The Perfect Affair by Angela Henry

Author:Angela Henry [Henry, Angela]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

TWENTY-SIX

AARON NICHOLS

BEFORE

October 14, 2023

There was a soft knock at my door, and I looked up to see Beth standing in the doorway.

“Sorry to bother you, Dr. Nichols,” she said, taking a tentative step into the room and looking around. “The lady that usually sits at the desk outside your office isn’t there and I knocked, but you didn’t hear me.”

“Beth, come on in. My door is always open. Lynette must’ve stepped out for lunch or something.”

“You’re not busy?”

“I’m always busy, but never too busy to talk to a student. Please, have a seat.” I gestured her toward the chair directly in front of my desk. She took her backpack off and sat down.

I knew very little about Beth aside from the fact that she was a freshman and good friends with Jaida, who had taken the younger woman under her wing. Being a freshman, I figured she had to be at least eighteen, but she looked younger. She wore no makeup, and her long light brown hair was pulled into a low ponytail with fringe framing her face.

“There was something you wanted to talk to me about yesterday. Is everything okay?” Beth started chewing on her thumbnail and looked down at her lap. “Is it your classes?” I prompted. “Are you having trouble with a professor?”

“No, I mean, yes. I mean, not me someone else.”

“Someone else? You mean a classmate?”

“It’s Jaida.”

“If this is about the money that went missing—”

“She didn’t steal that money,” Beth blurted, leaning forward in her chair, her face reddening.

“I never thought she did.” I was calm. Beth visibly relaxed and sat back a little in the chair. But she still seemed tense and on edge.

“Well, I’m worried about her. She’s under a lot of pressure and that thing with the missing check has just about pushed her to the edge. And that other thing isn’t helping either.”

“What other thing?”

Beth seemed hesitant again, and I waited until she finally said, “It’s Dr. Morton.”

“Dr. Morton? What’s going on with Dr. Morton?”

“Jaida worships her, Dr. Nichols. She wants to be just like her. But Dr. Morton…” Her voice trailed off, and she looked away from me.

“Dr. Morton what?” I wanted to pull the words out of Beth’s mouth, but I needed to control myself and let her tell me whatever she needed to tell me, regardless of who it was about.

“She’s not very nice to Jaida.”

I frowned. “In what way? Can you give me an example?”

“I was there the morning Jaida was supposed to take that check to the bank. I came in early before my first class because I’d forgotten my English book and overheard them talking in the back room. I grabbed my book and left before they noticed I was there, but I heard most of their conversation.”

“What did you hear?”

“Jaida didn’t want to take the check. But Dr. Morton made it seem like she was the only one who was doing any work at the Literary Review and the least Jaida could do was help her out by taking it.

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