The Write Escape
Page 31
“Be that as it may, the Three-Week Initiative might work. Kowalski is giving us three weeks to come up with innovative programs to attract incoming freshmen. They have to be low-cost of course, but also something that generates excitement.”
Paula fixed her mouth and sighed. “What have you come up with, Vicki?”
Victoria grew excited. “Okay, so I’m thinking of a library internship for the English department students. We’ll partner with the Farmingdale Public Library to give students a real-world learning experience that can carry over to graduate school or outside of academia. What do you think?”
There was a pregnant pause that made her tense. Victoria needed to know that someone liked her idea before she busted down President Kowalski’s door. When Paula finally spoke, she gave a pitying smile. “Girl, I think that’s a great idea. A library internship is going to help students get a leg up in any discipline they choose.”
Eyeing her smile, Victoria leaned forward. “But?”
Paula’s shoulders slumped. “But I worry that you think you always have to save someone. It’s like graduate school all over again. Reggi and I had to talk you off a ledge every time you piled too much on your plate. The president’s problems aren’t your problems and you don’t have to work yourself into a lather over mismanaged funds.”
Victoria frowned. “I’m not working myself into a lather.”
“You don’t see it until your elaborate plans are near the end. Afterward, you tell us that you’ll never work that hard on bullshit projects. This is not your problem.”
She shook her head. “That’s where you’re wrong, Paula. Pembroke’s problems are my problems. I chose this path because I wanted to teach and research. If my school goes under, how am I supposed to do either?”
“I get it, girl. I have the luxury of not needing this job, so I take it for granted. But you’re going to work yourself into an early grave if you keep this up. Being the mule that Zora wrote about is not sustainable.”
Victoria swallowed. Whenever Paula made literary references during debates, she meant business. Throwing Zora Neale Hurston into the conversation made her both irritated and hesitant to defend her school. Sure, Victoria liked pulling her weight, sometimes even a couple extra pounds, if it meant tasks got done and boxes got checked. But if history was any indication of how this project would turn out, she might want to pace herself. “I hear you loud and clear,” she said. “But I’m going to try my best anyway.”
Paula reached out and took her hand. “And that’s what I love about you,” she said in a softer tone. “Your work ethic is something I’d like to bottle up and take twice daily. But I just wish you’d rest.”
Victoria squeezed her friend’s hand. “I’ll rest when I reach my goals,” she said with a chuckle.
“Bitch, please.”
Victoria pulled away. “We’ll see if any of this actually gets off the ground. Today, I’m supposed to have a meeting with a librarian and he’s already going to be late. I don’t know how that can bode well.”
“Aww, he’s probably an elderly dude who’s just trying to make his way across town,” her friend said with a grin.
Victoria didn’t get the sense that John Donovan was a doddering old man. The tone of his email suggested that he might be closer to her age. Originally, she addressed her email to the library’s aging director, Howard Wegman. She was surprised that it was Donovan who replied to her. He was terribly informal and familiar with his message, making her nervous. What if he doesn’t take the project seriously? What if he is incompetent? “He also informed me of an overdue library book,” she said.
“Stealing books, are we?”
“No, I definitely returned it,” Victoria said absently. She wondered what she had been doing several months ago that would warrant a missing book. “I just find it weird that he would put that in an email regarding our meeting today.”
“Did he sound mad?”
“No,” Victoria said slowly. “He wrote it with a wink face emoji.”
“Hmm.”
“Is that a good ‘hmm’ or a bad ‘hmm’?” Victoria asked.
Paula shrugged. “Depends on what the book was.”
She sighed and averted her gaze. “For the Duke’s Convenience.”
Paula burst into laughter. “Goddamn, Vicki...”
“I definitely returned it.”
Her laughter had not yet abated as she wiped tears from her eyes. “Oh my god... You are still reading that shit? That’s why the p-word is foreign to your virgin ears!”
“It’s titillating without the vulgarity.”
Paula doubled over. “Oh man, I needed that,” she said, taking a breath. “It feels so good to laugh.”
“You’re welcome,” she said in a dry voice.
“Girl, you were always averse to ‘vulgarity,’ as you like to call it. I’d hate to think that the prim, rule-abiding girl inside you doesn’t want to get her back broke with some great dick. Also, did it ever occur to you that John Donovan might be flirting with you?”
Victoria frowned. The idea had not occurred to her. “That’s not professional at all.”
“People get by all the time without being professional. How do you think I got here?”
Victoria sat back in her chair. Comparatively, the two friends had always stood on opposite sides of what one would deem “professional.” Paula and her cute afro, jeans, and sneakers attracted others with her charm and humor. Things seemed to come easily to the one member of The Write Bitches who always remained herself. Even through grad school. Regina and Victoria stayed in line, choosing fields that required giving up a piece of their personality. Reggi had gone for a career in banking, even though she was an editor for the university newspaper, while Victoria was aiming to make it in academia. Her four years at Pembroke had been devoted to making tenure and she was determined to fight tooth and nail for it. “I’m not here for that, Paula,” she said. “I plan to stay the course. I’ve got an outline and everything.”
Paula gave her a knowing smile. “She’s got an outline and everything... Baby, it might be time to let your hair down.”
“My hair is fine right where it is.”
“True,” Paula said, narrowing her eyes. “Did Reggi do those braids? Because they look hella cute.”
Victoria rolled her eyes. Her head was still aching. “Forty dollars and you have to bring the bundles.”
“Okay, that’s what’s up.”
She smiled. No matter how she disagreed with her friends, they could always switch it up and make light of most situations. “I’m going to wait for Donovan in my office. I’ll talk to you later?”
“Sure,” Paula said, returning to her screen. “Let me know if I need to bail you out of book jail.”
Don’t miss Overdue Love from Charish Reid, available February 2020 wherever Carina Press ebooks are sold.
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Copyright © 2019 by Charish Reid
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ISBN-13: 9781488055119
The Write Escape
Copyright © 2019 by Charish Reid
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