View source

Michael began to respond but he was cut off by the sound of the phone ringing.

“Yes, sir?” he answered.
 
“Okay, I’ll send her in, he said before placing the phone’s headpiece back on the receiver.

“Professor Burns, Dr. Richards will see you now” he said while motioning her to the Dean’s office.
 
“Thanks!” said Mary as she walked by. “I still want to hear all about this lady of yours” she added with a wink.
 
Mary reached the Dean’s door and knocked
 
“Come in” she heard come through the door.

After stepping into his spacious office Mary was reminder of the beauty of the space. This room alone was at least four times larger than her office. The threshold and every trim and finish was hand carved into mahogany wood. The patters in the wood were as intricate as they were delightful, and the soft blue rug on the ground was almost an open invitation to take one’s shoes off. The furniture in the room must have cost a fortune. Dr. Richard’s desk might as well be in direct proportion to his size as a man.
 
Behind the desk sat Dr. Richards immersed on what seemed to be hand written notes.
 
“Dr. Richard. I’m sorry if I’m interrupting”
 
“Not at all, I always have time for you, Dr. Burns” he said with a warm expression on his face. “Please, please sit down.”
 
Mary walked over towards the Dean’s desk and sat on a chair. Her eyes met with Dr. Richards and she had the fain impression his eyes drifted to her chest and below as she sat down on the chair.

As Mary pushed herself back on the wide seat she noticed how low to the ground it was. Mary began to cross her legs and as she did so she was certain his eyes had drifted to her legs. Mary raised her time to catch the Dean’s eyes directly again and she smiled.

“Um, how may I help you, Mary?” he said.

The fact she was addressed at by her first name did not escape her. “I’m here to talk about the direction of my research” she said. “You never mentioned a deadline for the proposal.”
 
“I’m sorry Mary, but I’m confused. I send out a department-wide memo announcing that I needed those by… “the dean said and he stopped speaking. He used the computer on his desk to apparently check for something and said “yes, here it is. Those proposals should be turned in by tomorrow.”
 
“Are you prepared to turn that in?” he said.
 
“FUCK,” Mary thought. “I’m sorry Dr. Richards,” but I don’t think I’ll be able to turn anything remotely respectable. “Is it critical for it to be turned in tomorrow?” she pleaded.
 
“Mary, you may not have noticed yet, but things are changing in this department. I’m getting a lot of pressure from the college to increase the quality of the academics around here,” he said with a sigh.
 
“To tell you the truth I’m not happy with it, but that means I have to pass down the pressure to the faculty.” He paused for a second and Mary saw a chance to chime in.
 
“And that’s fine Dr. Richards. I’ve been focusing on making my courses as valuable to my students as I can, and that has taken over completely. I’m sorry and it won’t happen again.” Mary said shyly.
 
The Dean looked distraught. He rubbed his eyes and Mary could now tell that he looked fatigued. “I’m sorry too, Mary, but I don’t think I can make an exception. You’ll have to turn in a document tomorrow, and whatever you come up with will be officially scrutinized by this office,” he said.
Mary began to feel overwhelmed. She didn’t want to jeopardize her position as a tenured-track Professor but it seemed like she was left with very little choice. The emotion was too much and she couldn’t handle it. Mary began to quietly sob.
 
“Mary, are you okay?” inquired the Dean with a look of concern.

“I’m sorry, I just feel terrible at letting you down in this way”
 
The Dean’s voice immediately softened, “you didn’t let me down. I think you’re the best performing Professor in this entire faculty. I just need to enforce the rules evenly with everyone.”
 
“I know, I know. I’m just being melodramatic” she said in between sobs and tears.
 
Dr. Richards got up from his seat and walked over to her side of the desk. He half-sat on his desk and crossed his arms as he spoke, “Listen, maybe there is something we can do”.
 
“I’ll have Michael send out a Memo that we’re going to push back the deadline by 1 week” he said. “Would that be enough time for you?”
 
Mary froze. She couldn’t believe her luck.

What's next?

*[[Professor Burns jumps up from her seat and hugs Dean Richards]]
[[Category:Blue Mountain University]]