Free Tenure Track by Victoria Bradley Page B

back to her office. As distracted as she had been during the seminar, she dreaded its end, for now it meant she had to confront Lewis.
    At exactly 2:07 p.m., Isobel waved Dr. Burns into Jane’s office. The secretary was curious about the meeting, as she could tell that Jane had been rather distracted since her emergency conference with Gary the previous day. The secretary was not sure if her boss’s stress had anything to do with Dr. Burns, but as she watched the young professor enter the office, Isobel recalled Perry’s most recent speculation. Dr. Waters, who still stayed in close touch with Laura Hennig, theorized that perhaps Lewis was still trying to get a job up north, hoping to woo back his ex-wife. “You know he’s got to be madly in love with her still,” Perry had concluded. From Isobel’s vantage point, the young professor did not seem particularly distressed as he entered Jane’s office and closed the door.
    Cheerfully oblivious to what was about to befall him, Dr. Burns greeted the Chair. “Sorry I’m late, Jane. So, what’s up?”
    She paused. Even though she had been mentally practicing her speech all day, her mind went blank now that the moment had arrived. Following Gary’s example, she decided to stall with friendly banter while collecting her thoughts. “How are you Lewis?” she asked, sounding more serious than amiable.
    “ I-I’m, good,” he replied, a bit confused by the intense tone of her question.
    Jane nodded, carefully taking in his answer. “You know, I’m really sorry about you and Laura. I know the last year has been pretty rough on you.”
    “ Uh, yeah, thanks” he replied to her expressions of sympathy. “But I’m handling it. You just muddle through, ya know?”
    Lewis tried to figure out where this line of questioning was headed. Jane had expressed her sympathy once in passing, but other than that, had never mentioned his marital problems. Lewis supposed now that she was Chair she felt a special duty to show concern for his personal well-being.
    Of course, Jane had never had any reason to pry about the divorce. Perry had kept most of the department abreast of every detail from Laura’s point of view. By gossip standards, it had seemed like a pretty amicable parting, with no accusations of adultery, abuse or addiction. According to Perry’s analysis, the talented Dr. Hennig had simply outgrown her less-ambitious spouse; an interpretation that made sense to Jane.
    Other sordid tales of loud, cursing telephone arguments did not seem to mesh with the people Jane knew, so she had dismissed those details as typical Perry exaggerations. She had also dismissed rumors about Lewis’s erratic behavior, including allegedly assaulting a grad student, drinking heavily, and being spotted in questionable company at nightclubs. Even if the rumors held a grain of truth, she had convinced herself that they were probably just minor transgressions; certainly nothing serious and within the realm of expected behavior for a man who had just been dumped by the love of his life. Now she might have to re-investigate those rumors in light of this newest complaint. Perhaps they revealed more about Lewis than she realized.
    After a few more moments of awkward, meaningless conversation, she dove into the true purpose for the meeting. “We have a bit of a problem, Dr. Burns.”
    He still looked confused. “Is it something with my tenure application?”
    Of course, Jane thought, that should be his first priority these days. Just as quickly, she reminded herself that if tenure had truly been his top priority, he would not have done anything to jeopardize it. “You could say that. An issue has come up recently that may affect your approval.”
    “ What?” he asked, looking truly concerned for the first time.
    There was no more need to hedge. “Lewis,” Jane asked directly. “Do you know a girl named Mandy Taylor?”
    The look on his face spoke volumes. Upon mention of the name, he turned an