Page 51 of Love and the Laws of Motion
The email had come through on Monday morning, a short, official missive from the university to all the Astronomy undergrads and PhD candidates: Professor Langley had been named Acting Chair while Professor Finch was out.
For Livie, it was a terrible blow.First, Janet was going to be out long enough that an Acting Chair needed to be named.Second, that the Acting Chair would be Langley.She still hadn’t gotten over that fight she’d walked in on.In her heart, she blamed him for what happened.And in her gut, she didn’t trust him.
Still, he was in charge now, and when his email had come a few hours after the official announcement, telling her to come in for a meeting to discuss her dissertation, she couldn’t exactly refuse.
Taking a deep breath, she raised her hand and knocked.
“Come in,” Langley called from inside.His voice was different than his usual speaking voice—lower, more resonant.If she didn’t know any better, she’d suspect he’d been practicing that “come in” for maximum effect.It would be so like him.
Langley’s office—unlike Janet’s—looked like a photo in a brochure of what a fancy British professor’s office would look like.Janet’s office was littered with a mish-mash of battered, university-issued furniture.Langley had brought in his own, a large mahogany desk and several matching bookshelves.He had a rug on the floor and his desk chair was a huge padded leather thing.There were a few astronomy texts on the bookshelves, all of them in pristine condition, but there was also open space, artfully filled in with sculptures and awards.Which awards, she had no idea.She found the idea of anyone awarding Langley anything for his research astonishing.
He was behind his desk, peering at his laptop, a stupidly small silver thing.It was the only piece of computer equipment in the room.How did he do his job without a bank of computers?There had to be some other office where his actual work happened and this one was just for show, to impress students and university administration.
Although he was roughly the same age as Janet, somewhere in his late fifties or early sixties, he looked a decade younger—or at least he wastryingto look a decade younger.Like some kind of European movie star, he wore blazers over cashmere sweaters and weird, tight pants.And loafers.He wore loafers with no socks, even in the winter.His dark hair was thick and very carefully styled, not a hint of gray.She could almost hear Gemma in her head, snarking about male hair dye, and she wouldn’t put it past him.He probably spent more on his hair than she got in her graduate student stipend.
He didn’t look up as she came in, still reading something on his laptop, peering through his glasses—arty, titanium half-rims perched on the end of his nose.As Livie approached his desk, she thought she spotted the blue band of Facebook across the top of his screen.Of course.
“Professor Langley?You wanted to see me?”
Langley glanced up, looking surprised to see her there, even though he’d requested the meeting himself a few hours earlier.“Olivia!Have a seat.And you know you can call me William.”
“Okay,” she murmured as she sat.She was never, ever going to call him William.
The two chairs facing his desk were significantly shorter than the one he sat in.They were too short for his desk, even, making her feel like a little kid trying to peer over the top.He turned to face her, lacing his fingers together on the leather blotter on his desk and leaning forward on his elbows.In the few moments since she’d entered the room until now, his distracted smile had shifted, his face transforming to a picture of concern and sympathy.
“Olivia, this business with Dr.Finch is terribly unfortunate.”
Livie didn’t respond, since he didn’t seem to be asking a question, only making an observation.She’d use a stronger word than “unfortunate” to describe what happened to Janet, but then again, Langley was the jerk who’d caused it, so she didn’t expect him to be overflowing with genuine grief.
“With her situation still a mystery—”
“It’s not a mystery, Professor Langley.I talk to her son every day.”
Langley’s mask slipped slightly.“Ah.I didn’t realize.That’s very kind of you, Olivia.I’m sure the family appreciates your concern—”
“I care about Janet very much.”
He paused, his eyes taking her in briefly.“I’m sure you do.That being said, we don’t have any indication that she’ll return to work.”
“Of course she will!She’s awake.It’s only a matter of time.”Which was casting Andy’s updates in the most optimistic light imaginable.While she wastechnicallyawake, Janet was still largely unresponsive, not talking or interacting in any way.
“Yes.Well.”Langley forged ahead.“The point is, we don’t know when she’ll return, and as acting head of the department, I thought we should discuss your dissertation.”
The change in direction caught her off guard.“My dissertation?”
“With your advising professor absent for the foreseeable future, we’ll have to give some thought to how you’ll complete your PhD.”
“I’m going to complete it with Janet.I’ll work without her until she’s back, and then we’ll get on with it.”
“I understood you were working as her research assistant.How will you do that without her here to perform her research?”
“Parts of the project are mine to head up.”
“Such as?”
“We’re working on a new program to analyze Hubble data.I’m overseeing that project.”
That gave him pause.Really, what did he think she did all day?Peter Hockman might be nothing more than Langley’s errand boy, but Janet gave Livie serious assignments and expected professional work from her.
