The Circle

Mae returns to shore and is met by two police officers who were notified by a concerned neighbor, as well as by someone who watched Mae’s actions via a SeeChange camera. Mae is accused of theft and sits in the back of the patrol car while the officers talk on the phone with Marion (the owner of the rental facility). Marion comes to the premises and tells the officers that Mae is a regular customer and was simply late with returning a kayak. The police let her go.

That night, Mae can barely sleep. She chastises herself for being stupid enough to put herself in a position where she could have lost everything. In the morning, she feels “as if she’d woken up from a nightmare to know it hadn’t happened. The slate was blank and she went to work” (274). However, Mae is soon called into Dan’s office. He knows that she got in trouble with the police and makes clear the seriousness of the situation. He shows her the SeeChange footage, which reveals that she wavered, clearly knowing she was doing something wrong. He asserts that she was being selfish by only considering her own immediate desires. Mae is afraid that she’s about to be fired, and she gasps when she learns that Bailey, one of the Wise Men, has taken an interest in her situation and wants to meet her.