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“Excuse me?” he says, confused.
“So, does she know?”
“Who?”
“Elsie.” A quarter of Andrea appears in my field of view. Just her smile, small and private, pointed up at Jack. “Does she know that you despise people like her?”
“Andy, are you drunk?”
“A bit.” She laughs nervously. “Aren’t you? Elsie must be rubbing off. She must be a great lay, if you fucked over Pereira and Crowley for her. I guess she’s hot, in a bland way—”
“They fucked over themselves. And you should go back to the others,” Jack says firmly. “You’re more than a bit drunk if you think telling someone that their girlfriend is bland is a good idea.”
“She’s not yourgirlfriend.”
“She is if she wants to be. She can be my damn wife if she wants to be.” Jack’s losing his usual cool. For all his commanding presence, he’s rarely truly irritated, and Andrea knows this, too. There’s a fracture on her face, masked by another weak laugh that hurts my ears.
“Atheorist, Jack? You having a slow year?”
“Are you serious—”
“You lost to her at Go,” she says, petulant even as she tries to keep her tone light. I should be offended by what she’s saying, but something’s stopping me. Something heartbreaking. “Youneverlose at Go. You said you’dneverlose at Go.”
“I never said that.” Whatever I recognized in her tone, Jack did, too. His voice softens.
“I bet you lost on purpose. If that’s how bad you want her—”
“She won it fair and square.” They’re talking about something else altogether. Something that has nothing to do with Go or anything that happened tonight.She cares about him deeply, I realize.More than that.“Even if I had lost to her on purpose—it has nothing to do with you.”
“I think it does.”
“Andy.” He sighs. “I’ve been honest about how I feel. You said you understood—”
“Jesus, Jack. She’s atheorist.”
“She’s a better scientist than you or I will ever be. You’re hurt, and I’m trying to cut you some slack, but you’re way over the line—”
“Why are you her champion now? You’reyouand—shemakes upstuff. Is it because you’resleepingwith her?”
“It’s because Iknowher work.”
“But you’ve been saying shit about people like her for fifteen years. You’re the entire reason her field was discredited—youruined careers, Jack. And now you’re telling mesheis the person you’re willing tofeelsomething for?”
“That’s it,” Jack orders. “I’m done.”
“You—”
“I’m serious. We can talk about this when you’re sober. But you need to give me some space before I say something I regret.”
“If—”
“Andy.”
A second later, Andrea appears in the hallway, eyes shining with tears. She looks at me for a painful, uncomfortable moment, then moves past without a word. I press my shoulders against the wall, trying to stop the centrifuge in my brain.
Does she know that you despise people like her?
He doesn’t despise me. Does he? No. Honesty, right? No, Jack doesn’t despise me.
