Not in Love

When they arrive at Eli’s house, he kisses Rue before they enter. She wants to go inside so that they can sleep together, but when he opens the front door, his huge dog, Tiny, playfully jumps on Rue. She is not a big fan of pets, but Tiny immediately likes her. Rue asks Eli where his bedroom is, but he tells her that she needs to tell him a personal story first. She tells him that when Tisha’s family got a dog when she and her friend were 11 years old, she felt jealous of the dog because it was able to live at Tisha’s house all the time, receive attention and love, and enjoy regular meals. She is surprised to feel no shame after telling this story; Eli does not judge her at all. They go upstairs to Eli’s bedroom and have sex. Eli makes Rue promise not to leave without talking to him. They are both overwhelmed by the physical and emotional intensity of their connection. Afterward, they fall asleep, and Rue realizes that she is entering into a type of relationship that she has never experienced.

When Rue wakes up the next morning, she is surprised to find that she has slept until almost 11 in the morning. Eli is already awake and out of bed. She goes downstairs and finds Eli’s sister, Maya, in the kitchen. Maya is friendly and asks Rue how she and Eli met. Rue is surprised to learn that Maya knows who Florence is, and Maya is surprised to learn that Florence is Rue’s friend. Rue hopes to sneak out before Eli returns, but Maya keeps talking to her until he gets back.

Eli had been walking Tiny in the rain. He tells Maya that Rue also studied figure skating with Alec, and Maya remembers that their time at the rink did overlap; Rue once helped to teach Maya a complicated move on the ice. When Maya tells that story, Rue remembers the encounter. After Maya leaves, Rue asks Eli questions about Maya and his ex-fiancée and marvels at her own curiosity about his life because she has never felt such an attraction before. He suggests showering together, and even though she feels like she is betraying Florence, she agrees.

Eli and Rue have sex in the shower, and afterward, Eli suggests taking a nap and having sex again. He asks Rue to admit that she doesn’t want this to be the last time that they see each other. She admits it, and he carries her to bed.

When Eli and Rue wake up from their nap, Eli offers to cook her breakfast. She is nervous about that because she has challenges with food. She explains that she does not like to have rushed meals. Eli connects this detail with the fact that Alec used to bring her food at the ice rink; he starts to intuit Rue’s traumatic past. He reassures her that they will have a leisurely sit-down breakfast.

Over breakfast, Rue asks questions about Eli’s ex-fiancée, McKenzie. She wonders how someone could come so close to marrying and be able to begin a new relationship just a few years later. He tells her that he didn’t love McKenzie the way she wanted to be loved, and their parting was not very dramatic. They still keep in touch, even though she is in a better relationship with someone else. Rue wonders if she is incapable of loving people the way they want to be loved.

To change the subject, they discuss each other’s sexual preferences; now that Rue is starting to trust Eli, she is willing to test her boundaries and step past her comfort zone. Eli suggests that she stay the rest of the day so that they can experiment sexually. Rue is initially resistant but eventually agrees.

Before they have sex again, Rue and Eli exchange more stories about themselves, sharing details that they are ashamed to reveal to other people. Rue admits that she owes her whole career to Florence, and is ashamed to be betraying her through her connection with Eli. In turn, he admits that the last thing he said to his mother before she died was that he “hoped she wouldn’t be as shitty a mother to [his] sister as she’d been to [him]” (214). Their mutual admissions increase their trust and intimacy, and they go on to experiment with novel sexual activities. After an intensely pleasurable experience, Rue realizes that she wouldn’t mind staying in bed with him for the rest of the day. However, they are interrupted when the doorbell rings.

Eli has forgotten that Minami, Sul, and Hark are scheduled to come over for dinner that night. Rue suggests that she climb out the window, but he tells her to come downstairs when she’s ready and goes down to let his friends in. He does not hide the fact that he has someone over and admits to forgetting about the planned dinner that night.

Rue comes downstairs, and they convince her to stay for dinner and to help celebrate Eli’s birthday. Minami starts chatting with Rue while Eli and Hark speak privately in the kitchen. Hark is upset about Eli’s relationship with Rue because of their situation with Kline and Florence. He is worried that Florence is using Rue to dig up information about the Harkness Group, but Eli knows that this is not the case. Rue enters the kitchen, and Hark leaves. Rue admits to feeling awkward around his friends without him, so he shows her how to make risotto. He tells her that her microbial coating is a great idea and asks if she is sure that she has an ironclad contract with Florence to retain her own patent to prevent Kline from owning it. Rue says that she and Florence have an agreement, but Eli is concerned. As they cook together, Eli imagines what it would be like if they were in a real relationship.

At dinner, Eli and his friends try to include Rue as much as possible. Minami makes a jab at Eli and Hark because they never finished their PhDs in chemical engineering, while she did. Rue is surprised to learn that Eli was in the same PhD program that she was. Hark has been drinking more wine than the rest of them and makes a sharp comment that Rue’s “friend” knows the story. Eli is angered by Hark’s rudeness and decides to end the party. He takes Hark’s keys and moves his car out of the way so that Rue can leave; Minami and Sul will take Hark home. Eli gives Rue a container of leftovers and tells her to drive safely.

Rue calls Tisha after the dinner with Eli, and they discuss what Conor could have meant when he said that Rue’s “friend” had something to do with the fact that he and Eli never finished their PhDs. Because Rue only has two friends, they decide that Conor was referring to Florence. Rue tells Tisha that Harkness members’ time at UT did overlap with Florence’s tenure there. Tisha and Rue cannot understand why Florence would have claimed to have never met the Harkness Group if she really had. Rue promises to ask Florence about it during her performance review meeting. Tisha asks Rue to tell her more about Eli; she can tell that Rue likes him more than she has ever liked any other man.

On Monday morning, Alec texts Rue to let her know that the rink will be closing for HVAC maintenance, but she can still come skate if she wants to. He tells her that Eli and Maya will be there and that Dave is trying to set Rue up with Eli because they seemed to like each other when they met at the rink.

Rue goes to her performance review meeting with Florence, who Rue if she is okay because she looks tired and unhappy. Rue tells her that she hasn’t been sleeping well and asks if there are any new updates on the Harkness situation; she also asks whether Florence ever met them at UT. Florence again claims never to have met them, but Rue knows this to be untrue. Florence tells Rue to stop worrying and insists that she has everything under control.