Come to my Office

Chapter 3

Julian's POV

I didn't touch my phone throughout the drive home from NorthVale the entire way. The first thing I saw when I finally picked it up was Sierra Riven.

I stared at the screen, watching the video replay again and again.

It was Sierra, groaning my name.

Apparently one of those idiots had recorded the whole thing and uploaded it. Hundreds of students had already shared it. Her embarrassment had been turned into entertainment for the entire campus, and that angered me more than I expected.

I sat on the edge of the bed, my eyes never leaving the screen. Her eyes were closed, her face flushed, completely lost in her own world. I forced my gaze away, but the sound stayed with me.

My hands tightened around the phone. I couldn't tell whether it was irritation at whoever had done this or an attempt to convince myself that hearing her groan my name didn't affect me.

It shouldn't have. She was my student.

"You're late."

Victoria stood at the foot of the bed with her arms crossed, her gaze steady. Her voice startled me so badly that I threw the phone onto the mattress.

"I had a lot to handle," I said flatly, avoiding her eyes to hide how rattled I was.

It wasn't a lie. My thoughts had gone to Sierra for the hundredth time since she left my office.

I failed.

I could still hear her broken voice, and it left a faint ache in my chest. I hadn't said anything comforting. I had stupidly told her to go home. I had also reprimanded her in front of the whole class, and now I couldn't stop replaying that too.

Why had I said that?

"Julian." Victoria tapped my arm, pulling me out of my thoughts. "Is everything okay?"

Her hand slid softly over my shoulder. We had been together almost a year, and she had always been good at calming me down. Even when she was angry, her voice never rose. I felt tempted to tell her everything, but the moment I opened my mouth, Sierra's face flashed in my mind, and I stopped.

What was happening to me?

I had never taken a student's failure personally before. Not once.

"Baby, you've been quiet," Victoria murmured, searching my eyes.

"I'm sorry," I said, lost in thought.

Sierra was one of my best students. She stayed after class to ask questions and had never turned in anything late. Her proposal had been sharp, and her thesis even sharper. I had read her work myself and knew its quality. A student like that did not fail by accident. I hadn't expected it, and something in my gut told me the marking had gone wrong somewhere.

Any professor in my position would want to look into it. That was a perfectly legitimate reason to care. But pursuing it tonight, with the video still burning in my head, felt like a mistake.

What finally snapped me out of it was the sight of Victoria's scrunched-up face and my phone in her hands. The video had reached its loudest moment, my name groaned across the room.

"Who the hell is this?" Victoria demanded, already angry, glaring at me.

"My student," I said, hoping it sounded nonchalant enough.

Her eyes narrowed into slits. "Your student?"

"Yes."

She looked back at the screen, then at me. "And why is she groaning your name?"

I clenched my jaw, irritation rising. "I don't know."

"You don't know?"

"Victoria, it was my lecture. She was distracted, so I cautioned her. That's all."

Her eyes stayed on my face, studying it as if she were deciding whether I was telling the truth.

"What's the name of this so-called student?" she asked, rolling her eyes.

"Sierra Riven."

The moment I said it, something shifted in her expression.

"Sierra Riven. The scholarship student?" she repeated slowly.

I frowned. "Yes."

"I've heard about her."

Victoria set the phone down, but her gaze never left me.

"You should be careful with her, Julian. She seems obsessed."

Obsessed. It wasn't a word I would have used for Sierra. She was diligent and always prepared. But I let it go. Jealousy made people say things.

I scoffed lightly. "She's my student. I know exactly where the line is."

"Good." Her voice was soft, but laced with warning. "Because I don't want that girl at your university becoming a problem between us."

She said it so gently that it almost sounded like concern, but I knew Victoria better.

I could only smile as I watched her jealousy flare. "You don't have to worry about that."

She studied me a moment longer, then gave a small, satisfied nod.

"Then we're clear," she said, and walked out of the room.

The door had barely closed when my phone lit up on the bed.

It was a message from Sierra Riven.

I opened it slowly, wondering what she could possibly want.

Professor Cross, please. I know I shouldn't bother you after today, but I don't know who else to ask. Please help me. You're my last hope.

My throat moved as I stared at the screen. I could feel the desperation in every word. It was the same voice that had cracked in my office, only now it was in writing.

Victoria had walked out less than a minute ago. Her warning was still hanging in the air, and here I was, holding a message from the very girl she had warned me about.

The smart thing would be to wait until morning and keep it formal.

But I thought of her scholarship, of the F that made no sense, of the way she had looked at me with nothing left in her voice. It was my responsibility to look into it. That was all, at least for now.

My thumb hovered over the screen moving my hand almost against my will as I typed, swallowing the guilt of replying to the girl my girlfriend had just warned me about.

I'll help you. Come to my office tomorrow morning.