Tenure Track by Victoria Bradley Read Free Book Online Page A

how he became obsessed with running as a teenager, when track was an “uncool” sport, and long before jogging became a hot exercise fad. She discovered this information by half-heartedly asking what he was drinking. He told her water, then went on to explain that he didn’t drink alcohol, launching into a detailed description of the strict “runner’s diet” he followed.
    “ I tried being a vegetarian for a month, until meat cravings hit so hard I pigged out on a bucket of fried chicken ‘til I puked. Still got the chicken legs, though,” he said, looking down at his skinny lower appendages. “I think it was God’s punishment for breaking kosher.” Jane laughed in a genuine manner, unlike her faux guffawing at Henry Gould’s inappropriate comments. Her response only encouraged her companion.
    “ Now that running’s popular,” he lamented, “I may have to give it up. It’d ruin my nerd image to do anything hip and trendy.”
    Jane snickered again. Mark’s self-deprecating humor was refreshing in a room full of pompous academics trying to impress one another. Wondering if he could take as well as he gave, she asked slyly, “So, are you one of those draft-dodgers who got a Ph.D. just to avoid military service?”
    His face morphed into a mischievous bug-eyed grin. “Forward, aren’t ya? Actually, I did alternate service before grad school.” She felt appropriately chided as he explained that he had served in the Peace Corps between college at CUNY and graduate school at Chicago . Aaah, so maybe there was a connection to the Chicago Seven!
    Before she could ask more about his experiences, they were interrupted by a rather short man with blow-dyed, carefully feathered blonde hair, moustache and a hip outfit better suited for a disco floor than a lecture hall. The little man went straight to Jane. “Excuse me, but are you Jane Roardan? Perry Waters. I’m new in the History Department, too” He pumped her hand up and down excitedly, as if meeting a celebrity. “Oh, I love your work!”
    Perry’s specialty was Colonial America, but he was quite familiar with the emerging field of Women’s History and had actually read Jane’s book. Fresh out of grad school, the ruddy-faced Midwesterner looked much younger than his 25 years, more like an undergrad than a professor. He seemed very nice, if perhaps a little too star-struck and eager-to-please, a fawning manner developed from a lifetime of pretending to be what others wanted him to be. Several times during their conversation, Perry pointedly mentioned his fiancé, who was finishing nursing school.
    As fellow students of the British Empire, Perry and Jane quickly bonded over their shared Anglophilia, enjoying an exchange of Royal Family gossip. “So, do you think Prince Charles is ever going to settle down?” Perry quizzed, before moving on to rumors about History Department faculty. “T.L. Potter, Pulitzer winner of 1958—senile. Tony Bryce, the outgoing Chair—alcoholic.” Nodding towards Henry Gould, now rejoined by his wife, Perry advised in a low voice, “And never go into his office with the door shut.”
    “ Man, I don’t think the Math nerds are nearly as scandalous as you History guys,” Mark commented, feeling a bit left out of their shoptalk.
    Having exhausted his trove of information on other professors, Perry gleaned details about his two companions. His guileless lack of inhibition about asking personal questions proved useful, as Mark and Jane probably learned much more about one another than they ever would have if left to their own devices. Perry seemed to have already obtained quite a bit of information about Jane, bragging to Mark about her sharp mind and close ties with Gerda Lerner, about whom he was dying to dish. Perry’s gushing admiration embarrassed Jane a bit, but amused Mark.
    Jane had her chance to be riveted when Perry turned his attention to Mark’s past. It seemed the mathematician had missed his true calling, as