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“Are you?” His eyes slide to mine. “Must be nice.” He’s still half smiling, like this is making his Saturday night.
“Well, you know, it’s hard work. Lots of cheese sharing. And I did just take her to watch2001, which sheloved.”
“Oh my God!” The Most Beautiful Woman in the World is delighted. “We were in there, too.”
“Stunning, right?”
“A masterpiece. Despite Jack’s commentary on the predictability of the ‘evil space Siri’s’ arc.”
He lifts one eyebrow. “I got bored.”
“Youalwaysget bored at the movies.” She presses her shoulder against his. “I have to confiscate his phone and poke him awake.”
“Because you always take me to see boring movies.”
She pinches his arm through the coat. “If it were up to you, we’d only watchJackass.”
“It was once.”
“Once too many.”
He shrugs, unbothered. I cannot stop looking at the two of them framed by the snowflakes. The easy banter. Jack’s obvious affection. The woman’s fingers, still around his sleeve. Something slimy and cold presses behind my sternum.
“So,” Cece butts in, “how do you guys know Elsie?”
“I don’t, actually,” the woman says with a curious look at Jack. “How doyouknow Elsie, Jack?”
His eyes are fixed on me again. “She dated my brother. Among... other things.”
The atmosphere changes instantly. The air was already icy, dense with the promise of snowstorms, but the temperature drops colder as people parse the meaning of Jack’s words.
First there’s Cece, who knows that I don’t date, not for real, and is putting together where she last heard the name Jack. She scowls and takes a protective step closer, ready to defend me against my most recent archenemy, kitten-hissing-at-a-bison style.
And then there’s the woman. Her expression morphs, too, into something knowing and intrigued. “You’re Greg’s girlfriend.ThatElsie.” She looks between me and Jack once, twice, and then holds her hand out to me. “I’ve heard so much about you. It’s really nice to meet you. I’m George.”
My brain halts.
“Well, Georgina. Sepulveda. But please, call me George.” Her smile is warm and welcoming, as though I’m a dear friend of Jack’s whom she’s been dying to meet.
“Georgina Sepulveda,” I mouth, barely audible. The name unlocks a drawer in my brain, full of scientific papers, TED Talks, conference addresses. Georgina Sepulveda, young physics hotshot. I’m a fan of her work. She doesn’tlookfamiliar—she is.
“Yup, that’s me.” Her hand is still outstretched. I should take it. “I work with Jack.”
“George,” Jack warns.
“Okay, technically notyet. But I’ll start at MIT next year. What? Come on, Jack. I got the formal offer, sent back the signed contract this morning. I can tell people.” She gives me a conspiratorial look. My stomach churns. “You’re a librarian, right? Ilovelibraries.”
Next to me, Cece sucks in a breath. Meanwhile, I nod. It must be an automatic reaction, because all my neural cells are busy, sluggishly processing what I just heard.
Georgina.
George.
MIT.
Formal offer.
No. No, no, no. There is lead in my belly. Blood thumps in my ears, and—
