A Degree in Murder

Chapter Thirteen: Never Lying. Only Withholding

It had been several days since she last reported to work but Eleanor started getting into the groove of things. The extra hours that were once allocated to work were now used to catch up on all the research papers she had no time to read. She felt giddy thinking about all the knowledge she was amassing. I can't wait to see the look on Sosuke's face when he sees how far ahead of the curve I am. Sometimes Eleanor would get so absorbed in her studies that she would lose track of time. Susan's clockwork presentation of her meals was the only way she knew the time of day.

What would I do without her?

A ring of the doorbell interrupted her musings, snapping her back to reality. Eleanor looked at the clock on the bottom right corner of her Mac book. It was six thirty-five in the evening and she sighed in frustration. She wasn't expecting anyone today. Company wasn't a bad thing but when she was in the zone doing the things she loved, it was nothing more than an annoyance. Eleanor reluctantly set her laptop down and walked to the front door. She looked through the peephole, saw who it was and slowly opened the door.

"I haven't seen you at work these past few days and the rumours swirling around got me concerned," said Liam, taking off his coat as he walked in.

"What did you hear?" queried Eleanor. She had been curious to know what rumours her sudden disappearance had generated.

"Some say you are on holiday, others say you have been suspended and the rest think you've been fired."

"That didn't take long," replied Eleanor with a smile. "Well one of those rumours is actually very true."

"C'mon, don't keep me in suspense."

Eleanor disappeared into the kitchen without a word, leaving a bewildered Liam seated in the living room. She returned with a bottle of wine, two glasses and coasters. After placing the glasses on the coasters, she proceeded to fill both glasses up to the half way mark and handed one to Liam.

"Domaine de la Romanee-Conti. There's nothing like the good stuff," she said after taking a sip. He followed suit. "I got suspended for a month with a sizable deduction from my salary for this month."

"What the hell happened?!" exclaimed Liam. "That sounds nothing like the Eleanor Marianne Priest that I know."

Eleanor had been rehearsing this particular moment in her mind from the first day of her suspension. She told him that there was a heated exchange between her and a superior who suddenly showed up during the OPTC meeting. She couldn't get into the details but he disrespected her as well as Laura, causing her to lash out. Eleanor really wanted to tell him the whole truth but the contract she signed prohibited her from doing so.

Maybe it's for the best. If he knew the whole truth, Lord knows what he'd do.

Astounded, Liam slumped down on the couch. He took a huge gulp of wine to calm his nerves before turning to Eleanor and saying, "Whatever he said to provoke you must have been terrible and given the circumstances, it could have gone a lot worse. Do you get to keep your position as HOD of anaesthesia?"

"Yup and we can thank female empowerment for that," said Eleanor, raising her glass.

"I can't imagine old Sosuke being too happy about that," he replied before clinking his glass against hers.

Eleanor laughed harder than she should have and said, "There's a silver lining in everything if you look hard enough."

"Why didn't you tell me this as soon as it happened?" asked Liam, his expression shifting from one of concern to one of annoyance.

"I was still figuring out how to tell you," she replied, averting her gaze from his.

"You're full of shit, you know that right?" said Liam, shaking his head.

"I know you are but what am I?" she said before they burst into laughter.