Page 33 of Here in My Heart (Here Together #2)

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

Shielding her cheeks from the bite of January’s wind, Sylvie shrank from the harsh truths of last night.

The walk to work had been longer than usual, as she went over their conversation.

She entered the cocoon of the staff room grateful for the sharp change in temperature and the familiar aroma of milk and burned coffee.

With everything else up in the air, the coziness of the staff room was like a warm hug.

She checked her watch: the faculty meeting was due to start in ten minutes. Hoping to keep a low profile, she made for the corner. With the meeting done, she could retreat to her classroom to overthink.

She didn’t regret what she’d said to Ade, but she wished it were different.

If only it was a lie to protect both their feelings from the eventual hurt.

Deep down, she knew that Ade would leave, and that would scar her heart.

She’d held Ade extra tight after a night of satisfying each other’s desires, but there’d been a hint of sadness.

Despite their promises to live in the moment, Sylvie had started to grieve the loss already.

“Damn.” She burned her tongue on the university’s poor excuse for coffee.

At the other end of the room, Isa’s raised voice attracted Sylvie’s attention. She straightened to see what the matter was and caught the undeniable fear in Ade’s eyes as she stared upwind into Isa’s torrent.

Sylvie sighed, curiosity simmering beneath her wish to stay put and stay out of it. She risked another glance in their direction. What was Isa talking about? Was it about her and Ade? It couldn’t be. Even Isa wouldn’t risk the whole faculty listening into their private affairs.

Ade froze, as if she was unable to process what was happening.

Sylvie had seen that terror before, when Ade was new to the city and every conversation had been a strange encounter for her.

Christ . She had to do something. The urge to rescue Ade from what looked like an impossible-to-read situation was too strong, and she strode across to them.

Isa regarded her with a strange mix of concern and irritation. “Don’t get involved, Sylvie.”

“What are you talking about?” Sylvie whispered, not wishing to attract any more onlookers. “I’m Ade’s supervisor. If something’s wrong then I need to be involved.”

Isa rolled her eyes. “Oh, really? You’re Ade’s supervisor today?”

“Isa, please.” Sylvie couldn’t say anymore without drawing more onlookers. She begged Isa to tone it down with a pleading glare.

Ade stared at the floor, shuffling from foot to foot as if she was waiting outside the principal’s office.

“What’s going on, Ade?” Sylvie asked, resisting the temptation to take Ade’s hand.

Isa crossed her arms. “I didn’t want to embroil you, but if you must know, I was enquiring about the faked attestation that I’ve just received reports of.”

So this was faculty business catching up with Ade and not their personal lives.

Relieved, Sylvie almost laughed. Damn it.

Did Isa think that Ade had encouraged it?

Sylvie had a split second to weigh the ethics.

She’d known about the risk of faked reports and had decided not to do anything about it.

Did that make her as guilty as Madison, who’d obviously gone through with the forgery?

“Did you know about this?” Isa asked, already reading Sylvie’s silence as guilt.

“Why don’t we go somewhere quieter?” Sylvie asked, desperate to take the sting out of the moment.

Isa’s face reddened with her obvious fury. “Don’t try to protect her, Sylvie, just because you two are?—”

“Please.” Sylvie grabbed Isa by the arm and led her into the corridor. It was no less busy, but the hum of activity masked the volume of their emerging scandal. “It’s not like that.”

Ade followed, still rendered mute by the accusation.

Sylvie took a breath and steeled herself. This was going to take some ironing out, especially if Ade was unwilling to explain herself. “Ade told me that one of her students had suggested something about faking signatures to pass their modules, and she explicitly told them not to do it.”

“How come there’s a rumor that Ade encouraged it?” Isa asked. “Well?” She turned back to the wide-eyed statue of Ade.

“Madison…” Ade cleared her throat. “Madison mentioned it. She was clearly distressed and needed some support. But I told her not to do it.”

“I can vouch for her,” said Sylvie, hoping that her own integrity wasn’t about to unravel.

Isa’s jaw stiffened, and she looked between them.

“Listen, Adelaide, I don’t know you all that well.

But I do know that Professor Boucher is one of the most respected academics in the country.

She sets high standards and demands professional ethics.

If she’s in your corner, that’s enough for me.

” She stepped forward. “But you need to know that the students you brought over from California are in your care. Faking reports undermines the efforts of every single student here, not to mention the staff working hard to keep them on track. You’re responsible for their behavior and conduct, as well as your own.

I don’t want to hear about this kind of thing again. And neither does Paul.”

Sylvie placed her hand on Isa’s upper arm.

“Absolutely. We’re all agreed on that. Ade told me about this straight away.

As her supervisor, I made the judgment not to take it further at the time.

If some evidence has come to light now that suggests one of the students has acted inappropriately, then Ade and I will deal with it. ”

“I don’t want rumors flying around that teachers are encouraging grade fraud. It’s the last thing we need as a faculty. Get your house in order, Sylvie, before people start to really question our ethics.” Isa turned and went back to the staffroom.

Sylvie rounded on Ade. “You knew about this?”

“No!” Ade’s face fell. “I told you what happened before Christmas. I had no idea that Madison had gone through with it.”

“Jesus Christ, this is all we need.”

“What?” Ade reached for Sylvie’s hand but withdrew before they touched.

“More paperwork. We’ll have to investigate what happened and make a report to the faculty here and your leadership team at home.” Sylvie groaned. “Bring Madison in for a meeting this week, and we’ll try to get to the bottom of it.”

“Sure.” Ade’s shoulders sank.

“I’m sorry I’m worked up about this, Ade.” Sylvie released a heavy sigh. “But if Isabelle has heard about Madison, then other members of the staff might have too. This isn’t just about the rights and wrongs of it, it’s about my reputation.”

Ade gave nothing away. Her body swayed a little, but her face remained unreadable.

“Are you going to talk to me?” Sylvie stamped her foot in frustration. How could Ade just stand there with all this going on?

Ade swallowed what looked like a lump of emotion. “I can’t right now. I’ve got to get to the marine center for a shift.”

“Great. You get to your safe space.” Leave me to clear up your mess. Sylvie ran her hands through her hair, struggling to keep her cool. “I want to protect you, but this is the job. This is exactly what I was talking about last night.”

“What do you mean?” Ade’s mouth gaped slightly.

Sylvie hesitated. Maybe Ade just needed to hear the truth. “I’d love it if you could see this from my perspective. But that’s tricky for you, and I should know that by now.”

Ade blinked. “I do struggle with that, yeah. My bad.”

Sylvie glanced at her watch. She couldn’t stand there any longer.

“The meeting is about to start.” She walked away, kicking herself for her outburst. If Ade had been firmer with Madison in the first place, this wouldn’t have escalated.

Anger rose inside Sylvie’s chest, and tears threatened to give her away.

She was furious, not with Ade but with the whole ridiculous situation.

This was exactly the kind of silly trivial error which could blow up in her face and destroy her chances of promotion next time round.

But back in the staff room, with Ade under attack for her mistake, Sylvie was more certain than ever that she’d do anything for her.

How could she be so frustrated with someone and feel so much for them at the same time?