At this, Rooney’s eyes grow wider.
“Are you okay, Jackson? You look queasy,” Margie says.
I cling to the Welcome Packets so tightly that they crease. I’m supposed to be a professional here. “Sorry. This is just so… a lot. It’s not every day you meet someone whose art you’ve seen in real life.”
The woman next to Rooney extends her hand first. “I’m Talia Ma,” she says. “My gallery represents Red String Girl.”
I mirror her actions, too stunned to think one step ahead. “Right. Sorry. I’m Jackson Liu.”
I slowly move my hand from Talia’s over to Rooney. She looks at it like I’ve just sneezed into it.
So if Talia is Red String Girl’s representative, that would make Rooney…
Red String Girl.
In my mind, I hear the clicking of pieces into place. This admission doesn’t feel like a surprise. It feels obvious. Because of course she’s Red String Girl. It’s all so clear now. Her knowledge of the RedThread of Fate, all of her red knit clothing, her interest in art. So then who was the woman handing out paper? Add it to the list of unknowns.
It’s subtle, but I notice Talia nudging Rooney. It’s as though she’s snapped out of a trance. She places her hand in mine slowly. We squeeze at the same time and a chill runs up my neck.
Our eyes lock, and her lips part, as though she wants to say something. “I’m Rooney Gao.”
There could still be a chance that she’s not Red String Girl. That they’re both assistants. Would that make this any less weird? Highly doubtful.
“I’m Jackson,” I say, sharing with her the name I use at work.
Rooney pulls back from me. The absence of her hand in mine is noticeable. I grip the Welcome Packets with both hands now to fill the void.
“We’re all very excited, and a little starstruck, clearly,” Kenneth says, jumping in to keep the afternoon moving along. His tone of voice tells me that this is a warning and it had better not happen again. This program is too high-profile to get off on the wrong foot with our guests. No, NASA’s guests.
“Here at NASA? You’d think you see enough stars,” Rooney jokes, gesturing up toward the sky.
The comment takes the attention off my clumsiness. Luckily for me, the team moves on.
“I want to assure you, Rooney and Talia, that you’re in great hands,” Kenneth adds. “Jackson’s knowledge about the mission is vast.”
I nod, unable to form more words.
“As I understand it, Talia, you’ll be fairly hands off,” Margie says, checking her notes. “And Rooney, thank you for deciding to trust us.”
I look from Margie to Rooney. “Trust us?”
“Jackson, before you arrived, Rooney let us know that she’s Red String Girl,” Margie tells me. She looks excited. Probably not at all what my face looks like right now.
There it is. Confirmed.
“Red String Girl.” I take a deep breath in to steady myself. “I see. Well, thank you for trusting us.”
Rooney winces at this, and I don’t know what’s more confusing. The fact that she didn’t tell me who she was that night or that I understand why she didn’t so I can’t even be mad.
I want to be careful here. I told Kenneth that I didn’t know Red String Girl. Which was true at the time. But now… now I realize that I do. But how much of someone can you really know in one night? If I say that we know each other, I might compromise her position. After what happened toEntangled, I wouldn’t risk taking anything else away from her. And the fact that Rooney hasn’t said anything either must mean she’s thinking the same. So I stay quiet.
“In return, teams she meets here must agree to keep her identity private. To the public she will remain anonymous,” Margie finishes explaining.
I nod. “We’ll make sure everyone you meet at various centers around NASA signs nondisclosure agreements,” I say. “We’ll also make sure you have access to buildings to create your installations in the off-hours.”
Rooney’s eyes soften, and she seems to relax a little. “Thank you. Hey, I have to know, who chose Red String Girl to do this?” she asks the group. “It’s still pretty amazing to believe that Red String Girl, um, that I will be creating something for NASA.”
I let someone else on the team take this one. They can explain how we narrowed down artists and more about the responsibilities.
