I can’t hide the excitement in my response. “This is going to be amazing for our lit program. Are we opening the course to auditors? Prospects?”
“Oh, definitely,” she affirms. “We’ve grown over the last few years, but not enough for the board to take notice. I’m still pissed we didn’t get the extra funding this year.” I’d say I’m angry, but if we had that funding, Alis wouldn’t be my grader and she wouldn’t spend an hour lunch meeting with me each week.
“The way I see it,” she continues, “if we can draw enough attention to this class to bring in prospects and also get enough undergrads to use an elective spot for the course, we can kill three birds with one stone.”
“Three?” I question.
“Three. I know Ryan won’t leave Grant anytime soon — the pay is too good and he’s got their trustees eating out of his palm. However, if this is successful enough, I bet we could secure him as an adjunct. If nothing more, we can offer this class annually and embed it in the catalog for both English and French Lit tracks. Simply having his name in the course catalog will draw students who couldn’t get into his program at Grant.”
“Good thinking. I didn’t even consider that as a possibility.”
“I need to expand this program. I know we aren’t ever going to be upper echelon when it comes to lit programs, but we are solid and worth pursuing. If I can get Ryan on as a committed adjunct and have his name officially on our program documents, I’m certain we could expand both our English and French Lit programs by at least fifty percent over the next three years.” She’s buzzing with excitement now, and watching her is intoxicating.
“That’s huge. How did you come about those numbers?” Not trying to rain on her parade, but is she spewing facts or fancies?
“This is how I know Ryan wants to say yes to coming this January. We’ve talked numbers and future possibilities. He provided me with the stats for his applicants and acceptance rates from Grant. Did you know they turn away more than three thousand lit applicants each year? And that’s just undergrad. Their acceptance rate for graduate lit studies is nine percent. NINE percent!” She emphasizes that last bit, and my eyes almost bulge out of their sockets.
“When did Grant become Harvard?” I jest. But, damn, that’s lower than I realized.
Abigail laughs. “Nine percent is not four percent, but I agree. Ryan is a goddamn celebrity in academia. I’ll gladly take his castoffs, assuming they meet our entry requirements. The board can’t ignore us if we’re growing.”
“It’s true. Everybody loves Jonathan Ryan. Good thinking, boss,” I commend her.
“Thank you, Dexter,” she says. “This program means so very much to me, and while we aren’t in danger of losing anyone, I want to ensure we reach our full potential and continue to grow.”
“You’re doing excellent work. I’m proud to be here at Middle Peak, especially under your leadership,” I say.
Abigail gives me a wry look and says, “Stop kissing my ass, Belanger. I already gave you the class with him. I don’t have anything more to offer at present.”
I laugh at her calling me out on my brown-nosing. “So besides finalizing this syllabus and getting it back to you today, what else do you need from me?”
Dr. Matthews taps her pen against her desk a few times before saying, “I need you to continue to keep this quiet for the time being. Assuming everything goes to plan, we’ll have Jonathan come for a visit in the next three weeks. Nothing fancy, just two or three days. He’s been to the campus before, but it’s been years and it’ll be good to refamiliarize him with the area. We’ll have a dinner party, ofcourse. Bring your charm, and your French. You know he’ll love that.”
“Can do. I’ll wear a suit and even trim my beard, just for you,” I offer her my most alluring smile and she rolls her eyes.
“Not for me, boy. For him,” she says, playfully. “You already won me over. Now you need to use your skills to convince him to stay beyond the one-time January class. You built the syllabus for this class, now sell him on why it needs continual repeat performances.”
“Not a problem at all, Abigail,” I assure her.
“Excellent. I don’t have anything else to discuss at present; do you?” she asks, not rushing me out of her office as I expect.
I pause for a few seconds, considering whether or not I should heed Leo’s advice about talking to Abigail about Alis before saying to hell with it. I’m going for it.
“Actually, yes.” I clear my throat and continue, “I’d like to talk with you about the fraternization policy.”
This gets her attention. “Go on,” she gestures. Fuck me. I don’t know if this is the best or worst idea I’ve ever had.
“I’m considering pursuing a relationship outside work with a woman who is also an employee at Middle Peak, and while I know it’s not strictly off limits, I want to ensure this relationship won’t be frowned upon by my colleagues.”
“I see,” Abigail nods. “And is this woman one to cause drama that would result in negative comments from your colleagues or the administration?” Her quirked eyebrow confuses me. She knows I’m never one for drama, so I don’t understand why she’d even ask.
“Um, no?” I say. “Why would you think that?”
“I don’t think that, but I’ve also never had a conversation about fraternization with you, Dexter Belanger. I’ve never known of any romantic relationship in your life — I assume if you are or have been with any woman it’s always been separate from the university.” I nod, and she continues. “Considering Middle Peak doesn’t have a fraternization policy concerning our employees, I don’t know why we’re having this discussion in the first place.”
Of course, she wouldn’t. Because she thinks I’m asking about another faculty member.
I rub the back of my neck, not wanting to be cryptic but also not wanting to go into detail out of fear that Alis will hate me for bringing this up to Abigail in the first place. I’ve come this far, and I’m doing this to ease any worries Alis may have about us ‘crossing the line’ as she says, so I decide to go all in.
