What is Love? by Comfort Jen

Author:Comfort, Jen
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Montlake
Published: 2024-04-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16

BUILT IN THE NAME OF LOVE

Answer

This UNESCO World Heritage Site was commissioned in 1631 by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan to honor his late wife, who’d died in childbirth earlier that year.

Question

What is the Taj Mahal?

On the way back from the coffee shop, the sky redoubled its efforts to drench them. He and Maxine shed their rain-damp layers in the entryway, then retreated to the study. He’d noticed Maxine clutching her coffee like it was the only thing warding off hypothermia, so he lit a fire, then glanced at his new student to ensure she hadn’t run away yet. But Maxine was right there behind him, her cheeks reddened from the brisk walk in the chilly spring morning, her expression wary but curious.

“It’s a lovely day for studying,” he said brightly, gesturing to the drizzly gloom from which they’d recently returned.

“Or murder,” she said darkly.

“Excellent work, Detective Hart. I was about to extol the parallels between intellectual enrichment and homicide, but you beat me to the punch.”

Teddy was nervous. It was a feeling he recognized as the “first day of classes” jitters, when he’d stand at the front of an empty lecture hall in his best shirt and bow tie, his name tidily written on the whiteboard behind him, hoping students would show up. Hoping they’d all laugh at his rehearsed jokes and wouldn’t drop his course after the first week.

Praying Maxine wouldn’t judge his teaching skills, find him an abysmal failure, and abandon him to face Hercules without her help. He’d wanted that very outcome two days ago, but the Gauntlet had shown him how poorly he’d fare on his own. The truth was, he needed Maxine.

Need? Or want?

Best not to examine the feeling too closely.

“All right, let’s get this over with,” Maxine said, moving to sit in the armchair again.

He held out a hand to stop her. “This lesson is interactive. I’m going to give you a tour of my palace.”

Her brows found new heights beneath her damp fringe. “Is this a sex thing? Because the last time someone offered me a tour of their palace, he was talking about his butthole.”

“This is not my . . .” He was a grown adult; he could say the word. He would not let her distract him. “. . . butthole,” he said.

“Mmm. Too bad.” Maxine took a sip of her coffee, but her eyes crinkled at the edges in an all-too-pleased manner.

He went on, ignoring the flicker of heat she’d lit in his belly. “It’s called a memory palace, and it’s a metaphorical device that helps an individual retain long lists of information by visualizing the items you wish to learn on a three-dimensional map, and then imagining yourself walking through said map when you need to recall this information. Our brains are specifically wired to recall places we know well.”

“I hate maps.”

“But you do love using your imagination,” he pointed out.

Maxine still looked skeptical, so he added, “Did you know, this was the technique Hannibal Lecter used to

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