19. Chapter 19
Chapter 19
T he music pumped through the speakers in the living room as she loaded the dishwasher. Her watch buzzed, letting her know she had an incoming call. Howard Marx’s name flashed on the screen of her watch and she scrambled to grab the stereo remote and her phone before her new boss hung up.
Bailey swiped the screen to answer the phone. “Hello.”
“Could I speak to Bailey, please?”
“This is.”
“Bailey, this is Howard Marx.
“Hi Howard. How are you?”
“I’m doing well. Listen, I know you aren’t supposed to start work until September, but I was wondering if you’d be able to come in and discuss a speaking opportunity.”
Speaking opportunity? “You want me to guest lecture?”
“I’d like to discuss a couple of opportunities. Do you have time today or tomorrow to meet?”
“I’m available either day.”
“Wonderful. How is today at 3:00? I can get you setup in your new office at the same time.”
“3:00 works great.”
“See you then.”
Bailey hung up the phone. A couple of opportunities. What could that possibly be about?
At 2:30 pm, Bailey strolled around the University bookstore, familiarizing herself with the books they carried for the sociology department. She’d wandered around the campus a couple of times since she’d been in town but hadn’t really spent much time here yet. When the school year started in September, it would become her home away from home. No point in spending too much time there already. She hadn’t planned on getting her office set until July or August. It was barely June.
She glanced at her watch and slowly made her way toward the sociology building.
A few students sat scattered across the lawn, studying. The scene would look completely different come September when classes were fully in session.
Bailey pulled open the door to the Social Sciences building.
She wandered down the hall in search of Howard’s office. She checked her watch one more time. 2:55 pm. Perfect. Better early than late. Bailey knocked on the door.
Howard stood as she entered the room and shook her hand. “Bailey, good to see you. Thank you for meeting me on such short notice.”
“Of course.”
Howard gestured for her to take a seat, and he sat back down at his desk. “How are you enjoying San Diego so far? Are you getting settled in?”
“I am yes.”
“Wonderful. You’re probably wondering why I’ve asked you in today.”
She shifted in her seat. “I am.”
“Two reasons, actually. First. Would you be interested in teaching a summer session?”
“This summer?”
“Yes. Daphne was supposed to teach a class in July, but she’s had something come up and needs a leave. We’d rather not cancel the class, so I’m hoping you’d like to teach it.”
“What’s the course?”
“Social perspectives in a social media age.”
“With what focus?”
“Daphne’s specialty is social change, but we are open to narrowing it down to something in your area, since the course description is deliberately vague at the moment.”
July wasn’t that far away. Not a lot of time to plan a course, depending on the subject matter. “Although I’ve taught lessons on social media, I haven’t taught an entire class on the subject. I’m not sure I’d be ready.”
“Daphne has left all of her course material and lessons for whoever takes over the class. I’m confident you will be able to pull it together. We’ve had an overwhelming response to your upcoming class this fall. It seems the students here are extremely interested in your expertise. We believe they’d also be interested in something similar in a class about social media.”
Could she get a course together by then and do it well? Yes, it would certainly mean a change to her current routine, but she was finding herself a little bored when Gonzo was out of town, anyway. “I’d be happy to teach the course as long as in my evaluation you take into account the short notice.”
Howard smirked. “Of course.”
She wasn’t stupid. In this land of publish or perish, she was only too aware of the fact that she had no tenure. A stream of bad reviews could be the difference between teaching next year and unemployment. In her experience, institutes of higher learning were not tolerant of their teachers needing a learning curve. “Given the short timeframe, I will predominantly need to use Daphne’s course material.”
Howard handed her a USB stick and pointed to a file box beside his desk. “Everything is in there.”
“Perfect.” Bailey itched to dig into the box and see exactly what she’d just signed on for. “I haven’t been given my office yet.”
“I’ll take you over as soon as we’re done here.” Howard leaned back in his seat and watched her. “Are you familiar with the GWE Gender and Equality conference that’s being held in New York this year?”
“Of course.” It was the biggest conference on women’s issues in the country.
“They reached out to us about having you speak.”
“I’m sorry? You want me to speak?” Wow, she hadn’t expected the University to choose her to represent them or even that they would be represented, for that matter. The University was more known for international issues rather than gender.
“No, they were having trouble reaching you, so they contacted us to get ahold of you. Apparently, you come highly recommended, and they wanted to ensure the University would support you attending. Which I assured them we would.”
“They want me to speak?” Did he really just say that they wanted her to speak, not someone like her, but her? She clamped her hands in her lap to stop herself from doing the little jig her body wanted to do.
“Yes, they specifically wanted you to do a seminar on misogyny in the media.” Howard tapped his fingers on the desk. “I thought their request tied in nicely to the summer class.”
Ahh, now it made more sense why he was so open to her changing the existing syllabus. Being asked to speak at this conference was not only a big deal for her, but it was also a big deal for the University. People came from all over the world for this conference. And they wanted her. Holy shit. They wanted her. She couldn’t wait to tell Gonzo.
Howard passed over a piece of paper. “This is the number for Colette Beringer. She is the conference committee chair. As I told Colette, it goes without saying the University would like you to speak at the conference. I assured her you would be more than happy to present. We will organize any coverage necessary for your classes.”
Bailey looked at the contact information on the sheet. Her body practically vibrated with excitement. How had the committee even heard of her? This was the kind of opportunity everyone in her profession dreamed of and never believed would happen. Her foot bounced anxiously on the floor in front of her and she fought to keep it still. “I will give Colette a call this afternoon.”
“Please do.” Howard stood. “Now let me show you to your office so you can get started.”
Bailey grabbed the box with all of Daphne’s course info and followed him.
“You never mentioned you knew Anisa Behman,” Howard said as they walked up a flight of stairs.
Anisa? Where did that come from? “Anisa’s research was instrumental in my master’s thesis. We spent a lot of time together while I worked on both my master’s and PhD.”
“Didn’t you work under Jeffrey Long for your PhD?”
“I did, yes, but I spent about 6 months with Anisa, doing research on gender violence as part of my master’s.”
“Mmm, I must have missed that. I was more focused on your PhD when you applied for this position. From what Colette said, Anisa spoke very highly of you and they are eager to hear you speak.”
Bailey bit back a smile. Thank you, Anisa. Even with her colleague’s endorsement, she still couldn’t believe she was getting asked to speak at this conference.
Howard continued up the next flight of stairs to the fourth floor. At the end of the hallway, he pulled out a key and unlocked the door. She stepped into the office and scanned the room. A smile immediately spread across her face.
“Wow, I have a window.” Bailey wandered over and looked outside. The view wasn’t great. Mostly just a parking lot, but it was still a window. Her last office had been in the basement and wasn’t much bigger than a closet. This office was darn near palatial. Empty bookcases lined one wall and a filing cabinet sat alone in the opposite corner. The scarred desk looked like it had seen better days but would get the job done. Definitely an improvement from her last office.
“I hope this will be satisfactory,” Howard said.
She spun around to face him. “This is fantastic, thank you.”
Howard held out the key. “Be sure to call Colette. And let me know once you’ve confirmed the speaking engagement and we will put it up on the website and in your bio.”
“Will do.” If she’d had any doubt about why she’d been called in today, this certainly solidified it. No mention of the upcoming summer class, just the advertising the conference would give the University. Not that she blamed them at all. Alumni loved stuff like this. And the school depended on donor dollars.
Once Howard left, she grabbed her phone out of her pocket, took a deep steadying breath, and dialed Colette’s phone number.
“Hello?”
“May I speak to Colette Beringer, please?”
“Ms. Beringer is not in. May I take a message?” the woman on the other end asked.
“Yes, this is Bailey Reynolds.”
“And what is this regarding?”
“She was trying to reach me about speaking at the upcoming conference in New York.” It took everything in her to remain professional when she said that. Every fiber in her being wanted to squeal and jump around with excitement.
“What’s the best number to reach you at?”
Bailey relayed her number to the receptionist and hung up. Giddy, she dropped into her chair and spun in a circle. She kept spinning until she was facing the window. Holy shit, she was going to speak at the GWE convention.
She grabbed her phone back off her desk and pulled up Gonzo’s number. She was just getting ready to leave a message when he picked up.
“Hey, Bay, what’s up?”
“Oh, I didn’t think you’d answer.”
He chuckled. “Then why’d you call?”
“I don’t know. I was excited and you were the first person I wanted to call.”
“I like the sound of that. What are you excited about?” Gonzo asked.
She could hear voices in the background. “Where are you?”
“Just in the locker room, about to head onto the field. So what’s up?”
Shoot, she knew how important it was for him to focus before a game. He had this whole routine he always followed and didn’t like when anything made him veer off course. “Sorry, we can talk after the game.”
“Bay, I wouldn’t have answered if I didn’t want to talk to you. So spill.”
“You sure?”
“Bailey, talk.”
“Umm, turns out I’m going to be teaching a class this summer now as well, so I just got my new office.”
“Cool. So why do you sound like you’re about to jump out of your skin?”
How was it he knew her so well? “Umm, apparently they want me to speak at the GWE convention.”
“What’s that?”
“Global Women’s Equality.” She couldn’t contain the giggle that burst out of her. “I can’t believe it.”
“That’s awesome, Bailey. I take it being asked is a pretty big deal.”
“Yeah, you could say that. It’s kind of like the World Series for gender sociologists.”
“Holy shit, that’s incredible. I’m so proud of you.”
Even over the phone, she could feel how happy he was for her. This was exactly why she’d called him. If anyone would understand what it felt like to realize your dreams, it was him. “Thanks,” she whispered.
“Gonzo, get your ass in gear,” a male voice yelled in the background.
“Sorry, Bay, I gotta go, but I’m really fucking happy for you. When I get home, we’ll go out to celebrate and you can tell me all about it.”
“Sounds perfect. Good luck at your game.”
“Thanks. Send me a picture of your new office. Congrats, babe. I’m really proud of you.”
Before she could even say anything else, he hung up. She stared down at the phone. Times like this his travel schedule sucked, but at least he’d picked up the phone.
She snapped a photo of her empty office and sent it off to him. By the time he got home, she’d have a decorated office and, hopefully, officially be listed as a speaker at the conference. She covered her face with her hands and squealed as she pounded her feet on the ground. Best day ever. Time to go shopping.