Page 83 of Hushed
“My in-laws could arrive at any minute,” Levi says. “I’m not rolling up with a backpack on, looking like I’m in high school.”
“Jesus Christ,” Ronald says. “Please tell me he’s not actually in high school!”
“No! He’s twenty-two! He was in the Army.”
“Right. Sorry. You just threw a lot of curveballs at me at once, so I wanted to make sure that we were still on the same planet. Page. Sorry, page.”
“Tell him about your pounding,” Levi says.
“Do I need to sit down for this?” Ronald says.
“Look, there was a dinner party from Hell, they caught us together, they thought he was a call boy, they discovered we were engaged, and I was suspended within the hour. There. You’re all caught up.” I tap the pad before Levi has a stroke. “Can you send me a copy of the transcripts of that meeting?”
“You can’t share them with your fiancé. You know that. Legally, that NDA still applies.”
“Sure. I need it for my own records.”
He sighs. “Well, if we’re doing that, there are some notes I left for you. August Chen has been on eleven disciplinary committees in the past eight years, so there were some records to follow. I took notes during the meeting and some things really didn’t sit well with me. I want you to look at them more closely, because regardless of the way they rule, I feel very strongly that you were not being reviewed fairly. Hold on, let me email you what I have.”
Levi bounds out of bed and opens my laptop. He gestures to the keyboard. I get up and type in the passwords to pull up my email.
“Okay, I just got it,” I answer, when his email populates. Levi smiles like I just gave him a Christmas present and clicks print. In the spare bedroom, I hear the wireless printer whirr to life. I have no idea how, or when, he figured out how to make that thing work. I’ve had it for two years and still plug in the cable every time I want to print. Levi sprints to the other room while I listen to Ronald express his good wishes about my upcoming wedding. He reminds me that he is available if I need further representation.
“Well?” Levi asks when he comes back. He’s got a sheaf of papers that he drops onto the dresser.
“Ronald wants to talk about our case. He thinks it’s strong on one hand, but he needs to review my contract, the faculty handbook, and see what he can do. When did you set up my printer?”
“I did it when I brought over my laptop.”
I pause. “When did you do that?”
“Five o’clock this morning. You were still sleeping and I decided to get up and start moving my stuff out of my apartment. I also made a copy of your keys. Sorry. Most of it’s in the truck. I didn’t want to start moving my shit in until I knew that hag from across the street was gone.”
“Oh. You’re moving in. All the way in. Cool. Cool, cool, cool,” I say in exactly the way people do when they’re really talking themselves into it. “Just so you know, if I lose this job, we’ll have to move pronto Toronto, because this place is over two grand a month.”
“Baby boy,” Levi says. “You’re smart, you’re sophisticated—”
“You’re praising me,” I observe.
“You are more than where you live. If we need to, we’ll find another place.”
“How big is your apartment on Constitution?”
He wrinkles his nose. “The whole thing is about the size of this bedroom. With a kitchenette.” He opens the closet and pulls out a dress shirt that I definitely didn’t put there and a blue tie. “What do we think for when your parents come? Or should I just have something more casual?”
I’ve never seen Levi like this. I take the tie out of his hands. “How much sleep did you get last night?”
“None. I’m good.” He takes it back off me. “I’ve been up since four and I’m not tired. I don’t think I’ve been tired since Saturday. There’s something wrong with me.”
He says it lightly.
“Levi. No, listen to me. This is not me as your Bastien talking. This is me as Dr. Saint-Jacques talking. What you went through as a child created scars, and you will carry them for the rest of your life, and you know that already.”
He looks at me for a second. “Wow. Okay.”
“I’m sorry, that was—”
“No, it’s fine.” He goes back to the tie.
