Firefighter's Virgin

“Uh… I had papers to grade.”

“You could have always completed them after the meeting,” he pointed out. “These meetings are important, Chance. I’ve never missed one.”

I’ll bet, I thought to myself, hoping that the professor would get distracted with his copies and leave me alone. “I was falling behind on my research, too,” I said. “I just needed to get on top of things again.”

“Hmm,” he replied with obvious disapproval. “Staff reviews are coming up, too; attending the meetings will give you a leg up.”

“My contract only lasts through this year.”

“Meaning what? You don’t care about your reviews?”

“No, of course not,” I said quickly. “I just meant—”

Thankfully, at that moment the copier let out a shrill beep and drew our attention. “Is something wrong with it again?” Derek asked.

“No, it was my mistake,” I said.

“How are you finding your classes?”

“They’re interesting,” I nodded. “And the students are more interested than I would have anticipated.”

“How many students enrolled in your course?”

“Around eighty,” I admitted.

“And, how many are you left with now?”

“Close to fifty,” I replied.

“More than thirty dropouts?” Derek said, with raised eyebrows.

“The class is challenging.”

“The mark of a good teacher is to rally his students, whether the course is challenging or not.”

“Damien Parker tried to do just that, and as I heard, he was pulled up in front of the review board for it,” I pointed out.

Derek narrowed his eyes. “Professor Parker was conducting personal tutoring sessions with his students. That’s against university policy.”

“Why should it be?” I asked. “There are lots of teachers who personally tutor their students.”

“But not outside campus grounds,” he pointed. “All tutoring sessions need to be limited to university premises to prove there’s nothing to hide.”

I frowned. “And, what do you think Professor Parker was trying to hide?”

“Any number of things,” Derek replied. “How are we supposed to have transparency if teachers flout university regulation? Dean Mueller has started coming down hard on all and any infractions, and personally, I think he’s right to be so harsh.”

“Does that mean the rumor about Professor Annette Holstein is true?” I asked. “Did she really resign or was she fired?”

Derek pursed his lips up. “She was asked to leave,” he said, at last.

“So, she was fired,” I said bluntly. “What was the reason for her dismissal?”

“Despite what happened, I have the greatest respect for Professor Holstein, and to that end, I will not air her dirty laundry out in public. Suffice it to say that she no longer works at this university.”

“And, you don’t think Dean Mueller is coming down too hard on what some might call minor infractions at best?”

“No, I don’t,” Derek said decidedly. “He’s right to want order and discipline in his school.”