but she’s not a liar. Carlisle will know if I deny it outright.
“As you know, I went to see family last weekend, and I wasn’t comfortable leaving Atticus alone in my apartment. I cleared it with you, and I brought him with me.”
“Yes. I remember.” Carlisle removes her lenses from her nose.
My tongue is heavy in my mouth. I weigh each word. “We were on the Vanderbilt Ferry after I had just run into my ex-fiancé.” That was the truth, at least. “I was upset. Atticus offered me comfort. That’s all.”
Carlisle regards me in silence for a moment, leaning back in her chair. “Your ex-fiancé, Jason Lancaster, I presume?”
That takes me off guard. “You know about that?”
“After your videos of Atticus and Officer Washington went viral, I did some digging,” Carlisle replies. “Wasn’t difficult to find. You should know after reading about what occurred I don’t particularly blame you for leaving town, and I don’t much care for that man and the way he shamed you for his inability to keep his dick in his pants.”
Did she just saydick? Maybe the stick up Carlisle’s ass isn’t as big as I thought it was.
She continues, “All the same, physical contact of that sort between the school’s android and you, an adult woman, are grossly inappropriate. Ours is a small district, and even if he wasn’t a machine, office relationships aren’t something we tolerate due to the complications that can arise. Being he is little more than a computer, any intimacy with Atticus isn’t just unnatural, it’s deviant. And I won’t have this school suffer scandal or bad publicity.”
I bite the side of my tongue, staring back at her vacantly as I try to control my expression from giving away too much.
Scandal. Bad publicity. Unnatural.
