25. Lucky Position
Lucky Position
Elias
In his book Relativity: The Special and General Theory, Einstein wrote: “According to the theory of relativity there is no absolute time, but each individual has his own personal measure of time, which depends on where he is and how he is moving.”
By that logic, my time is measured in absolute shit.
It doesn’t matter how hard I try to concentrate on classes, on work, on extra physics assignments for Mazzati. On Brotherhood parties, or avoiding Desdemona.
The only satisfaction I have, in those two weeks of pure unadulterated dread leading up to the gala, is ignoring the endless texts from Mr and Mrs Pearson’s legal and PR people—all of them begging me for the same thing.
Written confirmation that I, worthless sob story poster boy Elias Lennox, will be bringing Desdemona Sutton-Knight, golden goddess with the KGM father and famous prosecutor mother, as my date to the gala.
I give them nothing apart from a text here and there confirming I’ll be bringing a date without ever mentioning Desdemona’s name. Then I stop texting altogether.
In the end, Mrs Pearson herself is forced to stoop. She sends me a text all in sugar-sweet tones asking me if I know what Desdemona will be wearing, so that she can match the colour of my pocket square—for the tuxedo she’s having tailor-made specifically for me at Henry Poole you flatter yourself into thinking that this knowledge gives you some secret advantage. But you’re not above the table. You’re not even at it. You’re a pawn—a token.”
She smiles—the first genuine smile I’ve ever seen on her face. Cold enough to blister, so cold it almost shocks me. Frostbite cold, necrosis cold.
“You’re eighteen years old. You’re at the very start of your life, and in a lucky position, though you don’t see it yet.
You think you’re too good to be used as a token, too proud to be a symbol.
That’s because you come from the world of the passive, the impoverished, and the powerless—those who do not, cannot and never will act.
You do not realise that it is people like us—like myself, like my husband, like all those people who’ll be hearing you speak tonight—that shape the world you live in.
Those of us who can and will because we must.”
Every organ in my body has gone cold. I watch her, frozen, unable to force out a single word.
“Tonight isn’t about you, Elias. It’s only your own arrogance and pride that make you think it ever could be.
Tonight is about our country and its future.
Countless people have worked tirelessly for this—my husband without rest, myself without food for days—all in the service of making this night perfect.
Because that’s what it takes, to actually make things happen, to enact real change.
And the Sutton-Knight girl must be there—not because she’s deigned to choose you, but because she, like you, like me, has a part to play.
A part she will accept with far more grace than you ever will. ”
She steps back from me, looks me up and down.
“I saw potential in you, Elias—that’s why you were chosen. We had many options to choose from—we were even offered a terminal case with a visible disability. But there was something about you that stood out to me. An intelligence not normally found in your kind.”
She smiles, almost warmly now, like she’s just graced me with the greatest of compliments.
“I hoped this intelligence would make you more useful, but since you’re being purposely obtuse, I shall clarify things for you comprehensively.”
Her eyes dig into mine, shards of ice plunging deep inside my mind.
“Do what you are told. Fulfil your purpose. You cannot comprehend how fast and far you have to fall—but I do. You have no idea of the things I’m capable of, so let me enlighten you.
Your little Harvard scholarship Spearcrest is so excited about?
One word from me and it will vanish from your horizon.
And that’s nothing compared to what I could do to your life, the entirety of it. ”
She gives the smallest smile.
“Trust me when I say this: you have everything to gain from my husband’s success, and everything to lose should you for even one moment jeopardise it.”
She smooths her skirt and tilts an eyebrow. “Do you understand?”