I waited in the Liberty House kitchen far enough away for Anne, Renee' and the young membership to feel comfortable that they could talk in confidence. After being part of an all-female make out session I did not need to know more about their secrets. The less I knew, I felt, the better I could protect their interests.
The living room door opened. Young women, now dressed, rushed out. They went upstairs, probably to bed. It was 10 o' clock now and these young ladies all had jobs to go to in the morning. Renee' and Anne were the last to come out. They invited me to join them at the kitchen table.
"I'm sorry that we made you wait so long," said Renee'. The girls tried to reach everyone on their cell phones so we could take a vote. We couldn't get a quorum."
"It's all right," I answered. "No worries."
Anne looked at me with sad eyes. "Rob, I have to tell you something. When I was told to retire I wanted a woman to succeed me. President Harper and I didn't see eye-to-eye."
"I get that. This is a women's college."
"That's not all, Rob. Liberty House is as much a part of Alden as the garden. It's one of the things that make this school unique. Most of these girls came here because of Liberty House. I've steered them here for years. No man could understand our house."
"But you could not tell President Harper, right? You could not explain why this house is so important?"
"I tried, but she didn't care, and I did not want to reveal anything. I never had problems until she came. There were Liberty House alumni on the board to back me, protect me."
Ignoring Renee' I looked into Anne's eyes. "If you steered girls into this house, this school, did you also..."
Renee' took Anne's hand. "Yes, we did. Sometimes only me. Sometimes Anne and I together. We love all of these women. We take care of them."
I was clueless to react. Anne and Renee' had feathered a bed, so to speak, for two decades, more or less. Not that the current occupants of Liberty House had appeared to be unhappy. I put my head in my hands. "Well, obviously I cannot do everything Anne has done to maintain a legacy."
"Rob, you can help us. But there's a risk," Anne said. "I need you to meet some of our donors. They're powerful. They can influence President Harper to change her mind and keep Alden all-female."
But I'd be out of a job again. While Anne had her interests everyone else who had interviewed me had an agenda. For most it was self preservation. Admit men and they got to keep their jobs. Anne was at risk, no matter what. Her finances in retirement were not secure if the college closed. Liberty House, perhaps the most important part of her life, could close no matter what.
"But Anne, I don't see a way out," I replied. "Alden can admit men as transfer students for a few years. But men will eventually be part of a freshman class."
"That's why we wanted you to meet our girls. Close this house and half of them will leave for other collegesβor they will drop out altogether."
"Are you telling them to leave?" I was red-faced. Alden could not afford to lose students at the same time it was failing to recruit them.
Anne nodded. "I called my contacts. I helped all of the freshmen and sophomores arrange to transfer, if they wanted to leave. And not just the girls who live here."
"You did what? Do you have any idea how hard you've just made this job for me? And I've been in your bed all this time." I felt pain in my stomach as I dropped my face deep in my hands. I'd been screwed big time for the second time in my career. Amanda Prentice, who had shafted my hopes at my previous school, had nothing on Anne. No wonder President Harper and the trustees wanted to get rid of her. Alden had about 600 freshmen and sophomores, several who had paid good money to come there. If Anne had been successful I would be leaving not long after many of them had gone. I got up to leave, alone. Anne could get a ride from Renee' or stay in her bed for all I cared.
"Rob, please, don't go," Anne pleaded as she reached for my hand. "There's a way out, I promise."
"I'm going to get my things out of your house, check into a hotel, and call President Harper tomorrow morning," I said, raising my voice. "I'm resigning. And I'm going to tell her what you've done."
"If you do, you will never work in admissions again." said Anne. "I am your best friend on this campus. You want to move out. Fine, move. But you are going to help me save this house, and my school."
"How do I do that? I have no say over who lives where."
"Very easy. I've arranged a meeting with possible donors, mothers from my graduating class. They have daughters, also alums." Anne kicked at the bottom of the chair leg, asking me to sit down. I did, and she looked into my eyes. "They have the money to sway President Harper, but they have not been active for some time. I need you to bring them on board."
"What do you mean, bring them on board?"
"When they came to alumni weekend they used to share a suite. Rekindled old times so to speak. I arranged a gathering to honor them before you took the job. It'll take place in two weeks. Harper, the trustees, they never refuse anyone with money."
"And you want me to...do what?"
Anne grinned. So did Renee' "Anything they want," said Anne. And I mean anything." She licked her lips as my stomach pains returned.
Over the two weeks before the event I combed Aldenburg in search of an apartment. I wanted as little as possible to do with Anne outside of work. I found a small studio, very clean and very cheap that a former professor had rented before the college had denied her tenure. Now, having some evenings free, I explored around and found a regular place to drown my sorrows. There were few admissions jobs for someone with my experience, even fewer where I would be the director. Occasionally I would talk to one of the few women who came in alone, though none really excited me. Aldenburg and its surroundings were places that young people left on their way to better things. The only middle-aged women worked at the college. Most were neither faculty nor administration.
Anne would occasionally knock on my door, ask how I was doing outside of work. As her event drew closer she gave me bios of the four women who would be honored that night. Lisa Whitman, who had been Anne's classmate, married well, as had her daughter Anita. Both had gone on to earn law degrees after Alden though Lisa no longer practiced. Alicia Claremont had been Lisa, and Anne's, best friend in college. She had a MBA and ran a hedge fund in an investment firm that employed only women, including her daughter Catherine. After Alden all four women had continued their education at schools that you will certainly recognize. The stresses of their lives ended earlier than they do for most who have careers. They had more time to devote to causes such as Alden College. I had no doubt that Lisa and Alicia had devoted time to Anne back in college; they had probably eased her retirement concerns, too.
"Why so nervous?" Anne asked the afternoon before I was to meet this quartet. "I've already told them a lot about you." She checked outside the door and out the window, then squeezed my ass while no one was looking.
But I did not flinch. My desires for her had long checked out. "I think I know you better. This is not the usual meeting."
Anne licked her lips and touched my hand. "No dear, it isn't. They expect a lot from you. So do I."
"Yeah, you expect me to be the savior," I grumbled. "But I feel like an idiot savant."
"Don't be that way. You're the one who wanted this job. I couldn't keep it. But I needed someone I could control." Anne grinned, then took a seat in one of my guest chairs. "You were the perfect choice, so desperate. And you came from such a great school. These dopes saw ivy on the brain when they chose you."
I closed the door then slumped in my desk chair. "Only I was the dope. I signed on for this."
"But you can be the hero, my dear. And don't think that I didn't enjoy having your manly companionship these past few weeks. I never had a man set my loins on fire like you did. I never lied to you about the young man who pretended to pine for me back in the day."
"But many women, right? You've fucked every girl in that house! Was that an admissions requirement? You take these girls and their self doubts and you use them like a harem."
Anne sat up and looked straight in my eyes, serious-like. "Now you listen and listen good. These are bright young women who needed attention; some needed love, too. Liberty House is their safe house from a world that has bullied them, told them 'no'. If we have men and they learn its secrets the lives of hundreds of Alden women are ruined, mine included. No one, not even you, could possibly understand."