Monday - Chapter 2
1359 Words
8:55 AM.
Campus was different on Monday.
People looked. Whispered.
“Is that her?”
“That’s Ashford’s new advisee.”
“I heard Klein got pushed out.”
I kept my head down. Gray again. Gray sweater, gray jeans.
Not because he told me to. Because it was all I had clean.
My phone buzzed.
L: My office. 9 AM. Don’t stop to talk to anyone.
Too late.
Ben was waiting by the Ashford Building doors.
“Maya,” he said. He looked wrecked. No sleep. Same shirt from Friday.
“Can we talk?”
“I’m late,” I said.
“For him?” Ben stepped in front of me. “Maya, what’s going on? You’ve missed class. Aisha said you’re not answering texts. And now you’re—”
“Advised by Professor Ashford,” I finished for him. “Yeah. I am.”
His jaw tightened. “He’s not a professor. He’s a donor. He’s on the board. He doesn’t teach.”
“He teaches me,” I said. And walked past him.
The door knew me. Clicked open.
9:00 AM exactly.
Lucien’s office was full of light and people.
Not students. Faculty.
Three department chairs. Two deans. A woman from legal.
All standing around his desk. All looking at me.
Lucien was behind the desk. Sleeves rolled. Tie loose.
He looked up when I came in.
“Miss Chen,” he said. Formal. Cold. “Close the door.”
I did.
“Maya,” one of the deans said. “We were just discussing your thesis transfer. It’s... irregular.”
“Irregular how?” Lucien asked. He didn’t look at me.
“She’s a second year,” the woman from legal said. “Professor Klein has tenure. You don’t have teaching duties.”
“I do now,” Lucien said. “As of Friday. Board approved.”
Silence.
“She’s writing on power dynamics,” another chair said. “In donor-student relationships. That’s a conflict of interest.”
Lucien finally looked at me. Gray eyes. No expression.
“Is it a conflict, Miss Chen?”
My mouth was dry. Everyone was waiting.
“Yes,” I said. “It is.”
Lucien nodded once. “Good. Then we’ll document it. Every meeting. Every email. Every draft. Full transparency.”
He slid a folder across the desk. To legal.
“Here’s the ethics disclosure. Signed by me. Signed by her.”
Legal flipped through it. Frowned. “This is... thorough.”
“It is,” Lucien said. “Because I don’t hide.”
The lie was so clean I almost believed it.
The meeting ended 20 minutes later. With conditions.
Weekly reports. A second reader. No closed-door meetings after 6 PM.
“Except for thesis hours,” Lucien said. “Those are after hours. That’s the point.”
They left. One by one. Glancing at me.
When the door closed, Lucien exhaled.
Like he’d been holding his breath.
“You okay?” he asked. First words not for the room.
“Yes.”
“You lied to them,” he said.
“I did.”
“Why?”
“Because if I didn’t, they’d take me away from you.”
He went still.
“Come here,” he said.
I did. Stood in front of the desk.
He didn’t touch me. Just looked.
“Gray again,” he said.
“Yes.”
“Did you wear it for me?”
“No,” I said. “I wore it because it’s clean.”
He almost smiled. “Liar.”
He gestured to the chair. My chair. Next to his. Not across.
“Sit. Chapter 2.”
Chapter 2 was titled: Consent Under Duress.
He read the first paragraph out loud.
“‘The subject reports feeling safe despite acknowledging power imbalance.’”
He stopped. “Subject. Again.”
“Me,” I said.
“Again.”
“Me.”
“Louder.”
“Me,” I said, louder.
He nodded. “Continue.”
We worked for three hours.
Line by line.
Every time I wrote “he” he made me write “Lucien.”
Every time I wrote “I felt” he asked “why.”
At 12:30 PM, his assistant knocked.
“Professor Ashford, the board meeting—”
“Cancel it,” he said.
“Sir—”
“Cancel it.”
She left.
“You can’t do that,” I said.
“I can,” he said. “And I will. For this.”
He pushed coffee toward me. And a sandwich.
“Eat.”
“I’m not—”
“Eat, Maya.”
I ate. He didn’t.
At 2:14 PM, my phone buzzed.
Ben. 6 missed calls. 4 texts.
L: Put it away.
I did.
“Chapter 2 is about the kiss,” he said.
“I know.”
“Write it.”
My hands shook.
At 1:14 AM on Saturday, Lucien Ashford asked permission to touch me. I said yes. He kissed me. I did not stop him.
Lucien read it over my shoulder.
“Why didn’t you stop me?”
“I don’t know.”
“Try.”
“Because for 3 seconds I wasn’t scared.”
He made a sound. Low.
“Read the next line,” he said.
I’m scared that I liked it.
He didn’t say anything for a long time.
Then: “Me too.”
At 4:00 PM there was another knock.
Security.
“Professor, there’s a student in the lobby. Ben Carter. He’s asking for Miss Chen. He won’t leave.”
Lucien stood.
“Stay here,” he said.
He was gone 10 minutes.
When he came back, his knuckles were white.
“What did you say to him?” I asked.
“The truth,” Lucien said. “That you’re my student. That you’re safe. That if he contacts you outside academic channels again, I’ll file a harassment report.”
“That’s not—”
“It is,” he said. “Because he’s scared for you. And he should be. But not of me.”
He sat down. Hard.
“I don’t like this,” he said.
“What?”
“People knowing. People talking. People looking at you like you’re mine.”
“Aren’t I?”
The question hung there.
Lucien looked at me. Really looked.
“Yeah,” he said quietly. “You are.”
He stood. Went to the window.
“Chapter 2 is done,” he said. “A.”
“What?”
“A,” he repeated. “Because this time you didn’t lie. Not to me. Not on paper.”
He turned.
“We’re done for today. Go home.”
“I don’t want to.”
“I know,” he said. “That’s why you have to.”
He walked me to the car.
This time he got in with me.
No one talked.
At my building, he didn’t get out.
“Wednesday,” he said. “Chapter 3. Same time.”
“What’s chapter 3?”
“Consequences,” he said.
I went inside.
Aisha was there.
“Ben was here,” she said. “He looked... bad, Maya. What’s going on?”
“I can’t tell you,” I said.
“Why not?”
“Because I signed an NDA,” I lied.
She stared at me. “You’re scaring me.”
“I know,” I said. “I’m scared too.”
That night I couldn’t sleep.
At 11:47 PM my phone buzzed.
L: You did good today.
Me: They hate me.
L: They fear me. There’s a difference.
Me: Ben came to the office.
L: I know.
Me: What did you say to him?
Three dots.
L: I told him I’d burn the whole university down before I let him hurt you.
Me: That’s not better.
L: I know.
L: Sleep. Wear gray on Wednesday.
I didn’t answer.
I just stared at the ceiling.
Because today the whole department knew.
Because Ben knew.
Because Lucien told the board I was his.
And the worst part was, when he said “you’re mine” I didn’t feel trapped.
I felt claimed.
- Writer
