Summary

In Chapter 9, After Tom read the detailed report that Olive wrote about her research, he told her that he would see her at Harvard the following semester. This excited Olive because she had been worried that he only pretended to be interested because Adam was his friend.

Adam told Olive that Tom had helped him by collaborating on a project that Adam was actually excited about. He admitted he had become so bored with academics that he almost considered going into industry. Olive felt grateful to Tom for giving Adam a reason to be excited about research again.

As Adam explained the way working in academics took a good deal from a person and gave back very little, Olive was reminded for a moment of the man in the bathroom. She wondered if that man had been Adam, but convinced herself it was...