“Jack and I don’t live together.”

“You don’t?”

Elizaveta shook her head. “Jack lives with Pita.”

“Who do you live with then?”

“I live by myself.”

“That’s great then! Jack and I can sleepover at your house.”

Elizaveta smiled. “Go to sleep, Rosa.”

2

Jack and Jesus had fallen silent. Elizaveta returned to her previous spot against the wall and sat down. She wanted to ask Jack what they were talking about—fighting about, more like it—and for a moment she wondered if it could have been her. Had Jack told Jesus what happened earlier? Instead of experiencing guilt over her infidelity and fear of Jesus’s reaction, she felt strangely invigorated. Had Jack been fighting over her? No. This was a fantasy, her ego running away with itself. They’d had sex, that was all. And they’d only had sex because she’d instigated it. There was nothing more to it than carnal pleasure, a temporary escape. Why would there be? He was rich and famous and could have any woman in the world he wanted. She was just some displaced and disillusioned Russian schoolteacher with a closetful of skeletons and a headful of issues.

Jesus chose me.

But that was because he wanted a trophy girlfriend, something exotic to show off to his buddies. And that was all she ever was to him, wasn’t it? Yes, it was. In their twelve months together he never told her he loved her. He never spoke of children. Marriage? The first she’d heard of it was earlier tonight, or this morning, and he’d only mentioned it to manipulate her like a pawn on a chessboard, to make her rebuke Jack and join his side. Ironically his efforts made her see the truth. He was simply using her to fulfill his needs and wants, to boost his self-esteem. Their relationship was a farce. It never stood a chance. She supposed, deep down, she always understood this, but she’d been so desperate for security and stability she’d refused to see what was right in front of her face. That was the double edge of hope: it made you weak, blind, foolish.

Elizaveta wondered whether Jesus would go through with his threat of getting her visa revoked. She knew he had the means to if he so pleased. If you had money in Mexico, and you were well-connected, you could do whatever you wanted, regardless of the law. Case in point, one night she and Jesus went to a trendy restaurant without a reservation and the owner refused to seat them. Furious and embarrassed, Jesus called a friend who ran the government’s consumer protection agency, and the next day inspectors shut down the restaurant.