“Yes, it is!”
“Privilege makes it easier to attain power, sure, but no one hands you your life.”
“Privilege itself is a power dynamic. Power over others, in contrast to others. It’s a zero-sum game.”
“Yes, that’s the point.”
She makes an exasperated sound, glaring at him over a display case. “And you have to see that that’s immoral. A zero-sum system, dominated by concepts of property, free markets, live and let live—it hurts people. There’s a human cost.”
“That’s just history.”
“Don’t patronize me.”
“I’ve seen the alternative,” he says. “Where power apparently lies in the hands of the people. It never actually does. In every system, it’s the same story. Control over, power over. I’d prefer the reality of it to the sham. I’d prefer to have that power than to be at anyone else’s mercy.”
“That’s absurdly cynical.”
“You’re very young.”
Her eyes widen. She’s about to retort, but he holds up a hand. “I’m not insulting you. But you’ve only lived here, in a country that—however much you Americans like to bemoan it—allows you freedom of thought, speech, movement. Coexisting with millions of others who think differently than you. There’s agency in that, the ability to define yourself. That’s a freedom no one can give you, you can only take it.”
“Take from someone else, you mean.”
An expression caught between consideration and condescension; as if she hasn’t quite gotten the point.
“Perhaps.”
Outside, dusk has given way to night over the city. The museum fountains are laced with light. Two cars idle.
Lili looks at Aleksandr, confused. “Why—”
He opens the door to one of the cars, holding it for her. “A lovely evening, Lili. Until next time.”
She laughs. “Funny.”
He raises an eyebrow.
Irritation rushes over her fast. “You’re joking,” she says, disbelief. “That’s it?”
“I don’t fuck on the first date.”
The look of innocence on his face is utter bullshit. “This wasn’t a date,” she retorts.
“Right.”
“I’m not joking. This was—a walk. An indoor walk.”
“Of course.” He just smiles, this expression of patronizing tolerance. Lili wants to stamp her foot.
Instead, she gets into the car as ungracefully and ungratefully as she can. Before he closes the door behind her, Aleksandr leans in.
“You’d do well to remember, Lili: When I want things, I tend to get them.”
4
Options Trading
The next morning, Kerr’s email lands just as she’s squeezing into the cramped restaurant on Grove Street, where she’s meeting her friends for breakfast.
