“The hell it isn’t,” I spat. “You’re going to jail, asshole.”
He laughed, as though he were completely unconcerned. “I don’t think so.”
His confidence was troubling me, but I continued on, sure of my course now. “You think I care about my job?” I demanded. “I’d gladly give it up for Natalie’s sake.”
“I’m sure you would,” he nodded. “And that’s very noble of you. But I’m not really concerned about you. I’m concerned about Natalie.”
I frowned, starting to realize what he was really threatening. “You see, once I go to the dean with those pictures, he’ll be forced to make an example out of both of you. He’ll fire you, and as for Natalie… Well, he’ll be forced to retract her scholarship and expel her. Which means she’ll be kicked out of school only weeks shy of her graduation. That’s pretty tragic, if you ask me. Especially considering she’s not from a well-to-do family. It’s not like she can pay to get into another good university.”
I gritted my teeth. “You fucking bastard.”
He just smiled.
“I can report you, anyway,” I said, wondering if it was wise to call his bluff. “Sure, I’d be out of a job and Natalie wouldn’t graduate, but you’d be going to jail. What she and I did is not illegal. But what you’re doing definitely is.”
Jason shrugged. “That’s your call to make,” he said. “I just wonder how Natalie would feel being kicked out of school so unceremoniously after she worked as hard as she did. Maybe I overestimated how much you cared about her.”
“You’d really go to jail?” I demanded. “You’d go to jail, rather than leave Natalie alone?”
“She humiliated me,” he said as his face turned sour and vengeful. “She rejected me after I was nothing but nice to her. She didn’t even give me a chance.”
“So what? You’re going to punish her for that?”
“Yes,” he said. “I am. She’s going to rue the day she said no to me. She’s forever going to regret choosing you over me. You could send me to jail, but I don’t believe you would do that. Because what you’re risking is Natalie’s future, and I think you care about her too much to take that risk. And so I can confidently say send me to jail… I dare you.”
“You’re crazy… You realize that, don’t you?”
“Let’s dispense with the niceties and just get down to business.”
“What the hell are you talking about, you psychopath?” I demanded.
“I’m trying to tell you that you have a choice,” he said. “You can save Natalie’s future if you stop sparring with me long enough to find out.”
I was so angry that I was practically shaking, but I knew Jason had the upper hand here. I suppressed my rage and nodded for him to continue.
“Break up with Natalie,” Jason said, without missing a beat.
“Excuse me?” I said, in disbelief.
“Break up with Natalie, and I’ll leave you both alone,” Jason said smugly. “I won’t report the two of you because there won’t be anything to report. Then you can keep your job and find another student to fuck, Natalie can graduate and save her future, and everybody wins.”
“Everybody wins?” I repeated, in a low voice. “Are you fucking serious?”
Jason smiled. “It’s a pretty good deal.”
“I have one question?”
“By all means go ahead,” he said.
“Why did you wait till now to do this?” I demanded. “You had months… Why now?”
His smile turned cruel. “Graduation is around the corner; Natalie is finally at the finish line, and she’s worked hard to get there. She thinks her life is perfect – what better way to bring her down from her little fairytale than to have the man she loves dump her right before her biggest accomplishment?”
I looked at Jason and shook my head. “You are a tiny, tiny man…”
“What do you say?” Jason asked happily. “Are you taking my deal or not?”
I fell silent for a moment, weighing my options. “You yourself pointed out that Natalie is graduating soon. What’s to stop me from getting back together with her after she’s got her degree?” I asked.