Page 33 of Beautiful Place By the Sea

When Kyle finally came back to the bar, I found it hard to look at him. “We need to talk,” I’d mumbled.

He looked taken aback, but he said, “Of course. What’s up?”

I remember shaking my head, like, how could he not know? But I managed to say, “Outside.”

So we retreated to the parking lot, where I confronted him. And he seemed surprised, and confused, and then I showed him the message on his phone. His eyes had gone wide.

Kyle shook his head intensely. “I honestly have no idea what this is about, Ivy,” he’d insisted.

And he had truly looked completely blindsided. I wanted to believe him, so, so badly.

But I’m not a moron, so I pushed him on it. “I don’t understand why a colleague would think it’s acceptable to send a message like that if there wasn’t something going on.”

Kyle looked about as upset as I felt. “I don’t know,” he’d said. “I took a student down to see her a few weeks back,” he explained. “Melinda was a little flirty. And I’ve been dealing with her on the Student Safety Committee.” He was the faculty liaison to the committee, and she was a member in her official medical capacity to the school. “But I didn’t engage, I swear. I don’t know where she gets off thinking she can talk to me like that.”

I’d considered him carefully. His eyes were earnest, and he looked upset. But angry, not upset like I’d just caught him in a lie.

“It seems like you getting off is more what she’s concerned about,” I’d joked grimly.

He had smiled faintly then. “I’m really sorry, Ivy. I don’t know what she’s talking about.”

The ice in my chest was thawing a bit. Maybe this was all just an awkward misunderstanding. “You’re going to have to go to HR.”

I’ll never forget how he shook his head then. “I’ll just talk to her,” he shrugged. “I’m sure we can clear things up.”

I’d been horrified. “Kyle, this is sexual harassment.”

Kyle snorted. “Who’s going to believe me?”

“You have it in writing.” I glared at him. “What are you talking about?”

He shook his head. “No, but I mean, guys don’t go to HR for stuff like that. Who’s going to believe I care that a woman is threatening to blow me?” He said it like I was being ridiculous.

I couldn’t even believe what I was hearing. “It’s still harassment, and she could get fired.”

“I’m going to deal with it. I don’t want anybody getting fired. It was probably just a misunderstanding.”

I hadn’t known what to say. I wanted him to be as upset as I was. Why didn’t he care about this glaring professional misstep?

Obviously now I know why. But I was somehow blind to it then. Or at least willing to convince myself it wasn’t true.

Kyle must have sensed how distraught I was. He’d put his arm around my shoulders. “I promise, babe, I’m going to deal with it, okay?”

I didn’t know what to do, so I just nodded. I wanted everything to go back to the way it was before I saw the text message.

So I let him lead me back into McCreary’s, finished my drink, and went back to his apartment afterward. It was only when I heard his breathing grow slower behind me and I knew he was asleep that I let myself cry.

There were other signs, too. Like when he started staying out late whenever he had a Student Safety Committee meeting. When we spent time with our friends and he turned away every time I tried to kiss him. When he was too busy to meet up for two full weeks, and I spent every night at home, alternately crying and desperately trying to figure out what was going on; what I should do.

Or when, at the end of that lonely fortnight, I finally decided to be more direct, so I texted him about getting together and he didn’t reply. After talking myself through a panic attack, I resolved to confront him the next day. But when I called him out on it, he’d said he’d lost his phone.

“It’s in your front pocket,” I’d replied, fury rising in my chest as I looked at the outline of his phone in his khakis.

He didn’t blink. “I’ll call you tonight, okay?”

That’s when I knew it was over. I just didn’t know why.

That night, Kyle didn’t call, so I called him. “What’s going on, exactly?”