Lor’s eyes harden around the edges at my sweet and irritating response. I don’t dislike him, but he hasn’t grown into the man he’s going to be yet, and he’s kind of an asshole. “I’m aware, I’m just surprised that the university is going to let you get naked online. I’d have thought it would be an ethics issue.”
As we stand at the table in front of the room, other students file in, and I notice it’s particularly quiet this morning, though it’s not unexpected that my students are interested in my shenanigans (isn’t that a fun word?). I give Lor my professor smile, which is a little patronizing, even though I don’t consider myself either a gatekeeper or an intellectual snob and he’s only a year younger than me. “You’ve brought up the topic we’re discussing today, Mr. McDaniels, and we will be certain to address your question during today’s discussion. I’m really glad to see you’re reading the syllabus before coming into class. That’s the kind of preemptive dedication every professor appreciates.”
He definitely did not read the syllabus.
He quirks his head in confusion. “Right.”
Another student gasps fairly loudly. “You planned to start a porn channel!” she accuses me, holding up her copy of the syllabus.
That evil chuckle slips out again. I nod to Lor’s seat, encouraging my students to settle so I can start class. “Of courseI did. I always preplan my year starting in May. If you’d read the syllabus carefully at the beginning of the semester, you would have seen the ethics discussion we’re having today. Sex work is a legitimate and ancient business industry, and it would be a disservice of me to leave it out of our curriculum. I will admit that I am approaching this with some biases. I decided some years ago that making sex work illegal was an act of violence against women committed by the patriarchy in order to gain more control over women than they already had.” As I speak and start up the projector and open today’s presentation, the dean of the college of business slips in, taking a seat in one of the open chairs in the front row. “This is my full disclosure to you on the topic, and I’m eager to hear your thoughts, but first, let’s look at some of today’s modern philosopher’s thoughts on sex work, and I want you to keep in mind the reading from your homework while we look at this.”
Honestly, I expected more than just Dean Livingston to attend today’s class and I’m a little disappointed by the?—
Oh, there are the others.
Smiling and swinging one hand out to acknowledge the other four deans and the university’s provost, Daria Clemens. I point to the students in the front row. “Would you mind making room so our guests can sit together?”
The three students sitting apart from each other all scoot down, and as soon as everyone’s settled, I return to my lecture. Considering I’ve curated today’s lesson specifically for this unofficial ethics board, I’m pretty confident by the end of class that my next conversation with the university about ethics will end in my favor. It’s going to be very difficult for them to argue against sex work without admitting to supporting the oppression of women and minorities (neither of which I am, but changing societal oppressions requires all of us working together).
***
Trent’s worry lives in his glabellar lines. Those vertical wrinkles between his brow tell me his day might have been more stressful than I anticipated. He’s leaning against the retaining wall of a planter outside of the university student center, staring at me as a walk over, and he looks like he might have more than a few words to say to me.
As soon as I get within arm’s reach, he pulls me in, leaning down to put our faces close together, worry making his low, quiet voice tight. “Why does everyone on campus know about our videos? You said we were targeting established career women with an abundance of excess income. I didn’t think our videos would be private, but I wasn’t anticipating the entire university knowing what my dick looks like.”
It would be bad to lie about this, even though it’s tempting, because I now realize that Trent’s going to be angry with me. The look on his face tells me that I should have discussed this with him first before I sent out the link. I grimace, lifting my hand to pat his shoulder and then dropping it in an aborted move, not sure what to do with myself.
“I—it’s my fault, of course. I’m very sorry. I see now that I should have had a conversation with you before I acted. I sent the link to our channel to a few well connected students, knowing they would help us trick the social media algorithms into boosting us to the right audience.” I lean in at his stricken expression, putting my face as close to his as I comfortably can. “It was a marketing ploy, and I’m sorry I didn’t prepare you for it or discuss it with you. Have you gotten any backlash? I stood in front of the unofficial ethics committee today, and I’m certain they won’t be hosting an actual hearing. The provostwas impressed with my presentation and the class discussion. Considering there are three hundred students in that class and the discussion continued even after I dismissed class, I think it was a successful lecture and a reminder of what I bring to the university.”
Trent takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly, releasing my arm one finger at a time. “Magnus, I get you better than most people, I think, and you are good at predicting my reactions, but in the future, we will be discussing your marketing plan before you implement it. I have been propositioned by no less than thirty students and one of the faculty. I am not a prostitute!” he hisses, barely containing his rage.
He doesn’t have to worry; my wrath will be far more effective than his. “Which faculty member propositioned you and what exactly were the words they used?”
He blinks, slightly startled by the real menace in my voice, and he doesn’t try to minimize the problem by dismissing it. “Lloyd Hammond, the adjunct that teaches statistics.”
“You mean the adjunct who used to teach statistics,” I correct, pulling up my phone and sending Evelyn a quick text to warn her that I will be dropping by during office hours today.
Trent blows out a breath, and with it comes his fear and anger. “I’m not a bad person for hoping you make an example out of him, am I?”
I shake my head, smiling at my best friend. “Absolutely not, because then I might be a bad person for planning to make an example out of that asshole. He’s going to regret his decision to proposition you, but my response will make everyone else considering the same think twice before they open their fucking mouths.”
I’m not someone to just drop the f-bomb for no reason, and most of the time I think I sound ridiculous trying to cuss, butI think I pull it off this time, if Trent’s affectionate smile is anything to go by.
“Good. Lunch?”
I glance around, noting the observers watching our interactions, and ask, “Do you want to make our first public appearance or do you want to go off campus?”
Trent chuckles, relaxing as he points us toward the student center. “Let’s get this shit over with.”
This building is new since I started coursework here. “You know, the student center used to be in a much smaller building, and the cafeteria was across campus and dodgy at best,” I tell Trent as we walk in, heading toward the stairs to the second floor. We now have a massive three story building with an entire floor dedicated to the cafeteria and other options.
“I’m glad I missed it. I’m guessing you didn’t?”
“I ate at the awful cafeteria for two full years before this place finally got up and running. I advocated for this building. I wrote up grant proposals and managed to raise the entirety of the funding that went into it. It was my first major project for the university. This building might say Egland-Mallette on the side of it, but behind those two names is Lancaster. This is my building, and the university knows it. They know when they need another expansion, I’m going to get it for them. They know what a celebrity professor is, and they’re going to keep me happy.” I say this as we come to a halt at the end of the line for the cafeteria. In front of us are a group of students who all give us those knowing smiles like they’ve seen our uploads, and behind us are a couple of professors who trailed in after us. Those two are giving me snooty looks, so I greet them with the wide smile that Trent says is a little off-putting.
Trent notices my smile right away, but he doesn’t glance behind him to see who it’s directed toward. “So what you’re saying is, you’ve got enough clout to get away with whatever youwant to do as long as it’s not illegal, and even then, the university might look the other way because literally millions of dollars are on the line.”
“Hundreds of millions,” I agree with a bite. “So if anyone happens to threaten my happiness and research, for example, the sociology and philosophy research I’m doing right now, I expect that the university will bend over backwards to make me happy again.”
