© Christina Hadfield
JUNIOR YEAR
Daily, Dr. Kemper, in her minimal free time, investigated what was possibly occurring between Dr. Morgan and Tess. In her investigative work, she figured out several things.
Firstly, Tess was not at all frightened of Dr. Morgan. This was a previously known fact, simply because Tess herself had said so. Dr. Kemper even knew the back story to this. Back when they were still freshmen, Kai burst into her office hours with Tess trailing behind only to tell the remarkable tale of how Tess stood up for a girl against Dr. Morgan and lived to tell the tale, and afterward, it was hard to be intimidated by someone Tess knew was capable of good.
Secondly, Dr. Kemper knew that Dr. Morgan and Tess spent a lot of time together. Every week after their TA meeting, Tess would go see Dr. Morgan, and often throughout the week when Tess and Kai stopped by to chat, Tess would excuse herself after a bit to go visit Dr. Morgan. Very rarely did Dr. Kemper see the two out and about together—though sometimes she spotted them walking down the hall together. At first, she thought Tess was just interested in the woman’s research, then, she thought perhaps Tess was working for Dr. Morgan. Kai confirmed that was preposterous, however, and had instead chosen to describe their relationship as, “They’re friends, I guess.”
And they could have been friends, might be friends. Stranger friendships had existed. And really, Dr. Kemper would consider herself friends with her TA’s. It was different than her friendship with Dr. Marlow, but still, they were friends. It didn’t seem right to consider them only acquaintances, and well, there wasn’t really a term for something between those two stages.
Dr. Kemper was a busy woman, however. She didn’t have time to just work out what was going on between Dr. Morgan and Tess. She wanted to know more, was sinfully nosey and curious, but even her curiosity fell on the backburner to work. After seeing them leave together, she was adamant to solve the mystery, but weeks later, it was barely a thought in the back of her mind.
It was Friday. Late, once again, as her husband’s bountiful phone calls reminded her. She felt a bit bad, only because he had just finished a particularly taxing project at work and was looking forward to a relaxing weekend with the family, but she was right in the thick of the end of a unit which meant she needed to finish writing her portion of the exam—Dr. Marlow wouldn’t stop pestering her about that—and she also needed to get started on the class material for next unit, because it was her unit to lead. She was going to head home though, just as soon as she printed off some worksheets which she assured Dr. Marlow she would have in her mailbox first thing Monday morning.
Dr. Kemper slipped out of her office and down to the copy room. The printer was slow, but it always was. She gathered the stack once it was done and slipped it into Dr. Marlow’s mailbox. All she needed to do then was grab her things, lock up, and she was home free for the weekend. She left the copy room and turned to head back to her office when she heard someone laugh. She stopped and listened, turning in the direction of the sound.
There was actually faint music playing as well. And more laughter. It rang out down the hall, muffled, but still evident. Dr. Kemper checked her watch. It was nearly seven, not ridiculously late, but late enough that surely no students were still hanging around studying, especially not on a Friday! Curious, Dr. Kemper walked towards the sounds.
The commotion emanated from the boardroom. She slowed as she approached. The door was closed, muffling the sound, but from across the hall she glanced in through the window beside the door. Inside were both Dr. Morgan and Tess, and the sight was enough to freeze Dr. Kemper in place.
Tess spun around in a swivel chair. She rolled back towards the white board, slapping it intently with a dry erase marker.
“That’s most certainly not ‘photosynthesis,’” she declared, pointing at the game of hang man drawn on the board. “It hasn’t got fifteen letters!”
“I’ve never been good at spelling,” Dr. Morgan answered. She leaned against the boardroom table just across from Tess. “And I think that’s a rather decent guess, considering it starts with a ‘p’ and ends with ‘thesis.’”
“But you already guessed a ‘t,’ and it’s right there! There isn’t another one!”
“Are you sure I’ve heard of this word before?”
“Who here has the doctorate?”
“Again, I didn’t get my doctorate in spelling.”
Tess laughed heartily again. “I bet Dr. Greenwood could figure it out and she isn’t even a science person, so she certainly hasn’t heard this word before!”
“Fine. I suppose I’ll guess another letter then.”
“Careful, your guy’s about to die if you get one more wrong guess.”
“What? You mean to tell me you don’t draw a face too?”
“Only when I’m playing with my baby cousins who need a handicap,” Tess scoffed. “Unless the big, mean, super scary, most certainly the smartest person ever, Dr. Morgan, is admitting defeat and needs a handicap?”
“We’ll see what happens when I guess this next letter,” Dr. Morgan declared, crossing her arms.
“Fine then. What letter do you want?”
“’Y.’”
Tess nodded, turning and filling in two y’s.
“Two?” Dr. Morgan questioned. “Well the end is definitely synthesis. But a ‘y’ in the beginning?”
“Guess again! Stop stalling! You don’t know what it is so let me hang your guy already!”
“’A?’”
“Wrong!” Tess declared triumphantly. She drew the final arm on the stick figure, giving him X eyes as well. “You lost!” she teased, quickly filling in the remaining letters.
“Psychosynthesis?” Dr. Morgan questioned skeptically. “That’s a made-up word.”
“Nope, it’s from psychology,” Tess stated. “It’s an Italian-born approach to psychology, if I remember what Kai told me correctly.”
“Psychology!?” Dr. Morgan scoffed. “I thought you said it was a science word!?”
“It is. Psychology,” Tess said. She turned in her chair so that she was sitting in it backwards, her arms crossed and resting on the back of the chair.
“Psychology isn’t a real science,” Dr. Morgan replied, her grin massive.
“You don’t mean that,” Tess answered. “I saw those psychology books on your bookshelf, remember?”
“You cheated,” Dr. Morgan stated simply, slowly standing. “You knew you couldn’t possibly beat me in a game playing fairly, so you tricked me with misdirection.”
“You said you didn’t even know what the word was!”
“Cheater,” Dr. Morgan stated, stalking towards Tess.
“You’re just a sore loser,” Tess replied, looking smug.
Tess watched Dr. Morgan intensely. The woman’s pupils were large and her look predatory. Tess shivered in her seat, filled with instant want and need. She reached out as Dr. Morgan stepped towards her and the woman grabbed her wrist sharply, jerking, pulling Tess and the rolling chair towards her. Then Dr. Morgan bent, grabbing Tess behind the head, and kissed her firmly.
In the hall, Dr. Kemper leapt back, pressing her back to the wall, panting heavily. Her heart was pounding, but to confirm what she saw, she slowly peered around the edge of the wall and back through the window, into the board room. The kiss had deepened, most definitely, and Dr. Kemper looked away again, feeling odd about watching such an exchange.
Dr. Morgan pulled back from Tess, tugging the girl’s bottom lip with her teeth. Tess let out a sinful moan that lasted until Dr. Morgan released her and then she looked up at the other woman with hooded eyes.
“What time is it?” Tess questioned. “Time to leave?”
“Yes,” Dr. Morgan answered.
Hearing commotion, Dr. Kemper tentatively looked back into the room and found both Tess and Dr. Morgan collecting their things. Quickly, Dr. Kemper hurried off down the hall, hearing the boardroom door open as she left. Behind her she could hear the soft conservation between the two. Dr. Kemper realized she dashed off in the wrong direction, as they weren’t heading for Dr. Morgan’s office, rather just the stairs. She stopped, panicked, and slipped into the shadowy alcove of a lab door.
Dr. Morgan passed by first, practically pulling a giggly Tess along behind her. They were teasing each other, Tess being particularly annoying, and Dr. Morgan spun, harshly pinning Tess against the wall. Whispers were passed between the two, then another kiss trailing from Tess’s lips to her jaw to her neck. Then Dr. Morgan jerked her away again, and they were gone.
Dr. Kemper remained in her hiding spot, her heart absolutely pounding. Once she calmed down enough, she slowly pulled out her phone. Her hands were shaking slightly, otherwise she might have texted, but instead she simply called Dr. Marlow, who picked up on the second ring.
“Hi,” Dr. Marlow answered.
“Tess and Margaret are most definitely sleeping together.”
“Oh, this again?”
“I saw them kissing, multiple times, and they just left together again.”
“Oh…”
“Oh is right.”
Dr. Morgan ran her fingers along the inside of Tess’s arm, feeling the slight bumps of her scar. Tess stirred beside her, and finally rolled over, though she didn’t pull her arm away.
“Stop, that tickles,” Tess huffed.
“This never should have happened,” Dr. Morgan muttered.
Tess watched Dr. Morgan as she ran her fingers along her arm. “I know, Kai and I were being complete idiots,” Tess answered.
“You were distracted… over worked and not being extremely cautious. I can hardly fault you for that.”
“You… can’t?” Tess questioned, confused.
“Your lab coordinator should have been in the building… if I hadn’t stopped by to drop off some mail…” Dr. Morgan grew quiet, contemplative. “This shouldn’t have scarred so badly. I should have gone to the hospital with you to ensure they treated it properly. If they had, it wouldn’t be so bad.”
“It’s… not that bad really,” Tess whispered.
“It was entirely avoidable though. Unfortunate—I… We should review our lab policy.”
“Margaret, I’m fine.”
“I know.”
Tess reached out slowly, pulling her arm away from Dr. Morgan in favor of running her fingers lightly along the woman’s jaw. “You were worried… scared… concerned for my safety and wellbeing.”
“I—the students—a bad reflection on our leadership in the department—”
“It helped me realized that you really do care about me… that you didn’t just tolerate me.”
A sarcastic remark caught in the back of Dr. Morgan’s throat and she swallowed it. Instead she changed the subject. “What are you doing over summer break?”
“Going home,” Tess answered. “I’m going to work most of summer, take a couple online classes.”
“Of course.”
“Will you miss me?” Tess whispered.
“Miss not having interruptions and no free time to myself? Hardly.”
“Right.”
Dr. Morgan watched as Tess slowly lowered her head. She sounded tired, which was understandable because of the time, but she also sounded a bit sad. And there was no snarky remark to meet Dr. Morgan’s own.
“I will… miss you, I mean,” Dr. Morgan stuttered.
Dr. Morgan felt as Tess smiled into her chest. Tess turned her head slowly, looking up at Dr. Morgan and catching the woman’s gaze. “I’m going to miss you too,” Tess whispered.
Being a baby bio TA meant being present in class to help students and it also meant being around after class to help the professors grade. But being a TA also meant holding weekly office hours where students could come and get help and work on their homework with aid. Typically, Tess had her office hours with Kai, but another of the TA’s fell sick, so Tess picked up an extra shift with one of the sophomore TA’s.
Their office hours were productive, with several students, and work flowed smoothly. When the hour was up, students left, as did the sophomore TA, who needed to study for an exam. Tess lingered behind with one student who was particularly talkative, and Tess didn’t mind listening.
The student’s name was Ted, which Tess knew from both in class and outside of class activities. Ted was having some difficulties with his roommate.
“She’s just super transphobic, which is so annoying,” Ted ranted. “They put me in the girl’s dorm because I haven’t legally gotten around to changing my sex on my birth certificate, so it says I’m female still, which you know is kind of awkward, but I was getting by. I made a lot of good friends on my floor. But my roommate is clearly uncomfortable living with me and she’s making my life just awful! She refuses to call me by the correct pronouns, and she stalked me online to find my dead name, which is all she calls me by. It’s really demeaning.”
“Have you talked to your RA’s about it?” Tess asked.
“Oh, yeah, all the time. My RA’s are worthless though! They’re super good friends with my roommate and like… I think they’re really religious and conservative because they’ve said some pretty transphobic stuff themselves. And I realized none of this was going to get resolved, so I tried to file a complaint about harassment—because we’ve got that clause in the university handbook, right?”
“Did it help? Did anyone do anything about it?”
“No! I ended up meeting with this person in charge of claims, or whatever, and she basically told me my problems weren’t real harassment, because it’s my actual name—again, I haven’t legally gotten around to changing it—and I just… I just don’t think I can handle it anymore! Like, it’s so bad, Tess. It’s so bad. I wish I could just move somewhere else, but it’s so close to the end of the semester. But I’m worried next year won’t be any better, and I haven’t got any protection—”
“Hey, hey, breathe,” Tess instructed. She reached out a comforting hand as Ted fought to hold back his tears.
“It fucking sucks,” Ted muttered. “And it feels like there’s no one here who cares, no one in a position of authority who can do anything about it, you know? I tried talking to some of my professors about it, because they’re like mandatory reporters or whatever, but they weren’t taking it seriously either…”
Tess strummed her fingers on a nearby desk, contemplating. “I… might know someone who would care… or multiple someones, actually.”
“Who?” Ted sniffled.
Tess glanced to the clock on the wall. “They might still be on campus, actually. Do you have anything else you need to do tonight?”
“Besides avoid going back to my room? No.”
“Alright, come on then.”
Across campus, Dr. Greenwood stirred at the knock on her office door. She turned and looked at Dr. Morgan, who was sitting on one of the mismatched couches.
“Are you expecting someone?” Dr. Morgan questioned.
“No… are you?”
“How would anyone know I was over here?”
Dr. Greenwood stood and went to her door, opening it, revealing Tess and another student.
“Oh, wonderful, you’re still here,” Tess sighed with relief. She turned, gesturing to the other student. “This is Ted. He’s having an awful time and no one’s listening to him or taking his predicament seriously, but I thought you of all professors would care.”
“Okay, yes, come in,” Dr. Greenwood answered. She stepped aside, welcoming the boy as Tess entered the office.
“Oh, Margaret!” Tess stated, her eyes landing on the other woman. Dr. Morgan eyed her skeptically, and Tess quickly corrected, “I mean, Dr. Morgan, fancy seeing you here.”
In the doorway, Ted froze. “Dr…. Dr. Morgan?” he stammered.
“No, it’s alright,” Tess said, quickly turning back to reassure him. “She’ll help you too, I promise.”
“No, but, but… she’s—”
Tess took Ted’s hand, holding it tightly, forcing him to look at her. “Trust me, Ted. I would never bring you to someone who would hurt you more. I know how Dr. Morgan can be, I know what people say about her, but trust me, she does care, and she will help you.”
“Help with what?” Dr. Morgan questioned, an eyebrow raised.
“I… my living situation is terrible. My roommate, she’s really transphobic, and she says horrid things about me. I’m afraid to go back to my room. But my RA’s don’t care, and I tried to report it, but my birth certificate still says I’m a girl, and I—”
“Unacceptable,” Dr. Greenwood barked out. “We will absolutely get to the bottom of this.”
“Of course,” Dr. Morgan agreed, sitting up more fully. She gestured to the couch beside her and with Tess’s urging, Ted went and sat down beside her.
Tess hovered back by Dr. Greenwood’s desk, watching the entire exchange. Both professors listened patiently and fully to Ted’s situation and talked him through exactly what his options were, and then while he was there, Dr. Greenwood sent out several emails to higher up people. Dr. Morgan, even somewhat surprisingly to Tess, was the one most worried about Ted’s immediate safety, and offered that should he not wish to return to his dorm room, he could stay with her until the safety issues were resolved.
“Tha… thank you,” Ted muttered, crying between his words. He sniffled, wiping tears off his cheeks. “Thank you, for the offer, but um… I have friends on campus, good friends on campus, and I can stay with them.”
“Of course,” Dr. Morgan answered. “But the offer always remains. And during the day, if you find things are becoming too much, my office is always a safe space.”
“As is mine,” Dr. Greenwood replied.
Dr. Greenwood walked Ted out into the hall for some final comments. Once they stepped out, Tess looked to Dr. Morgan and smirked, finding the other woman wouldn’t look her in the eyes.
“I knew you’d help,” Tess stated after a moment, “but I never dreamed you’d say such nice and reassuring things, nor did I expect you to offer up your home and office space.”
“He’s in a really bad situation,” Dr. Morgan answered.
“It took me a year of breaking into your office before you even tolerated my presence.”
“Perhaps you helped me realize that letting people in isn’t always such a bad thing,” Dr. Morgan whispered, near silently.
Tess walked to her and dipped down, kissing her forehead. “I’m glad,” Tess whispered as well. “Thank you. I’m really proud of you, you know? For how you handled this.”
Dr. Morgan looked away, fighting the blush on her cheeks. Her heart hammered at the tender intimacy of such a gesture. “I’m not a monster, you know,” she forced out defensively.
“I know,” Tess whispered again, and when Dr. Morgan finally turned to look at the girl, she found a look of pure admiration in which no one had ever looked at her before. Suddenly, Dr. Morgan felt very small, and very alone, and very sad. Tess, practically sensing this, took the woman’s hand and squeezed it tightly.
“I think perhaps this is foolish,” Dr. Marlow muttered out.
“Oh, most definitely,” Dr. Kemper answered. “We talked about this though—debated about it for hours—and we both came to the conclusion that this is something we must do for the sake of Tess.”
“I know… I know,” Dr. Marlow replied. “But I just… I’m still scared of her. Aren’t you terrified?”
“Oh, absolutely. But if Tess can stand up to her, so can we.”
“I personally think Tess is a stronger person than I am,” Dr. Marlow muttered.
As they neared Dr. Morgan’s office door, Dr. Marlow slowed and nearly turned away, but Dr. Kemper grabbed her arm and held her firmly. Slowly, and with a deep breath for added confidence, Dr. Kemper reached up and knocked on the door.
A moment later, Dr. Morgan jerked her door open, taking in the two women. “Is this urgent?” she questioned. Both of the bio professors stumbled over their words, so Dr. Morgan moved to shut the door again. “Then this is not necessary,” she stated.
Dr. Kemper spurred herself into action, reaching out and bracing the door. Dr. Morgan looked up at the woman, narrowing her eyes slightly. Then, through clenched teeth, she forced out, “I suggest you ladies leave.”
“We need to talk to you—” Dr. Marlow restated, but Dr. Morgan was tired and now growing irritated.
“As I figured, but I am very busy and I—”
“We know you’re sleeping with Tess,” Dr. Kemper barked out.
There was a moment of pause in which Dr. Marlow looked to her colleague with pure shock, and Dr. Morgan, equally shocked, processed the information quickly and attempted to construct an educated sounding response. Dr. Kemper squeaked out the last syllable, gulping, and was very glad they waited until late into the evening to confront the other woman.
Dr. Morgan stepped back, opening her office door. “I suggest you both come in, as this is hardly a conversation fit for the hallway,” she sneered.
Both Dr. Marlow and Dr. Kemper tumbled into the office, huddling near each other for strength as Dr. Morgan shut the door behind them.
“Now…” Dr. Morgan continued, doing her best to maintain her intimidating and scary demeanor, “I don’t know how you came to such an absurd conclusion, but I won’t stand—”
Dr. Kemper stood up straighter and puffed out her chest, standing defiantly by Dr. Marlow’s side. “I saw you two kissing in the board room last week,” she stated, “and I’ve seen you leave campus together several times. It’s hardly an absurd conclusion with such evidence.”
“—I won’t stand to have you in here policing me over matters that simply don’t involve you,” Dr. Morgan added, her tone still icy.
“We aren’t policing you,” Dr. Kemper continued boldly. “I actually think it’s rather nice, cute, good for you, in the very least. She seems to make you happy. You’ve been in a better mood lately, and I can’t help but note there seems to be a correlation.”
Dr. Morgan blinked, taken aback. She stuttered out, “Yes, well—”
“There’s nothing in our contract or the school’s handbook about student/ professor relationships,” Dr. Marlow added. “We aren’t here to scold you or threaten to report you. As Debbie said, Tess seems to bring out a better side of you which we’ve all been benefitting from. But we needed to come talk to you because if you hurt her—”
“Tess is like a daughter to us,” Dr. Kemper quickly added. “And we can’t say you’ve got the most outstanding personality, and Tess, she’s got a rather large heart, so if this is just something to occupy your time, you’re messing with the wrong girl.”
Dr. Morgan was silent, processing. Finally, she reached out and gestured towards the couch. “You better sit. It seems we have some things to discuss.” As Dr. Kemper and Dr. Marlow settled onto the couch, Dr. Morgan rolled over her desk chair and sat across from them. “I gather from your accusations that you haven’t spoken to Tess about this at all.”
“No, we couldn’t, not yet at least,” Dr. Kemper answered. “It’s clear she’s been selective about what she’s said around us, and if she were aware that we knew, we might embarrass the poor girl. So, we figured speaking with you first would be best.”
“Yes, well, the first thing you must understand, since you insist on poking your noses into other people’s business—”
“You were making out in the board room!” Dr. Kemper gasped accusingly.
“Shush, let her talk,” Dr. Marlow scolded.
“The relationship that I have with Miss Stanford is entirely casual,” Dr. Morgan declared abruptly. “We approached it as such, it began as such, and it will continue to be as such. We have both clearly communicated our feelings on the matter, and so I hardly need the ‘defensive parent’ scolding, as there are no feelings involved, only itches to be scratched.”
“Oh bullshit,” Dr. Kemper barked.
“Debbie!” Dr. Marlow gasped.
“No, it’s bullshit! Maybe the sex is casual, sure, some people are into that. But Tess cares about you! She’s got a big heart and she cares about people, that’s just how she is, and you are certainly no exception. And with this attitude you’ve got, you’re going to end up really hurting Tess, and I can’t just let that happen!”
“I don’t want to hurt her!”
“It’s not that you’re necessarily malicious, it’s just that you don’t think about the consequences of your actions. You act like she doesn’t matter to you and that’s going to hurt Tess, no matter your intentions—”
“That’s not—I don’t—”
“And furthermore, you don’t deserve her. She’s too good for you. You’ve made this side of campus a living hell for years on end. Tess comforts freshmen that you made cry only hours prior. She’s the good to your bad, the bright to your ugly. I only wish I could have realized sooner so I could have stepped in before Tess got so invested. You’re going to crush her, destroy her, hurt—”
Dr. Morgan shot forward and slammed her fists on the coffee table, causing both of the others to jump in their seats. “I don’t want to hurt Tess, I love her, dammit!” Dr. Morgan shouted. “You think I don’t know that I don’t deserve her? You think I don’t know that she’s too good for me, that I don’t deserve to have someone like her in my life willing to put up with me and my sour attitude, willing to look past my flaws, embrace what little good I have hidden deep inside me?”
Dr. Marlow and Dr. Kemper were stunned to silence. Dr. Morgan shook her head, leaning back in her chair. She bit at her knuckle, then shook her head. “You two need to leave, right now. I said, now!”
Dr. Kemper jolted, standing. The bite to Dr. Morgan’s words finally cut through her, and paired with the anger in her eyes, Dr. Kemper realized she had pushed the woman too far and they needed to get out while they still could. She reached for Dr. Marlow’s hand and grabbed it, tugging at the woman, but Dr. Marlow remained frozen in place.
Dr. Marlow always admired Tess. She admired all her TA’s, really. Some were funny, others were always able to lighten a room. Dr. Marlow wished she had half the conversational skills as some of her TA’s. She admired Kai, because Kai was a dreamer and a believer, and she was always so creative with the ideas she came up with. And Dr. Marlow admired Tess because Tess took one look at the villain of campus—for years on end—and went, “There’s good in that woman,” when no one else had. Taking inspiration from Tess, Dr. Marlow thought long and hard to see Dr. Morgan in that same light.
The other woman was nearly crying. She was fighting back tears, a sign of weakness she surely didn’t want them to witness, which was why she had snapped so defensively. But she was hurting, clearly. And… in love… with Tess.
Dr. Marlow pulled her hand away from Dr. Kemper and reached across the table, taking Dr. Morgan’s hand in her own.
“Margaret…” she nearly whispered. “We haven’t gotten along too great in the past… locked horns at nearly every mandatory work-related meeting… and I will admit, I was apt to believe the rumors because of how you treated me and my colleagues. But Tess saw something in you that was worth saving, was worth dealing with the daily abuse you dealt out to everyone, and I truly do care about Tess. I respect and admire her. And if she cares about you… I want you to know that I’m here for you too.”
Dr. Kemper looked to Dr. Marlow peculiarly, but she broke when she heard the chocked back whimper of a sob that escaped Dr. Morgan. When she turned and looked at the other woman, tears were streaking down Dr. Morgan’s face. Slowly, Dr. Kemper lowered herself back down to the couch.
“I’m so—sorry,” Dr. Morgan muttered. “This—this is unprofessional.”
Dr. Marlow shrugged. “This all is, isn’t it? But I think it’s safe to say we’re not just work acquaintances anymore.”
“I’m sorry I snapped at you like that…” Dr. Kemper offered, catching up. “I didn’t realize that you—that you were capable of—caring so much about Tess, I just—”
“Well I never gave anyone any reason to believe I had a heart, now did I?”
Dr. Kemper smiled slightly at Dr. Morgan’s sass. They hadn’t completely broken the woman. That was good.
“So, um, you two are just… casually hooking up then,” Dr. Kemper continued cautiously, “but um, well… you love her?”
Dr. Morgan let out a choked laugh, looking up towards the ceiling. “It’s unfortunate, isn’t it?”
“I don’t think so,” Dr. Marlow answered. “I think it’s a miracle she melted the ice around your heart. Thinking back several years, the change is like night and day. And trust me, this Dr. Morgan being in love look? It’s a lot better than your old look, that’s for sure.”
Dr. Morgan let out a sigh, shaking her head. She pulled back from Dr. Marlow and leaned back in her chair, avoiding eye contact with the other woman. “So, um, like I said, I hardly need the ‘protective parent’ talk, because if anyone is getting hurt in this scenario, it’s clearly me.”
“She doesn’t know then?”
“What?”
“Tess, she doesn’t know that you’re in love with her?”
“Of course not,” Dr. Morgan scoffed. “She might tolerate me, might see good in me when others couldn’t, but what could she possibly see in me for a long-term partner? I’m worn out, old, hardly in my prime, and she’s a young college student with her whole life ahead of her and the entire world at her disposal.”
“You’re selling yourself rather short, don’t you think?”
“I would just hold her back,” Dr. Morgan stated in a whisper so quiet the others nearly missed it. Then, she added in full volume, “But no, she doesn’t know, and I would appreciate your discretion in the matter, yes?”
“Of course,” both biology professors answered with a nod.
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