She’d stopped, wine almost sloshing over the rim of the glass she’d been waving around.I haven’t thought about that part yet.
Chess picked up the book and examined it suspiciously, like it was an envelope that had a strong chance of containing anthrax.
‘But it’s a magical contract,’ I said. ‘It’s set in Edwardian London, but, like, magical Edwardian London. Given the world of magic presumably has a whole other legal and judicial system, I’m hoping you can suspend your disbelief, because this book is so good.’
She pursed her lips. ‘If you say so.’
I slidLovelight Farmsby B.K. Borison across the table. ‘This one is fake dating, but—’
‘No,’ Chess groaned.
Chess hated fake-dating books. We’d had many,manyconversations about realism and how it wasn’t always the most useful barometer when reading romance, but something about fake dating completely set her off.This is the least sensible way to solve your problems,she’d said to me the last time I’d given her a fake-dating book.I can think of at least forty-seven better ways these two –she’d smacked the book so hard I thought I saw it flinch– could have solved their problem than pretending to be in a relationship.
I told Chess pretty much everything, but one thing I’d kept carefully hidden from her was the existence of Goodreads. If she ever took to writing reviews, she would definitely make some people cry.
‘Why are you doing this to me, Sadie?’ she asked.
‘I wouldn’t give you this book if I didn’t think you’d like it,’ I replied. ‘It’s fake dating, sure, but it’s so cute and it absolutely works.’
She narrowed her eyes. ‘What problem are they trying to solve by fake dating at it?’
‘I’m not going to tell you. Spoilers.’
‘You’re lucky I love you,’ she grumbled, taking the book from me. ‘The things I do for you. Honestly.’
It was a deeply unserious exchange, but it made me think about Jonah again. If he loved his sister even a fraction as much as I loved Chess, how far would he go to get this job?
Later that night, sitting in front of my computer, the selection criteria open in front of me again, my gigantic tea mug full, I was still thinking about it.
I had every right to apply for this job.
I wasgoingto apply for this job.
Chess was right. I had fought too hard for too long. With all the budget cuts going on, I wasn’t going to be able to survive much longer in the brutal world of the precariat: it wasn’t like I could just wait around for the next job listing. And on top of that, opportunities like this – ones where they actuallywantedpopular fiction specialists – were so rare that if I threw it away, I would almost certainly be throwing away my last chance at an academic career.
I was not going to do that. Not for anyone. Jonah – every version of him, tweed, cardigan, symbolic, human or otherwise – was going to have to fight really fucking hard if he wanted to rip this job out from under me.
But if it had been Chess in Fiona Fisher’s shoes – if it had been my sister, abandoned a thousand kilometres away, alone, vulnerable, hurting – and this wonderful, golden, eucatastrophic opportunity had appeared in front of me…
I would burn the whole world down before I let anyone get in my way.
Chapter TwoJonah
My brother Elias was surprised – to put it mildly – when I emailed him to ask for help with my job application.I’m happy to provide feedback on your draft, but I’m not sure why you’re asking me, he replied.I don’t work in your field.
You’re a historian, I sent back.That’s close enough. And you’re clearly good at job applications. This is your fifth fellowship now, right?
Still no closer to an actual permanent job, though. Why not ask Dad?
Because he has no idea what the current job market is like and he refuses to learn.
This was true. When my dad got his job, back when dinosaurs roamed the earth, he had one (1) scholarly article on his CV. I had tried to explain to him many times that the academic job market worked differently now, but his belief in Shut Up, It’s Not That Bad, You’re Just Not Trying Hard Enough was practically religious.
It wasn’t the only reason, though.
My dad might not appreciate what it was like, being on the modern academic job market, but he’d sat on a lot of hiring committees.17He could help me write a killer application.
But it would be one more thing that I had that Sadie didn’t.18
