Revved Up Soul

Chapter 25

Jasmine

Nothing good will come of this, Jasmine told herself. Corey White, Dean of Medicine, had requested her presence in his office to discuss 'something' and this was not elaborated on, simply telling her that it was something to be talked about face-to-face. That meant one thing: Jessica snitched. Thoughts spiraled and spiraled some more in her mind, if that was truly what was going on, she'd have to come up with something. Damn her.

Fluorescent white light poured from the circular fixtures above while sunshine came in from the windows. Jasmine sauntered down the long hall, passing by the glass walls of the Diagnostics department. The floor was made of linoleum, wavy black and white swirls played against one another in intricate patterns.

Eventually she got up to the Dean's office, pulling on the black handle of the glass double doors – moving into the vestibule. Inside were twin, dark brown benches on either side, padded with dark cushions and a small end table of magazines at the room's corners. The carpet was soft and a creamy coffee like color; walls rich and dark, alit only by the quaint rectangular fixtures above the door. Jasmine gave the wooden double doors, which matched the walls, three solid knocks.

A manly, middle-aged voice came from the inside, "Come in," it beckoned.

Jasmine opened the doors and then promptly shut them behind her, seeing Corey sitting at his desk with his hands pressed into one another, and Jessica sitting in a blue sofa chair looking back at her.

The room itself was extravagant. The carpet that same creamy, coffee color; the wood paneling rich and bright compared to the vestibule, sunlight from a series of block windows graced the whole chamber. To one side, there was a dark coffee table with a flamboyant orange couch on one end of it, a series of chairs on the other. The dean's desk itself was large and housed his laptop, along with several dockets and an in/out bin – the 'in' bin was noticeably full. Behind the man, there were silver filing cabinets; on the other end of the room, a mini-fridge and a door leading to the bathroom.

Corey's features were mute, giving nothing away. "Have a seat, if you would please," his voice was low and sonorous, even though it did not come off in tone as a command – Jasmine knew that it definitely was. The man himself was quite handsome for his middle age, his nose short and pointed, his brows fine and angled in such a way that he, well, he kind of looked angry all of the time. But there was something appealing and unique about that. His hair was sleek, short and blonde, that was parted firmly to one side. He had intimidating, dark brown eyes.

"What seems to be the trouble, if you don't mind me asking Mr.White," Jasmine questioned, taking a seat in the neighboring blue sofa chair. Jessica's nose wrinkled.

"Of course," the Dean replied. "Your resident here told me that a certain doctor has been using something that he—"Corey closed his eyes briefly and shook his head, rolling his eyes after opening them. "Most definitely should not be using."

Time seemed to pass painfully slow. She had to stall somehow. Jasmine had to fight the urge to lash out at the woman sitting beside of her. Instead, she plastered on a big, fake smile. "Mr. White, would it be okay if we talked about this in private?" I have to come up with a game plan. Jasmine's eyes shifted over to Jessica for a brief moment; you're not going to torch his career, I won't let you.

"Anything you wish to say can be said with Ms. Parks here," he declared. Come on.

Jasmine sucked in a breath through her teeth, "I would really be more comfortable if we didn't do it that way."

"Why?" She considered her next words carefully, reminding herself to remain calm above all else. A seed began to take form.

"For personal and professional reasons."