Learning Curves - By Elyse Mady Page 0,14
care. “Did anything happen that you weren’t good with?”
“No, it was definitely mutual. Completely, totally unexpected but mutual.” She smiled weakly. “I really am good, Cass. I’m just still trying to process it, I guess. It’s not really my style, you know.”
“Gee, really?” Cassandra said lightly, but her dark eyes filled with sympathy as she enfolded Leanne in a warm and reassuring hug.
After a moment, she recovered and lifted her head from Cass’s shoulder.
“Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.” The doubtful look on her friend’s face didn’t inspire confidence. “Really, I’ll be fine. And unless they start offering degrees in pole dancing at the university, it’s not like I’m ever going to see him again. That’ll definitely make things easier.”
“You got it on with one of the strippers?” Cassandra’s jaw dropped for the second time in as many minutes. Sitting up in the chair, she faced Lee and in a tone that brooked no disobedience said, “Start from the beginning. And don’t leave anything out, my friend.”
The monthly faculty social was a motley assortment of faculty, administrators and students typical of most university social events. The rain that had been threatening most of the day finally arrived but despite the poor weather, attendance was good and the Faculty Club filled up quickly, groups of chatting colleagues dotted around the room. Near the windows, a long buffet covered in finger foods attracted a steady stream of visitors. If Leanne had learned anything during her eight years of higher education, it was that the promise of free food would always ensure a lively turnout.
Of course, she really should have skipped out and stayed in her office grading papers, because she and Cassandra hadn’t made much progress on their marking. Truth be told, they hadn’t made any progress. Instead, they’d spent their office hours talking, going over the weekend’s events.
It hadn’t been easy telling her best friend all the details and admitting to her reckless behavior, but in the end she had to admit she felt better about the whole situation. Calmer. After all, she was a big girl and if she wanted to have an anonymous but satisfying sexual encounter with a member of the opposite sex, who was to stop her?
So there, Mom.
Cassandra and her partner, Julia, were ensconced in a spirited conversation with another member of the campus GLBT committee, while Leanne made her way along the buffet.
“Ah, Leanne!”
When pretending a sudden indecision between the mini mushroom quiche and the veggie samosas didn’t suffice, she forced a smile and greeted her thesis advisor.
“Professor Armstrong,” she said politely. “How’s the new book going?”
At the mention of his most recent project, the academic’s face brightened. “The usual muddles with the publishers, I’m afraid, but overall, very well if I do say so myself. So, can I buy you a drink?” he joked, gesturing to the modest open bar and chortling at his thread-worn pleasantry, delivered without fail since the start of term.
“Thanks, no.” Her concentration wandered as the professor began extolling the difficulties the publisher kept erecting as he prepared his work for press.
“And I’ve been able to read through the latest chapter you left for me. While I don’t want to monopolize your time when you’re relaxing like this, I have to say, I do have some concerns.”
Concerns? Her attention riveted again, Lee felt her stomach roll. She knew she’d been lucky when Armstrong agreed to supervise her research—for the past two years, he’d been her principal advisor on her doctoral dissertation—but he was a taskmaster, forever suggesting revisions. But she needed his approbation or she’d never secure the necessary references for a chance at her chosen postdoctoral fellowship, the Walters Prize. The competition was fierce and good enough wasn’t anywhere near the level she was required to be.
Her panic must have telegraphed across her face far more clearly than she’d intended, because the aging academic, whose strong point had never been emotional sensitivity, touched her arm in a show of concern.
“Now, don’t worry. They’re minor revisions, I assure you. Your work is always exemplary.”
This was where she should smile and share a superficial pleasantry but since the weekend, everything felt raw and off-kilter, her judgment suspect and her goals, firm, longstanding and concrete, even more significant because of her unprecedented gaff.
“That’s great news. I—I wasn’t really worried.”
His face cleared and he patted her arm reassuringly. “You’re one of the faculty’s rising stars. I’ve always expected great things of you academically and one of things I respect about you the