Principle Decisions by Thea Belmont

Author:Thea Belmont [Belmont, Thea]
Format: epub
Published: 2023-11-25T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 11

Light-headed

Vivienne stood in front of her class, hoping her students did not see how exhausted she was, despite the copious amounts of coffee she had drunk. Saturday had been lost to recovering her car and unplanned socializing, so she had spent the entire day and most of the night Sunday grading papers and planning lessons.

She turned unsteadily to the whiteboard and wrote out the main points of the lecture. Then returning to the lectern, she leaned on it heavily to steady herself until she felt her blood flow returning.

She asked for someone to explain the roots of each language structure. One student, Matthew, stumbled over his words but managed to state four of the five points she was hoping for. Another student, Maddison, filled in the missing point.

The rest of the class was a blur, and she was thankful when the students left. She dropped into a chair and waited for the dizziness to pass.

Perhaps she should have eaten something more substantial than a granola bar for breakfast.

Vivienne wanted to attribute her constant nausea to menopause, but the truth was she hadn’t felt well lately. Although she had seen her gynecologist not too long ago—thanks to Selene’s request for a clean bill of health—she had put off seeing her family doctor for some time. During her last visit, he had lectured her about the long-term effects of stress and smoking.

“Professor Carter?”

She looked up, blinking in the fluorescent lighting, then turned to the doorway.

“Are you okay?” Abigail asked.

“I’m fine.” Vivienne picked up her bag and stood up. She did feel better after sitting down for a few minutes. Maybe that was all she needed. Maybe she could squeeze in a power nap on her lunch break.

“We were scheduled to meet. Do you want to do it here?”

Vivienne sighed. Her office was just down the hall. “No, let’s go to my office.”

She walked with Abigail to her office, unlocked the door, and booted up her laptop. Then she looked at Abigail, who had pulled out her paperwork.

“I graded the language class assignments for the first-year students, but I can’t do the religious studies. I don’t understand enough of the subject matter. I’m sorry.”

Vivienne nodded. She’d expected as much. “Thank you, Abigail. You’re doing far more than I expected of a TA.”

“I know you’re going over everything I grade to make sure it’s okay, and I don’t know if it’s because you don’t trust me or—”

“It’s not that I don’t trust you,” Vivienne said, waving her hand. “It’s because if I’m going to sign off on your grading, I need to make sure that I agree. There’s never been anything I’m concerned about. If you decide to choose academia as a career, I will be happy to provide you with a reference.”

Abigail blushed. “Thank you,” she said. “But you still have a massive workload. Is there nothing that any of the other professors can do?”

“No,” Vivienne said, though it was probably only a matter of asking. She just wasn’t sure she could manage that.

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