The Rosie Project: A Novel (Don Tillman Book 1) by Graeme Simsion

Author:Graeme Simsion
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Published: 2013-10-01T06:00:00+00:00

nineteen

For a week, I did my best to return to my regular schedule, using the time freed up by Eva’s cleaning and the cancellation of the Father Project to catch up on the karate and aikido training that I had been missing.

Sensei, fifth dan, a man who says very little, especially to the black belts, pulled me aside as I was working the punching bag in the dojo.

“Something has made you very angry,” he said. That was all.

He knew me well enough to know that once an emotion was identified, I would not let it defeat me. But he was right to speak to me, because I had not realized that I was angry.

I was briefly angry with Rosie because she unexpectedly refused me something I wanted. But then I became angry with myself over the social incompetence that had doubtless caused Rosie embarrassment.

• • •

I made several attempts to contact Rosie and got her answering service. Finally I left a message: “What if you get leukemia and don’t know where to source a bone-marrow transplant? Your biological father would be an excellent candidate with a strong motivation to assist. Failure to complete the project could result in death. There are only eleven candidates remaining.”

She did not return my call.

“These things happen,” said Claudia, over the third coffee meeting in four weeks. “You get involved with a woman, it doesn’t work out . . .”

So that was it. I had, in my own way, become “involved” with Rosie.

“What should I do?”

“It’s not easy,” said Claudia, “but anyone will give you the same advice. Move on. Something else will turn up.”

Claudia’s logic, built on sound theoretical foundations and drawing on substantial professional experience, was obviously superior to my own irrational feelings. But as I reflected on it, I realized that her advice, and indeed the discipline of psychology itself, embodied the results of research on normal humans. I am well aware that I have some unusual characteristics. Was it possible that Claudia’s advice was not appropriate for me?

I decided on a compromise course of action. I would continue the Wife Project. If (and only if) there was further time available, I would use it for the Father Project, proceeding alone. If I could present Rosie with the solution, perhaps we could become friends again.

Based on the Bianca Disaster I revised the questionnaire, adding more stringent criteria. I included questions on dancing, racquet sports, and bridge to eliminate candidates who would require me to gain competence in useless activities, and increased the difficulty of the mathematics, physics, and genetics problems. Option (c) moderately would be the only acceptable answer to the alcohol question. I organized for the responses to go directly to Gene, who was obviously engaging in the well-established research practice of making secondary use of the data. He could advise me if anyone met my criteria. Exactly.

In the absence of Wife Project candidates, I thought hard about the best way to get DNA samples for the Father Project.

The answer came to me as I was boning a quail.

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