“He will ask as long as you continue to say yes.”
Audrey was quiet for several seconds, keeping her gaze on her shoes as she navigated puddles on the sidewalk. Michelle could already feel the hem of her pants getting wet, and she wished more than anything that she could reverse direction, get in her car, and go straight home. This meeting was going to be so long and irritating.
She believed in the mission of the committee and would love to see NU take meaningful steps to improve sustainability, but she’d attended enough of these meetings to know that little would ever come of the measures she proposed. The university’s bottom line came first, always.
“I wanted to make a good impression,” Audrey said finally. “It’s hard to say no. Ugh. I’m so annoyed that he put me in this situation in the first place.”
“I understand, but you also want him to respect you, to see you as a peer. Brad Folchuk has a secretary. You are a professor, and please don’t let him forget that.”
Audrey gulped. “Yeah. Okay.”
They lapsed back into silence, and Michelle had no idea how to get the conversation going again. Had she hurt Audrey’s feelings? She’d only meant to offer advice, but sometimes she came off harsher than she intended ... or so she’d been told.
Before she could salvage the situation, they reached the entrance to Sierra Hall. Audrey held the door for her, and they lingered in the entranceway for a few moments to shake off their umbrellas and putthem away. Luckily, the rain had been light enough that she felt mostly dry, except for her ankles.
She didn’t know how to read Audrey’s mood right now, though. Lord help her if she’d inadvertently made things between them even more strained. No one was better at fucking up Michelle’s life than Michelle herself.
Wordlessly, they headed down the hall toward the meeting room ... and the restrooms. Thankgod. Michelle walked faster, putting on her most intimidating expression in hopes of making it past the group of committee members lingering in the hallway between her and her destination without someone attempting to stop her.
But almost immediately, she saw the out of order sign on the door to the ladies’ room. Michelle nearly whimpered. The notice indicated that maintenance expected to have the problem fixed by six p.m. An hour from now. The very idea of giving a presentation when she had to pee this badly ...
“I’ll cover for you,” Audrey offered, perhaps having noticed her distress. “I could tell them you’re on an important call that’s made you a few minutes late if you want to run next door to the student center and use the bathroom there.”
As tempting as that was, she couldn’t be late to her own presentation. And she was overwhelmed with embarrassment over Audrey knowing about her predicament. There was only one way to save face. Michelle pushed aside her discomfort. “That’s not necessary. I only wanted to touch up my lipstick since I’m presenting.”
Audrey looked vaguely confused. “Oh, okay.”
Without another word, Michelle turned and strode into the conference room.
Chapter Five
Audrey put her snack tray on the counter at the back of the conference room next to the pitcher of water, then sat in the nearest empty seat. Dr. Thompson was up front preparing for her presentation, looking as stern as ever. She’d been extra snippy with Audrey on their walk over, which had hurt. How was it possible that Audrey was on friendly terms with everyone she’d met so far on campusexceptthe one woman she most wanted to be friendly with?
She would love to exchange idle chitchat with Dr. Thompson. She wanted them to shout silly things to each other across the hall between their offices, and maybe most of all, she wanted to talk to her for hours and hours about women in art. She wanted to see Dr. Thompson’s face light up the way it had back when she’d taught Audrey.
It must be one of Dr. Thompson’s favorite topics to talk about. Did she save all her most scintillating conversations these days for her spouse? Audrey knew she was married, and she’d heard rumors that Dr. Thompson was a lesbian, but she’d never seen or heard confirmation that Dr. Thompson had a wife.
She loved the idea of it, though.
Speaking of Dr. Thompson, that blue pantsuit wasreallyworking for her. She wasn’t particularly tall—or short—maybe five foot seven, but the pants were tailored to hug her just right, emphasizing her long legs and the taper of her waist.
“Good evening, everyone,” Dr. Folchuk said, calling the meeting to order. “As you know, we’re going to start off today with presentations from two of our members about Vermont’s new environmental regulations and how they may affect our university. Up first is Michelle, who’s going to tell us about the new green-energy initiative.”
Michelle.Audrey really wanted to call her that. It might help her to start thinking of Dr. Thompson more like a colleague and less like her former professor.
“Thank you, Brad.” Dr. Thompson tapped her laptop’s touch pad, and the screen behind her lit up with a green slide containing bullet points. “I’m first going to review the new regulations and their potential implications for the university, and then I’ll present a few ideas for how we may adapt and even use these changes to our advantage.”
As she spoke, Audrey began to see what Mercy meant. Her delivery was flat, with none of the energy Audrey remembered from when Dr. Thompson had been her professor. Maybe she just wasn’t passionate about environmental regulations, but it seemed in line with what Audrey knew of the present-day version of her.
Still, Dr. Thompson presented her facts clearly and succinctly, moving at a snappy pace that kept the room engaged and listening. Audrey jotted notes on her phone, both from Dr. Thompson’s points and her own ideas on how the committee might be able to help.
To wrap things up, Dr. Thompson laid out several ideas for actionable items to help the university meet the new environmental requirements. Her suggestions were well thought out and easily implemented, and Audrey saw heads nodding around the room.
Maybe Dr. Thompson wasn’t as passionate as Audrey remembered—okay, she looked like she’d rather be anywhere but at the front of this conference room—but she was still incredibly intelligent and well spoken. By the end of her presentation, Audrey felt like this committee could make a real difference.
Way to go, Michelle.
Audrey tried out the name in her head, but it didn’t feel right yet, not until she’d been invited to use Dr. Thompson’s given name.
