Tangle of Lies, page 9
“Yes, sir.”
“Good. Fi’s really looking forward to hearing it.” He welcomed the class and handed out the syllabus and assignment list. He explained the semester-long project that would be due on the day of finals. A knock sounded on the classroom door near the end of class. Dan smiled. She was right on time.
“Spencer, would you let my wife in, please?” Spencer’s eyes goggled as he stood and moved slowly toward the door. “Don’t keep her waiting,” Dan demanded. Spencer opened the door, and Fionna bit her lips together to keep from laughing.
She moved into the room as Spencer slithered quickly back to his seat, unable to even look her in the eye. Excited whispers moved throughout the room.
“Hey, sweetheart,” Dan drawled. Fionna grinned and then offered a wave to the class. She was wearing a black front-tie dress. It dipped low, showing off her heavily swollen cleavage, and then tied above her bump. It was ruffled slightly so she hardly looked pregnant under the gathered layers of fabric.
The dress was relatively short. It hit just below her midthigh and showed off her long legs. The black boots she’d paired with the dress made Dan’s mouth water. She’d curled her hair so it hung in loose waves down her back. She was wearing more makeup than usual.
“I had a picture of her for my other classes, but since she’s here…” Dan took Fionna’s hand and led her to the front of the class, making her laugh. “Obviously, my beautiful wife will be giving birth to our second child,”—he glared at Spencer—“sometime in November.” He went through the fact that Mentor Sullivan would be substituting. “Sit down, sweetheart.” He gestured to his chair behind the desk at the front of the room. He pulled it out for her and then helped her into it.
“Such a gentleman.” Fionna smirked.
“Now,”—he turned back to the class—“if any of you might like an autograph, I’m certain Fi would be happy to do that before we all head to lunch.” The class rushed forward to meet Fionna which seemed to thrill her.
Several minutes later, Dan and Fionna headed to his office. Spencer paced several feet behind them. “Go get your lunch then meet me in here,” Dan commanded.
“Yes, sir.”
“You are just so adorable,” Fionna drawled like she was talking to a toddler. Dan had to choke back his laughter as Spencer scowled. He spun to head to the dining hall.
Dan unlocked his office but halted as Chancellor Wilshire approached. “Look who decided to show up,” Dan spoke between his teeth.
“Fionna, I didn’t know you would be on campus today, sweetheart. How are you?” He leaned in to give Fionna a hug.
She grimaced slightly, and Dan’s heart sank. He saw it in her eyes. Whatever she’d picked up in the chancellor’s energy, it had her reeling.
“I just came to have lunch with Dan,” she managed.
“You’re welcome anytime. Some of the Summation teams are practicing this afternoon. You should stop by. The kids would love that.”
Giving him a kind smile, Fionna reached for Dan’s hand. He supplied it instantly, letting her draw strength and absolution from him.
“I’ll have to do that another day. I have to get home before our little girl gets out of school.” She ran her other hand protectively over her bump.
“I came by to make certain that you were okay handling that extra class, Dan.” Defiance dripped in Wilshire’s tone.
“Actually, I’m not. I’m an Ioses mentor. My specialties are in defense and maybe some math and science. I have no idea how to teach English Lit.”
“Just follow Katherine’s lesson plans.”
“It is a disservice to the students to have me teaching that class, sir,” he begrudged the formality.
“If you can’t do the job…”
Dan narrowed his eyes. “I’ll figure it out.”
As Wilshire disappeared down the corridor, Dan closed his office door and helped Fionna onto the small loveseat. “What did you feel?”
“First panic.”
That wasn’t what Dan was expecting to hear. “Panic?”
“That I’m here.”
“He knew you’d pick up on his guilt.”
“Oh, there’s lots and lots of guilt and deception and a little excitement about the desire and then desire itself. All of the things people feel when they cheat.”
Dan sank into his chair and rubbed his temples.
“How could he do that?” Fionna demanded in a heartbroken whisper. “He’s been married for, like, thirty years.”
“I don’t know,” Dan immediately assured her. “I don’t know how anyone does that. How does he look his wife in the eye? How does he look at his kids and his grandkids after that?”
“Yeah, and he’s the chancellor of the premier Gifted academy on the Eastern Seaboard. This is where all of the governors’ kids and grandkids come. This isn’t going to be something he can just sweep under the rug. The press is already onto him. What are you going to tell your dad and Governor Haydenshire?”
“The truth, but now I have to have hard evidence, and I’ve got to figure out if all of the drug test results are accurate. Oh, and that kid I told you about yesterday—the one who hacked in and figured out that I’d been assigned to all of Bryant’s classes—he told me this morning that he and his girlfriend are going to have a baby.”
Fionna’s face fell. “Is she okay?”
“She’s Governor Sapman’s daughter.”
“Oh my gosh. Can I talk to them? I could help. I know what they’re going through right now.”
Dan gave her what he was certain was a broken smile. He offered her his hand again. “I secured him the internship at Iodex so at least he’ll have a decent paycheck, but they’ve got to tell their parents tonight.”
“I’d really like to meet them. I’d like to help them if they need us to.”
She rubbed her hands over her belly. Halia was kicking. A contented smile formed on her face as she caressed their baby girl. “She felt you when I drew from you,” Fionna whispered.
Dan longed to rub his hands over her swell to lock on to her energy and then onto Halia’s. Desperation coursed through him. He needed to assure Fionna that he would never do something like Wilshire. He longed to make certain that his wife and his girls knew he would always be there for them.
A hesitant knock sounded on the door before Dan could either verbally reassure her or promise that she could meet Jeff and Becca.
“Are you ready?” Dan put his own game face back on.
Fionna nodded and began pulling the lunch she’d packed out of a small cooler she’d left in Dan’s office. “I’m ready.” Fionna giggled as she arranged their lunches and then returned to her seat.
“In,” Dan growled while winking at his wife.
Spencer looked pale as he opened the door slowly.
Fionna grinned at him as she began eating one of the Hawaiian chicken salad sandwiches she’d prepared.
“Have a seat, stud,” Dan sneered.
Fionna bit her lips together to keep from laughing. Dan sat down beside her and wrapped his arm over her as Spencer sank down in the other seat in the office while trying to balance his lunch tray in his lap.
“Oh, I do remember your parents now,” Fionna drawled. “You look just like your mom.”
“Yeah baby, they were at our reception, remember?” Dan played along as Fionna nodded. She laid her hand on Dan’s thigh as he kissed the side of her head.
Spencer was visibly uncomfortable, much to Dan’s delight.
“Do you have a girlfriend, Spencer?” She delicately placed a slice of pickle in her mouth.
“Uh no, ma’am.”
“That would’ve gotten in the way of his little bet.” Dan shook his head.
“Oh right.” Fionna chuckled as Spencer turned the color of the apple on his tray. They continued to eat, with Fionna making quite a show of snuggling into Dan. She finished her sandwich, and he cleared away her trash.
“Want anything else, sweetheart?”
“I’m good.” Fionna patted the seat beside her and Dan returned. Spencer wasn’t eating much as Dan stared him down. “Oh,” she moved her hand back to her stomach. “She’s kicking.” With a chuckle, he slid his hand to Halia. “Do you feel her?”
“Yeah, there’s my baby,” he lied. He hadn’t felt her move, but upon hearing his voice, Halia did respond, much to his delight. A genuine smile cast his face as he rubbed Fionna’s swell where Halia was pushing her tiny foot.
Fionna folded her hands on her stomach. “I believe I was supposed to listen to a paper you’d written.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He drew a long sip of his Dr Pepper and pulled a folded piece of computer paper from his pocket. Dan rolled his eyes.
“Uh,” he cleared his throat.
“Go ahead, sweetie,” Fionna ordered in a very motherly tone.
Spencer proceeded to read a poorly written essay which listed the dates women in the Realm were given the vote. He added in the formation of the Angels then proceeded on to his feelings that women were confusing and didn’t know what they wanted. He wrote the words, “the world has always been run by men and it should stay that way. Women are too emotional.”
“Dear God, you not only thought those words, you wrote them?” Dan gasped in shock.
Spencer look confused as he nodded.
His concluding paragraph included the line, “If women don’t know what they want, how are we supposed to know?”
Dan fought not to cringe. For a split second, he considered casting a shield over the kid because his wife was about to filet him. But Spencer deserved everything she was about to dish up and then some, and she did not need Dan to fight her battles for her.
Fionna narrowed her eyes and leaned in for the kill. Dan folded his hands in his lap and watched her work.
“Sit down, Spencer,” she snarled. “Let’s go over just a few things, shall we. Let me tell you just a little bit about what women want.”
“You might want to take notes,” Dan commanded.
Spencer glanced around, presumably for paper, but Fionna continued. “Women, who by the way, are the reason that you are here.” She pointed to her stomach. Spencer grimaced and offered a hesitant nod. “Women want to be able to do all of the things that you can do without fear. And do you know why we worry about things like walking to our cars at night or going out in public in general?”
Spencer’s eyes lit. “Because you need men to protect you.”
Dan’s eyes goggled, and Fionna erupted from the couch. “Do you know why we need protection!? We need protection because most men have absolutely no respect for women’s wants or their desires or for them being anything other than a piece of property. What is wrong with you? We could walk to our cars without worry if it weren’t for men. We could go out in public with no concerns at all if not for men. So, do not sit there and tell me that women are too emotional. Men are the ones who can’t get their brains to engage anywhere above their waistline and show some damn respect to the very sex that gives you life,” she roared. Her rhythms vibrated with fury all around them.
“As for your ridiculous, disrespectful little bet, let me assure you that my husband is the love of my life. He is the only person that I would ever share myself with. Because when I looked my husband in the eye and I vowed to love him and only him for the rest of my life, I meant that. He respects me, first and foremost. He also adores me, appreciates me, and takes care of me and our children. Your little essay there showed no respect and no appreciation for women in any way at all. It was nonsensical drivel that you think gives you some kind of lame excuse to treat women like property.
“My husband isn’t a real man because he has bulging biceps and can outshoot any man in the Realm. His heart and his mind and his actions make him a real man. I’ve seen my husband do some terrifying things, stare down the barrels of pistols for one. But the things that he does that mean the most to me,” she shrieked, “are when he reads our little girl to sleep each night. When he gets up on Saturday morning and brings me coffee in bed. When I’m sick and he does everything in his power to make me feel better. When he gets up every morning and goes to work and then comes home and helps me make dinner and helps our baby girl with her homework. He does protect me, because despite our best efforts, there are still boys walking around thinking the way you do. He’s patient and sweet, giving, thoughtful, and most of all loving. He is a real man, and you are nothing but a cocky egotistical child who needs to learn some respect,” she sneered.
“He keeps his vows to me, to his children, to his family, and to the Realm. That essay proves that you not only have no idea how to behave like anything other than a neanderthal, but that you have no idea how to even begin to treat women. Women can do everything men can do, other than peeing standing up, a million times better than you can. But men who know that women are at the very least their equal, don’t want them to have to. They want to help. They want to make her world a better place because when you do that,” she vowed. “When you give a woman your very best, then you’ll get the very best out of her and that, Spencer, is better than anything you’ve ever imagined. So why don’t you try thinking with the head above your waist and see if you can’t rewrite that paper? Show a little appreciation and a great deal more respect for women in general. And if you don’t think you can come up with something better than this,”—she held up the paper—“then forty percent of your grade for this semester will be failing.
“I for one am thrilled that Dan is going to be your mentor because you clearly need to learn more than the energy of defense. You need to learn to be a human being.”
Dan raised his eyebrows and awaited Spencer’s response.
He nodded morosely.
Dan stared him down. “Put some thought in it this time. Women deserve your respect and your time. You need to listen to her mind and her heart and you need to understand that the things they want are just as important as what you want. Do all of that before you try to unzip her jeans.”
“Yes, sir. I’m sorry, Mrs. Vindico,” he offered quite sincerely.
“You should be.”
He slunk out of the office with his tail between his legs.
Dan grinned. “That’s my girl.”
“Ugh, what a little prick.”
Fionna tossed the original essay in the trash can.
“Oh, now wait.” Dan retrieved it. “I want to keep this in case I do end up calling his father.”
He added it to a file in his desk with Spencer’s name on it.
“Can I meet Jeff and Becca before I head home?” Fionna asked hopefully.
“I don’t know where they are right now.”
“They’re probably in the cafeteria,” she insisted.
“Okay, just remember that I don’t think anyone else knows about the pregnancy.”
“I just want to let them know if they need any help, we’ll help them. That’s…the only way for us to really heal.”
Dan’s brow furrowed. “What do you mean, baby?”
“I’ve been struggling the past few days. I’m worried that if I’m too excited about Halia, something bad might happen or it might mean that I didn’t mourn our first enough. But helping people who are going through something we went through, that’s the whole point, don’t you think? If we can help them, we’ll also heal a little of our trauma.”
Dan forced another smile. “Come on.”
Chapter 10
Words
As they stepped out in the hallway, they heard a somewhat disconcerting squeal. They turned around and saw two students whose hands were firmly clasped with one another.
“Oh, holy discontinued Balenciaga Black City Giant 21 work bag with the original hardware.” A girl with long black hair and pale skin grabbed Fionna’s handbag. She looked up the next second and let out an even louder squeal. “You’re Fionna Styler! Like, the Fionna Styler. Do you know who you are? You like challenged for the Angels for like a really long time and you won Top Receiver of Summation last year and then you were dating Garrett Haydenshire who is like totally, totally a manwhore, and I totally did not think that was gonna work out because…you know, once a cheater. I told all of my friends that it wouldn’t work out even though you were like a super cute couple together ’cause he is so freaking hot and there was that picture of you two the one where you were carrying a Valentino Garavani tote and he was like not dressed up enough to be with you…but then like everyone found out you were actually dating Chief Vindico who has like a broody kinda bad boy but like good guy vibe. Is he like that IRL?
“I heard he was like working here or something.” She turned to the guy with her without even a pause. “Didn’t you tell me that?” She turned back to Fionna. “Did you get the Valentino at Bergdorf’s or at Neiman Marcus. It was Neiman Marcus, wasn’t it. That’s like a kind of better store for some things but it isn’t the better store for other things so then you end up having to like go to more than one or both. One time, I was there and I was gonna get Chancey some cologne and there was supposed to be a sale only they didn’t have Clive Christian on sale and like what is the point of a sale if you’re not gonna also have all the cologne on sale?” She said all of that without so much as taking a breath.
Fionna and Dan both stared at the child in abject bewilderment. Fionna cleared her throat. “Hi there.” She grinned. “What’s your name?”
“I’m Ariel Marshall and this is my boyfriend Chancey Winters. We’re like together together.”
Fionna nodded. “It is very nice to meet both of you. Oh, I was never dating Garrett. He’s my best friend.”
Ariel looked thrilled with that little bit of information. “Do you like just tell yourself that because he cheated on you because I don’t think it’s the person being cheated on’s fault if someone cheats you know? My friend Christen was dating this really good-looking guy from Hans Beathe and then she found out he was cheating, and I was like well I told you that was going to happen because he doesn’t go to school with us so he could get away with it so he did because that’s just what he did.”
