‘Work?’
‘Yes. Work. Because while you’ve been sitting here getting pissed, we’ve been busy.’
‘We?’
Amina scoops my jeans and hoodie up from the floor where I discarded them earlier and thrusts them into my hands. ‘Get dressed. Brush your hair and wipe the mascara from under your eyes. I’ll make coffee. He’ll be here soon.’
He?‘Who’ll be here soon?’
She spins round to look at me, one hip popped. ‘Get dressed. Now.’ She points towards the bathroom.
There’s a knock on the door of the suite.
‘Now,’ Amina hisses, jabbing the air.
I do what I’m told, closing the bathroom door as she crosses the room to let whoever is here inside.
Chapter Sixty-One
Tyler fucking Adams.
He’s sitting on the sofa in the suite as I exit the bathroom, looking infuriatingly at home, one leg crossed over the other.
‘What are you doing here?’ I ask.
‘Lovely to see you too, Bethany,’ he replies, standing up.
I look at Amina – perhaps she’ll be more forthcoming with some answers.
‘I sent Tyler your theorem.’
‘My theorem?’
‘Yes.’ She grins for a moment and then her expression turns serious.
‘You sent Tyler my theorem?’
‘Yes. Just how much did you drink earlier?’
I actually feel pretty good. I splashed ice-cold water on my face in the bathroom and it was unusually effective at clearing my head. So I’m not struggling with the concept, I’m struggling with the fact she shared my work without my permission.Get over yourself,the voice tells me. It’s right. I take a few steps and plonk myself down on the other edge of the sofa. ‘So you sent Tyler my theorem?’ This time I pitch it as a question, removing any trace of accusation of impropriety from my tone.
‘It’s genius,’ Tyler says.
I turn to look at him; his expression says he’s genuinely impressed. He catches me off guard and I feel myself soften. ‘Thank you.’ I can’t help but offer him a smile.
He smiles back and then opens the He-Man notebook in front of him. He pulls a pair of glasses out of his bag and slips them on. I’ve never seen him with glasses before. I think all the other Tylers wore contacts. He looks cute. Like a hot owl. ‘Right, so …’ he says as he flips the pages until he finds one full of scribbles. ‘Amina explained the problem to me.’
‘The problem that I have a heart condition and, even with my medication, repeating the experiment might kill this body?’ I ask.
‘Oh no. I’ve sorted that,’ Amina says with a flap of the hand.
I stare at her to elaborate.
‘I found a way to reduce the current requirement. It’s totally safe now.’
‘Oh. Right. Well, that’s good.’
‘It was nothing.’ But I can tell she’s being modest; it was far more than nothing. ‘But the other problem I can’t fix. That you can’t just replicate the experiment because there’s a chance you’ll strand all the other Bethanys in the wrong place,’ she clarifies. The enormity of it hangs heavy in the air.
