Leaving the auditorium, Max felt relief wash over him. Thank God that was over. It was painful.

Michael came bounding across the lobby of the auditorium.” Hey, Dr. Trowbridge,” he smiled. “Can I have 30 bucks for a copy of Dr. Mansfield’s new book? I really loved her talk and I want to get her autograph. I forgot to bring my copy of “Better that What?” with me tonight, so I need cash for the new one.”

Max shuddered. He hated when Michael addressed him as “Dr. Trowbridge.” But still, he never said no to a request for a new book. Any book. Even Sally Mansfield’s books. He smiled weakly as he opened his wallet. “Sure Mike, here you go. Glad you liked the lecture. Did you get extra credit for attending or something?”

Michael glared at him with utter disdain. “No, believe it or not, I, too, read books. You don’t have a monopoly on words you know.”

Handing Michael 2 twenties, Max thought, “Monopoly on Words,” not a bad title for my next project.

“Keep the change, young man,” he said smiling for real this time.

“Max! Max!” Kaiyo shouted as she rushed to catch up to Max and Pam as they left the lobby. “A few of us are heading over to Which Brews for a beer with Sally. Do you want to join us?”

“I assume I am paying again, right?” Max said. Kaiyo looked at him hopefully. “Well, I guess if I am paying, I might as well grab a beer.” Turing to Pam, he asked, “Do you want to join us too? You could meet the world-famous Sally Mansfield.”

“I did enjoy her presentation, but I need some time to work on my artist’s statement for my new exhibition that opens next week. I’ll take a raincheck this time, but feel free go if you want. I am sure you and Sally have a lot of catching up to do.”

Kaiyo smiled at Sally and said, “Max didn’t mention at new exhibition. So cool. Where is it ? “

“At Gallery 201 downtown. I have the main gallery room and am exhibiting 24 wood and metal pieces that I have been working on for the last couple of years. The loose connection is that they are all constructed from cast-off materials, so in some sense I am creating something from nothing. Or something like that.” Pam smiled, “or maybe the connection is that I made them all for fun, but that hardly sounds like an artists statement.” Shrugging she turned to leave, “Have fun and say hi to the gang for me.”

As Pam walked away, Max noted the crowd gathered around Sally at the signing table. Damn! When “Canon Blaster” came out he never got lines of people wanting his autograph. Well, I guess there are perks to writing popular fiction instead of scholarly analysis.

Kaiyo had already reserved a table, actually THREE tables at Which Brews and the faculty were already ordering their beers. Max did the mental calculation of the hit to his discretionary budget. He was starving. No lunch and just some little stuffed mushrooms and that raw veggie “pizza” that he never really liked at the donor reception. But, he couldn’t order dinner or he’d be buying burgers for a couple dozen people and the Provost would never that expenditure. At least Which Brews had free popcorn. No one would starve.

Walking to the bar, he ordered an Apparition IPA. Sipping It slowly, he joined the English faculty at one of the tables.

“Hey Max!” Malik Washington, one of the lit faculty called out. “What did you think of Sally Mansfield’s presentation? She’s really something, isn’t she? Amazing.”

“Sure. She’s a good speaker, but her genre is just not my cup of tea. But the students were really engaged weren’t they?”

“Yes, they really were! I really loved how she somehow makes very esoteric ideas both very concrete and very relevant. She’s really going places, don’t you think?”

Malik went on, “Did you two cross paths at Columbia? Were you there at the same time”

“Yeah. In fact, we were faculty in the same department. I remember when she left—no one really spoke about it, but I think she was denied tenure.”

“Whoah, crazy! They are probably kicking themselves now. I saw a news release earlier today that her new book is being hailed for the Booker long-list.”

Turning abruptly to see if Malik was kidding, Max knocked over his beer, soaking his second pair of trousers that day. “Shit,” he said. “Hey Kaiyo, use your Kentwood credit card to pay for this. I need to run.”

Kaiyo glanced over and started to laugh. “Ok, Max. Will do, “she chuckled. “But we are going to need to start bringing spare pants and wet wipes for you wherever you go.”

Max got up to leave before anyone else noticed his situation. Just as he was leaving, Nora and Sally walked into the bar.

Sally saw Max’s wet pants and looked away. At least it wasn’t her fault this time.

“Sally, it was great to see you. I’ve got to run, but let’s catch up soon, ok?” Max smiled as he made his way to the door.

“Sure, Max. I’m here for a couple of days. Lunch tomorrow?”

“Uh, sure” he said as he escaped through a side door. “Hey, nice job tonight” he added, when she was out of earshot.

Returning home, he collapsed into the leather recliner in the family room, closed his eyes and sighed deeply. He sat, immobile, for several minutes until Pam walked into the room and said, “Max! I didn’t hear you come in. Did you have fun at Which Brews?”

“Fun? No. Not by any definition or possible etymology that I know,” he replied. “I need a beer.”

He stood up and walked to the fridge and Pam started to laugh. “Who spilled their drink on your crotch this time?”

“I did. Ok? Happy? Big joke, right. Why don’t you just stop now.”

“Oh, my. GG is in the house,” she teased, invoking the nickname, short for Grumpy Gus, that Michael and Maria gave him years ago.

“That is not helping.”

“So, what is going on?”, she asked, more warmly this time. “I vaguely remember meeting Sally at Columbia, but you never really said much about her. Did you know her well?”

“No, not really. We were just colleagues in the English Department. It was a big department; I really only saw her at department meetings and she never said much.”

A long silence ensued.

Finally, he said, “I had no idea she was coming today. I guess I missed that detail on my calendar. I ran into her unexpectedly on campus.”

He continued, “I just wasn’t prepared for all the hype and accolades she received. I had no idea what she had been up to since the Columbia days. I guess I was just caught off guard. And then Michael acted like I am so clueless.”

Max shook his head, “Am I?”

Confused, Pam replied, “Are you what”

“Clueless? Out of touch? With Michael? With Maria? You? The literary world? My own college? Shit—my own discipline?”

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