SSS(SS) - Part 15

Sal has enough self-respect to handle the meeting gracefully. Barely.

Athena’s proposal is insane, but once she lays out the details, it starts to look interesting.

Sal gives it serious thought as she soaks in the tub of a shared bathroom while some CCL girl clips her toenails and another blow-dries her hair. At least the CCL girls aren’t making her feel unwelcome.

Athena wants to undertake a variety of aggressive public relations actions that are intended to massively boost the public profile and popularity of the sorority. Both CCL and CGH have been actively working with charities forever, just like every other sorority, but that’s more or less been on autopilot for a long time. It’s just another part of Greek Life, not the focus.

This isn’t just Florida, it’s small-town, swampy Florida. Gurlberg is a long way from any beaches or attractions. Without the university, there would be no economic activity at all. It’s not a rich community. The swamp surrounding the town is full of old trailers and tumbledown homes that are just out of sight. There are a lot of people in need. Instead of fundraising for people on another continent, Athena wants to drag these issues into the light and make both CCL and CGH into some kind of knights in shining armor.

This won’t be cheap, but that’s where the sex toy money comes in. Athena has drawn some lines for decency, but she wants to bulk up the relationship with the bikers to pump the cash flow. Nothing that she’s proposing is wild and crazy, but it will take a lot of work. That’s why she needs more bodies.

Sal isn’t kidding herself as she emerges from the bath and wraps a towel around her body. The other girls have cleared out, so she has the mirror to herself. She scowls at her dripping self. A week ago, the somewhat proud president of a respected sorority. Now she’s another one of Athena’s minions. But this isn’t about following Athena’s lead. Sal is still struggling to control her temper. She’s pissed about what happened. The idea of punching back is too tempting to resist, and Athena’s made a good enough offer that getting most of CGH onboard should be doable.

She sighs heavily at least twice, then makes herself walk out the door and down the hall, leaving damp footprints on the rug. She knocks, a little curtly, on Athena’s door.

“Yes?” Athena calls from inside.

Sal opens it and steps through.

Athena’s at her desk in front of her laptop in a robe. She’s wearing glasses. Sal’s never seen her in glasses before. It looks like she’s just taken a bath herself, and she absently closes her robe as though her collarbone is somehow obscene.

It’s not obscene, just pale and elegant. And Sal was staring.

“We’re in,” Sal says.

Athena smiles. Seconds pass. “Was that all?” she asks after a moment, not dismissively.

“Yeah,” Sal replies. “I just spent like two hours thinking about it.”

“OK. Too bad,” Athena adds, looking her up and down.

Sal clutches at her towel self-consciously. “You can drop the seductive act. I just told you I’m in.”

Athena snorts and turns back to whatever she’s doing. Still chuckling, she puts her hands on the keyboard.

“It’s not an act,” she says.