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My phone pings again and I look at it, startled. I forgot it was in my hand.
ALEX:Do you want to meet sometime soon, catch up?
Hook up, he means. Though he’s being appropriately subtle about it. I bet Nolan wouldn’t be nearly as low- key. I bet he’d say something like “to have sexual intercourse” and—
Oh God.
OhGod.
MAL:actually, probably better not. i’m way too busy with work, shouldn’t even be online. so sorry to waste your time.
I silence my phone, and when it vibrates with Alex’s response, I don’t bother checking it. Why the hell am I thinking about Nolan right now, while setting up a meeting with another person? Why is he in my head?
That’s it. I’m done. This is upsetting. Confusing. Stupid. Unprecedented. No more Nolan games. No more Nolan. I need to— I can’t keep thinking about him.
Starting tomorrow, I tell myself as I wait for the shower jet to warm up enough.I won’t look at his games anymore. I’ll purge him. Starting tomorrow.
I actually believe it. Until tomorrow happens.
THE PIECE IS INVANITY FAIR.
Which is a problem in and of itself, as I’m out of free articles for the month. It means that when Easton texts it to me (Are you hooking up with him? Good to know I have to find out about my BFF’s life from Vanity Fair!!!), I can see the title (Sawyer places second at Pasternak invitational, draws to Koch in volatile final match) and nothing else.
I just woke up after tossing and turning all night. Outside it’s still dark, the glow from my phone pierces my bleary eyes, and Goliath is proudly licking his butthole somewhere by my left ear.
I really do hate my life.
MALLORY:don’t have access to the article. tl;dr?
MALLORY:how are you, by the way? did a sasquatch capture you and make you her bride?
BOULDER EASTON ELLIS:You WANT to read this.
MALLORY:im poor and i hate jeff bezos.
BOULDER EASTON ELLIS:That’s theWashington Postand USE INCOGNITO MODE jeez what’s wrong with you. Boomer.
Incognito mode works, and how did I not know about that? I’m wondering how to exploit this newfound knowledge when the first paragraph of the article catches my eyes.
. . . that Sawyer seemed uncharacteristically out of shape. Of course, out of shape for the world’s No. 1 is still better than most Super GMs, but many were surprised when he placed second at one of the most important tournaments of the year— and did not attend the awards ceremony.
“He seemed tired,” Andreas Antonov, the Georgian GM, said in an interview. “Which isn’t surprising, considering that he came on a red-eye straight from Toronto and played his first match one hour after landing.” Sawyer’s decision to participate in the Olympics was a topicof much discussion in the chess community. He was the only top-20 player who chose to do so.
“That’s what happens when you put chess after your girlfriend,” Koch, Pasternak’s winner, said to ChessWorld.com. “The Sawyer era of chess is over. Next month I’ll triumph at the Challengers, and then I’ll take the World Championship.”
Although Sawyer hasn’t spoken publicly about his personal life, it seems likely that Koch was referring to Mallory Greenleaf, a talented player who has drawn some attention since the Philadelphia Open. Greenleaf is currently rated 1,892 but is rapidly climbing the rankings. At the Olympics, Greenleaf and Sawyer were part of the US team with Tanu Goel (ranking: #295) and Emil Kareem (ranking: #84) and placed third. They were also spotted together outside the tournament (see this picture) . . .
I click on the link, which brings me to Page Fucking Six. It’s a photo of Nolan and me on our last night in Toronto, playing tic- tactoe in a semi- dark room. My head is bent, pencil in hand. He’s staring at me, an oddly soft expression on his usually unreadable face.
Who took this? When?Why?
. . . Sawyer, who’s a bona fide rock star, is rumored to be dating fellow chess player Mallory Greenleaf. The two were caught having an intimate moment late on . . .
Oh, fuck. No nono. Oh, fuckity fuck fuck.
I spring out of bed. This is bad. Badder than bad.Baddest.What do I do? How do I ask for a retraction fromVanity Fair? Do they have a manager I can pull a Karen with?
Nolan. Nolan will know. He’ll want to fix this, too. I need to get in touch with him, but how? I don’t have his number. Do I summon him with a pentagram made of rooks, or— Emil!
