B0161IZ63U (A) (39 page)

Brittany raised her chin high.  “Thank you, Professor.  We are, we really are.”

21

Lila took Brittany’s advice. In what felt like the blink of an eye, her summer class was over, the final manuscript of her book had been submitted, and she found herself sitting in a single chair facing a three-tiered counsel bench.  At the bench sat the five stern faces of the ad hoc committee handling her promotion. 

On the far end of the stacked podium was Kelly, hands clasped in front of her, blue eyes blazing with nothing but hatred as she directed them at Lila.  If anyone on that committee was going to do everything in their power to keep her from getting that promotion, it was Kelly Hannigan. 

Four more faculty members, all men, filled the rest of the seats. From grim, to judgmental, to downright bored, their faces told Lila that she was going to have a hell of an hour with these people.

Clearing her throat, she silently thought an hour was way too long.  How the hell was she going to survive this?  She’d much rather be at home, rolling around in bed with the very man who would
seal
a ‘no’ vote from this committee today.  At least with Chase, her happiness was non-negotiable.

She suddenly felt cold, pulling her blazer around her shoulders. 

The committee members had already introduced themselves. The Vice President of the University, who held the highest seat on the podium, had just asked Lila why she thought she deserved the promotion.

“Why do I deserve this promotion?”  She breathed in deeply, and thought back to the speech she’d spent all night perfecting with Chase.

She blinked.

Chase.

He’d stayed up with her all night, going over the speech she’d prepared on hundreds of notecards.  The guy was pre-med at Harvard.  He’d just started his
second
summer course.  He was knee deep in his own work, his own problems, but he’d chosen to work with her all night, until neither of them could keep their eyes open for another moment. 

Later that night, after making passionate love, he’d whispered to her that he hoped she got the promotion today.  That being her dirty little secret was a small price to pay to see her get what she deserved.  That if Harvard let her slip through their fingers, they were the biggest idiots in the world.

She could still hear the sweet deepness of his voice. Still feel the tips of his fingers running along her naked body before they’d both drifted off to sleep.

Something clicked in Lila. 

“Why do I deserve this promotion?” she asked.  “Before I answer that question, you should know a few things about me.”  Her eyes went from one member to the next, holding eye contact with each one.  She zeroed in on the Vice President, holding up her pointer finger.  “One, I’m sleeping with a student.  His name is Chase Almeida.  Before you check your files, allow me to save you some time.  Sleeping with a student is
not
against university policy, but it is frowned upon.  I’ve been encouraged to keep the fact that I’m sleeping with this student quiet. To sweep it under the proverbial Harvard rug.  Unfortunately, that rug is already overflowing, and frankly, I’ve never been one to go along with the grain.” 

She saw the Vice President’s mouth drop open just before her eyes moved to the man next to him, Dean of The Harvard School of Arts and Sciences, Dr. Allan M. Brandt. 

He was middle-aged with gray hair and kind brown eyes.  He was the man that had given her this job in the first place.  Her interview with him a year ago had ended with her in hysterical tears, so he didn’t appear nearly as shocked by her admission as the Vice President. In fact, he seemed highly amused. 

Lila had a sneaking suspicion that her tendency to come completely undone at a moment’s notice was the facet of her personality that Dr. Brandt enjoyed most. 

“Two,” she continued.  “I’ve gone against this university, on more than one occasion, to advocate for victims of sexual assault on campus.  I was told to ignore these victims. Three, The Washington Post recently knocked on my classroom door asking for an interview about the lack of resources for abuse victims on campus.  I haven’t taken that interview, but I haven’t turned it down either.” 

The moment those words left her mouth, Dr. Brandt gave her the tiniest nod, noticeable only to her, and winked. 

Lila sat taller and moved her eyes to Kelly.  “And, finally, four.”  She held up four fingers.  “I’m pretty much the most screwed up human being you will ever meet in your life.  That I will never refute.  But I know my work.  Even more than that, I know my passion.  I have a passion for helping students who are lost, and this university is severely lacking in that regard.  As long as I’m employed here, I will
never
stand idly by and allow that to continue. I will make as much noise as humanly possible, and I will never, ever apologize for it.  Never.  So those are a few things about me.  Anything else you need to know, well, it’s right there in my file.  I’m sure you all have a copy of it.”  She breathed deep.  “Oh, and I was also arrested before the start of the semester.  Drunk and disorderly misconduct.  So… Not sure if that’s in my files…” She motioned to the files, letting her voice fade off.

A silence passed, but Lila noticed that all five committee members had straightened up.  They no longer looked grim, or judgmental, or even remotely bored.  They’d been waiting for her to spout some bullet-point list of all her wonderful attributes and accomplishments.  What they’d gotten instead had struck them speechless.

Not surprisingly, Kelly was the first to find words to speak.  “And why in the world would we grant you this promotion, knowing you’ve got an interview pending with The Washington Post?  An interview that is sure to paint the university in a terrible light?”

Lila smirked.  “I’m sorry, I should have made myself clearer.”  Her eyes traveled the table.  “Unless the ball starts rolling on the
one
thing I’ve ever asked for from this university--a real, tangible resource for students to come and talk about their hurt, and their pain,
without
being put on a three-week waiting list, I don’t give a damn about this promotion.”

Kelly fell back in her seat, visibly seething.

Lila’s voice rose.  “Any university that can turn a blind eye to its students is not the kind of university that I now, or will ever, want to work for.”

“And the student you’re rolling around in bed with?  Chase Almeida?  Is that not a child crying out for help?”

Lila met Kelly’s eyes.  “No.  That’s a man who knows his heart. Those Almedia men always have.  Wouldn’t you agree, Kelly?”

Kelly looked ready to leap across the podium and take Lila around the throat.  “How about the student who was,” Kelly made finger quotes.  “ ‘Raped’ by the football team? Julie Barnes? Were her disgusting lies a cry for help, too?”

Lila’s lips tightened.  “Like I said, I have an interview pending with The Washington Post, and I’m likely going to take it, especially since, pretty soon, I’ll probably need the money.”  She laughed, even as she saw only stoic faces looking back, with the exception, of course, of Dr. Brandt.  “I imagine what I have to say about whether or not Harvard let me go in the midst of this scandal is going to have a very big impact on whether or not you hit that ten million dollar goal during your fundraising campaign this year.”

If Lila didn’t have their attention before, she certainly had it now.  She’d finally said the magic word,
funding. 
Just like that, she could already feel the shift in the room, the pendulum swinging in her favor.

“Yes, Julie was lying.  Her lie was exposed, but one girl’s lie does not change the bigger picture, and the bigger picture is still shattered.  I’m presenting this university with the opportunity to piece if back together, and you know what? Whatever decision you make today, know this…” Lila’s chest heaved as her voice rose in her passion.  With a few well-timed breaths, she got herself under control before continuing. “The entire country will be watching
.”

--

Later that afternoon, long after Lila had exited the premises, Jack Almeida came strolling into the meeting room where her heated review had taken place.  A folding table had been set up in the middle of the room, and the five people seated around it appeared on the verge of death.

Jack’s confident stride trailed to a stop in the middle of the room.  He knew they’d all spent the last few hours entrenched in hot debate, but he still wasn’t loving the tone of the room he’d just walked in to.

“Afternoon gentlemen.”  He looked to his fiancé, who sat at the farthest end of the table, and didn’t smile.  “Ladies.”

Kelly huffed.

“Thank you for coming in so quickly Deputy, please…” The Vice President motioned to a chair at the end of the table.  “Have a seat.”

Jack held his hand up as he finished crossing the room, stopping at the end of the table, directly opposite his fuming fiancé.  “No need.  My assistant briefed me on why you called me down here last minute, so I know this won’t take long.”  Pressing his fingers into the table, Jack shook his head.  “And the answer is no. It would not be in the university’s best interest to fire Lila James.”

“What a surprise,” Kelly spat.

The two shared a look.  Tilting his head, Jack continued, knowing his next words might send her over the edge. “Quite the contrary, if this university doesn’t
promote
Lila James, it’s going to have one hell of a lawsuit on its hands.”

The look of betrayal in Kelly’s eyes nearly incinerated him.  As much as he would have enjoyed it, Jack hadn’t said those words to spite Kelly.  He hadn’t even said them in defense of Lila.  He’d only said them because they were true.

“Can you elaborate?” Dr. Brandt asked.

Jack nodded.  “Sure.  The fact that she’s up for promotion doesn’t put her in a vulnerable spot.  It puts the university in one.”

The Vice President perked up.  “How do you figure that?”

“At this time, Lila James is the only member of the faculty who is advocating for victims of sexual assault.  She is the
only
member of the faculty who is speaking against the university.  Not only has the school voiced their disapproval of her speaking out, that disapproval has also been heavily documented. She has one of the largest papers in the country asking for an expose.  She is up for promotion. On top of that, she is a black woman.  At this point, if that promotion is denied for
any reason,
the word
retaliation
would be an understatement.  She has a case for gender discrimination, racial discrimination,
and retaliation.” 

The air in the room tightened.

Jack laughed through it.  “The lawsuit wins itself.  The media cyclone would be unstoppable. If she files a Title X with the federal government, you won’t just lose your funding.  You’ll lose millions in restitution, enough to o
ffset
the funding that’s driving you to silence this woman in the first place. The students themselves have also began to put a protest in motion, and if that protest happens, I have no doubt it will start a movement amongst the students--a movement you don’t want. It will hurt the reputation of the university.  A university that, up until this point, has been utterly untouchable.”

“Denial of promotion at Harvard isn’t uncommon.”  A voice rang out.  “We never give reasons why the promotion is denied, so she’ll have no leverage in the courtroom.”

“She is a black woman working for a university that, in the past, has been documented saying women have less aptitude for math and science.  A university that has been documented systematically undervaluing its African American professors. A university where women only make up a quarter of the academic faculty.  A quarter
. 
That is
abysmal
.”  Jack laughed again, throwing his hands out.  “What more is there to say? A sex discrimination lawsuit brought against this university will
always
veer in favor of the black woman, no matter how many concessions you claw for.  That’s a nice story you’ve got there,” Jack said, pointing to him.  “But it’s a fairytale.”

From the end of the table, he could feel Kelly’s eyes burning a hole into his skull, so he avoided eye contact with her at all costs.

They all knew he was right.  Lila wouldn’t need a reason why her promotion was denied.  She just needed it denied.  That much would be enough to file a suit that would be a bigger pain in the university’s ass than what it was worth.

“She won’t sue,” The Vice President boomed.  He’d said the words loudly, but his voice wavered.  The authority wasn’t there.

“It’s not a question of if she’ll sue; it is only a question of when.”  Jack met his eyes and couldn’t stop the coy smile that split his lips.  “Unless you give her the one thing she’s asking for. Which is more important?  Your funding, or sticking it to a lowly lecturer? Either way, the future of this university, and millions of dollars in funding is officially in your hands.” Jack closed the laptop.  “Try to make the right decision.”

--

“The moment you stop looking at it, it’s going to come.”

At the sound of Chase’s voice over her shoulder, Lila looked up from the screen of her phone.  She’d been reloading her email messages fanatically.

She accepted his sweet kiss.

“I’m about to be out of a job,” she mumbled, going right back to staring at the screen as Chase set the dining room table for dinner.  “I already have a dozen applications waiting to be submitted.  All I need is the official email asking me to come in for my termination meeting.”

“You haven’t been terminated,” he said, moving to the table and dropping a breadbasket in the middle.

“I will be.” She finally dropped her phone on the desk.  “You should have seen me in there.  I pretty much gave them every reason to throw me out on my ass.  I was a complete basket case.”

“Of course you were.”

She curled a lip at him while throwing a breadcrumb she’d pieced away from the loaf in his direction.