Page 6 of Wish I Were Here
I sigh. This will probably further delay him from getting back to the front desk. But then I shrug. Given my experience with Luca, he’ll be an hour late or will forget to pick me up entirely. So there’s no point in even getting worked up about him driving me home. Glancing at my watch, I realize that despite his antics on the way over here, Lucadidmanage to get me to the café with twenty minutes to spare. Everything worked out in the end, and I can put this whole morning behind me. I square my shoulders, brush a tiny speck of lint from my borrowed trousers, and head into the café to start my new job and my new life.
Well, Catherine,” Dr. Gupta says, standing up from the café table and smoothing out a nonexistent wrinkle from his sleeve. “Welcome to the department.” Dr. Gupta is a medium-height man of South Asian descent wearing a pair of wire-rimmed glasses. He’s about two decades older than me and resembles many other professors here at the university in his pressed Oxford shirt and khakis. You wouldn’t know by looking at him that he’s one of the most revered scholars in his field.
For the last hour, we spoke about computational science and numerical analysis and then segued into discussing a number of topics for a joint research paper. Though he never even cracked a smile, I can tell I’ve nailed this meeting and he’s impressed with my ideas. And I’ve earned his esteem. Last night, I stayed up late reviewing research papers and synthesizing my notes into a spreadsheet. I prepared and worked hard for this. Following Dr. Gupta to a stand, I discreetly check that my blouse is still neatly tucked in the waistband of my borrowed pants. I can’t imagine how this meeting would have gone if I’d shown up late and out of breath with coffee-stained trousers.
I’ll have to ask Luca for Mrs. Goodwin’s apartment number so I can drop off her pants once they’ve been dry-cleaned and thank her again for her help. And since I’m feeling considerably more cheerful about the whole disaster than I was an hour ago, I could also thank Luca for coming up with the idea of switching trousers and getting me to my meeting on time.
Even if hewasthe reason I was late in the first place.
“Your work is very promising,” Dr. Gupta says. “I generally choose a junior faculty member to mentor each year, and I’d be very interested in collaborating with you on your research.” He holds out a hand, nails neatly trimmed, a sensible leather watch circling his wrist.
A buzz of excitement runs through me, and for a moment, I’m tempted to break out in a Carolina shag right there in the middle of the café. One of the greatest mathematical minds of our generation thinksmywork is very promising. Of course, on some level I knew that, or he wouldn’t have hired me in the first place. Maybe it was growing up with one parent who was absent and another whose head was in the clouds, but finding a mentor who admires and supports my hard work feels like a huge victory.
I don’t dance in public, though, and I’m certainly not about to undo all the goodwill this meeting afforded me. So instead of breaking out into a two-step, I calmly shake Dr. Gupta’s hand, and we head out of the café onto the sidewalk.
“Your new office should be ready in the next week or so,” Dr. Gupta informs me as we cross the street at the crosswalk. “The facilities department is completing a few renovations, but it will be freshly painted with new furniture before the start of the fall semester.”
The building that houses the mathematics department is situated right next to the lawn where Luca offered to pick me up, so although the odds that he’ll actually show up on time are a million to one, I continue in that direction so Dr. Gupta and I can keep talking.
“I’m sure the office will be very comfortable,” I say calmly, though inside I’m doing another little jig. The idea of my brand-new office thrills me in the same way that moving into my new apartment in the DeGreco building did a month ago. Although I’m nearing thirty, this is the first time I’ll have any real space of my own.
I’ve worked and gone to school since I was eighteen, but I’ve been helping Dad pay the rent for pretty much my whole adult life, so I never had a chance to move out on my own. Not until this new job came along, giving me a taste of calm and order for the first time in my life. The DeGreco building is occupied mostly by quiet older people, so aside from the absentee doorman and coffee mishaps in the lobby, it’s perfect for me. I have my very own one-bedroom apartment that I organized exactly as I wanted it, and it’s such a thrill to know that when I return home at the end of the day, everything will be just as I left it.
Dr. Gupta stops in front of the building that houses the mathematics department and turns to me. “Human resources should be in touch to have you complete your paperwork and come in for orientation.”
I nod, already one step ahead. “I submitted everything in the online portal last week, and they’ve confirmed they’ll be processing the paperwork soon. My orientation is scheduled for Monday in two weeks.” It felt amazing to cross off thattask and know I was one step closer to my goals. I pat the side of my bag where my to-do list is tucked into a pocket.
Nail my first meeting with the department head?Check.
Land myself one of the most accomplished mentors in the field?Check.
“Excellent.” Dr. Gupta gives a curt nod, a motion I’m beginning to learn means high praise from the reserved mathematician. “I should have known you’d be on top of things.”
“Always,” I say, aware that I’m sucking up a little now, but I can’t help it. Even if I started out this meeting in the wrong pants, I’m determined to go into this new job on the right foot.
“I look forward to seeing your draft of the paper we discussed. Get it to me by mid-October so we can submit toStudies in Applied Mathematicsin the new year.”
I blink at him. “I—” He’d like me to write the draft? By myself?And by October?That’s less than two months away. I thought this was going to be a collaboration. “Shouldn’t we meet to discuss the analysis first?”
“I have faith in your abilities. Feel free to email me if you have questions.”
I’ve been a graduate assistant in the past; I know the junior faculty and graduate students tend to do the bulk of the heavy lifting when it comes to research and peer-reviewed journal articles. But I guess I didn’t expect Dr. Gupta to hand itallto me. Especially because he’ll probably end up being listed as the first author on any papers we—I meanI—produce.
But I haven’t even started this job yet, and I definitely don’t want to rock the boat. Dr. Gupta has made it clear herespects my work, and maybe this is my first big test as a new faculty member. If I complete this paper in record time and impress my new boss, who knows what kind of impact that could have on my career in the department? Besides, it will be an honor to even have my name listed alongside his.
“Sure,” I say. “Of course. October is absolutely no problem.”
Dr. Gupta gives me his curt nod of approval, but before I have time to feel relieved about that, I hear someone calling me from across the lawn.
“Cat! Cat! Over here.”
Oh no.
I’d know that voice anywhere, and it belongs to the last person I want to see right now.
What is he doing here?
And why isn’t he at work?
