constipated shih tzu.
âIâll get down to brass tacks, Professor,â the department head said. âIâm sure youâre aware that you have a certain moniker as well as a less than savory reputation among the student body.â
This again. Kane hid his anger by taking his time adjusting his glasses. âIâm sure youâre aware that I neither condone nor encourage either.â
âYet rumors persist.â
âI wonder why,â Kane murmured. âI also wonder who manages the care and feeding of those rumors, when I certainly do not.â Marshall didnât talk to students if he could help it. He dealt with the faculty. Kane believed someone on staff kept circulating baseless tales about him. He even had two good candidates in mind, neither of whom would weep tears over his departure.
Watery eyes regarded him. âWhile your expertise and fame garners a great deal of positive attention for our school as a whole and this department in particular, your on-campus reputation is becoming a deterrent.â
Kane exhaled slowly, keeping his expression impassive with an effort. He was the maligned party, but Marshall would take any display of anger as a sign of weakness. âIâll remind you that Iâve never once encouraged the attention of any of my students outside of the classroom. I keep my door open when I counsel students and have one of the graduate assistants sit in on some of the more fraught sessions. I even inform students that theyâre being recorded. All of these are measures that you yourself signed off on.â
He wasnât stupid, and all it would take was one questionable photo posted to a social media site to torpedo his campus career. So he went to extremes and did everything possible to protect himself and still be available for his students and leave his detractors without ammunition.
If there was any sort of black mark against him, it was the six-month relationship heâd had with an adjunct professor in Continuing Studies. That had ended a year ago, not well, but it hadnât been a scandal either. Now he had a new relationship he wanted to focus on, if only Dr. Marshall would
get to the fucking point
.
âYou asked to speak to me, yet youâve only rehashed old issues that I thought long handled.â Kane sat back in the chair, his posture displaying a relaxation he didnât feel. âAm I to assume you have some sage advice you wish to impart? Our normal chat isnât scheduled until next week.â And I really hope Iâm called for a consulting case then.
âIndeed I do.â Marshall sat forward, some of the harshness leaving his expression. âListen, son, I know this isnât easy for you, just as I know it isnât fair. I do think, however, that your looks combined with your charm and your continued bachelorhood means that you will always be a prize that the student body will want to claim.â
Kane blinked, thrown by the change in demeanor as much as by Marshallâs words. Maybe the department head really was concerned with more than listening to himself speak. Kane knew that his persistent single state didnât help to staunch the rumors or advance his quest for tenure, but he didnât think Marshall was concerned one way or the other.
âAre you saying that you want me to get married?â He should have been surprised, but he wasnât. At thirty-seven, heâd never been married, a fact that sent his mother into wails of despair. His focus on his career had dominated his life since college, leaving little time for more than casual relationships.
Truth be told, he hadnât found anyone who had made him think long term, and he was okay with that even if most people werenât. Marriage was still the preferred default state for adults in the United States. Who cared that wedded bliss had a fifty percent success rate? If you werenât married, engaged, or in the process
âIâll get down to brass tacks, Professor,â the department head said. âIâm sure youâre aware that you have a certain moniker as well as a less than savory reputation among the student body.â
This again. Kane hid his anger by taking his time adjusting his glasses. âIâm sure youâre aware that I neither condone nor encourage either.â
âYet rumors persist.â
âI wonder why,â Kane murmured. âI also wonder who manages the care and feeding of those rumors, when I certainly do not.â Marshall didnât talk to students if he could help it. He dealt with the faculty. Kane believed someone on staff kept circulating baseless tales about him. He even had two good candidates in mind, neither of whom would weep tears over his departure.
Watery eyes regarded him. âWhile your expertise and fame garners a great deal of positive attention for our school as a whole and this department in particular, your on-campus reputation is becoming a deterrent.â
Kane exhaled slowly, keeping his expression impassive with an effort. He was the maligned party, but Marshall would take any display of anger as a sign of weakness. âIâll remind you that Iâve never once encouraged the attention of any of my students outside of the classroom. I keep my door open when I counsel students and have one of the graduate assistants sit in on some of the more fraught sessions. I even inform students that theyâre being recorded. All of these are measures that you yourself signed off on.â
He wasnât stupid, and all it would take was one questionable photo posted to a social media site to torpedo his campus career. So he went to extremes and did everything possible to protect himself and still be available for his students and leave his detractors without ammunition.
If there was any sort of black mark against him, it was the six-month relationship heâd had with an adjunct professor in Continuing Studies. That had ended a year ago, not well, but it hadnât been a scandal either. Now he had a new relationship he wanted to focus on, if only Dr. Marshall would
get to the fucking point
.
âYou asked to speak to me, yet youâve only rehashed old issues that I thought long handled.â Kane sat back in the chair, his posture displaying a relaxation he didnât feel. âAm I to assume you have some sage advice you wish to impart? Our normal chat isnât scheduled until next week.â And I really hope Iâm called for a consulting case then.
âIndeed I do.â Marshall sat forward, some of the harshness leaving his expression. âListen, son, I know this isnât easy for you, just as I know it isnât fair. I do think, however, that your looks combined with your charm and your continued bachelorhood means that you will always be a prize that the student body will want to claim.â
Kane blinked, thrown by the change in demeanor as much as by Marshallâs words. Maybe the department head really was concerned with more than listening to himself speak. Kane knew that his persistent single state didnât help to staunch the rumors or advance his quest for tenure, but he didnât think Marshall was concerned one way or the other.
âAre you saying that you want me to get married?â He should have been surprised, but he wasnât. At thirty-seven, heâd never been married, a fact that sent his mother into wails of despair. His focus on his career had dominated his life since college, leaving little time for more than casual relationships.
Truth be told, he hadnât found anyone who had made him think long term, and he was okay with that even if most people werenât. Marriage was still the preferred default state for adults in the United States. Who cared that wedded bliss had a fifty percent success rate? If you werenât married, engaged, or in the process
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