His face got a little red and I knew I’d hit a nerve because that was often what some of the other science departments said when they wanted to shoot veiled insults in our direction.
“Without results,” he said stiffly, “grants will be harder to come by.”
“Like I said, there are only so many hours in a day, and if your priority is having me teach, I’m happy to focus on that.”
“In the past, we’ve managed to focus on both the research and the teaching,” he responded, his eyes meeting mine.
I gave an innocent little shrug. “I’m sure we’ll figure it out. Anyway, I have a syllabus to finish. I wasn’t aware I’d be teaching something other than introductory physics, so I’ve had to scramble to work with Dr. Brandon’s astronomy lesson plans.”
One of the reasons I’d been given this particular astronomy class was because the professor who normally taught it was on maternity leave and was coming back next semester. However, I didn’t like the way she’d structured her class, so I’d had to use her syllabus as a starting point and then make it my own.
“Well, I’ll leave you to it,” he said, getting to his feet. “Perhaps I’ll stop by the lab this weekend.”
“I don’t know if I’ll be there,” I said, turning back to the monitor of my computer. “Saturday is my mum’s birthday.”
I wasn’t sure what he wanted to say, but I focused on the document in front of me and didn’t dare look at him. After a moment, he murmured something and then I heard the click of my office door closing behind him.
I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding and finally stared in the direction he’d gone. I’d really hoped to have a lighter schedule this semester, but now I’d spend most of the week in the classroom, leaving nights and weekends to work on my research, and it was frustrating as hell. Usually I arranged my schedule so I taught all of my classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays, leaving Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays for grading papers, office hours and working in my lab. Now I had classes all five days, and between my office hours and the added paperwork, I wouldn’t have time to go back and forth to the lab on my short breaks.
A year ago, this would have been okay, but now it frustrated me. I liked teaching, but I didn’t love it. I wanted to be in the lab all day. As I worked my way up and paid my dues, I’d assumed I’d earn the right to do that. Instead, four years after being offered the job, it was as if I was being punished. For what, I didn’t know, but at some point, I’d wander into my mentor’s office to see what he knew. Not today, though. I was still too angry.
Impulsively, I shut down my computer, packed up my things and turned off the lights. I could work on my lesson plans from home. In front of the fire with a nice cup of tea, instead of sitting here in an uncomfortable bra, and shoes that pinched my toes.
I’d just walked in the house when my phone rang, and I smiled when I saw Dax’s name. “Hi,” I said.
“Good morning,” he said. “Though I guess it’s late afternoon for you.”
“It is. You’re up early. What are you up to today?”
“Going to eat and then heading to the gym. I have a session with the martial arts guy and then Chains and I will be on the shooting range.”
“Guns are such a foreign concept to me as a Scot,” I murmured as I put my things down in my room and sank onto the bed.
“It’s pretty foreign to me as a Canadian as well, but right now, it’s nothing more than learning a skill on the range. It’s not like I’m carrying a weapon around.”
“But you would if you joined the FBI or even the military.”
“Yes, but both of those would be in a professional capacity.”
“I suppose I’d have to learn to shoot as well then, because we couldn’t have guns in the house if I didn’t know basic safety and such.”
“Absolutely.”
“Right, then, so what are your plans this weekend? Training camp starts soon, yeah?”
“A little over a week. But tomorrow morning we’re heading to L.A. Nobody’s Fool is playing at the Whiskey and the show is sold out. Most of the team is going and it should be a good time.”
“That’s Lexi’s band, yes?”
“Yeah.”
“I wish I could be there,” I said wistfully.
“Me too.” He paused. “How’s work going? Were you able to cut back on the number of classes you’re teaching?”
Last we’d talked, I’d told him I was going to try, but I now knew better. “No. Unfortunately, the extra class is from Dr. Brandon, who’s taken this semester off for maternity leave. Her classes were split among several of us, and while it’s fun to teach something new, especially something I love as much as astronomy, it means that much less time in the lab for me.”
“It’s just one class, though, right? It shouldn’t be that much more work, should it?”
“Well, yes and no. In general, no, but normally I cluster my classes, so I’m teaching all day and into the evening on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but have Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays to not just have office hours, but also work in the lab. Instead, they mixed up my schedule, so now I’m teaching all five days and my classes aren’t stacked. While there’s a bit of a break in between some of them, it’s not enough time to get anything done in the lab.”
“I’m sorry, babe.”
“Me, too.”
“Well, we should look at a calendar and make a plan for December, you know?” he said. “Then we can start counting down the days until we see each other again.”
I chuckled, pulling the planner out of my bag. I flipped open to the December pages and sighed. “Bloody hell, my exams don’t end
