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„Right, right,” she says, nodding along as I speak. „Would you care for a drink? I hear they serve excellent champagne here.”
She peers over to the bar behind her back, obviously expecting me to get a drink for us.
„Sure,” I tell her, followed by a polite nod, before I walk around her to ask for two glasses of champagne.
My gaze doesn’t trail back over my shoulder, not even for a second, even though my mind is consumed with Claire. Is she watching me still? Or is she too busy laughing at another joke by that guy she was talking to?
It doesn’t matter. It’s none of my business.
I return to Maddy with two flutes of champagne, and we clink glasses before bringing the liquid gold to our lips.
„So, are you chaperoning tonight? Or just having fun?” Maddy wants to know.
I chuckle. „I’m afraid there’s no chaperoning here, these are not high school students, after all. If they’re old enough to drink, they’re old enough to make other choices.”
„Oh, so this is just for graduate students, then?” she wonders out loud. „I was wondering why it’s so…tame.”
We share a short-lived laugh, and Maddy uses the opportunity to touch my upper arm. Her hand lingers, as it glides across the thick fabric of my suit jacket for a little too long, and I have to fight the urge to pull away. I’m aware of the effect I have on women, but I have yet to master the art of rejecting such forward advances without hurting anyone.
„I’m sure that’s just because we are here,” I say, as I gently lean away from her touch.
„Oh, because professors are not fun? Now that’s an unfair prejudice!” she exclaims, laughing loudly.
I bring the champagne to my lips, while I’m thinking about ways to get out of this conversation. There’s even a little regret about coming here creeping in, after seeing Claire having so much fun with other people. It was a stupid idea to come.
„We’re not much older than them. And I’m certainly more fun than this,” Maddy piles on, while her eyes scan our surroundings. Some people have started to dance, but most are standing in small groups or sitting at the tables, engaged in conversation.
„Mathematicians are not known to be great party folk,” I say.
She sighs. „That’s true. And neither are economists and social scientists, it seems.”
„What are you working on these days?” I ask, trying to steer the conversation in a different direction.
„Fundamental properties of algebraic equations, nothing fancy,” she says, waving me off. „It builds on my doctoral thesis, and I had to stay in that area to get a postdoc position. You know how it is.”
„So, you’re not enjoying it?” I ask.
She looks at me as if that was a very outlandish thing to ask.
„It’s okay, I guess,” she says. „But I wouldn’t say I dream about it at night, if you know what I mean.”
I don’t, because I rarely think about anything other than numbers and the way they interact with each other. When my mind is not consumed with the song of a certain blond siren, that is.
The evening progresses, and I manage to involve another colleague and one of my PhD students into our conversation, as they pass us on their way to the bar. The topic of the conversation quickly turns into shop talk, as these things often do when a gang of nerds gets together. I can tell that Maddy would prefer to have me to herself to continue her obvious flirtation, but despite being obviously bored by the conversation, she stays with our group the entire time.
And while I can’t say that I’m not enjoying myself, I’m distracted, and my eyes wander back to Claire again and again. She has moved to a different corner of the hall, but is still talking to the same group of people, still laughing about whatever that guy next to her is saying. He’s one of my students, and I’ve seen him sit next to her in class before, but I never saw them interact before. It’s clear as day that he’s interested in Claire, and from the looks of it, he may actually have a chance. My stomach turns at the idea.
They are moving through the auditorium now, just the two of them. It looks like she’s going somewhere and he decided to tag along, but it’s unclear if his presence is welcome. I can’t avert my gaze and I stop paying attention to the conversation in front of me, my eyes locked on Claire and that boy as they make their way out of the auditorium.
Where are they going? And why is he going with her?
„Excuse me for a moment.”
I can feel Maddy’s eyes on me, as I move away from the group, and toward the exit that Claire just walked through.
Chapter 23
Claire
