Chapter 4

The party finally broke up and as I said my farewells, both Teri and Ben followed me out. Teri gave me a kiss on the cheek and an open invitation to dine with them whenever I felt like it. Ben told me that he already saw too much of me during the workweek and that he would be damned if he would allow me to bother him on the weekends. Of course, he said it with a twinkle in his eyes and then he suggested I come over on Saturdays and help him restore his bike projects.

That first semester I came to rely on Ben as questions or doubts would crop up to me. He patiently advised me and I soon came to consider him my mentor. Our schedules conflicted at noon except for Thursday. So we had a standing lunch date for Thursday. Interesting enough, after that first week Ben always insisted on treating me to lunch. Apparently that first week served as a hazing period.

I started getting the hang of teaching my courses and started focusing a larger portion of time on various math theorems that had drawn me to the study of mathematics. I had always had a natural affinity to numbers which in high school quickly got me labeled as a nerd. As an undergraduate I blazed through every math course I could get.

I had a number of recruiters looking at me at graduation, but, I wanted to continue my studies. In short time, I had my Master's and my Doctorate and again the recruiters came calling. My parents were livid when I told them I wasn't ready to enter the business world. After reviewing my options I applied for the assistant professorship even though I was overqualified for it so I could continue working on the equations.

With Ben's guidance, I began running equations by him. Many an afternoon we would spend scribbling equations on the blackboard and critiquing our work. After many hours of excruciating labor, Ben thought it was time we published our findings.

That paper, Variation and a Proposed Answer to the Hodge Conjecture took the math world by storm. Heated debates followed as proponents argued with detractors. Almost everyone agreed that while we may not have solved the Hodge Conjecture, we had taken a vital step in the eventual solution. Notice I said almost everybody agreed. Ben and I faced dissension within our own department in the form of Dr. Jacob Feder.

No sooner had we published than Feder threw together a hatchet job ridiculing our work and published it. His poorly thought out reasoning was evident to most serious scholars and they wasted little time lambasting our department for allowing the publication. This was the penalty under Ben's guidance of allowing autonomy to each professor.

In my second year, I continued to hone my theory and Ben served mostly as my sounding board as I went through tangent after tangent chasing the Conjecture down the rabbit hole. Still I could not provide any progress, but, some things did change. My assigned office was now next to Ben's. This was a sign that I was being groomed for Ben's professorship if and when he chose to take emeritus status. Another change was I was given tenure due to the publication of our paper.

That was not taken favorably by Feder as he levied charges of favoritism against Ben. Ben argued that it was necessary to expedite tenure as an enticement for me to remain at the university. A review by the Dean and an independent commission exonerated Ben of the charge, but the infighting was taking a toll on him. With my promotion to associate professor, the entry level position of assistant professor was once again open.

In an effort to forestall any hint of criticism Ben formed a vetting committee for all the applicants. Ben, myself, Jason Feder, and two other members of the department interviewed and argued over the prospects. Feder, as usual, did every possible thing to make the task as painful as possible. Any applicant that was favorable to either Ben or myself was automatically disagreeable to Jason.

We were narrowing through the last set of applicants when she walked into the room. Laura Simmons, impeccable credentials and a charming personality ensured that she had a comfortable interview. As I watched the tall lovely blonde leave the room I knew instinctively that Jason Feder was attracted to her as much as I was.

Ben and I shared a look and we allowed Jason to take the lead on evaluating her. He spent five minutes raving about her. Ben and I simply agreed with Jason's assessment and the remaining two members sensing a consensus quickly affirmed as well. And that was how Laura Simmons became the new assistant professor.

As Ben and I left the room, I told him that he needed to give my cold drafty classroom to Laura. When he asked why, I told him because with the way she attracted attention that every male student of hers would need a cold shower to get through class. He laughed and clapped me on the back. When I got the memo concerning room assignments I bemusedly noted that I kept my old classroom, but, I no longer had to teach any of the freshman's courses. A tradeoff I could live with.

The next time I saw Laura, she was standing alone with an empty wineglass in her hand at Ben and Teri's annual party. I thought to myself why truly beautiful women often had trouble in social situations. Perhaps, it was because other people did not deem themselves worthy to keep company with a beauty like Laura.

Steeling myself, I approached her and I saw the look of recognition appear on her face and a small smile spread on her face. God, she could light up the room with a full smile, I thought. "Hello, nice to see you here! Let me reintroduce myself. I'm James Reed." As we shook hands I looked into the blue eyes and I could only hope I could find the willpower to break away from her gaze before she judged me as a creep.

"Oh, hello Dr. Reed, what an honor it is to be working alongside you."

The melodious voice caused all the other generic noise from the party to abate as I focused on Laura.

"Please, call me James or if you like, you can follow Ben's lead and call me Reed."

She laughed and crooked her head as she studied me and said, "Reed, suits you. Please call me Laura."

"Ah, Reed, I'm glad to see that you finally proved that you are worthy of something other than being a poor lunch companion." Ben laughed and then greeted Laura. "Laura, let me give you the grand tour. My wife is somewhere in that mass of humanity, let's go save her!"