On Common Ground

“True, but then he is a good man. He married me, after all, but then he always said I was quite a babe back in those days.”

Justin grinned. He remembered seeing photos of the two of them taken at Coney Island. Oscar was indeed a lucky man. “Okay, okay. What can I say?” Justin replied. “You’re right. It’s just that the way he told me, saying there’d been complaints, just threw me for a loop—especially when he wouldn’t say who’d been complaining. He claimed confidentiality or something, making me smell a setup.”

“Now you’re being paranoid.”

“Am I?” Justin frowned. “Maybe you’re right. It’s just that when someone questions my abilities, my old insecurities rise to the forefront.”

“Justin,” Roberta said firmly over the line.

“I know, I know. No whining.” He laughed, then looked in the mirror again, pleased that his tie was indeed straight.

“Now, tell me something.”

“Yes?” Justin immediately turned away from his reflection. He had a feeling that Roberta was peering over his shoulder.

“You’re calling on a Friday morning, when you would normally be teaching. You haven’t told me something else that I should know about?”

Justin sighed, knowing he would have to come up with an answer. “I’m taking a personal day. As it turns out, I’m hosting a prizewinning alum for Reunions weekend at Grantham.”

There was a slight pause. “Is that alumnus or alumna?” Roberta asked, differentiating between the male and female varieties.

Justin laughed. “Alumna. And my classics professor father would be proud of you.”

“It’s you he should be proud of.”

“Let’s not go there,” Justin said.

“Tell me, the reason you’re hosting this prizewinning person is because…?”

“Because I was the one who nominated her for the prize.”

“And you did that because…?”

“Because she does fantastic work in Africa and is totally self-sacrificing.”

“I get the picture. She’s a saint. So why do I get the impression that there’s something more than what you’re telling me?”

“Well, this is purely coincidental…”

“Excuse me, Dr. Freud. Nothing is coincidental.”

Justin didn’t bother to refute her statement. “She also happens to have been the ex-fiancée of my senior year roommate.”

“Ex? Now this I got to hear more of. Have you seen her yet? Is she everything you’d hoped for?”

Cupping the phone under his chin, Justin strapped on his watch and looked at the time. He hurriedly slipped his wallet into the back packet of his trousers and grabbed his blue blazer off his unmade bed. “Listen, I don’t have much time because, as a matter of fact, I’m just on my way to do some errands, then pick her up to take her to lunch with the university president.”

Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.

Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».

Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.

Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.