6: The Book Club

January Andrews freezes upon seeing Sonya, her late father's lover, at Pete’s book club. She retreats to the bathroom, gulps wine, and debates fleeing. When she hears Sonya making excuses and leaving, January composes herself and returns, rattled but determined to endure the night.

Pete seats January beside newly arrived Augustus Everett, introducing him as a special guest while January realizes she’s merely a potential book club member. Pete offers White Russians; January clings to her purse-wine, and the room’s casual warmth contrasts with her humiliation and tipsiness.

As discussion begins, January and Augustus discover the group is discussing a spy thriller by Doug G. Hanke, not Augustus’s work. The women unpack twists—spies, a twin reveal, a USSR backstory—and praise an emotional funeral scene. Augustus appears bemused; January, half-drunk, tries not to laugh at the mismatch and awkwardness.

By the end, January’s expectations are punctured: she isn’t the focus, Augustus isn’t either, and the club’s tastes skew toward espionage. The night becomes a humbling, comic reset of status and assumptions, with January’s discomfort and the Labradors’ comic timing underscoring the scene.