Page 106 of Love and the Laws of Motion
He cut himself off abruptly and Livie sat back, staring at him as it clicked in her mind.Oh, why was she so slow to pick up on other peoples’ shitty motivations?But she was getting better, thanks to Nick.Her days of naively believing in people who didn’t deserve it were over.
“Langley was going to publish her research himself, wasn’t he?”
Peter swallowed hard.His skin had gone pasty.Well, pastier.Peter looked like a raw potato under the best of circumstances.
Livie scoffed, turning back to the computer screen and copying a few more files.“Like that intellectual featherweight could evendreamof completing her research.Well, he’s not getting the chance to try, because it’s going with me.”
Peter found his voice again.“I’m sure there are university regulations about Finch’s work.”
“I checked those university regulations, and actually, with her approval, I can take whatever I want.Which I have, through her husband, who now has power of attorney over all her affairs.Husband.Keys.Passwords.Blessing.Remember?Keep up, Peter.”
Peter lifted his hands and dropped them again helplessly.“I can’t believe you’re doing this.”
“You can’t believe I’m not sticking around here to watch Langley torpedo my career?That’s very unimaginative of you.”
“Well, Peter is pretty slow, you know.”
Peter spun around to face Michiko, who’d slipped up behind him at some point.
“Figures you’d be in on this, too, Satsuma.”
She sneered up at him.“Move aside, Hock-a-Loogey.We’ve got work to do.”
“Langley’s not going to be happy when he hears about this.”
“Probably not,” Livie replied.“Why don’t you be a good boy and run and tell him?”
Michiko snorted in laughter.“That’s all he’s good for anyway.”
“Langley’s in Paris,” Peter muttered angrily.
Livie looked at Michiko and raised her eyebrows.“Paris, huh?That sounds like a pretty fancy trip.”
Michiko tapped her chin.“And wasn’t he skiing in Switzerland two weeks ago?”
Livie clicked on a few more files.“Guess he’s doing pretty well for himself these days, what with the new laptop, and the fancy painting in his office.He seems to bereallygood at stretching that professor’s salary.”
Peter’s cheeks went ruddy as he realized that he’d inadvertently said too much again.He really was colossally stupid.It was criminal he’d ever been admitted to the program.
“I’m telling him about all of this as soon as he gets back.”
“I’m sure you will, Peter.Now do you mind?We’re busy.”
Michiko peered around the door frame, watching Peter stomp off down the hall, before she collapsed into giggles.“Oh my God, that was so awesome.His face!”
“You should have seen him when I told him I was transferring to McArthur.”
“I bet it was epic!”Michiko crowed.Then she sobered.“This sucks.I mean, I’m really happy for you, Livie.You’re going to do amazing things at McArthur.But I’m going to miss you.”
And Livie realized she was going to miss Michiko, too.Scrambling out of her chair, she rounded the desk and pulled Michiko into a hug.She’d wastedsomuch time, missed so many opportunities, because she held herself back, never looking up, never connecting to the people around her.When she got to McArthur, she wasn’t making the same mistake.“I’m going to miss you, too.”
Chapter Forty-Four
The adrenaline rush from facing down Peter Hockman had all but evaporated by the time she reached the dean’s office that afternoon.But her courage hadn’t, and that was all she needed.
She didn’t harbor any naive belief that talking to the dean was going to help.Sometimes the good guys won, but not always.Sometimes the bad guys had more power and knew how to rig the game.She understood that now.Langley was a tenured professor, and even though she thought he was a slimy kiss-up, lots of other powerful people at Adams had been fooled by him.He’d already shown he was willing to tank her academic career as punishment when she wouldn’t work for him.She didn’t doubt he’d make up any number of lies to discredit her and anything she had to say about him.
So, yeah, she might not be able to stop Langley, but there was no way she’d go quietly.
