Meeting Her Pt. 07: The Convention

I said this was not going to be like that, Nancy and I would both be talking to a lot of random folks, spreading the good word about Hillside. Plus we both needed time looking at textbooks for the future, Nancy had some new responsibilities there.

After lunch Isabel needed a nap and Nancy thought a little rest was a good idea, she set an alarm for when she had to get ready for her presentation. I got dressed and decided to head to the book market, to get that unpleasantness out of the way. As I left they looked like they were resting with their lips an hands making plenty of contact with each other. I would check back with Nancy in plenty of time.

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They got some shut-eye, but that was not all they did. Isabel was more than five years out of practice with pleasing a woman, but the gentle skills all came back to her soon enough. Both Isabel and Nancy confided to me later that as soon as I was out of the room, they felt very natural being naked in bed together. Gentle contact and quiet conversation with kisses worked so well for them.

During the conversation after I left they realized that they were treating me like the last guy they were with instead of the next guy they would be with together. Also, some competitive experiences had seeped in from past behavior. But the truth was that after a semester, I was clearly happy with both of them, so they decided to try being happy together with me... and each other. It should not be difficult. The short talk made a big difference the next time we were together. It was another case of good research - they explored each other's bodies, checking results - paying unexpected dividends.

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Chapter 6: How We Got Here

(Note: there is no sex in this chapter. Also, it may be too much "inside baseball" for some readers.)

I should backtrack to talk about how our joint research - things we talked about and did "at work" with our clothes on - came to improve Nancy's position, bringing her lovely bottom to the convention to share my bed so we could molest each other and Isabel. About the research, in mean.

Back in mid-August - when campus is virtually deserted - I took a day at the office and went through my box of research project write-ups, grad class assignments and working papers to determine what was worth the effort, in terms of yielding quality publications fast enough, versus what was not worth my limited time. (For the sake of my sanity my work time is strictly budgeted based on what will pay off for me in terms of journal quality. You have seen I sometimes get distracted and off-topic. A strict budget counters that tendency and keeps me productive while allowing me to stay grounded keeping my lovers happy.) This box of work had been in storage for at least a 18 months while I worked on my dissertation, which had to be my sole focus once I started. I had papers scattered all over a table.

Nancy dropped into my office with a technical question on teaching her upcoming course which was using a new text, it seemed some new material (in-process spoilage) had been added to the book. She should have gone to Porter, her class co-ordinator but to be honest, that would have been a huge waste of time, because he would not know, and would try to bully his way over her reasonable question. Fortunately, Porter was off playing basketball with the other chubby old guys and so was not around. I was.

We figured out an easy example soon enough, which took care of her problem. Then some of the titles of my papers caught her eye so she asked about what I was doing. For a curious and interested mind, this was like piles of sweet mind-candy. Some of the titles looked interesting so she wound up reading several of the working papers from my "good idea - too much work to get results" pile. Most of the papers were pretty good, it was just a question of time required and what they could yield for me. I get a lot more good ideas than I have time for, it was how I got the reputation as a collaborator. It is both a gift and a curse for me.

One paper originated in Prof. Kent's class I took two years ago. It was a really good idea. Dryden had already said it would take too long, I agreed but I had not let go just yet, I knew there was something worthwhile there, but I didn't have it yet.

I did not notice at the time but Nancy walked out with the proposal, hiding it in her book so I would not toss it. I often get distracted reading my own work, I'm told the writing is brilliant.

Two weeks later, just before classes started, Nancy gave the paper back to me with her comments and a treatment. She had changed a few things (no service companies, just manufacturing) and turning the direction 90 degrees, making it a potential quick and easy low-quality score that could be expanded to two or three publications, she just needed some help bringing the pieces together. Her view was very clever about using the type of stat package (Box-Jenkins) I don't normally think of using, the raw stats needed to be transformed beforehand she had the software skills to make it easy. I threw out one thing she suggested, she spent too much time with an unneeded distraction. I replaced and trimmed down her study design with a pair of references she didn't know about, some things other people had done that were in the pipeline to be published in a few months, I had read them for the editor. That saved six months of work that would have been wasted. After that things became a lot clearer and easier, 75% of her proposed work was gone with no loss of value. It was doable and a winner, the only question was time. Her ideas would be more valuable once another article came out, so I gave her a copy of that working paper. She was in line with a couple of other good minds, plus now it was doable fast and easy, with higher expectations.

This points out that research in business is not just about knowing your own things, you constantly have to be building on good ideas others have which are on their way to publication. We say that we "stand on the shoulders of giants" as we steal ideas in public. Otherwise you waste time and effort, leaving you behind.

Roughly a week later, our venerable Dean sent me a note that he would be pleased to see my name on the program for this convention in January. This was early in September and was the first I heard of the gathering. This type of decision is usually made in June, before the summer so one has time to do the work. As a graduate student I was advised to avoid such things as a waste of my time, but suddenly I had to make them a priority. The accounting, finance and management faculty had been dead silent in this forum for a half-dozen years and frankly it was a little embarrassing, a visible symptom of the basic malady gripping the school. I agreed that we needed to signal a new direction. That required my visible involvement.

But what topic could I submit?

The deadline for proposals was October 15, about six weeks away, which was a little short for anything new or any of my current empirical projects. My "almost finished" and "in progress" ongoing projects were all spoken for. Also, the quality range of the presentations was lower than I usually go for. But the Dean had a point and we like to at least make the effort to keep the old guy happy and feeling in charge. Otherwise he will quit; then we will be rudderless for a year and who knows what calamity will befall us after that. Curtis could appoint me as acting Dean! So I said I would review what I had.

I was employed as a hired gun to kill the publishing malaise and save what was savable. To accomplish that I would present and publish my own work plus bring other people into collaborative efforts. The powers-that-be did not envision me working with a staff member like Nancy, but that was their problem; if they asked me to do something with somebody they could not quibble about who I did it with. Besides, all the other untenured faculty in the department were hired by the tenured faculty because they "were a good fit to not rock the boat" meaning they were not disposed to doing research. Looking to them for help was a waste of time - which was tight in this case.

Also, I knew that including a co-author would at least double the impact, and doing it with Staff - like Nancy - would send a billboard-sized message that I was the guy.

To be clear, this move had nothing to do with Nancy's pussy, which I had not yet probed with my cock to our mutual delight. We had cuddled naked, I got her off with fingers, she did BJs, but it was not a regular thing. She claimed to have a boyfriend and a female lover. I was paid a premium to do these research things with others, and she had been paid to get me here. She presenting me with something that was doable. Match made.

I recalled how Nancy was interested. Assuming she was still interested and was up to the challenge, maybe this would be the win-win that would put me ahead of schedule, impress the Dean and help Nancy big time, assuming it could be done.

It would also be a test of my real raw power which they promised me.

I looked at Nancy's treatment off and on for a week, then spent 24 hours working her rough outline into a tight, workable 750-word proposal which I kicked back to her. She got up to speed, she had it for a week, working overtime making more improvements, did some test data (big move!), then kicked it back to me. It looked even better than good. I was impressed.

I had been keeping our venerable Dean updated with progress reports, but that was when I sat down with him for a serious talk to get an idea of how the wind blew. I mentioned a real chance for a big payoff but I wanted assurances he would deliver FOR NANCY if she did the work. This talk was the day before that first Thursday night when Nancy showed up for fun in my bed instead of watching Thursday Night Football commercials with Getty and friends.

As it happened the winds were better than I imagined; my bold first suggestion for Nancy, which I assumed would be a hard sell to start negotiations, was right in line with what the Dean got approved from the top in a few hours. Well, it was a great idea, a win for him, a win for Nancy, a win for me, and another win for him. Glory for the school. He saw the light and made Curtis see it too. The result would send up a bright flare for everybody. Nancy was in Management so the two-department thing was whipped cream and the cherry on top of a 7-layer cake.

When I talked with the venerable Dean I assured him that Nancy had worked on the paper, she had "made a difference" and would make a legitimate contribution when it went outside the College. The fact that I proposed her to present the paper was solid proof, he saw I was putting my reputation in her hands. That helped him deal with obvious questions.

Still, those obvious questions had to asked, it would come up sooner or later.

He was ready to support my idea, but he had to ask one last question he purely did not want to ask because of his past behavior. But it was part of his job, so he gingerly raised the question of "improper behavior" which was his way of asking if I was sleeping with Nancy. He would be asked the question by others, so he had to ask one of us, and he did NOT want to ask Nancy. Also, he and the higher-ups knew full well that the university had paid Nancy to entice me sexually (the BJs before I signed on) so the question was not unexpected. (Remember, his was before I was screwing her. Nancy confessed to the payments to me later - in December. But I had my suspicions well before then.) I knew he had to ask this embarrassing stuff, it was part of the job. I also knew that if I said "yes" it would be a big problem, his preference in that case would be for me to decline to answer. However, if I could find a way to answer "no" then things would be all good.

At the time - early September - Nancy and I were still at the "occasional BJ" stage, it was irregular and it didn't always happen. Plus there was Getty. So I summarized honestly, "Nancy is friendly, she may have given me a kiss in the past, but never on the lips. Also, we are working on some other projects." It was all true. He heard what he needed to hear and was delighted. He was still suspicious, my answer was too well crafted to be the whole truth. But he really did not need the whole truth.

I was ahead of projections for my promised performance so we were both happy that he had made the decision to hire me, and the other folks on campus who didn't like my contract could please fuck themselves in a circle. They would make a BIG fucking circle, but that was okay.

The next night Nancy wound up in my bed, getting happy with my cock feeling real good in her pussy for the first time instead of watching Thursday Night Football commercials. I had to duck our venerable Dean for a time, in case he should ask a followup or if our relationship had changed.

If my proposal worked it would cost the university some dollars for Nancy, but they knew that going in and it would pay off big very quickly. It would also piss off a bunch of folks - the big circle of folks I mentioned above - who deserved a chance to feel real bad and complain to no effect.

Bonus: it would show there was a new power-that-be in town.

With official (but undisclosed) support for Nancy, plus her fast work, I revised the proposal again in 12 hours, added Nancy's name, and then emailed it to the conference editor.

About 48 hours later I got an email response.

I expected a pro-forma acknowledgement, but instead I got an enthusiastic acceptance from a guy I did not know, subject to us actually producing a paper by the December 1 deadline. It seemed that our idea had broader appeal than I expected, five associate editors read the proposal, endorsed it and sent detailed comments. One guy threw it to the wolves (good thing in our biz) at a Big 10 PhD student seminar where it tied in with a CPA grant they had. It was like raw meat to the hungry pack. What should have been a 30 minute discussion went 3 hours and bumped everything else on the schedule! I got the transcript. I gathered that three of the brighter students - the future stars - had read the same upcoming paper I reviewed and saw the tie-in with their own work which was a bonus for them and for us, that was like strapping boosters on a rocket.

More important people knew my name, and Nancy's with it.

There is nothing like a little external validation to make my day. A lot of external validation is even better.

I had to share the joy. I forwarded the enthusiastic acceptance to the venerable Dean, Nancy, my old college Prof Kent, Dryden, and our odious Ober-chair. The last responded with a suspicious and lukewarm acknowledgement. He then tried to undercut us behind our backs. It was a bad move - for him.

Two floors away I heard Nancy's scream of absolute glee. She sent back that "it was almost better than sex" with the "almost" crossed out. I emailed back that, as I did not have time in my budget, she would have to do the heavy lifting, and it needed to be done a week before Thanksgiving. She sent back "Okay boss."

As it happened, both Nancy and the Ober-chair missed one of the big features on the first page of the paper, but they would get it eventually. For one of them it would be a gut-punch from hell.

Kent got it right away and forwarded my email to some other movers and shakers.

Unknown to me, in response to my email the back-stabbing slime the Ober-chair immediately drew his pentagram and tried to conjure a shit-storm. He copied my email to all the school's tenured faculty as well as the Provost below his own tirade saying that I, who was overpaid, went too far, "researching with unqualified staff." This from a guy who could not explain Box-Jenkins if his life depended on it.

Now, it is a fact that I was the highest paid faculty member in the college, so it was easy for der Ober to get his troops riled up. The term "to big for his britches" was clear visible between the lines. But all that was just bad manners because my britches and what went into them were so much bigger than his. It was also a serious mistake because right away I, the Dean and the Provost knew who did not have my back, we had his email list and the responses.

Ober-chair got the shit-storm he wanted, but he was dead wrong on the wind direction, because it all blew back on him, hard and fast, and it hurt in public.

An hour after the Ober-chair sent his email, he was summoned to the President's office "without delay." This may happen in some corporations but it is NEVER done in academia. When he arrived Prof. Dryden was seated off to the side, which is also never done for an academic meeting a superior. They listen on the intercom instead, it preserves the illusion of dignity among swine.

The Ober-chair was not offered a seat for his ass, which was about to get kicked. He was not offered small talk since his words were meaningless. No talk about "how things were going" because that was about the change big time.

Right off, President Curtis asked the Ober-chair if he had immediate plans to retire within the hour, or was he going to shut up, cover up, and "stay the fuck out of" my way. It was his choice, and he had all of 10 seconds to make it.

Normally tenured faculty can't be fired, that's what "tenured" means. But he could be suspended, and a hanging committee would be formed, and inquiries made, all while he was publicly humiliated on campus. Not to mention the legal bills he would need to defend himself, to no avail. Then there was his wife and relatives who would hear all the lashes and screams in what was essentially a public whipping.

It was instant shell-shock, the Ober-chair's entire self-worth was tied to his job-title. He didn't just cave, he cowered like a dog who had been beat too much.

When he declined to retire on the spot Curtis asked him to outline, right now, what he would do the fix things fast. A PA was already logged in on his account and would take and translate his dictation. Ober-chair folded, totally and completely, in retracting his earlier email. Curtis added some words ("this is by my leave"), then it was sent far and wide.

Dryden told me that seeing the Ober-chair squirm made his week. The public humiliation of the email retraction was even better. The poor deserving bastard could never meet my eyes for the rest of his time on campus.

The Ober-chair's next email, to a slightly larger audience (adding Nancy and myself plus all the College chairs) said that "by the grace of Curtis" he was still in charge, despite his grievous error in judgement, specifically so he could give me his full support "for this, and some other things that will benefit the faculty and the school quickly, to bring them into collaborative research efforts." It was the best we could hope for, because it put the writing on the wall.

With Nancy, our deal was that we talked about our jobs, and only our jobs, when we were actually in the Carson building; any other time we were together was too valuable for the work distractions, which were bad for making smiles and happy scream. Plus we needed to keep the smiles secret. She kept to that deal with no mention how work was going when we met and got naked on Thursdays.

As for the research work, Nancy knew her data bases and stat packages. Only two weeks later she sent me the completed results for the study, she had gathered the data, tap-danced through the boring stat stuff, and wrote up the results (exactly as I predicted two years ago - she was surprised) a lot faster than I could. Well, I got distracted easily. I had set a deadline of later November and it was the first week of October. I had to clean up the writing, and tack on some upcoming pubs (nothing says "leading edge" like "upcoming" references), but that was no big deal.