Rich rummaged through the refrigerator and grumbled at his choices, finally he held up one of her salads. “May I? I’ll replace it tomorrow, I promise.”
“Sure, enjoy with my best wishes. No need to replace it. I’m getting kind of tired of chef salads, I’m thinking of switching to Greek salads next.”
“Thanks.” He pulled a fork from a drawer and sat down at the table. “Why do you buy all the same kind? It would be just as easy to stock a variety and then you wouldn’t get bored so quickly.”
“I tried that once, it involved too much thinking. How many salads should I get? How many different kinds? What kind out of all the ones in stock did I feel like eating each day?” She shuddered. “I just want to grab something that I know I like and not do any more thinking than that. The boring factor is actually part of the attraction.” She pointed her fork at him, “So are you avoiding my question?”
He glanced down and blushed. “I’m not proud of my behavior.”
She giggled, “There’s a young guy locked somewhere inside that old geezer. There’s hope for you yet! So who broke down your rigid control?” Her eyes got wide, “Oh! I just realized! It had to be President Boxford. He really has a talent for getting under your skin, doesn’t he?”
He growled and then looked up at her and smiled sadistically. “Of course, you are in this too, although you haven’t been shanghaied into attending these for years. Yet. After a few years let’s see how you feel about it.”
“What are you talking about?”
“There’s a faculty Gathering tonight, the monthly faculty Gathering. Our fearless leader called to make sure that you were going to be there and he mentioned my less than stellar attendance history.”
She cocked her head. “Obviously it’s something that you don’t enjoy. Why? And do they really keep attendance?”
“Each month we celebrate the success of a colleague. It’s their moment to have the spotlight and be the darling of the administration. Somehow, the physical sciences are disproportionately honored. Surprise. I asked when Marcus Webster was going to be honored for getting his philosophy article published; it happened months ago. Boxford belittled it and blamed the timing of the publication, said we’d celebrate next time he’s published. The bloody journal comes out the same time every year, so it’s never going to fit into Boxford’s schedule.”
“And we have to go tonight?”
“Yes, a command appearance for both of us, I guess. He wants to show you off as the newest jewel in Wheatleigh’s faculty; he wants to remind me of his power, put me in my place.”
“Does everyone know I’m the golden goose?” she asked quietly.
He reached out and patted her hand. “No, you will be accepted on your own merits. That financial matter is strictly secret. It’ll be the feather in Boxford’s cap when that endowment happens, the thing that makes his presidency stand out from all the past occupants of the position.”
“If he’s still in office five years from now.”
Rich looked surprised. “What are you saying?”
She shrugged, “College presidents come and go.”
“Audrey, do you know something?”
She grinned. “I know many things and have several degrees to prove it! Do I know something about the matter we’re discussing?” She shook her head, “No. I’m sorry, I don’t. But the last two weeks have taught me a lot about how power can be wielded behind the scene. If I ever find out who set this up, I intend to have a few words with them.”
Rich shook his head. “As much as his attitude frustrates me, Boxford has been good for Wheatleigh. Don’t put him in your sights; he hasn’t done anything to deserve it. He’s actually been more hands-off than I expected. Let’s let sleeping dogs lie, okay?”
“All I have to do is talk up to my family about how disrespected the History Department is here. If they’re so worried about the family’s reputation that they bought me this job, you’d think they’d want the department I work in to have the college president’s respect. Someone will do something.”
“No, Audrey. Don’t be manipulative like that.”
“Are you sure? It might protect your job.”
He smiled, “My job is not in as much danger as I may have intimated when you first arrived. But I warn you that doesn’t mean that I’m not going to do everything I can to make your time here successful.”
She cocked her head and studied him. “Something changed. You weren’t deliberately misleading me about the danger to your job when I first got here. You’ve figured out some kind of insurance for if things go wrong and now you’re more relaxed about it.” She sprawled back in her chair. “Then I say we blow off the faculty Gathering tonight and show Mr. College President that we refuse to dance to his tune.”
“No Audrey, as tempting as that might be, we will dance tonight. This is a minor matter in the grand scheme of things. No point in asking for trouble. Below the radar, remember?”
She pouted. “I hate being so dutiful all the time. Always having to do what other people tell me to do. I didn’t choose to be here. I’ve been really good about the whole thing. I don’t want to be a dancing puppet.”
Rich felt a shiver go up his spine. “You aren’t going to be a dancing puppet. You are going to be the new jewel, remember? You are probably the youngest member of the faculty; you are smart, attractive, vivacious, and, fairly rare for Wheatleigh, female. You are going to be surrounded by admiring men all night. You’ll have an enjoyable evening; don’t worry about it. Poor Martha is not going to have the spotlight on her for very long.”
“That’s wrong, too,” she said quietly. “I shouldn’t be getting the attention when it is her night.”
Rich studied her. “We will go. We will be dignified and respectful to our colleagues. After an hour and a half we can leave and no one will say anything against us. The History Department will not be shamed tonight, understand? No shenanigans.”
She crossed her arms and looked away.
“Don’t do this, please, Audrey. Haven’t things been good over the past couple of weeks? Don’t make me come down on you. No matter how much I dislike having to kowtow to Boxford, the dignity of this department means a lot to me and I will punish you if your behavior isn’t exemplary.”
“I hate Boxford,” she hissed suddenly. “Things could be so nice here, but he’s got to go and ruin it all!”
“I told you, he’s actually being better than I expected. What’s the problem?”
“He’s making you be mean to me so that I’ll stay and make him lots of money!”
“I’m not being mean to you!”
She blushed, “No, you haven’t been. You’ve been very nice; I’m sorry. I’m referring to the future. It’s coming and I can’t avoid it. He’s gloating over it. He shouldn’t count his golden goose before it’s hatched,” she concluded darkly.
“When it is time for grading, I will help you through it. Hang in there, work with me and hopefully everything will be fine.” She smiled sadly as she shook her head. He was startled to see tears gathering, “Audrey.” He felt helpless to deal with her mood changes. “Talk to me here, why are you suddenly so down?”
“I can’t do it, Rich. I know I can’t. Do you think I wanted to fail so spectacularly three times? If there were a way to solve my problem I would have, someone would have figured it out before now. I wasn’t going to teach any