Chapter 30: Bryn

Sawyer is quiet as we drive toward the dean’s office. I’m not sure where we are supposed to go for this sort of thing. It doesn’t seem serious enough to call the police over so Sawyer thinks the doctor could at least face disciplinary action. He’s a professor here and this should be grounds for him to be possibly fired. At least that’s what I’m hoping. I don’t know what will happen if the dean approaches him about my accusations and the doctor knows that I’ve talked about him. He could retaliate and who knows what that would look like.

God, I’ve only been here less than a month and now I’m reporting a professor for misconduct. Not exactly the sort of college experience I was hoping for. I’m about ready to tell Sawyer that we should forget the whole thing when we pull up to the administrator's building. He is out of the car instantly while I hesitate and give myself a moment to overthink. This could have some serious consequences. I may not be premed, but I will work in the health care department…the department he’s a part of.

If my accusation isn’t believed, then he could make things hard for me.

Sawyer is storming toward the building without waiting for me, so I have to climb out of the car fast and jog to catch up to him. He’s single-minded right now and, by the look on his face, this isn’t going to be a pleasant meeting. He won’t let the dean sweep this under the rug, and that might just make things worse.

I try to keep up with him, but he’s slamming his way into the dean's office before I can stop him.

“Excuse me, what are you doing?” The dean, a woman who looks about forty, asks.

“I’m here to report inappropriate conduct between a student and a professor.” Sawyer says.

The dean gives him a curious look but glances my way, and realization takes over.

“Mr. Benett, I know you have a reputation for being a little hot headed and forceful thanks to the rather thick file I received from your previous dean, but this is taking things too far. Barging into my office and making accusations like this is serious. You could not only hinder your own time here but also the reputation of a professor. Once a bell is rung, it can’t be undone.” The dean explains in a patronizingly calm way.

Sawyer laughs. “My past has nothing to do with this. I had no issues with my coach or professors. My destructive tendencies were a little closer to home.”

“You got in trouble many times for fighting and- “

“This is not about me. This is about my girlfriend. A doctor under your payroll has started stalking her.” Sawyer turns to me and tilts his head as if to tell me it’s time for me to talk.

The dean looks my way expectantly and I throw Sawyer a dirty look for putting me in the hot seat like this.

“Are you the student making the complaint?” The dean asks me.

I nod. “Yes, ma’am.”

“Alright, since you two are serious about reporting this, I’ll need to know everything that’s happened. Please have a seat.” We do, and she asks us all sorts of questions.

In the end, our meeting lasts a half hour in which she believes almost nothing and even goes as far to say that we are making the whole thing up. Me being overly sensitive by a man showing innocent interest in me and Sawyer being a jealous boyfriend. The first isn’t true, but sure Sawyer has shown himself to get jealous, but this isn’t the case here. He seems more concerned than jealous. Still, the dean didn’t think his worries were warranted.

She told us that even if we reported this to the police, they would tell me there is nothing they can do unless the stalking becomes physical. As in, the doctor would need to attack me before it would be worth reporting. Great…

“I can’t believe that bitch!” Sawyer growls as we leave the building.

“Sawyer, she had a point. The doctor has done nothing too dangerous.” I’m trying to keep things calm, but I think Sawyer is past that point.

“If you had eaten that stuff by mistake, he could have killed you. That’s probably what he wanted.”

“You don’t know that!” I don’t know what to say to calm him down, but I can’t think like that. “Please, just let it go. If things get worse, then we can always call the police.”

Sawyer stops by the passenger door and turns to face me. I’m not sure what he’s thinking, but his face relaxes and I see that worry he’d been hiding slip through. Before I can react, he’s walking my way and pulling me into a hug.

“I can’t let anything happen to you B. It would kill me,” He says against my head. “No one can hurt you without me hurting them worse.”

I snort. “That is’t exactly comforting. If you hurt everyone who ever hurt me even emotionally, then I’ll be visiting you in jail. Not exactly the sort of relationship I signed up for.”

He laughs and kisses my forehead before letting me go. I watch him as he walks back to the car and opens the door for me. It’s a sweet gesture and one I find odd but can’t figure out why. Maybe because guys don’t do that sort of thing anymore. In fact, I thought Zach was one of the rare few who were still a gentleman, but in a way that’s sweet and not hiding a misogynistic agenda.

“Come on, I’ll buy you some ice cream.” He says, tilting his head to the car.

Well, I can’t say no to that. Let’s just hope the local store carries my favorite flavor. Not many stores carry vegan friendly options, so it can be hit or miss. Come to find out, the local store has a ton of choices. Apparently there is a growing population of vegans here and they had no choice but to offer more things that were vegan friendly to prevent a health food store from opening in town.

Amazingly, they not only had my favorite cashew milk caramel chocolate chip ice cream, but they had flavors I’d never seen before. Sawyer grabbed them all against my objections to which he ignored. He claimed that his duty as boyfriend was to make me happy, and that includes buying me as much ice cream that I can eat. I think I’ll be set on ice cream for the next year. I’m not sure where he plans to store it all.
I also grab a few more staples so I can make my favorite almond cheese. It tastes amazing and can replace feta cheese in one of my favorite salad recipes. They sell five pound bags of raw almonds and cashews! A serious score for someone on a vegan diet. I can use almonds and cashews for all sorts of things, so they are a huge must have for any vegan kitchen. I can use the cashews to make oil free vegan mayo!

“I think I’m in love with this store. It’s like Whole Foods, Sprouts, and Vons had a baby.” I say as I walk down the snacks' aisle.

There are regular salty chips but a whole section of vegan options right next to them. Sawyer browses the regular chips before moving to the vegan side and grabbing a bag for himself.

“Who is that for?” I ask him.

It’s one of those attempts at a cheesy flavored chip, but I’ve never been a fan of those.

“Me.” He drops it into the cart and walks on.

“You? Why? You can eat whatever you want. Even the regular tasting salty potato chips.”

“Nah, I’m good.” He grabs some more popcorn but the one with no butter.

It’s pre-popped and ready to go. Genius. I can also always add melted vegan butter if I really wanted to.

“Sawyer, it’s okay if you want to eat meat and dairy stuff. I’m a big girl. I won’t eat them by mistake.” I point out while I grab some veggie patties from the frozen food aisle we’re on now.

“I know, but I won’t bring that stuff into our house.”

“Sawyer, it’s fine. You shouldn’t have to give up the things you like because I won’t eat them. I hated it when my family did that, too.”

Sawyer stops and steps closer to me, so close that the tips of our shoes nearly touch.

“Listen to me B, I won’t bring anything into our house that can harm you. Even if I ate that stuff, I would have to gargle soap water after every meal if I plan to ever kiss you again. This just saves time and trouble. Besides, your food is amazing, so I can’t complain.” He shrugs and continues on like he didn’t leave me a melted mess.

Has he always been this swoon worthy or that a new Sawyer thing? Because I like it.