Summary

Aciman then skips ahead to Paul’s adult life, where he lives in NYC. Told in the present tense, this section begins with Paul walking into a restaurant, only to see his female partner there with another man. Paul immediately leaves the restaurant, ashamed and scared that his partner will see him.

Although Paul is shaken, he is also pleased with himself because he “stayed long enough to prevent [his couple and the man] from thinking that I’d skipped away immediately after seeing them” (84). This thought comforts Paul, and on a whim, he decides to play tennis that afternoon. On his way to the tennis courts, Paul imagines his partner—now named as Maud—flirting and sleeping with the other man. Paul remembers the man rubbing the back of Maud’s neck at lunch, and decides they are “obviously not having a...