CHAPTER 4
Walking to work instead of taking the subway gave Luxury time to regroup her thoughts, something she greatly needed after this morning’s on-air epic failure. Scott Landshire’s unexpected call, combined with her no sleep situation, had thrown her bruised and battered psyche into a spiral of chaos, which had, unfortunately, resulted in her blurting things better left unsaid over the air, which had, super unfortunately, resulted in a swift social media fallout not even she could have imagined in her wildest pre-show jitters.
Her Monday Musings Instagram account had blown up after the show. Memes abounded, most of them hurtful. And much to her surprise, people were taking sides. Team Doc vs Team Prince. Which of them was right? One influencer had done a video explaining the situation for those who’d missed the show.
Could Scott’s methods help a woman land the heart of a rake?
Or was Doc right, and his techniques were antiquated bullshit that would result only in some asshole getting away with his rakish ways while the woman lost her heart in the process of trying to fix him?
And that was truly what RAKEish boiled down to. Scott was portraying men who liked to play the field as the ultimate fixer-upper project. And by calling that type of men rakes he’d wrapped them up in a pretty bow, turning a fixer-upper of a shack into a fixer-upper of a castle.
She clenched her hands at the sheer ludicrousness of the whole column.
Two blocks from the campus of Columbia, her phone rang. “Hello.”
“Hi, Lux. This is Dr. Marshall. The interview committee would like to meet briefly with you this morning. We will send a grad assistant to cover your first class.”
Unease filled Lux’s stomach. “May I ask what the meeting is about? Have you chosen your candidate?” She’d made it through two rounds of interviews for a tenure-track position which had unexpectedly opened when the professor she’d been filling in for had decided to make his sabbatical permanent. It was a dream job that would allow Lux to stay in New York. She’d not been expecting to hear from the interview committee until after the board had met. Unless…
“It is about the position.” Dr. Marshall sounded even more stilted than normal. “But a decision has not yet been made.”
“I see.” Lux blew out a soft breath. According to her inside source, the committee had decided, and they were simply waiting for approval before telling Lux she was the chosen candidate.
“There are a few issues that need to be resolved,” Dr. Marshall said.
Issues? A psychologist’s word for problems. The committee must already know of this morning’s on-air cluster. Why else would they want to meet? In no Ivy League universe was it okay for a professor to talk about penises before breakfast.
She had been such an idiot for not sticking to her original topic of conversation for today’s show. One that had been completely overshadowed by the damn Prince of Manhattan’s call in.
“Are you still there?” Dr. Marshall asked. “Did we lose our connection?”
“I’m here.” Lux inhaled and exhaled deeply. “I’d be happy to meet with you. In fact, I’m almost to my office now.”
“Excellent,” Dr. Marshall said. “We’ll meet in the conference room.”
Fifteen minutes later, Lux sat in front of the interview committee, stress sweat perched on the tip of her nose waiting to fall.
“Lux, I’m afraid more information has come forward since we spoke on the phone,” Dr. Marshall said. “Which leaves us with bad news.”
“No foreplay or anything.” Lux laughed nervously. “Just straight to the crux of the meeting.”
Ms. Birdie, a community member—aka wealthy benefactor—on the committee, chuckled.
Everyone else around the table looked at Lux as if she’d just said foreplay.
Hell”s fudging bells.She had. What was it with her and her mouth this morning? She’d already ridden the lack-of-sleep-excuse train once today. She couldn’t take it for another spin. “I’m so sorry. That was quite unprofessional.”
“After your show this morning,” Dr. Marshall said stodgily, “the legal department received notice from Frankie Peterson at Naked Runway that a lawsuit was seriously being considered against the university.”
Lux blinked. “On what grounds?”
“Your continued harassment of Scott Landshire and his column,” Dr. Marshall replied, pushing his glasses up his pencil-thin nose.
“Not harassment,” Lux said defensively. “I simply read his article and then point out its flaws to my listeners.”
“The magazine believes you have caused irrevocable damage to their magazine by insinuating Prince Landshire’s advice is bogus,” another of the committee said.
“It is bogus.” Lux laid a hand on her stomach where a bubble of acid had decided to frolic. “He spouts off nonsensical ways for a woman to land a rake, and he does so as if that would be a good thing. His methods aside, winning the heart of a promiscuous man is not a logical goal for a woman in this century.”
Dr. Marshall cleared his throat. “I believe the tipping point for the magazine was when you made a threat of bodily mutilation to their reporter on this morning’s episode.”
The bubble in her stomach exploded and bile threatened to roll up her throat. She’d bet her planner collection Landshire had gone running to his editor after getting off the phone with her demanding they do something about her. “I told him about a superstition I believe to be true.” What a crybaby. “And this only after he relentlessly pushed for me to tell him the contents of a nightmare I’d had in which he’d been present.”
There was more laughter from Ms. Birdie.
“Did you have something you wanted to add to this conversation?” Dr. Marshall asked Ms. Birdie in a tone not quite approving.
The professor sitting next to Dr. Marshall laid a hand on his arm as if to remind him of Ms. Birdie’s clout.
“Don’t mind me,” Ms. Birdie said, a smile playing havoc with her lips. “My sense of humor seems to be cavorting with my vocal cords today.”
Luxury grinned. She liked the woman.
Dr. Marshall pursed his lips and turned his attention back to Lux. “Your dismissal was mentioned as a possible solution to avoid a lawsuit.”
Lux’s smile disappeared. “This over nothing more than my challenging the content of RAKEish?”
Dr. James, a woman sitting at the far end of the table, sighed. “Lux, you’ve made a habit of hating on his column and then doubled down and predicted the demise of a man’s penis. That is not nothing.” The woman had kind eyes.
“Not demise,” Lux hedged. “I’ve read they can be reattached, and if done quickly, they have a decent chance of once again rising to the occasion.”
Eyebrows went up on every single member of the committee.
Lux bit down on her tongue. The damn thing had to be exhausted from all its untethered frolicking. Should she try and explain to the committee that sleep was her superpower? She’d always been able to crawl into bed and fall into a deep slumber within five minutes only to awaken exactly eight hours later feeling refreshed and ready to conquer the world. As such, she’d had no idea her brain was prone to misfiring when sleep deprived. “I—
“Darling,” Ms. Birdie interrupted, “I will be honest with you. I find this whole situation hilarious. And you remain my choice for the position at hand. Your students can’t stop raving about you.”
“Thank you,” Lux said.
Ms. Birdie held up a finger. “That being said, if hiring you will cause damage to the university’s stellar reputation, I cannot in good faith propose we do so.”
“Exactly,” Dr. Marshall said gruffly.
“In my defense,” Lux said to Ms. Birdie, not daring to look at anyone else sitting around the table, “Scott insisted I tell him the contents of my nightmare even though I warned him of my belief.”
“I see. I was not told of your warning.” Ms. Birdie dabbed at the corners of her eyes with her handkerchief. “Even so, I do not believe that is enough to change the course of action we have decided upon.”
“And that is?” Lux asked.
“Immediate termination,” Dr. Marshall said.
Lux gasped and placed her hand on her chest. How would she explain getting fired on her resume? Never in her life had she been dismissed. Not even as a result of the panty debacle. Was she too young to have a massive coronary? “As in today?”
Dr. Marshal nodded. “That’s what immediate means.”
“I’ll not be allowed to finish out the semester?” How had she’d gone from probable new hire to latest fire? “There are only three weeks left. Surely I could be allowed to finish out my contract and leave it at that.”
Dr. Marshall shook his head sharply. “A grad assistant will administer the final and grade the projects. One of us will finish out your lectures.”
A sob broke free from Lux’s lips. She slapped her hand over her mouth to keep anymore from escaping. Too much had happened too fast. She’d been so busy planning how to use the dating information for the better of the greater good, she’d taken no time to grieve over the dating app discovery. And now she would have to add loss of job to the mix of bad news. “I can’t believe this is happening. Am I allowed to fight your decision? I one hundred percent stand behind my view of RAKEish.”
“Is it truly that bad?” Ms. Birdie asked.
Lux glanced at her searching for some sign the woman’s mind could be changed. “He suggests women get hypnotized to change their shy ways into guy ways.”
Ms. Birdie grimaced. “That does seem a bit extreme.” She glanced at Dr. Marshall. “It is my understanding Ms. Peterson provided us with ten days to handle the matter. What if we gave Lux the opportunity to use those ten days to attempt to fix the problem before we dismiss her?”
“Is that even possible?” Dr. Marshall asked.
“I have no idea.” Ms. Birdie folded her hands and laid them atop the table. “But Dr. Stone is a bright star. I bet she will come up with a solution.”
Dr. Marshall frowned. “Lux, is this possible? Can you fix the problem to Ms. Peterson’s satisfaction?”
“I’m willing to contact her and try,” Lux said.
“Just to be upfront on this matter, I should tell you what I’ve told the committee. I own Naked Runway,” Ms. Birdie said.
What? “Then you could get her to back down from the lawsuit,” Lux said.
“I could, but I won’t,” Ms. Birdie responded. “I do not micromanage those I put in charge of my companies.”
“Oh,” Lux mumbled.
“That being said, I will tell you this.” Ms. Birdie stopped and seemed to consider her words before speaking again. “Frankie is very much a hardass. It won’t be easy for you to change her mind once it’s made up.”
“Oh,” Lux said again. “Do you have any suggestions on how best to approach her?”
Ms. Birdie studied Lux for a second. “May I suggest you pitch her a fix that plays off the movie: How to Lose a Guy In Ten Days. I understand it’s one of her favorites, which explains why she gave us ten days to fix the problem before suing the university.”
Lux grinned. “I adore that movie.” Anyone who loved romantic comedies couldn’t be all bad.
“What I hear you saying,” Dr. Marshall spoke directly to Ms. Birdie, “is that Lux has ten days to sufficiently grovel to Ms. Peterson. If she fails, you agree with our decision to relieve her of her duties. Is that correct?”
Ms. Birdie clasped her hands and settled them on the table in front of her. “I absolutely am not suggesting groveling. Ms. Peterson has a motto: apologies are for the lily livered. Dr. Stone must go to her with a strong proposal. If she fails, then yes, she will be dismissed. Lux, are you up for the challenge?”
“If I do this, if I get Ms. Peterson to back down from her threat, will the new position be given to me?”
“The possibility would exist,” Dr. Marshall hedged. “If there is nothing more, this meeting is over.”
Lux watched as they all filed out of the room before dropping her forehead onto the table. “How on earth will I pull this off?”
She remained there, lost in the void of the black tabletop, until an idea sparked. Taking a shuddery breath, she straightened up, ready to face her reality.
She grabbed several tissues from the nearby box and boisterously blew her nose while pondering the idea. It was riddled with holes.
Then again, it was the only one she had, and she had absolutely nothing left to lose.
Just how awful was Frankie Peterson?