by Sara Marks
“Jane, Lizzy! I’m so glad I found you. I’d like the officers to have dinner with me tonight. My son is coming over and I want to introduce you all to him. I really think ya’ll will just love him.”
Jane and Lizbeth looked at each other.
“We would love to join you,” Jane said.
“Lizbeth, I’m specifically interested in you meeting my son. I know the two of you will get along very well,” Mrs. C said.
Lizbeth didn’t know how to respond, but didn’t get a chance before Mrs. C left the room again.
“She is very involved for someone who is only supposed to manage the house,” Caroline said.
“Yes, but she’s new,” Jane said. “She doesn’t know how other housemothers act.”
“What happened to your last housemother?” Caroline asked.
“She was a recent graduate of this chapter, so she had a difficult time moving into a new role,” Lizbeth said.
“Well this one won’t ever be mistaken for a sister,” Caroline said. “I hope her son is more attractive than she is.”
***
“I’m very impressed with the Greek system here even though I’m not a member of any fraternity. I considered it when I began my tenure here, but my mentor, Ms. Katherine de Bourgh, felt the negatives outweighed the positives when it came to my specific needs. She felt the connections I had previously cultivated because of her were the connections necessary for a successful career. I have to agree as she is possibly the best connection I could ever hope to make. She can do more for me than boys my own age. She has offered me a selection of internships for the spring semester. She sits on the boards of all of the best companies, so she can easily help me. I’m working with my advisors to make sure I can meet all my educational objectives for the spring and graduate in May while still spending the semester working for a company in another city or state,” Colin Collins announced at dinner.
Lizbeth knew, as soon as she heard Colin’s voice, that accepting the dinner invitation had been a mistake. Colin was the person Dr. Bennett wanted her to mentor and she was going to turn down the request. Colin Collins had a high-pitched voice and dark brown curly hair. He was short and chubby with black, plastic glasses that dominated his face and he was wearing a fedora. No topic was taboo and Colin had a lot to say about everything. He spent dinner pontificating to the table.
“I’m greatly enjoying our Gender Communication class with Dr. Bennett, Lizbeth. I really think we have so much we can teach each other about how women need to communicate to succeed in business. I have seen my mentor, Ms. Katherine de Bourgh, communicate just like the men around her. She is just as aggressive and interrupts them. I really feel women need to embrace aggressive communication to succeed in business. They need to stop blaming men for their lack of success and, you know, lean in.”
Lizbeth and Marie exchanged looks throughout the meal as Mrs. C beamed with pride. Marie clearly wanted to interrupt and argue, but didn’t get a chance. It was Lydia who finally broke through the monologue when Colin Collins took a breath.
“We need to talk to Charlie and Caroline about their Halloween party,” Lydia said.
Lizbeth could feel the tension break.
“Oh,” Mrs. C said, “they are going to have a party? That sounds like a great opportunity for you all to meet some well-connected young men.”
“Yep, Charlie said they would have a Halloween party. I just have to get him alone to talk to him. Jane, you need to get me some face time with Charlie.”
“What?” Jane said. “Oh, of course! I’ll talk to him when we have coffee later this week.”
“Lizzy, how has your hunt for a man been going? I’m sure you have some good prospects,” Mrs. C asked.
“I am not hunting for a man,” Lizbeth said.
“I’m sorry dear. How do you expect to make it in this world without a man to help you?”
“Well, I expect to do it on my own. Wasn’t that one of the objectives of the feminist movement?”
“I suppose so, but I never considered myself a feminist.”
“That’s too bad. My mother taught me that I should never rely on a man to make my dreams a reality.”
“That is interesting advice, but I guess someone in your position doesn’t believe she needs any help,” Mrs. C said.
Lizbeth was not sure what that meant, but didn’t take the bait.
“That doesn’t mean a man can’t help you,” Colin said. “Not all men want to hurt women.”
“I am not opposed to accepting help, but I’m not going to select a boyfriend or husband merely on what he can do for me,” Lizbeth replied.
“It is important to have a good partner in life. Ms. Katherine de Bourgh has been very clear about that. She and her late husband did a lot of work together. She suggested I find the right partner in life. She said it was very auspicious that my mother got a job with such a well-respected sorority. Ms. de Bourgh was a member of this sorority when she was in college--another chapter of course. She graduated from Boston University, a school with a wonderful reputation. I considered BU when I was applying to schools, but I thought it was important to stay close to home as my father was sick. I thought it would be important to help my parents as much as I could.”
Lizbeth stopped paying attention to Colin. She tuned out the drone of Colin’s voice for the rest of the meal, thought about her plans for the next day, and made sure to nod periodically.
***
Dr. Bennett seemed relieved when Lizbeth turned down the request to tutor Colin.
“I didn’t want to ask you,” he revealed.
“I think I understand why he asked for me,” Lizbeth said and gave him a brief explanation of Colin’s connection to the sorority and his mother’s desire to have him marry one of the sorority sisters.
“I’m worried about this, Lizbeth. I know you took on the chapter presidency to help your sisters stay on track academically. I think it’s a great way to build and test your leadership skills, but your housemother seems to be overstepping her boundaries if she is pushing her son into a romantic relationship with you. I worry that this may be too much of a distraction from your academic priorities.”
“It’s not like she is ignoring major problems and attending parties. I don’t want to start complaining about her this early in the year. I have concerns, but they’re nothing more than that right now and the other officers know academics are my priority. It was why they asked me to take on the job.”
“If you don’t set boundaries, she’ll push until you do it. You need to do what you think is right for the sorority, but I think you should consider standing up to her sooner rather than later. She may mean well, but this is 2016, not 1916.”
Lizbeth knew he was right, but he didn’t have to deal directly with Mrs. C. Lizbeth didn’t want to have another year of problems like they had with their last housemother, but she felt like she would only come off as a bully if she did something now.
“I’ll keep it in mind,” Lizbeth said.
“I’ll make your excuses to Colin. I hope you don’t mind if I cite some observed obligations.”
“No,” Lizbeth said with a laugh. “I’m sure You’ll do better than I on that.”
***
“Lizbeth, I am sorry we won’t be able to work together on class assignments. Dr. Bennett was clear that you have too many prior obligations this semester. I completely understand as my mother has been very impressed with how devoted you are to the sorority and to your job at the library,” Colin said to Lizbeth, plunking himself down next to her at the next class.
Lizbeth looked around, hoping to find someone else to speak to. Wil hadn’t dropped the class, but he was sitting in the back of the room looking down at his phone. She could see him sitting with his legs extended in front of him. He had the maroon Chucks on, again.
“I think we should tr
y to study together. I believe-”
“Colin, I’m far too busy with everything to plan study sessions. Between the sorority, my job at the library, my senior thesis, and my other classes... I study when I can.”
“I see,” Colin said. “Well, I will just try to find you to study with when I am at the sorority house.”
“Only the sisters are allowed into the house study spaces,” Lizbeth said.
That was all they were able to say before Dr. Bennett began his lecture. Lizbeth didn’t mention that her job at the library allowed her time to work on research for papers and projects. Colin had yet to try to find her there. She had never been so happy to find out that one person never went into the campus library.
***
“Lydia must be happy that the restaurant was able to take care of everything for our first mixer,” Charlotte said.
It was the first joint mixer of the year, halfway through September. This party was at a local restaurant that catered to the campus Greek organizations. The sorority had many events there because they were good about alcohol service. The bouncers were great at spotting fake IDs and the bartenders weren’t afraid to cut people off. Lydia was in the middle of everything as party planner and general center of attention. She was checking in at the bar to make sure there weren’t problems with underage drinkers. She was going around to different groups of people and chatting with them. She was even making sure the line for the bathrooms wasn’t too long.
Lizbeth and Charlotte sat in the back by the bar enjoying the party. It wasn’t long before Jane and Charlie found their way back to the table. Caroline and Wil weren’t far off, but didn’t come sit with them. Those two stood off to the side looking like they were too good to be there. Lizbeth noticed they stood there looking bored and playing on their phones. She tried to look inconspicuous as she looked over the clothes Wil was wearing: black t-shirt, a black leather jacket, dark jeans, and his black Chucks.
“So,” Jane said once she and Charlie sat down, “Caroline thinks we should meet at the townhouse this week to work on the French project.”
Their French class had a group project requirement. They had to plan one day of the trip to Paris around the theme of modern art. The assignment was to select places to visit, provide information about each location, and identify restaurants in the area. It had to be designed as a walking tour, so they had to map it out. Caroline had insisted they present first, resulting in less than 3 weeks to prepare. When Lizbeth complained, Jane reminded her that they could relax while everyone else was still busy working on their projects.
“That’s fine with me. At least we aren’t expected to get scholarly articles to justify our choices,” Lizbeth said.
“Caroline bought like five tourism books to get some ideas,” Jane said.
“There are things online that will help us pick locations even if they don’t give us history and background information.”
“No school talk!” Charlie said. “We’re trying to relax tonight.”
“It doesn’t look like Wil or Caroline are relaxing,” Lizbeth said.
“I love my sister, but relaxing is difficult for her. Wil too. They just have different ideas of fun,” Charlie said.
Lizbeth understood; her world at home was very different from this. While most people on campus didn’t know much about her life off campus, her high-school friends would be surprised to see her at a frat party, drinking beer, playing drinking games, and getting drunk.
“I heard you are throwing a Halloween party,” Charlotte said to Charlie.
“I’m excited about it, but I’m trying to get Wil and Caroline to agree,” Charlie said.
“They don’t want the party?” Charlotte asked.
“Wil isn’t much of a party guy. Caroline only likes to do things her way,” Charlie said before taking a swig of beer.
“Traditional frat parties aren’t her way?” Lizbeth asked.
“Professional catering, china, and tablecloths are Caroline’s way,” Charlie said with a laugh.
“We do those kinds of parties,” Jane said.
“Just not when we invite a fraternity to join us,” Lizbeth added.
“I have to find a way to give each of them some of what they want and some of what Lydia wants,” Charlie said.
“I’d encourage you to set parameters for Lydia,” Lizbeth said. “She can work wonders if she knows the rules. If you tell her you need to have it professionally catered, she’ll find someone. If you tell her you need a place where Wil can brood, she’ll build him a cave where he can be ignored.”
The group laughed, but Lydia would do exactly that. Lydia had not taken a liking to Wil. Lizbeth could see that she was doing her best to pretend Wil wasn’t killing the party that night. Lydia was getting louder and more obnoxious the later it got. It was as if she was trying to inject the fun that Wil and Caroline were sucking from the party. While they never came to sit with the group, Lizbeth noticed that Wil and Caroline kept glancing over and whispering to each other.
“I’m sure they’re criticizing us,” Charlotte said to Lizbeth during a trip to the bathroom.
“Caroline seems to be keeping close to Wil. I wonder if she is trying to entice him?”
“Caroline is clearly infatuated with Wil. I have heard her talk about him. You would think the sun rose at his command.”
“Good thing we know otherwise,” Lizbeth said with a laugh.
***
Lizbeth had to skip the first group meeting with Jane and Caroline because she had to work. Jane went over on her own and ended up spending the night.
“My car got a flat tire,” Jane’s text message read.
Lizbeth drove Jane to the townhouse after class the next afternoon. Caroline had given her a ride into campus because the flat tire needed to be repaired. Charlie was sitting in the driveway putting the tire back on when they pulled up. He was in jeans and had taken off his shirt. It was still warm out and Lizbeth could see the sweat on his body. It was clear Charlie spent time at the gym. He wasn’t overly muscular, but he was well-defined and you could see the muscles in his biceps as he tightened the lug nuts on the wheel. Lizbeth glanced at Jane and was amused to see her best friend almost drooling over her... boyfriend? Lizbeth wasn’t sure about the status of this relationship.
Charlie smiled and waved at the pair.
“I was able to take care of it myself instead of calling AAA. A nail went right through, so it was an easy patch,” Charlie said.
“Thank you. I don’t know how I can repay you,” Jane said with a smile.
“Stay for dinner! That’s how you can repay me,” Charlie said and gave Jane a kiss.
“We have a project to work on.”
“Perfect. I’ll make dinner while you ladies work. Maybe I’ll make something French. Do you think they sell escargot in Georgia?”
Jane laughed and walked into the house with Charlie. Lizbeth trailed behind, not wanting to interrupt. Jane deserved to be happy and Lizbeth didn’t want to interfere. Caroline and Wil were inside the house in the main room. Lizbeth had known other people who had lived in these townhouses. They had three bedrooms-- one on the first floor and the other two upstairs. The open main room on the first floor was broken up into three spaces. The large kitchen was in the back with brown-stained wood cabinets and beige granite counters. There was a full wine rack and Lizbeth could see a wine fridge next to the stainless-steel fridge/freezer. The entire kitchen had a high-end, newly built, and generic feel to it. The island in the middle of the kitchen had white marble counters covered with books and papers.
On the other side of the island, in the middle of the space, was a dark-stained dining room table and brown upholstered chairs. The table was clear except for a runner and a vase of deep-red roses in the middle. The living space, in the front, had a couch, love seat, and comfortable armchairs around a simple Ikea
coffee table. On one wall was a fireplace with a large flat screen TV above it. The TV was on MSNBC, but muted. There were no personal items in the room. Lizbeth couldn’t see any knickknacks or pictures of family or friends. The art on the walls had a hotel-art feel to it.
Caroline was in the kitchen opening a bottle of red wine and pouring it into two glasses. She was wearing a short white tennis skirt with a lime green sweater vest over a white blouse. Lizbeth didn’t think the color flattered Caroline and wondered why she was wearing it.
Wil was sitting in the den with his laptop open on his lap. There was a stack of papers next to him and, to Lizbeth’s eye, they looked like a collection of articles for a research paper. He was wearing dark blue jeans and a dark grey V-neck T-shirt. His bare feet were on the coffee table. This was the most casual Lizbeth had seen him and he looked good. Caroline walked over to Wil and handed him one of the wine glasses. He didn’t look up from his computer, but took the glass from her.
“Hi Lizbeth!” Caroline said when she noticed Lizbeth had walked through the front door.
That got Wil’s attention and he looked up at Lizbeth. He quickly looked back at his laptop and began typing again. He sat up straight and put his feet on the floor.
“Hi, thanks for having us over to work on the project,” Lizbeth said to Caroline.
“Oh, it’s my pleasure. Would you like some wine?”
“Do you have any whites?”
“I have a Moscato chilled if you like that.”
“That’s perfect.”
Caroline pulled the cold bottle of wine from the fridge, opened it and poured two glasses. The other was for Jane who loved Moscato wine. Jane, sitting at the kitchen island, took her glass. Charlie came downstairs in a clean pair of jeans and a white T-shirt. He pulled out a bottle of beer for himself. Lizbeth recognized the label as a popular local microbrewery.