by Jeff Shelby
It wasn't Charlotte using the machine, though.
It was Harriet Hollenstork.
She looked back over her shoulder at me , her head bobbling . “ Good morning. The copier in the front office isn't working . , ” she said defensively. “ Ms. Nordhoff said I could use the one in here.”
“Okay ,” I said. “ . And good morning .” ,” I added, smiling.
She nodded stiffly and turned back to the machine.
I turned to leave, then stopped. I still felt a tiny bit of guilt over how Harriet and I had left things, expecially after speaking with her husband. I still wasn't sure I could help her, but I didn't want there to be any tension, either.
I turned back around leaned against the wall , deciding we needed to have it out once and for all . I didn't want to focus on any more negativity and I didn't want Harriet to be upset with me for reasons I couldn't control.
“I enjoyed meeting your husband last night .” .”
This time, she twisted all the way around so she didn't have to look at me over her shoulder. “You met Harold?”
“Yes. ” I smiled again. “ I stopped by your store.”
“Why did you do that?” she asked suspiciously.
“I was driving by,” I said. “I just thought I would stop in and...say hello.”
Her pudgy face screwed up with confusion. “Why?”
I decided to be honest. “Probably because I felt guilty about not being able to help more .” ,” I told her. “With the computers and the purchasing and stuff.”
Her eyes narrowed. “But you could,” she said. “If you wanted to.”
“I told Harold that I would absolutely recommend your store as the place to purchase the replacement computers,” I said, not wanting to get into the level of influence I did or didn't have. “That I'd let Mrs. Bingledorf know that I thought Data Dork was the best option for Prism.”
She blinked several times The machine beeped but her eyes were locked on me . “You did? You will?”
“Of course,” I said, offering her a smile nodding . “And if I were the one placing the order, I would absolutely order from your husband. He was very nice and I have no doubt he could get the school what it needs. So I will definitely suggest it.”
She chewed on her bottom lip for a moment, a gnawing off some of the pink lipstick staining her lips. slight smudge of pink lipstick on her teeth. “Thank you, Daisy. I appreciate that. We appreciate that.”
Finally. A little peace with Harriet.
“Though I have to wonder,” I said, feeling brave after making peace now that we appeared to have established some sort of truce . “After what Harold told me about Mrs. Bingledorf, I'm really not sure what's going to happen.”
The lip untucked from her mouth. “What did Harold tell you?”
“He said that Mrs. Bingledorf might be leaving her position,” I said.
The corners of her mouth twitched and she glanced down at the ground copier . When she brought her eyes back up, they weren't happy.
“This is why women should never share things with men,” she groused. “They can't keep their mouths closed.”
I now felt guilty A fresh surge of guilt blossomed because I was sure I'd just gotten Harold into a small mountain of trouble.
“I think he thought I knew,” I said quickly. “He didn't really give me any details and s . He just s aid I should talk to you if I wanted to know more.”
Her sour expression remained. “And if he'd kept his mouth shut, he wouldn't have had to say any of that in the first place .”
“I haven't said anything to anyone,” I said . , trying to placate her. “Nor do I plan to.”
She eyed me and I knew what she was thinking. I'd seen that look before, specifically from other women, when they were trying to decide if the gossip they had was secure if shared with me. Could they trust me? Was it worth anything to me and would I be willing to repay in kind if the opportunity ever arose and I had something juicy to share with them? Gossip was like currency.
And apparently I looked like a safe partner in crime.
Harriet walked over and closed the door to the copy room. She tapped the touch screen on the copier and set it to work it whirred back to life, spitting out printed sheets . Then she turned around to face me again.
“Here's what I know,” she said, folding her arms across her ample bosom. “And none of it is confirmed yet. But I have it on excellent authority that Bingledorf is interviewing for the vacant president's position at Blue Lake Academy.”
I knew of Blue Lake Academy. It was a fancy prep school halfway between Moose River and the Twin Cities, where tuition was expensive and the sports programs were top-notch. Their students went to Ivy League schools and their parents went to charity balls and gave away vast amounts of money they apparently had to give away. simply because they could.
“The president of their PTA is Suzette Merdan,” Harriet continued. “She's a good friend of mine. We were at fitness boot camp last week and she told me about it.”
I tried to get the image of not to visualize Harriet doing any kind of fitness boot camp out of my head . “She knows for sure that she's interviewing?”
“She knows for sure that she was on campus,” she answered clarified . “She knows for sure that she Evelyn was on campus during the board of trustees monthly meeting. She knows their president retired last spring and the current president is only an interim one. And she knows that she saw a job description with salary requirements for the Blue Lake president position – the same morning Bingledorf showed up on campus.” She paused. “So for sure? No. But I don't think it's a huge reach.”
I didn't either and it infuriated me. . I took a deep breath. I'd woken up feeling energized and refreshed, determined to make a fresh start, but I could feel my irritation growing. I agreed with Jake in principle about not holding it against people when they left their jobs, but it rankled me that she would leave in the middle of the school year for another school position. If she wanted to leave to enter the private sector because she needed to make more money or because she was tired of education, that was one thing. But abandoning Prism because the grass was greener elsewhere was somewhere else? That was not cool to me at all.
“She's been there twice, according to Suzette,” Harriet said, leaning back against the reaching for some of the pape rs from the copy tray. copier. “Both times during board meetings. I suppose she could be consulting with them on their search, but Suzette claims th at ey hired a consulting firm over the summer and that they wanted someone in place by the holidays.” She paused. “So it all fits.”
I tried to process everything she'd told me. It did all fit. I didn't rely much on gossip between PTA moms, but this seemed pretty solid. And pretty irritating.
“Would she really do that?” I asked. “Bingledorf. Leave at this time of year?”
Harriet shrugged. “Got me. I guess if she really wants out or if she really wants that job, probably. The interesting piece would be her contract here at Prism.”
“How?”
“I don't know what her contract looks like, but I'd assume there'd be some sort of non-compete clause clause, that prevent ing s her from leaving for another school, at least at certain times of the year ” Harriet said. “A t least at certain times of the year a nd I'd think now would be one of those times. So I'd assume she'd have to be let out of her contract here and any sort of clause like that would have to be excused.” Her cheeks reddened so they were almost the same color as her ha ir . “You learn a lot about things like this when you've been in the PTA as long as I have. I'm not a lawyer, but sometimes I feel like I could be.”
I didn't doubt that. “Would the board here let her out of her contract if she wanted out?”
She shrugged. “I have no idea. I mean, you don't want her to stay if she doesn't want to be here, but at the same time, it's not okay to leave the school in a lurch when the school academic year has just started. ” She shook her head. “ And with the com
puter thing, it would be even worse. I mean, who would want to walk into that kind of mess?”
I nodded because I agreed. And m y agitation was growing by the second. Bingledorf had colored everything she'd approached cajoled me into doing me to do by pointing out with how it those things needed to be done because of the school's needs. It was urgent so that the school could get back on track. But if she was looking for another job, she was a h ippocrite ypocrite , because there was nothing about leaving that would be good for the school. Forget the computer situation. I'd already learned that the insurance situation and the financials were a mess. She'd be leaving that behind for someone else to deal with. T An d t hat seemed cowardly and selfish to me.
“But , like I said,” Harriet continued. “Maybe there's another explanation. Maybe there's something Suzette or myself isn't I aren't seeing. I don't know. I hate to jump to conclusions, but when she told me all of that and she seemed pretty sure herself, ...well, I'm not sure there is another conclusion to come to at this point.”
I agreed with Harriet. nodded in agreement.
Bingledorf leaving Prism seemed like the only rational conclusion.
And that pissed me off.
THIRTY TWO
I promised Harriet that I wouldn't say anything to anyone.
But I wasn't including Evelyn Bingledorf in that group.
I'd left Harriet to continue making her copies and I'd gone to my desk and I'd stared at my notebook for fifteen minutes all of thirty seconds , trying to concentrate , and trying to put everything Harriet told me out of my head. But I couldn't because I couldn't see the point of doing any more work until I knew exactly what was going on. If she was truly leaving, I needed to reevaluate whether or not I was going to continue on with the talent show because she was the driving force behind it and if she was eyeing the exit door, I didn't want to put in all of this work for nothing.
So I got up from my desk, left everything there and marched down to Bingledorf's office. If she was truly leaving, I needed to reevaluate w hether or not I was going to continue with the talent show. She was the driving force behind it and if she was eyeing the exit door, I didn't want to put in all of this work for nothing.
I waved at Ellen as I passed by her desk. She was on the phone and waved back and I was happy she was occupied, afraid I might lose my nerve if I got waylaid on the way to see Bingledorf 's office. .
Bingledorf's office door was open and she was staring at her laptop screen when I tapped twice on the door. She looked up and the mega-smile immediately materialized on her heavily ma ke-upped de-up face.
“Good morning, Daisy!” she said, waving me in. “A pleasure , as always.”
“Good morning,” I said. “Do you have a minute?”
“Of course, of course ,” she said, frowning .” She frowned, as if that was a silly question. “Come in and have a seat.”
I closed her door behind me. I saw her smile flicker for just a moment. If I hadn't been watching, I would've missed it, but I wanted to see her reaction to the closed door.
I walked over and took a seat across from her. I wasn't intimidated like I had been the firs t time I'd stepped foot in her office.
She folded her hands and set them on the desk top, smiling at me intently, as if she could focus on nothing else other than my presence in the room.
“I have a question for you,” I said. began.
“About the fundraiser?”
“In a way, yes.”
She tilted her head to the side and one of the silver bulbs dangling from her ears bobbed glinted . “ Alright. Well, f F ire away.”
“Are you leaving Prism?” I asked.
The small flicker showed Her smile flickered again. itself again and if I hadn't been looking for it, it would've gone completely unnoticed and she would've fooled me. But I saw it and I knew there was at least something at work.
She moved her head from the tilted position back to upright straightened her head and squared her shoulders . “Leaving Prism? Why would you ever think that?”
“Something I heard.”
She leaned back in her oversized leather chair and folded her arms across her chest. “And what exactly have you heard?”
“That you might be leaving Prism.”
She chuckled. “Daisy, there's always a possibility that I'll be leaving. I can't promise that I'll spend the next twenty years here at Prism, but that doesn't mean — ”
I didn't let her finish. “Can you promise you'll be there here through the end of this school year?” I said, interrupting her.
Bingledorf shifted in her chair. “Daisy, I'd really like to know where all this is coming from.”
“I find it interesting that you aren't denying anything,” I said.
“And I find it interesting that you won't tell me exactly what we're talking about here.”
I didn't want to overplay my hand and I certainly wasn't going to give up Harriet as my source. She didn't deserve to be put in the middle. I was the one that chose to confront Bingledorf, not Harriet. So I needed to be careful.
“Okay,” I said. “Have you interviewed for the president's position at Blue Lake Academy?”
The flicker lasted longer in her eyes Her eyes hardened. this time and I didn't have to look as hard for it. She reached for the silver locket around her neck and played with it for a moment. “Blue Lake Academy?”
“I'm pretty certain you'd be familiar with it even if you haven't inter e viewed there,” I said. “But I'm asking . A : a re you interviewing for their open president position?”
She moved slid the locket back and forth on the chain. “Daisy, in my position, I'm contacted all of the time about open positions. But I've never wavered in my commitment to Prism.”
“So then you haven't interviewed there recently?”
She didn't say anything.
“And you're giving me your word that you'll finish out this school year at Prism?” I asked.
She let go of the locket and sighed. She laid splayed her hands flat on the desk, almost like she was patting it. “This is a complicated issue, Daisy.”
“No, it's really not,” I said, shaking my head. “Yes or no. Did you interview? Are you leaving?”
Her mouth twisted for a moment. “Where did you hear about this, Daisy?”
“It doesn't matter.”
“Oh, I'd say it absolutely matters,” she said. “We spoke the other day about discretion.”
“But not about this,” I said, completely irritated. “And given that you still haven't given me an answer, I can only assume that what I've heard is true.”
She stared across the desk of at me. I didn't think she was used to being on the defensive too often . ; S s he was too savvy , too much of a politician. And I didn't think she liked that that's where she was now.
“I have interviewed with Blue Lake, yes,” she finally said. “For their president's position, yes.”
I shook my head. “So you're leaving?”
She hesitated. “It hasn't officially been offered to me yet ,” she answered . . ”
“But if it is?”
“That's a...hypothetical question at this point.”
“So you don't know if you will or not?”
Her mouth twisted again. “As of this moment, I am still the president of Prism and , until I announce my resignation, I will remain the leader of this school community.”
I shook my head again, wanting to strangle her with that locket around her neck. stared at her, my expression incredulous. “So you really would leave in the middle of the school year?”
She didn't say anything.
“And what about your contract?” I said, hoping it surprised her that I knew she had one. “Isn't there a non-compete clause?”
If she was surprised, she didn't show it. Instead, she leaned back in the chair again. “There is . ,” she said cooly. “ But it's irrelevant at the moment.”
“At the moment? ” I raised my eyebrows. “How is a clause i
n a contract ever irrelevant?” What does that mean?”
She folded her perfectly manicured hands together into a bridge position and placed her elbows on the desk. and set them in her lap. “It means that at present, there are conditions that may allow for me to exit my contract. Not that it's any of your business, but seeing as how you've apparently been using your time here at school to look into my position here , I would think you might already be aware of that .” She smiled, but it wasn't terribly friendly gave me a thin smile . “Perhaps you're aiming to fill my position, should it become available . ? ”
“What conditions?” I asked, ignoring her dig at me.
She arched an eyebrow. “My contract maintains stipulates that certain things ...conditions must be kept up to par for me to remain here,” she said. “And if some of those thing fall below the standard written into my contract, I am free to seek gainful employment elsewhere.” She paused. “So, if, say, the computer lab isn't fully operational at a school that's supposed to be a technological leader in the state, then I would have the freedom to look for a place that might meet those standards.”
I stared at her, unable to believe what she was telling me.
“And if the school doesn't have the resources to replace them immediately,” she said , then shrugg ed . . “Well, then who am I to turn down an opportunity to explore other opportunities?”
“Did you have something to do with the theft?” I blurted out, trying to sort everything out my eyes wide . “Did you do that so you could leave?”
She frowned and tucked her chin so she could look looked down her nose at me. “Come now, Daisy. I can't believe you are even suggesting that.”
“And I can't believe you would leave the school in the middle of the year , especially when it's struggling,” I said countered . “That's not leadership. That's cowardice.”
“Call it what you like,” she said, unfazed. “But what you're suggesting did not happen. I had nothing to do with the loss of those computers. The timing is coincidental. That's all it simply is.”
“And what about the insurance?” I asked . , glaring at her. “Did you let that lapse on purpose?”
