“I should have told you when you were sitting down. Or after you’d had a drink.”
He shook his head. “Then I really would have knocked the wall down. I’m too angry to drink.”
Julia continued her first aid until the wound was completely clean. When she was finished, she ghosted her lips over his bandaged knuckles. “I’m so sorry.”
Gabriel caught her hand in his. “Stop it. I seem to remember another time in this washroom when I was the one playing doctor.”
“I was mortified. I wanted to make a good impression and then I smashed your crystal and sprayed your nice shirt with Chianti.”
“It was an accident. I had to work up the courage to put iodine on your cuts. I was afraid of hurting you. And that was before I…”
He closed his eyes and rubbed at them again. “What happened to you today is my fault. I should have protected you.”
“Gabriel,” Julia said, her voice a warning. She leaned over and took his face between her hands, forcing him to look at her. “Don’t. We knew the risks when we got involved. I don’t care what they do to me.” Her voice broke on the words, but she spoke them anyway. “I don’t care about Harvard or my PhD. I don’t want to lose you.”
A strange fire illuminated Gabriel’s eyes. “Not even Hell could keep me from you,” he whispered.
The lovers embraced desperately, drawing comfort from each other’s very skin.
“Are you going to tell me what happened with Professor Martin?”
Gabriel took Julia’s hand and led her into the master bathroom where he began drawing a bath. “You relax, I’ll talk.”
“I’m not in the mood for a bubble bath. I kind of feel like taking a crow bar to something.”
(Something appalling and poorly made. Like domestic beer.)
“That’s why you need a bubble bath. I have to preserve the walls of my apartment.”
Julia undressed and settled herself amongst the suds. He regarded her intensely—the way her long hair was pinned up haphazardly on top of her head, the gentle contours of her breasts floating amidst the water like two white, pink tipped lilies, the way she bit at her lip until she realized he was staring at it.
“Do you remember the first time we bathed together?” she asked as she watched him settle his tall form on a low stool.
“I’m not likely to forget it.”
“You were worried I was hurting, and you carried me to the tub.” She smiled shyly. “That was one of the kindest things you’ve ever done for me.”
“Thank you.” He gave her a peck on a cheek. “But I can’t reminisce about happy things with you. I’m far too angry for that. I’d like to rip out David Aras’s tongue and strangle him with it.”
“What about Professor Martin?”
Gabriel paused, clearing his throat. “If Christa’s complaint had stood alone, he would have interviewed me, perhaps spoken to a few others around the department, and concluded that her charge was fabricated. Her complaint against you, however, complicates things.”
“What did your lawyer say?”
“I decided to meet with Jeremy alone.”
Julia sat bolt upright, the water sloshing around her. “What? I thought you told your lawyer about the complaint so he would accompany you.”
Gabriel leaned forward, resting his forearms on his knees.
“Jeremy hired me. I consider him a friend. I thought it was more likely that we could cut through the bullshit and deal with the issue if I didn’t bring my lawyer.”
Julia’s eyes widened in disbelief. “What did he say?”
“Christa claims that I tried to initiate a sexual relationship with her on a number of different occasions, including meetings that we had on and off campus. She mentioned our interactions at Starbucks and at Lobby.” His eyes shifted to Julia’s.
“She’s also accusing me of punishing her by rejecting her thesis proposal and threatening to have her dismissed from the PhD program. She claims that after she spurned me, I made her life hell.”
“But it’s all lies. She was the one harassing you.”
“Exactly, and I said as much. Jeremy was quite cross. He told me that I should have come to him immediately and filed a complaint. Obviously, my claim is not very credible at this point, but there are a couple of things that Christa did not take into consideration.”
“Such as?”
“Her academic file. Jeremy and I had at least two discussions about her poor progress over the course of last semester. He was well aware of the fact that she was struggling. Notes from those discussions, along with copies of her work, are in her file. Also, Paul was present during some of my interactions with Christa. I suggested that Jeremy speak with him, along with Mrs. Jenkins.”
“Paul was with me in Starbucks the day you met with Christa. She told us she was planning on persuading you to take her to Lobby—that she was going to be exchanging more than names with you that evening.”