day.”
She admired Elaine’s colorful view of the world. Victoria hadn’t expected to hear from the woman again. “Everything okay with your boyfriend?”
“He’s a man. Enough said. I have to run.”
Elaine hung up without waiting for a goodbye. What the woman lacked in etiquette, she made up for in common decency. None of Victoria’s colleagues bothered to call and check on her.
She replaced the receiver on the phone cradle and checked her watch. The sooner she could hand over the disc to Roger, the sooner she could get back home and prepare for her evening. While she waited, she started to file the papers from her desk.
“What do you think you’re doing in there?”
Victoria gasped at the angry voice. She turned, her heart racing. After a couple of disoriented seconds she focused on the face of her co-worker. “Roger. You scared the life out of me.”
His eyes widened. He raked his fingers through his short-cropped hair and whistled. “Victoria? I thought a student was rummaging through your files looking for an exam.”
“No. It’s just me.” She smoothed her Wakeburn sweatshirt over the only pair of jeans she owned. Now she knew why her students practically lived in their stone-washed denims. The soft fabric caressed her body like a lover.
Her gaze returned to Roger. His blatant appraisal made her uncomfortable. The only attention she’d received from him in the past came in the form of taunts disguised in friendly banter. “Mexico seems to have agreed with you.”
“I enjoyed myself.” She sat behind the desk and pulled a disc from the drawer.
He straddled the chair across from her. “So what did you think of the paper?”
“It’s well-written. The point is clear and the research supported the thesis.”
“But….” he said, his eyes narrowing slightly.
She paused and chose her words carefully. Roger didn’t like criticism, particularly on something he’d written for a scientific journal. To keep the peace, she usually verified his belief that his work was flawless. Not this time. She wouldn’t swallow her own opinion to please others. If he didn’t want the truth, he shouldn’t have asked her to review the paper.
“I would have done a more comprehensive analysis before reaching that conclusion.”
He stiffened his spine and adopted a defensive glare. “What do you mean? The research clearly supports the conclusion.”
“A little too well. Statistics can be used to support any claim. If they slant the experiments in such a way as to draw a specific result then the conclusions could be subject to question.”
“Are you saying my research is slanted?”
“Not slanted, but incomplete. You didn’t try to disprove the thesis, only prove it.” She shrugged ruefully. “Look, Roger, anthropology isn’t my field….”
“You’re right.”
He snapped the disc off the desk and slid it in the pocket of his blazer. He’d dismissed her opinion, but she didn’t care. For once, she’d spoken up.
“Are you going to the Whitehall’s reception Wednesday?” he asked.
She shrugged. “It’s mandatory, so yes.” She would have preferred to skip the dean’s annual party, but office politics forbade that option.
“We could go together. We haven’t been on a date in ages.”
Victoria choked back a bitter laugh. She’d never been on a date with him. Occasionally they attended staff functions together, but the last time he’d accompanied her, Roger made a point of mentioning to colleagues that he wasn’t dating “Professor Prissy”. He preferred his adoring twenty-year-old students who wanted to earn a grade the easy way. Not that she cared, since she didn’t find him attractive. She leaned back in her swivel chair and rested her feet on the corner of the desk.
“I already have a date,” she lied. She doubted Erik would want to attend a faculty party with a bunch of academics, but she didn’t want Roger to think she needed a pity-date. She would just explain that
She admired Elaine’s colorful view of the world. Victoria hadn’t expected to hear from the woman again. “Everything okay with your boyfriend?”
“He’s a man. Enough said. I have to run.”
Elaine hung up without waiting for a goodbye. What the woman lacked in etiquette, she made up for in common decency. None of Victoria’s colleagues bothered to call and check on her.
She replaced the receiver on the phone cradle and checked her watch. The sooner she could hand over the disc to Roger, the sooner she could get back home and prepare for her evening. While she waited, she started to file the papers from her desk.
“What do you think you’re doing in there?”
Victoria gasped at the angry voice. She turned, her heart racing. After a couple of disoriented seconds she focused on the face of her co-worker. “Roger. You scared the life out of me.”
His eyes widened. He raked his fingers through his short-cropped hair and whistled. “Victoria? I thought a student was rummaging through your files looking for an exam.”
“No. It’s just me.” She smoothed her Wakeburn sweatshirt over the only pair of jeans she owned. Now she knew why her students practically lived in their stone-washed denims. The soft fabric caressed her body like a lover.
Her gaze returned to Roger. His blatant appraisal made her uncomfortable. The only attention she’d received from him in the past came in the form of taunts disguised in friendly banter. “Mexico seems to have agreed with you.”
“I enjoyed myself.” She sat behind the desk and pulled a disc from the drawer.
He straddled the chair across from her. “So what did you think of the paper?”
“It’s well-written. The point is clear and the research supported the thesis.”
“But….” he said, his eyes narrowing slightly.
She paused and chose her words carefully. Roger didn’t like criticism, particularly on something he’d written for a scientific journal. To keep the peace, she usually verified his belief that his work was flawless. Not this time. She wouldn’t swallow her own opinion to please others. If he didn’t want the truth, he shouldn’t have asked her to review the paper.
“I would have done a more comprehensive analysis before reaching that conclusion.”
He stiffened his spine and adopted a defensive glare. “What do you mean? The research clearly supports the conclusion.”
“A little too well. Statistics can be used to support any claim. If they slant the experiments in such a way as to draw a specific result then the conclusions could be subject to question.”
“Are you saying my research is slanted?”
“Not slanted, but incomplete. You didn’t try to disprove the thesis, only prove it.” She shrugged ruefully. “Look, Roger, anthropology isn’t my field….”
“You’re right.”
He snapped the disc off the desk and slid it in the pocket of his blazer. He’d dismissed her opinion, but she didn’t care. For once, she’d spoken up.
“Are you going to the Whitehall’s reception Wednesday?” he asked.
She shrugged. “It’s mandatory, so yes.” She would have preferred to skip the dean’s annual party, but office politics forbade that option.
“We could go together. We haven’t been on a date in ages.”
Victoria choked back a bitter laugh. She’d never been on a date with him. Occasionally they attended staff functions together, but the last time he’d accompanied her, Roger made a point of mentioning to colleagues that he wasn’t dating “Professor Prissy”. He preferred his adoring twenty-year-old students who wanted to earn a grade the easy way. Not that she cared, since she didn’t find him attractive. She leaned back in her swivel chair and rested her feet on the corner of the desk.
“I already have a date,” she lied. She doubted Erik would want to attend a faculty party with a bunch of academics, but she didn’t want Roger to think she needed a pity-date. She would just explain that
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