leave. I should wait for Liz to return and inform her that Ms. Cleveland is seeing someone else first, and discretion dictates that I wait out of earshot.
Do it. Get up. Leave the room.
“But you haven’t made full professor,” Amanda Cleveland says. She sounds defensive now, less exasperated than she did at first.
“Well, I sort of have, as both Holly and Elizabeth hastened to point out. I got the salary boost before I went to England. They’re promising me the full package now, if I hand in my stuff by Christmas.”
“Why can’t someone else do it?”
“Any suggestions?” he asks sardonically. “The only one who wants to do it is Matthew Dancey, which would be a disaster, particularly for MedRen Studies. I think he’s planning a putsch of some sort.”
“Then do it.” I don’t have to see her face to know that there is no conviction in this counsel.
“To clean up after yet another one of Nick’s messes? Like hell I will. And no, I do not relish the idea of revenge, gratifying as it was for about fifteen seconds.”
Revenge?
“I do not see why revenge needs to come into it.”
“Oh, it’s just a thought. Many a man would feel tempted to kick his wife’s lover in the balls if he gets the chance.”
Jumping cats!
Right, that’s it. If they find out I’ve been sitting next door and soaking up every word like a shamefaced sponge, Cleveland will get me fired before I can say “tenure review.” He will get me fired, and my body will be found years from now in the river, a bloated, water-logged corpse with a couple of volumes of the Oxford English Dictionary tied to its feet. Folio edition.
“So don’t take the chair. Giles, I am really busy. I’m supposed to be seeing someone right now. She’s probably—”
“I’m going to explain to Holly Ortega why I won’t do it.”
Another pause. I can only guess that Amanda is speechless with horror. I certainly am. Speechless and rooted to the spot.
“You can’t do that,” she says flatly.
“Yes, I can. To Holly, and to as many of my colleagues as necessary, because they are all convinced I’m merely shirking a tedious job.”
“You know as well as I do that Nick didn’t force himself on that girl! She’s just a hysterical little attention-seeker!”
“On the contrary, it would amaze me to hear that Nick has evolved enough to adhere to something as sophisticated as a sexual code of honor. But of course you have more insight into the matter than I have.”
“Giles…”
“No, forget it. I’ve been as civilized about the whole thing as I can—maybe too civilized. But this is where I draw the line!”
“You were glad I gave you an excuse to leave me!”
“That’s ridiculous!”
“You weren’t even angry!”
“Then I wasn’t! I was too busy feeling like a complete failure because my wife cheated on me with the biggest wanker on campus!”
He’s sure as hell angry now.
“I didn’t think…about how much it would embarrass you, Giles,” she says in a very level voice. “And I never thought it would go on. I certainly never thought we’d be caught.”
“One never does, I suppose.” Giles, too, is calmer again, though still sardonic. The steam seems to have gone out of him a little. My stomach muscles unclench.
“If you’d taken the job at Stanford, none of this would ever have turned into a problem!” Amanda is audibly nettled by his acquiescence.
“I can’t believe you are seriously suggesting that it would have saved our marriage if I’d gone to California! It would have turned it into even more of a travesty! For fuck’s sake, Mandy!”
“Look, Giles, I know you’re riled, but this is my office and I won’t have you using that kind of language!”
“I’ll swear as much as I like, thank you very much. And to make this as petty as possible, I was here first. I’m not saying you wouldn’t have got the job on your own merits, but the fact remains, you were a spousal hire! I made way for you and Nick by going to Stanford and by shifting my sabbatical forward, but enough is enough. I will not chair the English department while Nick is accused of raping one of our students! And I want my name back.”
“I don’t understand.”
“My name. I want you to use your maiden name again.”
“Why? This is pure malice!”
“Not a bit of it. You’re not my wife anymore—well, as of any day now you won’t be my wife anymore, and you didn’t want to be my wife