She turned the screen towards me. She’d highlighted the relevant section. I tried to read it, but it was like my astigmatism had suddenly got a thousand times worse.
‘They’ll consider partner hire where relocation is involved, and the partner is suitably qualified for employment at the institution,’ Sadie said. ‘You were shortlisted. You’re suitably qualified.’
No I wasn’t. Suitably qualified people for the role of Lecturer in Literary Studies could presumably do things like ‘read’ and ‘speak’.
‘I thought maybe we could fudge it by being like, “Hey, you already know that we live at the same address, look at our applications,” andthen we could pretend that we, you know, “live together”.’ She put scare quotes around it with her fingers. ‘But that wouldn’t work. I did some research, and they make you sign a statutory declaration about the nature of your relationship. Chess told me once that you can go to jail if you lie on a stat dec, so we’d have to get married.’
‘What?’
She gave me a look that was the equivalent of her snapping her fingers in my face and saying,come on, keep up. ‘If we sign a stat dec that says “we’ve lived together for several years, and recently got married”, none of it will be a lie.’
I stared.
‘Like I said, it sounds extreme,’ she said, ‘but I genuinely don’t think it would be that big a deal.’
That – the most ludicrous in a series of cascadingly ludicrous statements – finally broke through the white noise. ‘Not that big a deal?!’
I stood up, but I had nowhere to go. My bedroom was tiny and there was barely enough space for me to squeeze into my chair between my desk and the bed Sadie was currently sitting on. If I wanted to leave, I’d have to jump over her legs.
I faced the wall instead, running a hand through my hair and tugging so hard at it that it was astonishing half of it didn’t come out.
‘Think about it, Jonah.’ How did she sound so calm? ‘It wouldn’t have to change anything. We already live together here. Why not live together there too? It’d solve a problem for me, honestly. Hobart rent is bonkers expensive, and this way I won’t have to try and find another share house.’
‘Are you asking me to marry you so you can have aflatmate?’
‘Obviously not. Don’t be ridiculous.’
‘Only one of us is being ridiculous.’
‘I’m trying to help you!’
‘I don’t need your help!’
I turned around. ‘I don’t need your help,’ I repeated, trying to keep my voice down so our housemates wouldn’t come running to try and separate us. ‘I don’t need your charity, and I don’t need your pity. Please leave.’
Sadie stood too. It brought her topknot level with my eyeline. Just like that night in the kitchen, it was listing to the left.
‘Jonah,’ she said, ‘think about your sister.’
‘Why do you care about my sister? You don’t even know her.’
‘I know, but – look, can we sit down? You’re looming over me. I hate it.’
We sat, me in my desk chair, her on my bed again. The fabric of my pyjama pants brushed hers as our knees touched.
‘Like I told you,’ Sadie said, ‘I have a soft spot for sisters.’
She made a sound that was somewhere between a sigh and a laugh. ‘Not that Chess would ever need anything or anyone.’
That, I believed. Sadie’s sister was terrifying.
‘So I know what it feels like,’ she said, ‘to love your sister, and feel like there’s nothing you can do for her.’
I put my hands underneath my thighs, sitting on them so I didn’t have to find something to do with them.
‘I know we’ve had our differences, Jonah.’
That was putting it mildly.
