Page 71 of Love and the Laws of Motion
“What?”
“I’ve been yanked off my lab assignment!”
“What lab assignment?”
“I teach the lecture class three times a week, and one night a week I oversee the undergrad lab hours.Janet assigned me to the Tuesday night slot at the beginning of the year, but for some reason I’ve been moved to Friday nights.”
“Nobody talked to you about it?”
She shook her head.“Not a word.”
“Can they do that?Change an assignment Finch gave you?”
“Janet gave it to me when she was chair of the department.”
“And now the chair is...”
With a sinking sensation, the realization hit home.“Langley.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
“Professor Langley?”Livie stopped right inside his office door.“Can I speak to you for a moment?”
Langley looked up at her.“Did we have an appointment, Olivia?”
“No.Sorry.I’ll just be a minute.My lab assignment has been changed.”
“Ah, yes.”He leaned back in his chair.“It was unavoidable, I’m afraid.I needed Peter’s assistance with my research.We had to shuffle the lab assignments to free him up.”
His smile was fake and brittle, entirely at odds with the hostility he was silently emanating.A few months ago, she’d have slunk out of his office without another word, too intimidated and scared to question him.But if Nick was inspiring a whole lot of pleasant new emotions in her, Langley was inspiring a host of less pleasant ones.She let all those unpleasant emotions power her next question.
“You need Peter’s help with your research on Friday nights?”
Langley’s smile didn’t shift, but it turned ice cold as he stared at her in silence.Adrenaline flooded her body, but she refused to back down or apologize.
“Precisely,” Langley finally said, his voice tight with anger.“Now, if there’s nothing else, Miss Romano?I’ve got work to do.”
Work.He was staring at that useless little laptop, as usual.Probably posting selfies from that trip he’d just taken to London.
Livie stood her ground for another moment, but Langley was still acting chair of the department, as unjust as that was, and in the end, he could do what he wanted.But at least she’d called him out on his bullshit.This had nothing to do with needing Peter’s help and everything to do with punishing her because she wouldn’t abandon Janet’s research to work on his.Now he knew she knew.
“No.Nothing else.”
“Enjoy your Friday nights,” he murmured as the door closed behind her.
Some unfamiliar emotion exploded in her chest.Rage.She’d never been so angry in her life.Her hands were shaking with it as she forced herself to walk away.She was still shaking as she entered the departmental office.
Michiko was there, leaning on Anita’s desk as they chatted.They both looked up as Livie entered.
“Hey, Livie,” Anita called.
Behind her glasses, Michiko’s eyes quickly assessed Livie from head to toe.“What happened to you?You look totally freaked out.”
“Nothing.”Livie shook her head, trying to rein in this feeling, to get herself back under control.Her anger wasn’t going to help anything.“Just asking Langley about something.”
Anita huffed.“It’s the lab assignment, right?”
Michiko looked back at her.“What about the lab assignment?”
