Kiss Me Cate Pt. 03

"This is a legitimate offer?"

"The information is all there. If you have any questions my lawyers are listed there in the documents and they have been instructed to speak on my behalf."

He laid down the folder in front of him. "You would take an academic failure, doing damage to your grades and future standing for Professor Murray?"

"Without question sir. When you believe in someone as much as I believe in Professor Murray there is never a question."

"Your conviction is commendable Mr. Butler, but I'm not sure about this. If this information were to get out..."

"The information in that folder is under non-disclosure. The only ones who know its contents are the two of us and my attorneys. It will remain anonymous."

The president sat there looking at the folder for a moment before letting out a small sigh. "I'll need to discuss this with some of the board so we can give you a formal binding answer. I will hope to have that answer for you by the end of the day. Until then I will be informing Professor Murray that she's on temporary leave until this matter is settled. You as well are excused from the class. I will speak with Dr. Howe to see who can assist with her lectures."

"Thank you." I said standing. He rose and shook my hand.

I drove back home, stopping for a couple of coffees and pastry to soften the blow of the news that Cate was currently out of work, at least in the short term. I walked in and saw Cate sitting cross-legged on the sofa typing away on her laptop. Some TV show playing low in the background.

"Figured out the wifi password?"

She turned to me, her eyes seething. She was still very angry, and I swallowed hard wondering if I'd made a horrible mistake.

"Hardly difficult since I had access to the router. It's what I do. Remember?" She snapped.

"Coffee?" I said holding up the bag. "I have eclairs too."

She lifted an eyebrow and turned back to her laptop without responding. I went around the sofa and unpacked the bag setting a coffee within reach of her, and sliding an eclair towards her as well. She glanced up coolly and back down.

"What are you working on?"

"My resume, I was fairly certain I would need to update it. The phone call I got a little while ago confirmed that."

"What? They fired you?" I said disbelieving.

"Unpaid leave until the investigation is complete. I'm sure that if nothing else comes of it, the enlightenment that I'm admittedly guilty of fraternizing with one of my students will cement the decision."

"My old Pappy used to say, don't count your chickens before they're hatched." I offered in a poor rendition of an Appalachian accent.

She looked up at me, and set her laptop on the coffee table and leaned back crossing her arms. It was then I realized she was wearing a football jersey of mine over black leggings. I smiled knowing that she couldn't be as angry with me as I thought. "So are you going to tell me what this is all about, or am I to remain in the dark until my future is decided by others without any say from me."

"I picked up your mail when I came back." I reached into the front pocket of my laptop bag and pulled out a sheaf of papers and a large express envelope and tossed them down next to her coffee. She glanced down then back at me. Her eyes went wide and she looked down again at the express envelope which sported a large shamrock on it. She reached for it gingerly and looked at the return address in Dublin, her eyebrows drew together in a deep crease. She looked up at me curiously and then tore open the envelope and pulled out the contents. She read the cover letter for a moment, her eyes going wide. She shot off the couch and ran into the bedroom and came back tapping on her phone. While she waited for an answer she flipped over the letter and found another packet with an airline logo on it. She closed her eyes for a moment and sighed.

"Mum! It's Cate, hi. Did you and Da buy me a ticket home for the holidays?"

"No, no, I know Mum. I know it's expensive. I'm not sure what's going on yet." She looked sharply at me, her mouth hardened into a firm line. "I'll call you back later. No, don't get anybody's hopes up just yet. I need to figure out what's going on here first." She listened for a moment. "I have to go, I'll call you back as soon as I've figured out what's happening and let you know. Love you too, give Da a kiss from me." She said with a little smile and hung up. She put her phone down and handed me the envelope. "Want to tell me about this?" She turned and walked back to the sofa and sat in the spot she'd been in, and crossed her arms and legs this time.

I tried to look surprised as I looked down at the cover letter with her itinerary and the airline tickets from here to New York City then Dublin.

I cleared my throat and cracked a smile. She was so damned beautiful, her hair pulled back, eyes on fire and the most stern of looks on her face. She was angry as all hell, but beautiful with it. I opened my mouth to speak and she cut me off.

"I'll have the truth Dylan, all of it."

It was my turn to cock an eyebrow at her. "Aye, ye'll have the truth Catelyn as soon as I'm allowed to speak it." I replied in my best imitation of her.

Her lips twitched in a faint smile and she realized it and made her expression stern again. I tossed the envelope with the contents next to her on the couch. "First of all, Merry Christmas. I know I'm a few weeks early, but it's not the kind of gift you give at the last minute." Her eyes went wide but she didn't interrupt. "The truth is Catelyn, that I'm fairly well off for a young guy. This," I said waving a hand at our surroundings, "the weekend at the lake," I nodded at the envelope, "that's all my doing."

"So you've been wooing me with the family fortune?" She looked pale.

"No, not the family fortune, mine." Her eyes went fully open at that.

"Did you win the lottery or something?" She asked, her expression shrewd.

I had to laugh. "Not quite, at least not in the way you think. I graduated with my bachelor's degree nearly three years ago. I was a bit of a child prodigy, entered college when I was sixteen. I was a nerd even back then. I made a few apps and sold them online. I paid for my degree before I finished it. Well I made a deal for two of them with a large software company that wanted my code. They wanted to buy them outright, but I forced their hand and still collect a percentage of each sale. I've since created several others and recently sold one of those. I'm not quite filthy rich, but I do alright. I don't drive a fancy car or own a yacht, that's not my style."

She sat still, her arms still crossed but her expression completely changed to disbelief and I thought, awe.

"How rich?" She asked softly. "If you don't mind my asking." She added with a little blush to her cheeks.

I took a deep breath, I was worried this might become an issue between us and hoped it wouldn't. "As of the beginning of this year about two and a half."

"Million?" Her eyes popped open.

I nodded. "It doesn't go as far as it used to, but yes. A large portion of it is tied up in investments obviously. "Including a new one in my alma mater."

"You paid them so that I could keep my job?" Her jaw dropped. "No! You call them and stop this right now! She jumped up off the couch grabbing her phone and started tapping away. I stood and snatched it out of her hands and she looked up her face turning beet red.

"I didn't do it just for you!" I shouted. I paused for her to look at me. "I did it for us. What would you do if this went the way you expect it to? Chad might go to jail, you would get fired and I would end up with an academic failure and possibly expulsion. I offered them a deal, you keep your job with no word of this on your record, charges must be filed against Chad for the assault, and I've opted to leave class and take a failure in it so long as it doesn't affect my other academics."

"What's the cost for buying my way out of a scandal?" She asked, her face going pale.

"The offer, not the purchase, was fair in my opinion."

"How much Dylan?" Her voice was menacing. I looked at her shrewdly.

"They're considering it now, if they don't accept I'll double it."

"How much?!" She demanded.

"Half a million."

Her jaw dropped. "Are you insane? There's no way I could ever repay that."

"I never asked you to! Don't you understand? I'm in love with you and I want to protect you, and this is the only way I can. If I could slap him with a glove and challenge him to single combat I would, but it doesn't work like that any more!"

She stared at me for a long moment and uncrossed her arms and fell into me. "What in the hell am I supposed to do now." The tone of the question told me it was completely rhetorical.

I wrapped her in my arms, her head lay on my shoulder. I kissed the top of her head. "Wait for the call. My lawyer already made a few calls to see what we can do if they don't take the offer. Worst case scenario is that you get let go quietly. He's more than ready to drag the universities name through the mud for firing a professor after she was physically assaulted on campus by a student they'd already dismissed and shouldn't have even been there. They're aware that there's as much bad publicity in it for them as for you. I impressed on them the value of keeping you on staff."

She laughed. "I bet you did. What did you tell them?" I explained the conversation I'd had with the president and when he said that it was a grave issue and they couldn't just let things go, I handed him the folder with the offer. It was amazing how his attitude changed."

"I wish I felt that I was worth all this trouble to you." I held her away from me.

"Why would you say that? You're worth all of it to me Cate. I'll give them every last dime and I'll look for a job right now if I have too."

Tears slid down her face. She reached up and grabbed the back of my head and kissed me hard, and she didn't give up until we were both gasping for air. "You really are heaven sent aren't you Dylan Butler?"

"Hold on to that ticket, we may need to cash it in for groceries." I said laughing. Her eyes popped open.

"Why did you buy that?"

"I saw the look in your eye when you said you wouldn't be able to go home for Christmas, it was heart-breaking." I shrugged. "I was in a position to do something about it."

"Why only the one? Please come with me! If everything works out, I want you to come with me."

I grinned. "Funny you should mention that Cate. I planned on coming a few days later, after spending a few days with my family."

She smiled broadly. "What if I stay an extra day and switch the date? That way we can go see them together."

"You'll like my family, though if my brother makes a pass at you just punch him. I do." I added with a laugh.