Joie de Vivre

by Micheala Lynn

  Bill also laughed, relaxing for the first time since Riley had walked in the door. “I can just imagine what Ms. Krege probably said to him. I wouldn’t want to see her mad.”

  For the first time, Riley realized something—Bill Hastings was intimidated by Grace. That would certainly explain the mild hostility he showed toward her, especially the barefoot issue. “So that is probably where the animosity toward lesbians comes in.”

  “Okay, that would probably explain that.” Sharon scratched down some quick notes. “Now, about failing him, what can you tell me? Did you have clear justification?”

  Riley ground her teeth. She had never had to validate giving a student a failing grade before. However, it wouldn’t do any good to go into a rant. Sharon was clearly on her side, so she bit her tongue and forced herself to be calm. “Joshua was already failing the class before the final exam. His work was poor and any time he got something wrong, his response was that he saw it on TV. But it was during the final that I caught him copying the names of the skull bones from a scrap of paper. Actually it was Grace that tipped me off. She had seen him acting suspiciously. He wasn’t exactly hiding it. I went up to him and immediately removed him from the class. Of course he denied everything. And if that wasn’t bad enough the little jerk plagiarized his final paper. That can be readily substantiated. So I issued him a failing grade, plain and simple.”

  Sharon dropped her pen to her desktop. “Okay, I think I’ve heard enough here. From everything you’ve told me, Kate, I don’t think we have anything to worry about. Still, we’ll all have to meet with the University’s lawyers as well as HR. I’ll inform Ms. Krege later but I wanted to bring you in on this first.”

  “I can tell Grace.” Having her blow up in the Dean’s office wouldn’t help the situation.

  “Whatever you wish. Just make sure she knows. Put together any paperwork we might need. Just tell them everything you told me. Tell Ms. Krege to do the same. But seriously, I don’t even think it will get to that. Once our lawyers respond I have a feeling that they’ll simply drop the case.”

  By the time Riley left Sharon’s office she could see the familiar floaty spots in her vision of an impending migraine. There was no heading it off. The best she could do was head for home and crawl into a dark, quiet place before the main attraction arrived. And being an hour away from home it was going to be touch and go whether she made it there before it grew into a fully-fledged neural supernova. If she had any chance at all she would have to leave now, so she made an abrupt left turn for the parking lot without even heading back to her office. As she quickly stumbled along she whipped out her cell phone and dropped Grace a text. Grace could handle anything in her absence and hopefully tomorrow would be a new day.

  * * *

  “Hey Lisa, how about you come with me and get a bite to eat tonight?” Caroline stood in her doorway, her satchel over her shoulder, hooking her thumb behind her. “Susan’s going to some lecture and I don’t want to eat alone. So please, please, please come with me.”

  How could she say no to that? “Okay, just give me a second.” She quickly tidied the rest of her room and grabbed her book bag. The quiet at the end of the day was always a welcome break from the constant bustle of kids all day long. With one last look over her shoulder—everything seemed in order for the start of it all over again tomorrow—she flipped out the lights and followed Caroline down the empty hall.

  They walked across the parking lot together, the last few straggling parents picking up their kids beside the school. When they reached their cars, parked side-by-side, Caroline tossed her satchel in the back seat, turned, and cleared her throat. “Hey Lisa, I just wanted to apologize for yesterday. It’s none of my business and if you’re happy, that’s great.”

  Lisa felt her breath catch in her throat. Since last night she had done her best to push the thought of Riley from her mind but with very little success. How was she able to process everything when every time she thought of Riley, images of them in the shower or under Riley’s satin sheets or even in the center of Riley’s dining room kept flooding into her head? Even now, standing beside her car in the parking lot, she could feel her body respond. She was never going to get perspective when just the thought of Riley aroused her.

  So as much as she didn’t want to, she figured perhaps a little distance might be for the best. “Thanks Caroline, but I think you are probably right. This has all happened way too fast. I’m thinking about telling Riley we should step back, maybe reevaluate everything.”

  “Oh, Lisa.” Caroline’s shoulders slumped as she stood there. Her mouth gaped as she searched for words. Finally she threw an arm around Lisa’s shoulders and pulled her in tight. “I hope this doesn’t have anything to do with what I said.”

  “No.” She then took a deep breath. “Well, maybe a little. It got me thinking. I really haven’t known Riley for very long. Maybe I did rush into things a little.”

  Caroline spun her around, placing a hand on each shoulder and looking directly into her eyes. “But sweetie, that’s how you’ve always been. You wear your heart on your sleeve and you fall for someone at the speed of light. Remember how you were with Jessie? You two met on a Saturday and moved in together the following Wednesday. And you were together for over ten years.”

  Lisa chuckled, thinking back to the night she had met Jessie. It had been in the fall, right around this time. The leaves had just started to change. They had bumped into each other at a State football game and immediately hit it off. Actually, that was an understatement. They hadn’t even made it through the third quarter when they took off for her tiny apartment. She didn’t find out whether State had won until Monday. From that moment on they had been inseparable. “Actually it was Thursday.”

  “Wednesday, Thursday, what’s the difference?” Caroline let out an exasperated breath. “What I’m saying, Lisa, is you’re not exactly known for taking things slow. And there’s nothing wrong with that. But don’t do it just because I said something.”

  Lisa dropped her eyes. “It’s not that…it’s just…I don’t know.” How could she explain it to Caroline when she didn’t really understand it herself?

  “Sweetie, talk to me. What’s going on?” Caroline stooped down to meet her eyes again.

  “Like I said, Caroline, I don’t really know.” She clenched her teeth. “Sure, I like Riley and I know you might not believe it, but she’s a lot of fun to be around. When I’m with her she makes me happy. And that’s something I haven’t felt in a long time.” A tear now spilled over her eyelid and she quickly swiped it away with the back of her hand.

  “Well, that should be a good thing, right?” Caroline stared at her, concern in her eyes.

  “You’d think so, wouldn’t you?” She laughed, more bitterly than she had thought. “But at the same time I can’t shake the feeling that somehow I’m dishonoring the memory of Jessie. I know it’s silly.”

  “No, it’s not silly at all, Lisa. I can certainly understand where you’re coming from. Jessie was one of my dearest friends and not a day goes by that I don’t miss her. But I’ll also be the first to tell you she would have wanted you happy above all else—and so do I. So don’t think you’re dishonoring her memory because of Riley. I knew her too and believe me, the only way you would dishonor her memory is if you let that come between you and happiness.” Caroline took her by the shoulders once again and gave her a firm shake. “Same goes for me. I over-reacted and I was wrong. Don’t let me come between you and happiness with Riley.”

  Lisa brushed away a tear from each cheek, the dampness cool from the soft autumn breeze, and gave Caroline a warm, bright smile. “I sure don’t know what I’ve ever done to deserve such a good friend as you, Caroline. I don’t know how I can ever repay you.”

  Caroline merely shrugged, a wide smile on her lips. “Just come to dinner with me so I don’t have to eat alone and we’ll call it even.”

  Chapter Seven

  It wasn’t until Wednesday that Rile
y got back to work. She had barely made it home on Monday when her migraine hit. As soon as she had the door open she sprinted up the hallway to the bathroom where she upended the remainder of her breakfast. She rarely got such severe migraines, but it wasn’t every day that she was sued. After she was certain her entrails had become her extrails she hobbled off to her bedroom, pulled the shades and climbed into bed without undressing.

  Tuesday hadn’t been any better. The most she had managed was to text Grace that she wasn’t going to make it in. There was nothing brighter than the screen on a smart phone in the middle of a migraine. Thank God she had silenced it though. If she hadn’t, the first time it rang would have been its last.

  By late Tuesday evening, she was buoyed by the thought that she was not going to die after all. The worst of her headache was over and she was able to sip some chicken noodle soup. Good ol’ Mom’s advice—nothing was better for scrapes and bruises, colds and skull-splitting migraines. She finished off with a chocolate donut—after everything she had been through she had earned it—and slid back under her blankets until early Wednesday morning.

  Now she was behind her desk pulling together her lecture notes and filing through the miscellaneous paperwork that had accumulated over the past two days. As soon as Grace showed up she needed to bring her up to speed on the lawsuit, what little she knew. She could just about imagine her reaction, which is why she had wanted to break the news to Grace. Having Grace explode in Bill’s office, or worse yet, in Sharon’s office, would only make the situation worse. One thing was certain, if Mr. Evans had thought that Grace had gone off on him before, it was a good thing he wasn’t going to be anywhere close when she found out about this.

  Just as she finished, Grace poked her head through the door, a cup of coffee in each hand. “Guten Tag, Fraulein Riley. Wie geht es dir?”

  Riley couldn’t help but smile. “German, huh? And on a Wednesday. You watched Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade last night, didn’t you?”

  “Ja.” Grace handed her a cup. “Es ist eine klassische.”

  “I agree, it’s a classic.” Riley took a sip from her coffee. “Granted, Grace, I’m not sure I want to know why every time you watch it, you speak German for the next week.”

  Grace now laughed. “Have you seen Indy’s German love interest in that film, doc? We’re talking curl my short curlies hot. Who wouldn’t speak German for that?”

  “See? I knew I didn’t want to know. Now I won’t be able to get that image out of my head the rest of the day. I think you’ve ruined that movie for me for good.”

  “Naw. I doubt that. You can’t tell me that you don’t have the Indiana Jones theme playing in your head every time you show up at a dig.”

  Grace had her there. Actually, she did, not that she’d admit it. “Maybe next time we go on a dig with the Anthropology Club you should play that in the van.”

  Grace’s patented devilish grin lifted her lips. “And who says I didn’t?”

  “I should have known. No wonder they were so fired up.”

  “Hey, whatever it takes, right, doc?”

  “Yep, whatever it takes.” That was one of the things that made Grace so much fun. She might be brilliantly eccentric, but when it came to passion and excitement, no one could enthuse the students quite like her. Except for Joshua Evans—nothing had fired him up except his ego. She waved to the empty chair in front of her desk. “Since you’re here, why don’t you have a seat. I need to talk to you about a couple things.”

  Grace sat down, crossing her legs, her long skirt draped over the chair. “What’s up, doc?”

  “First, thanks for covering my classes.”

  “As they say in German, es war mir ein Vergnügen.”

  “Great.” Grace may have considered covering her classes a pleasure, but she could guarantee that she wasn’t going feel that way about what she had to tell her next. “Secondly, I have a bit of bad news. Do you remember Joshua Evans from last year?”

  “Ja.” Grace scowled, her eyebrows nearly pointing together in a sharp V.

  “Well, there’s no real good way to tell you this, but you’re being sued by him.”

  Grace bounded from the chair, her face instantly beet red. “Gottverdammt! Dass Hurensohn. Ich werde ihn töten!”

  Her German may be a bit rusty but she could pick up enough to know Grace was anything but pleased. That was also why she’d wanted to be the one to tell her. It was all she could do not to string together every profanity she knew—and in multiple languages. She waited until Grace calmed down or at least quit stomping about her office. “I know how you feel, Grace, believe me. That’s what triggered my migraine after Dean Stevenson told me.”

  Grace whipped around, her dreads whirling about her head. “What, you’re being sued too?”

  “Yep, you, me, Bill Hastings, Dean Stevenson and the college. So as Christopher Marlowe said in Doctor Faustus, ‘Solamen miseris socios habuisse doloris.’”

  Grace managed a small smile. “Yeah, yeah, misery loves company, I know. But why is he suing me?”

  Riley shared with Grace all she had learned from Dean Stevenson, relaying the accusations of reverse discrimination and preferential treatment given to ‘women of moral perversion.’ “…so that’s probably why you’re being included in his lawsuit.”

  Grace barked out a loud laugh. “That’s rich coming from that perverted little dirt bag. I never told you all that he said after the Anthropology Club meeting where I nearly ripped his head off, did I?”

  “No, I just figured he was being his normal chauvinistic self.”

  Grace gritted her teeth. “It wasn’t that. That little bastard actually had the audacity to proposition Jackie Calhoun and me. His girlfriend was out of town at the time so he’d give us the privilege to be pleasured by him together and afterwards we’d never think about another woman again.”

  “You’re kidding me.” Apparently Mr. Evans was an even bigger creep than she had thought. “And will Jackie corroborate this?”

  “Oh yeah.” Grace gave a sharp nod. “Her and half of the club. He must have said it in front of a dozen people. Talk about class.”

  Lack of class wasn’t what Riley was thinking though. She couldn’t believe Joshua Evans could be so stupid. The University’s lawyers were going to have a field day. “I don’t think we have anything to really worry about, Grace. Just tell the lawyers everything you told me. Also give them a list of witnesses. I think Mr. Evans is going to come to regret ever meeting you.”

  “Damn right. If I ever see him again, I’m going to…” Grace went into one of her classic colorful and highly creative combinations of nearly nonsensical phrases.

  Riley couldn’t make out much of Grace’s anything-but-subtle threat but she did pick up the word testicles and the mention of various kitchen appliances and their gruesome uses. No, she wouldn’t want to be anywhere around if Grace got hold of him.

  * * *

  By the time Friday rolled around Lisa was beginning to worry. Actually, worry was not the correct word—more like all out panic. She expected to have heard from Riley. She had left a message on her voice mail on Monday night but she hadn’t received a reply. At first she figured Riley was probably just busy. But as the week wore on, she imagined ever worsening scenarios. Perhaps Riley had had second thoughts. Perhaps it hadn’t been that good for her and Riley was only being pleasant until she left. So before she grew any more anxious, she would try calling Riley again. She should be out of work by now so there was no point of putting it off any longer. Before she could lose her nerve she grabbed her cell and quickly dialed Riley’s number.

  After the fourth ring it picked up. “Riley here.”

  Short and to the point as always. And from the sound of Harry Potter being read in the background, Riley was safely on her way driving home. “Hey Riley, it’s Lisa.” She bit the edge of her finger.

  “Lisa.” The excitement in Riley’s voice picked up. “I haven’t heard from you all week. I was beg
inning to wonder…well…” She trailed off.

  “I left you a voice message on Monday.”

  “Really? Huh, I’m sorry I didn’t get it.”

  She could feel the tightness in her chest dissipate. So Riley hadn’t been avoiding her. “That’s okay. Now that I have you on the phone I was wondering if you would like to help me check off something on my Anti-Bucket list this weekend?”

  “I don’t know, do you have anything on your list about being sued?” Riley let out a cold, bitter chuckle on the other end.

  “Ah…” How was she to respond to that? And what did it mean? Riley was obviously upset.

  “Hey, I’m sorry, Lisa.” This time Riley’s voice was much softer, almost sheepish. “You didn’t deserve that. I’ve just had an unbelievably crappy week.”

  “Geez, Riley. What happened?”

  Riley explained, starting with being called to the Dean’s office, the meeting with the Dean and the department chair and ending with the wicked two-day migraine it had all triggered. “…and that’s probably how I missed your call. I wasn’t in any shape to hear anything Monday night or most of Tuesday.”

  Mollified, Lisa felt pretty bad. “Riley, you should have called. I’m not sure what I could’ve done, but still you should’ve called.”

  “That’s sweet, Lisa, but when I get a migraine the best thing is to just crawl into a dark, quiet place and wait for it to pass. It’s pretty ugly for a day or so.”

  Her heart went out to Riley. Occasionally she had a migraine herself but never in that league. “I tell you what. Why don’t you head straight here and I’ll fix you a nice homemade dinner. Besides, you haven’t seen my place yet.”

  Riley perked up. “That’s true. Time to remedy that.”

  “Yes it is.”

  “Dinner you say?” Riley paused as if thinking. “And wine?”

  “But of course.” Lisa giggled.

  “The best news I’ve had all week.”