{"id":103,"date":"2008-12-19T23:39:45","date_gmt":"2008-12-20T05:39:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theproviso.com\/?page_id=103"},"modified":"2026-02-22T18:53:05","modified_gmt":"2026-02-22T23:53:05","slug":"miss-cox-and-professor-hilliard","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/moriahjovan.com\/talesofdunham\/extras\/vignettes-outtakes\/dirty-little-secrets\/miss-cox-and-professor-hilliard\/","title":{"rendered":"Drs. Cox and Dumbass"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

NOVEMBER 2005<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cDOC<\/em>TOR COX!\u201d<\/p>\n

The roar echoed around the lecture hall accompanied by the stirrings of students who alternately snickered and waited eagerly for the fireworks to begin.<\/p>\n

Giselle\u2019s mouth tightened as she clipped down the stairs to the dais to collect her assignment. So help her\u2014 She snatched it out of her professor\u2019s hand with a glare and opened it only to see a big red D. Her nostrils flared and her jaw clenched as she raised her narrowed gaze to his.<\/p>\n

\u201cA D<\/em>?\u201d she growled and the class shifted a bit uneasily. She knew why. If Giselle could sink so low as a D in this class, everyone else could. She wasn\u2019t a class leader by a long shot, but she did solid B work consistently. Considering she did it while working full time \u2026<\/p>\n

Furious, she stared into that smirking face she knew as well as she knew her own.<\/p>\n

\u201cAh, even the great ones fall from time to time,\u201d he said, his baritone voice filled with satisfaction that he\u2019d gotten a decent response from her. She knew she shouldn\u2019t give him that, but he knew what her buttons were and exactly how to push them.<\/p>\n

\u201cFuck you,\u201d she snarled. The class gasped, but she couldn\u2019t enjoy it. She crumpled her paper in one hand and threw it in his face before she whirled and took the stairs up out of the lecture hall three at a time.<\/p>\n

\u201cDOCTOR COX!<\/em>\u201d he bellowed again as she picked up her books. \u201cCome to my office for a conference this afternoon.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her back stiffened and she looked over her shoulder. \u201cIf you think,\u201d she said slowly, each syllable perfectly enunciated, \u201cthat I\u2019m going to drive up to ass-fuck Egypt to discuss this inexplicable bullshit, you\u2019ve got another think coming.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFine. After class, then. This is not optional.\u201d<\/p>\n

Without a word, she picked up her things and walked out, flipping him off as she went.<\/p>\n

Forty-five minutes later, her classmates filed out, each casting her furtive glances where she sat on the floor, her back to the wall, her arms crossed. No one wanted to get between her and the professor. He\u2019d made her toxic. Even her study group was a bit skittish about her contributions.<\/p>\n

\u201cDOC<\/em>TOR COX!\u201d Damn. That roar could be heard all the way to Gladstone.<\/p>\n

\u201cGood luck, Giselle.\u201d<\/p>\n

She hid a smile as she took the hand belonging to her standing lunch date, and allowed him to haul her to her feet. She didn\u2019t dare put his\u2014or any of her other classmates\u2019\u2014unease about her professorial issues to rest. \u201cThanks, Neal. See you at the cafeteria?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou bet.\u201d<\/p>\n

She clipped down the stairs. \u201cYou\u2019re an asshole, you know that?\u201d she grumbled at Knox\u2019s back while he erased the whiteboard.<\/p>\n

\u201cYour bed\u2019s closer than mine. Let\u2019s go.\u201d<\/p>\n

Giselle stared at him for a moment, her mind fuzzed. \u201cUh \u2026 Has Sebastian been in your ear again?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo,\u201d he said and turned, his smug expression having melted into plain exhaustion, and she felt an answering weariness in her soul. \u201cI just want to get this over with, you and me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Get it over with?<\/em> She had no idea what to say to that. \u201cWhy are you hitting me with this right here? Right now? You couldn\u2019t wait until I got home from work tonight?\u201d<\/p>\n

Knox ran a hand down his face and sighed. \u201cI don\u2019t know. Stress, maybe. You\u2019re here, now, convenient. I\u2019m tired. The Den of Iniquity \u2026 \u201d<\/p>\n

Convenient.<\/em> \u201cYou\u2019re that hard up?\u201d she demanded.<\/p>\n

He shrugged helplessly. \u201cMaybe?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat about Justice?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not interested in twenty-three-year-old girls.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou are very<\/em> interested in that particular<\/em> twenty-three-year-old girl.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said nothing for a moment. \u201cWell, maybe we should try anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n

Be careful what you wish for, Ms Cox. You might get it.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not interested in fucking a man who thinks I\u2019m convenient<\/em>. If you\u2019re at the end of your rope, pay for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

His mouth tightened.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t care about OKH. I don\u2019t care I\u2019ll probably die a virgin. I don\u2019t care what Sebastian wants. I care<\/em> that your<\/em> problem is on me and Sebastian, and that when you had the chance to get this done and take the heat off us, you fucked it up by throwing me out of Leah\u2019s suite and now<\/em> you want to cross something off your to-do list. How do you think that makes me feel?\u201d Dammit. She was about to cry.<\/p>\n

He flinched and looked away.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have a lunch date,\u201d she muttered, wanting to get away from this conversation. \u201cWhat did you give me on that paper?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cB-plus. You could do better.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI work full time. I notice you<\/em> got your<\/em> education paid for.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat dog don\u2019t hunt. Fen offered to pay for yours, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m morally opposed to dancing to someone else\u2019s tune.\u201d<\/p>\n

That barb hit home and his mouth flattened.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot only that, but I<\/em> had a job I loved that was making money, something of my own<\/em>, that I<\/em> built, and your<\/em> problem got that stolen from me. I\u2019m here because of you<\/em>. My life revolves<\/em> around you. I can\u2019t even walk in this building without it being about you<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

He sighed heavily. \u201cLook, I\u2019d just\u2014 I\u2019d rather end up with you than no one.\u201d<\/p>\n

She gaped at him. Knowing it was one thing. Hearing<\/em> it was another thing entirely, and never, in her thirty-five years on Earth had he said or done anything<\/em> so devastating to her. Now she couldn\u2019t hold the tears back.<\/p>\n

He grimaced. \u201cUh, that didn\u2019t come out right.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFuck you,\u201d she said quietly. \u201cJust \u2026 fuck you<\/em> to hell and back.\u201d<\/p>\n

★<\/p>\n

20260222<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NOVEMBER 2005 \u201cDOCTOR COX!\u201d The roar echoed around the lecture hall accompanied by the stirrings of students who alternately snickered and waited eagerly for the fireworks to begin. Giselle\u2019s mouth tightened as she clipped down the stairs to the dais to collect her assignment. So help her\u2014 She snatched it out of her professor\u2019s hand […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":39,"menu_order":4123,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-103","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/moriahjovan.com\/talesofdunham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/103"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/moriahjovan.com\/talesofdunham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/moriahjovan.com\/talesofdunham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moriahjovan.com\/talesofdunham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moriahjovan.com\/talesofdunham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=103"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"https:\/\/moriahjovan.com\/talesofdunham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/103\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23472,"href":"https:\/\/moriahjovan.com\/talesofdunham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/103\/revisions\/23472"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moriahjovan.com\/talesofdunham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/39"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/moriahjovan.com\/talesofdunham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}