Office Hours |h.s|

ninety one

Maude

My heart pounds as I approach Harry's front door. What do I even say to him? Why am I here?

It feels like I'm back to square one, regressing in my progress. Back to lying to Cass about where I am so she doesn't find out I'm with Harry. Lying to my dad about spending the night with Cass and Noah watching movies. Even lying to Will. All because I want to be with Harry tonight.

I guess ultimately, I'm here to apologize. Clearly this all happened today because of Lance and Charlie, and I know how much of a stain this is on his reputation. I shouldn't even be apologizing for anything, he should be the one apologizing for what he's put me through. I deserve an apology. Is that why I'm here right now?

Groaning, I shake out my nerves, which does absolutely nothing to calm me down. More nerves just pop up in their place. This shouldn't be so hard. It's just my ex. I saw him a couple of hours ago. It's not like I even want to get back together with him. I'm sure when he opens the door, I'll turn around and walk away or something.

"Come on, Maude, grow up."

Maybe I shouldn't even be here. I could leave before he even finds out I was here. Save myself the embarrassment of looking like a desperate ex that doesn't know what she wants. He's just trying to give me the space I asked him for, and now here I am muddying up the waters again.

I don't think I can get in trouble for this again, can I? He can't be punished because he's not a professor. And since he's not a professor, he's my professor. Plus, it's not like I want to get back together anyway, I really would like to move on.

Before I can leave though, my hand reaches out and rings the doorbell. Silently I mumble some curses, feeling like a giant idiot right now. Chewing on my bottom lip, I hope and pray he ignores the bell so I could leave in peace and we can both go our separate ways.

But the door opens. Even though I rang the bell, I'm still surprised to see him there, almost as surprised as he looks.

His head starts to shake as his grip on the edge of the door seems to tighten. "Maude, I don't think this is a good idea. You should go home."

"Harry, I just wanted to apologize. I won't stay, I'm just sorry that happened. I didn't know they were all gonna be there today or that this was even going to happen-"

"I knew, Maude. Charlie and Lance, they came to the office. We confronted Charlie about what you told me, but he ended up bringing Lance." He sighs, pressing his lips together as he looks at me for a second. "Come in, we'll talk about it."

He moves to the side, leaving me a space to go in. I should say no and stay out here. But it's cold. I'll just go in for a second. With an awkward, tight smile, I walk past him into the house. It feels weird being back here, but I try to push past that feeling.

He leads me to the kitchen, offering me water which I decline as I get my coat and hat off. He leans against the other side of the counter as I sit at one of the stools. There's this tension in the air, but we're both clearly trying to avoid it and pretend there's nothing there.

"Charlie admitted to us that he was spying. He claims that Lance promised him... He promised him a spot at your family's firm and well... You."

As much as it should surprise me and disgust me that someone I thought was a good friend was promised a relationship with me by my brother, it doesn't. The men in my family view women as objects, not as people. So he took advantage of Charlie's crush on me and lied to him. I just have to be grateful Charlie never "cashed in" on his promise.

I look down at the counter, tracing the lines in the marble as Harry continues. "We tried to tell him that Lance was lying to him and they wouldn't stick up for him, but he wouldn't listen to us. And look, I mean we ended up being right and now he's expelled." He sighs, putting his head in his hands. He seems annoyed and pissed off, but mostly just tired and defeated.