They spent the entire evening discussing various topics and taste preferences. It turned out they had a lot in common despite their different personalities.
Constantin unobtrusively studied her face, trying to memorize every line so he could later paint her portrait from memory.
While talking to him, Sophia occasionally glanced away and looked off into the distance over his shoulder. For a moment, it even seemed like someone was standing there.
Constantin glanced over his shoulder. At a nearby table, a couple was sitting together, sharing an ice cream and laughing loudly.
“Do you know them?” asked Van.
“No, I don’t think so. They just look so happy. Maybe it’s the ice cream,” Sophia replied with a smile.
“Or maybe it’s that they’re just good together. Everything else is just props.”
“But I’m definitely going to order some ice cream,” she said, waving to the waiter.
Constantin was talking to Sophia, surrounded by the glow of hanging lights and the enveloping scents of hoisin sauce and garlic. The weather was gradually turning, with a breeze beginning to pick up from the sea. Yet, it seemed the two of them were oblivious to it.
Libby was making an effort not to draw unnecessary attention to herself in Sophia’s presence.
There were already plenty of guides around, curiously glancing at them. The appearance of the Ephor always sparked discussions, and a wave of speculation was beginning to engulf the Community. Information among the Guides and Ephors had long lost its confidentiality. In a modern world where gossip and snitching were valued, harmful habits had not spared the guides (or were they the very founders of this detrimental phenomenon?).
The incident in the studio and Constantin's painting quickly became the news of the day in the Upper World. Every passing guide cast a glance at Elizabeth. Some looked on with sympathy, others with judgment, and some with outright hatred.
The lower-ranking Guides feared her. They were afraid that one person's mistakes would impact everyone's work, that a chain of failures was contagious, like chickenpox. The older guides used Elizabeth as a bad example among their ranks, saying, "There's always a white crow in the family, and she is their leader."
She had to adapt to the new reality. A reality in which she had become an outcast in just a couple of weeks.