“I heard your footsteps, Adelaide. You’re about as stealthy as an elephant.” He opened the door fully and marched out to the kitchen. “Happy birthday my heavy-footed child. What is it, honey? You look beat.”
“There’s been an incident back on campus. One of my cohorts was taken to the hospital.” She froze, waiting for signs of her father’s impatience.
“Gee, that sounds awful. What happened?” He poured coffeeinto a short mug and rubbed his eyes.
“She hurt herself. It was pretty bad. I mean, she’s okay; she’s not dead or anything.” Ade swallowed. “I feel like I might want to be there for her.”
Her dad glared over his steaming cup. “You want to cut your birthday trip short?”
“I kinda feel like I’m responsible. Or if not responsible, in a position of responsibility.” She wasn’t making sense. This was what he did; he stared until she got tongue-tied and then they fought. “I need to support her through this.”
Her dad stroked his chin. “You know what? You’re right. And I’m proud of you for wanting to go back and do what you can.”
Ade blinked. “Really?”
“Yes. I think you’re actually showing up for this kid, and that’s a great thing.”
“I wasn’t expecting you to say that.”
He tilted his head. “What were you expecting?”
“Some drama about me having to leave. Maybe criticism that I’m not even able to commit to a family holiday?”
“Well, give me some credit here, Ade. I’m seeing this for what it is: you doing your job. In fact, you’re going above and beyond in my book.”
Huh.That meant a lot coming from him. “Thanks.”
“Is that what your pops is doing right now, rebooking your flight?” He looked over at her pops, hunched over his laptop. “He’d do anything for you. So would I, Ade. I mean it.”
He planted a kiss on her forehead, and it pulsed for a while, like he’d branded her with his love.
Steph hadn’t wanted to leave. In fact, she begged to hang out with their dads for the remainder of their trip before she headed to Italy to continue her gap year.
Once her pops had dropped her at the security gate, Ade had journeyed back to Montpellier alone, repeating her playlist over and over. Just when she had her anxiety under some kind of control, it bubbled right back up to say “hi.” She jumped out of her skin every time the plane bumped through a cloud. Steph had told her on the way over that it was perfectly normal, but that didn’t stop her heart racing with every jolt.
Somehow she made it through arrivals and got in a cab. There was no way she had the bandwidth for public transportation.
By the time she finally reached the corridor leading to Sylvie’s office, her nerves were fried. She eased the tension from her shoulders just a fraction, then sprang upright, alarmed by the sound of raised voices. She dithered in the hallway, trying to make out who was talking. It was Sylvie and Paul.
Ade hadn’t warned Sylvie that she was coming, and now it seemed like she was interrupting something. Creeping closer, she strained to make out what the argument was about. She didn’t want to eavesdrop, but it sounded like they were talking about Madison, and she needed all the facts before she visited.
“Are the risk assessments up to date?” Paul asked.
“You know they are, Paul. I don’t take these responsibilities lightly, despite them being thrust upon me without my input.”
“And was a referral made to well-being?” he asked.
“I double-checked earlier, and yes, Ade handled that before she went on leave.”
“That’s something. We can’t let this get out of control, Sylvie. The last thing we need is a safeguarding investigation.”
“There’s nothing to investigate. The girl hurt herself in her own room. We can’t be with them the whole time.”
“You know the media doesn’t see it that way. Neither does the international board. They sent us those kids to look after.”
“We are looking after her. As much as we can, given that she’s an adult.” Sylvie sighed. “You know, I’m an academic. I’m not an expert in student liaison or HR. If I had a little more support,perhaps I could do more.”
“You have the pastoral worker. What’s her name? Adelaide?”
