Page 83 of Love and Other Paradoxes

She gave him a knowing smile. “Really.”

He held out his hand. She took it, and he led her to the top of the group of dancers.

“I don’t know the steps,” she protested as the band started up.

“See that guy?” He pointed to the caller. “He’s literally going to be yelling them out.” As the familiar music filled him, he whooped and grabbed her arms, spinning her round and round until she threw back her head with laughter.

They spiralled down the line, dancing with a new partner every few beats, always coming back to each other. He made a token attempt to look for Efua, but the truth was he couldn’t keep his eyes off Esi. She was on fire, matching him step for step, putting her own spin on the moves he’d known since he was a child. They kept dancing, as the ceilidh band gave way to an Outkast song that sounded like it was from the future, Esi moving with sweet abandon, her cheeks glowing, completely at one with herself. He wanted to forget why they were really here. He wanted to stay with her in a vibrating, endless now.

And then, over her shoulder, he saw her. Efua. She wore an elegant green gown, her hair twisted up into a bun with an ornamental wooden comb tucked into one side. He was wondering if that was her weapon when she took something out of her clutch: a small blue parcel made of tissue paper.

“Confetti grenade.” He touched Esi’s arm and pointed. They followed her out of the dining hall, down the steps, across the lawn towards the chocolate fountain. At the front of the queue was Rob, oblivious. “Fuck. Chocolate fountains. His one weakness.”

Esi grabbed his arm. “She’s going to get him any second.”

“Time for a distraction.”

She let out a nervous laugh. “Maybe we should have actually planned this.”

His mind raced. “Your mum’s into romance, right?”

“Joe,” she warned him, but they were out of time. He took her hands and pulled her back with him, until they were standing between Efua and Rob. He tried to channel what he’d learned from Diana, her absolute confidence when she was playing a role, her disregard of what anyone watching would think of her.

“I told you,” he said, projecting his voice to the crowd. “She means nothing to me.”

Esi’s eyes widened as she caught on. She drew herself up in queenly affront. “Then why were you kissing her?”

“I thought I was in love with her. But I wasn’t. I was in love with the idea of being in love with her.” He wasn’t sure when it had stopped being a performance and turned into the truth. “She wants to be a work of art,” he said simply. “I want to be happy.”

Her voice was softer now. “And what makes you happy?”

He pulled her close. She came willingly, sliding her arms around his neck, staring into his eyes.It’s not real, he reminded himself as his heart pounded, as her lips parted. They were only doing this so she could get what she wanted and go.

He tore his gaze away from her, looking over her shoulder. Efua was watching them open-mouthed, a hand on her heart. Behind her, Rob crept the last few steps and draped the knitted circle neatly over her. “Death by gravitational singularity,” he explained, then chivalrously helped to extricate her from it.

“Really?” said Efua, fighting her way free. “You got approval from the Umpire for this?”

“She’s a physicist too,” Rob admitted. “That probably helped.”

Efua carefully extricated the last strands of black hole from her comb and slid it back into place. “Congratulations, Entropy,” she said, grudgingly shaking Rob’s hand.

He grinned. “I told you. It’s going to—”

“Get you in the end,” she completed wearily. “I know.” Hope flickered across her face. “Wait. Isn’t there a theory that people could survive falling into a black hole?”

“Absolutely,” said Rob with an enthusiastic grin. “There’s so much we don’t know. Which is why I also made sure to coat my hand in contact poison.” He showed her his palm, which he had painted ultramarine blue. “Belt and braces, you know.”

She shook her head. “Guess we’re even.”

“Good game, Darcy.”

“Good game.” She turned away, dropping her confetti grenade back into her clutch.

Rob ran up and enveloped Joe and Esi in a crushing hug.

“Congratulations, Master Assassin,” said Joe, laughing.

Rob kissed first Esi and then Joe resoundingly on the cheek. “I love you both. Now go. Have fun.” He pointed back at them as he walked away. “And don’t forget, you still owe me an explanation.”

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