20. Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty
This feels like deja vu,” Cooper whispered as he sat down next to me in the room where Mason was presenting.
I gave him a tight smile. I knew what he meant even if the only similarity was the slides being projected on two televisions in the room and Mason standing at the front.
Instead of a room set up for a class, this was a hotel event space with tight rows of chairs that seemed uncomfortable.
I hung in the back row. I wanted to see who came to the session, and I wanted to be seen.
This would be the best place for both. Mason wasn’t alone at the front of the room.
Heather was there, anxiously moving around, playing with the laptop, and running through the slides.
Lois, who was sitting in the front row, added to the anxious energy as she failed to support Heather.
I wasn’t sure what was going on, but I was curious to learn.
The slides didn’t look different from the ones Mason had shown in Lacock.
I had, at the time, assumed Heather had a larger role creating them than Mason did since he seemed flustered.
Now I wasn’t sure about who had taken the lead originally.
She should be more confident than she seemed.
Mason stood off to the side, ignoring Heather and Lois.
He seemed calm and ready to go. He scrolled through something on his phone as we waited for the session to start.
Lois cleared her throat, which was when Mason turned off his phone and walked to the center of the room.
One of the volunteers shook his hand and pointed to where I was sitting in the back of the room.
Mason and I locked eyes. He gave a curt nod, and I smiled before looking to Heather.
Her eyes got wide and her face reddened when she saw me.
Even Lois looked up and turned to see where Cooper and I were sitting.
It didn’t matter what the others thought about our presence; as far as Lois and Heather were concerned, I was here to antagonize them.
I didn’t need more proof that Lois still disliked me after all these years.
For a moment, I wanted to antagonize her.
I should move back to Lacock and call her out for stealing my work.
I chuckled to myself and shook my head. I didn’t need to do anything that mean spirited.
“What’s so amusing?” Cooper asked.
I shook my head. “I’ll tell you another time.”
While we waited, I thought about how I had been spending the last six months chatting with Carrie Woodhouse about her hopes for Lacock.
She had a grand plan to make the city a better spot for tourists coming for the new Northanger Park.
It wasn’t going to be a large theme park like they had in Florida and California, but a small regional park designed to help the surrounding towns grow.
Carrie wanted Lacock to be more accessible so everyone would feel welcome staying there, especially if there were no hotels on the park’s property.
Heather may have tried to warn me that Carrie took on too much, but I wasn’t seeing any evidence of that.
She seemed focused on getting funding for these projects and I had a great time helping her.
Her excitement seemed to inspire others to help, which I found endearing.
After the event volunteer introduced Mason and Heather, the session started. As Mason had made clear back in February, Heather had been responsible for many of these slides. None had changed in the past six months, but she seemed irritated as the tech didn’t work for her.
“I’m so sorry,” Heather said with a nervous giggle as she advanced the slides too far. “The technology doesn’t like me today.”
“It’s not alone,” Cooper said under his breath.
I nudged him with my elbow.
“These slides aren’t in the right order,” she muttered a few minutes later as she advanced back and forth between different slides.
“Did she even prepare for this workshop?” Cooper whispered with a huff.
“Seriously,” a person said in front of us.
“Let me help,” Mason said, taking the remote from Heather.
I noticed the young professor’s body tighten.
“Take a breath and count to ten,” Mason said in a low voice. I was sure we would have missed the comment if he hadn’t been wearing a microphone. I had friends with kids who often used this technique to help them calm down when on the verge of a meltdown.
Heather’s face got bright red, and I could see how tense she was from the back of the room.
Now she was embarrassed on top of being flustered and ill-prepared.
She sat down next to Lois as Mason continued the presentation as if he had created the slides himself.
I was confused about why Heather had given control to Mason.
Had I missed something or had she simply not prepared?
“Are there any questions?” Mason asked at the end.
Hands flew into the air and, unlike in February, none had to do with using this work to get tenure.
“How can we help faculty simplify their research so that people new to a topic can understand?” someone asked.
“That’s a great question,” Mason said, and a smile spread on his face.
“WikiAcademia does a lot of great work to help students learn to write for an encyclopedia and to see their efforts directly impact the world. I think something similar needs to be done to train faculty. It can be done as a way to get them to work with groups like WikiAcademia for classroom assignments. Certificate programs and funding opportunities are a great way to entice faculty with continuing education opportunities.”
My breath caught in my throat. Hearing him talk like this reminded me of the nights I spent in his arms planning to start an organization like WikiAcademia.
We had never gotten as far as this, but clearly he had never stopped building the idea.
I looked at Cooper who had a wide grin on his face.
I realized this was what Cooper also wanted for WikiAcademia but couldn’t do himself.
If this was what Mason could develop in a terrible environment, imagine what he could do in a place that valued him.
“This is why he needs to run WikiAcademia,” Cooper said. “This is the next phase of the work.”
I felt tears fill my eyes, and I wiped them away. “I tried my best to get him to reconsider. I hope it worked.”
“I want to add one thing!” Heather said, getting to her feet as the questions ended. “You need to do a better job of respecting the expertise faculty bring to the table. They’ve been treated-”
“Sit down,” Mason said through his teeth. “And shut up.”
The room was silent for a moment before applause broke out.
I didn’t know if they were clapping for Mason’s presentation or for him telling Heather to shut up.
I clapped for both things. When it died down, most people got up to go to the next session, but a few went up to talk to Mason.
They all ignored Heather and Lois who continued to sit at the front of the room.
“Before you go,” Cooper said as I started to leave, “I may not see you again today but you’re coming to the WikiAcademia reception tonight, right? We booked that restaurant on the top floor. They have a wonderful private room with a lovely view of the city.”
I looked over at Mason.
“I’m inviting him too,” Cooper said with a low chuckle. “I’m not giving up yet. I need to tell him not to bring Heather or Lois though.”