Friday Dan arrived at his office as usual before 9:00 a.m. He was surprised to see Paula standing by his door. “I just wanted to tell you thanks for yesterday’s lunch,” she said. “I recognized the restaurant by the embroidered napkin. My boyfriend took me there for my birthday a couple of months ago. It’s a really nice place and you didn’t have to do that for Taisha and me. We both really appreciated that and wanted you to know.”

“Is your boyfriend from Spain also?” he asked.

“Yes, from the same region as your family, Galicia. He’s my uncle’s driver.”

Visions of body parts left under his covers joyously harvested by his compatriot with or without uncle’s instructions flashed before Dan’s eyes, causing him to smile at the absurdity of the image. He also wondered whether this was a strange yarn being weaved by a young girl’s overactive imagination for his, what, amusement? To impress him? His smile broadened.

I’m glad you liked it,” he said. “What did Taisha think of the green sauce?”

“She wanted to taste it after she saw it and caught the aroma. She loved it, and we actually shared each other’s food. What was that desert?”

“Brazo de gitana—a female-gypsy’s arm, literally. Don’t ask me why the strange name—I’ve no idea.”

“Gotta remember that for the next time he takes me there which will be soon if I have anything to say about it. Taisha said to tell you thanks too. She’s out today—her babysitter’s sick and she had to stay home with her son.”

You are both very welcome and I’m really glad you both enjoyed the meal.”

“You’re a really nice guy, you know that?” she said, getting up to leave.

“Is that why I keep finishing last at everything I do?” he quipped.

“Not in my book, Dean,” then added as she closed the door behind her, “You live up to your last name.”

Dan smiled, wondering if there was something in the water fountains at PEMTI that clouded the judgment of young women. As he was thinking this, he heard knocking at his door.

“Come in, it’s unlocked,” he called out. It was Marvin.

“Good morning, Dan. I just wanted you to know that the classified ad for a part time instructor will be on Sunday’s New York Times, as promised, he said, seating himself on one of the chairs in front of Dan’s desk.”

“Thank you, Marvin. I appreciate that. I’ll start setting up interviews as applications start coming in next week.” Then, after a pause, he added, “Listen, I’ve been meaning to apologize for my unloading on you after our last meeting. That was neither fair nor professional of me. You are not the problem—quite the contrary. I was and am upset at the Melameds, but not you. I’m sorry.”

“No need for that,” Marvin replied waving the apology off with a hand gesture. “I understand how you feel. I was not looking forward to discussing their decision with you, especially on the tuition cost. I want you to know that I told Benjamin that you were very unhappy about the tuition issue but that I did not discuss that with you until after you’d declined his offer to take on the directorship of the Manhattan school. I did not want him to link the two in his mind or know your feelings about not creating any additional programs as that would almost certainly result in your getting fired—something I did not want for your sake or for mine as I’d like to keep you around as long as I can.”

“I expect you did not share my actual reaction about the dinner offer either,” Dan laughed.

“I thought I’d take a more diplomatic approach and said you appreciated the offer but found it unnecessary.”

“Just between us, did they actually think I’d be either impressed or grateful for a free dinner after what they’ve done with my program? Don’t get me wrong, there was no expectation on my part of any kind as to a tangible reward—that’s not why I did it, and you know that. A simple personal note of thanks or a phone call expressing their appreciation would have been terrific. But a dinner as my thanks delivered through a third party? Really? They don’t see how that devalues what I did much more than doing nothing at all? ”

“They’re used to dealing with people who are just glad to have and keep their jobs, Dan. They don’t know how to deal with you. And, in fairness to them, I know they expected you to jump at the chance they offered you and probably meant the dinner also as a celebration of your promotion and new role.”

“I overreacted and thought of that too after I flew off the handle with you. Nevertheless, if they really treat people as though they need to be happy to have and keep their jobs, then they will only ever attract and keep people who are just glad to have a job.”

Marvin made no response other than to try to change the subject. “I wanted to speak to you today about going out with me next week to some hospitals and nursing homes. We need to secure some additional facilities in which to place our nursing assistant students for their required practicums. Marie has been very helpful in the past in working with our existing partners, but she gave me notice today that she’s leaving after this class graduates in two weeks. She’s taking maternity leave as she’s due in about a month. That means you also need to interview for an RN to take over for the incoming class. I also put an ad in the Sunday Times for that, so expect to be busy over the next couple of weeks with recruiting. If you can’t find someone by then, we can postpone the start of the next class for a week if needed, but more than that would cause . . . problems.”

“You mean the Melameds would be unhappy?” Dan gave a sardonic grin.

“No, they’d be unhappy if we postpone for a week—they’d go on the warpath if it goes beyond that. I know you don’t care, but please help me out here. Unlike you, I don’t have a law license to fall back and like and intend to keep my job.” There was no irony in his words.

“All right, I’ll get on it.”

“Great,” Marvin said, actually showing signs of relief. “I knew I could count on you. You’re terrific, do you know that?”

“So I keep hearing. Gotta work for that next dinner invitation and all.”

Marvin did not respond, just got up and left, once again wearing his perpetual smile.

“This just keeps getting better,” Dan said out loud in a low voice once the door had closed, followed by a deep sigh.