“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 more and then someone pulled strings and here I am dancing again. I may be the newest jewel, I may have men gathered all around me tonight, but it’s all under false pretenses. I’d rather just be a shadow on the wall so no one misses me when I go.”
“Audrey, you aren’t going. Not for five years, at least. Things can be, things are nice here for you. Don’t mess it up.”
“But I can’t help it!” she wailed. “I told you that I can’t do it. I don’t want to fail, of course I don’t want that; but I’m not stupid, after three times I learn what I can’t do!”
“Don’t borrow trouble!” he said sharply. “Your first challenge isn’t for two weeks when we have midterms. Let me deal with that. You focus on being nice tonight.” He sighed. “It sounds like you’re having an overload of good behavior. Don’t rebel yet. Get through tonight without earning a spanking and I will help you find some way to blow off some steam over the weekend, okay?”
“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure Boxford doesn’t think his golden goose was a bad girl. You won’t have to spank me.”
“Audrey, we have to have a chat. Go upstairs and wait for me. I’m going to lock the doors so we don’t have to worry about any stray students wandering in and I’ll be right up.”
“Why? What do we have to chat about?”
“If I wanted to talk about it here, I wouldn’t have told you to go upstairs. Go. Now.”
She stood and started to protest, but she saw his face and decided not to test him, scurrying past him to the elevator.
He went down the staircase to lock the building. When he entered the living room she was hovering nervously near the corner where she had stood the first night. “Am I in trouble for something? Should I stand here? Sir,” she added.
He
