“Do you love her?”
I close my eyes and wait for my heart to rip apart because I know what he’ll say.
“Of course not.”
More silence. Then Calypso again, softer, “But she still loves you.”
A harsh laugh from Ransom. “We were together five years ago. I doubt she has any feelings. I definitely don’t.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“Yes.”
“Well, she does seem quite boring.”
I wait for him to defend me, but he doesn’t.
“Ransom, I’m sorry for being so insecure, but she’s so much younger than me…I just?—”
“Her age is the reason we didn’t work out.”
A sigh from Calypso. “I can’t see you with her. She’s so…mousy and dull. And you’re so…charismatic and vibrant.”
“Well…maybe that’s why we aren’t together.”
Mousy and dull?He thinks I’m mousy and dull?
“And maybe that’s why wearetogether.” There’s strength now in Calypso’s voice.
I hear rustling of fabric.
“Does her family know?” There’s malice in her voice now. “Do they? ‘Cause I can tell them.”
“Like you told them, I’m going to propose?” he demands.
“Oh! What will they say if they find out you were fucking their precious daughter, who’s fifteen years younger than you?”
There is such harshness in her voice that it breaks something inside me.
She’s a terrible person.
“Will you still be consideredfamily?” she continues. “Will you still have holidays in Chamonix and the Hamptons?”
“Christ, Cali. Have some dignity.”
Is that fear I hear in his voice? Or shame? Is he ashamed of having been with me?
“Dignity? You brought me here under false pretenses,” she shouts.
“No.” He seems firm on that. “I told you we’re friends and this was just a holiday, nothingmore.”
“But…come on, Ransom. What was I supposed to think? You brought me to your family!” There are tears in her voice now.
“As a friend. Like Freja invited Heidi and Giselle.”
She lets out a harsh laugh. “What the hell were you doing withher? Was sex with her any good? I mean, she’s a boring scientist who doesn’t even have the Rousseau looks.”
“Like I said, it’s in the past.”
