The Love Hypothesis

Despite how romantic comedies usually go, there are two beds in the hotel room. Olive claims the free bed and thinks through her schedule. Her talk is later that day, and after that, she’ll hang out with her friends. It’s likely she’ll be asleep by the time Adam gets back to the room, and the next morning, she can pretend to sleep if he’s getting ready. All in all, the arrangement is far better than she feared and probably won’t “make things worse than they currently were” (219).

Adam arrives in the room and, for a moment, can only stare at Olive in her black dress and heels. She is similarly hypnotized by the sight of him in a suit jacket. After a few awkward moments, Olive asks if he’s still coming to her talk, adding she hopes it will be mostly deserted since it overlaps with the keynote address. The moment after she says this, she notices Adam’s ID badge, which lists him as the keynote speaker. Adam won’t be able to come to her talk, after all. They wish each other luck before he leaves the hotel room.

Olive’s talk goes well, and she makes plans with her friends to get drinks after dropping her stuff back in her hotel room.