Tenure Track

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Authors: Victoria Bradley
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visit, but the acts seemed to be more like routine exercises than erotic adventures.
    On Sunday night, Lewis awoke in the wee hours of the morning to realize that Laura was out of bed, sitting on the couch. The lights remained off, but he could tell by the sounds of quiet sniffles that she was crying. Unsure what to do, he lay in bed and pretended to still be asleep until she lay back down. They continued this charade of rest until dawn.
    The next morning they sat at breakfast in near silence, each pretending to read a section of the New York Times. Lewis was unsure what to say or do. Finally, as she reached for a pat of butter, he placed a hand over hers and asked if everything was all right, noting that he could tell she did not sleep well the previous night. She assured him that she was just stressed out about the book. He decided to change the subject to their future outings. They were scheduled to see each other again at an October conference, then she would come down to visit him over Thanksgiving, and he would meet her for Christmas at her parent’s house. “What about New Year’s?” he asked.
    “ What about it?” she replied blankly.
    He had been mulling over an idea for a few weeks. Now seemed as good a time as any to propose it, hoping the plan might cheer her up. “How about if we ring in the New Year in New York City? I know how much you love the city. We could get a room overlooking Times Square, maybe take in a show, fancy dinner, some ice skating, the works.”
    She leaned over and kissed him squarely on the mouth. “I love it. ‘Sounds wonderful!” she responded, sounding at ease for the first time that weekend. After breakfast, they retreated to their room to enjoy the bed until checkout time.
     
    By mid-September the campus had settled into its regular fall rhythms of life. Greek rush was in full swing, Saturdays were completely given over to football games, and it was still ridiculously hot. Finally the first semi-cool day since spring arrived, beckoning Lewis to eat his lunch outside under a tree. Munching on a turkey sandwich, he fiddled with his newly upgraded cell phone. Thanks to the wonders of e-mail, he was able to communicate with his wife almost daily, yet the technophobe in him prevented an upgrade of their ancient cell phones until Laura insisted. Growing increasingly frustrated by his lack of progress with the gadget, he was about to give up when he spotted Mandy and Blanca walking by, books in hand. “Amanda!” he shouted with a wave.
    She silently waved back. In the few weeks since she had been working for him, they had settled into an easy routine. She rather enjoyed the research and he continued to be impressed with the volume of notes she produced. They rarely ever saw one another, communicating largely through brief e-mails or notes left in one of his boxes. The arrangement worked well for both of them.
    On this day, however, he needed her personal assistance. “Are you busy right now?” he pleaded. As the two women approached, he asked if she knew much about cell phones. “My wife and I got these new phones and I still haven’t figured out all of the gizmos on it.”
    She removed the device from his hands, not bothering to introduce her friend whom he already knew. “What are you tryin’ to do?” she asked.
    “ I just want to change the ringtone,” he said, exasperated, then nodded towards her attractive companion. “Blanca, right? I hope Dr. Stevens isn’t working you too hard.”
    “ N’sir, she’s really nice,” the roommate answered sincerely. He was shocked to hear an undergrad actually refer to Sheila Stevens as “nice.” He and Blanca continued to exchange pleasantries while Mandy silently assessed the phone.
    “ Okay, what tone do ya want?” his assistant queried.
    “ Well, it says that I can download any song,” he explained, “but I can only find five choices on here.”
    She observed him with a mixture of amused shock and annoyance. “You

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