“Right. Yes, of course. How are you this evening?”
I adjusted the collar of my shirt as my mother droned on about some new recent academic accomplishment she had made. Though now retired, she had been the headmaster of the university where I was currently employed and still consulted on the occasional research project throughout Eldoria.
Anya Thornheart never truly stopped working.
“I almost forgot! You leave tomorrow, don’t you?”
“Yes. Early in the morning. We’ll be traveling for a couple of days to meet up with the rest of the team in Ravenwood. Actually…I should probably get some rest,” I responded.
“I assume you’re all packed.” She ignored my attempt to get off the call.
“I am.”
“Now, Cerise. You must treat this expedition as an opportunity. If you discover a new species, surely that will put you on track to move up to be the dean of your department.”
I nodded, though she couldn’t see. “That’s the goal.”
“Well…you’ve said that for years but it still hasn’t happened. You must workharder. When I was your age, I had already been dean for two years.”
I tuned her out. I’d heard this story countless times before. My mother became a dean when she was thirty-three, moved up quickly and was headmaster before she turned forty. And now, having just turned thirty-five, I was ‘behind.’
“Well, Mother, I truly need to get going,” I tried again.
“And whatever happened to Antoine? Antony?” she kept on.
“Ambrose,” I corrected her. “We ended things. I told you that.”
“Yes, well you never told mewhy. Antony?—”
“Ambrose.”
“Yes, Ambrose. He was perfect for you, dear. He is highly respected in his field and if you’d continued your relationship, surely it would have boosted your reputation.”
She thought he was highly respected and yet she still couldn’t bother to get his name correct. Not surprising. She didn't make the effort unless it suited her. My mother was something else.
“I know. It just didn’t work out. I’m too weary to discuss this right now.”
“Then you must get better rest, Cerise. Are you sticking to your schedule? Don’t forget, a scatter-brained woman is a sloppy woman. And sloppy women don’t win academic awards.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. “I’m aware.”
“Well, you’ve kept me on the phone long enough. I must get going,” she said. “Goodnight, dear.”
“Goodnight.”
I released a frustrated sigh, looking down at Arthur. He tilted his head as if he knew exactly how that chat had gone. A typical conversation between the two of us—my mother dominating with stories about herself or reasons she was disappointed in me. We had dinner together monthly, along with the occasional phone call, and it was about all I could handle.
And why did she have to bring up Ambrose? That had been a terrible relationship, full of condescension on his end. He was well-known and respected within the academic community for his works on the life cycle of a rare species of butterfly found only in the snowy mountains of The Golden Hills. The little girl in me still desperately yearned to please my mother and so, despite my unhappiness, I’d stayed in the relationship far longer than I should have, hoping it would help my career in some way.
But after he had yelled at me for not cooking dinner properly, I’d had enough. Encouraged by Emberly and Rosamund, I’d ended the relationship and hadn’t spoken to him since. That was six months ago.
It didn’t matter. I had no time for dating orromance. My mother was right; this expedition was the perfect path to becoming dean and I wouldn’t let anything get in my way over the next couple of months.
Because Iwoulddiscover a new species. Iwouldbecome dean.
And I would make my mother proud.
Chapter 2
