“Has she? Really?”

“I'm guessing my feelings aren‘t serving me so well at the moment." I frowned.

“Law school, huh? I'm guessing that was your idea."

“Not at all. It was a few months ago when Samantha approached me to ask questions about my Life as a Lawyer. A change in professional plans was her idea, not mine, although I admittedly have not been resistant to the idea. She has a sharp mind, a keen intellect, and a strong work-ethic ideally suited to a legal career. Last night's ‘rendezvous' was simply an information-gathering session I arranged because my own memories of law school are both outdated and... incomplete. In other words: I'm old."

"You're not old, Mother. You're..." My voice trailed off as I realized my brain was going in a direction I didn't want it to go. "Nevermind."

Her eyes narrowed as she sensed a compliment, even if I didn't actually say one. Switching gears, she began, “So let's talk about you.”

I blinked. "Me?"

“I'm assuming Zofia let slip in one form or another that Samantha was meeting another man last night, hence your rather aggressive arrival back home. Now regardless of the circumstances by which that information was misconstrued, the evidence would seemingly indicate a rather intense jealousy on your part at the mere notion of

Samantha's... infidelity."

I rolled my eyes.

“Sam wasn't being... uh... infi... unfaithful. As we've already established, she's not my girlfriend, so faithfulness cannot be presumed."

“In my experience, whether or not faithfulness is actually warranted, males hold a certain extraterritorial jurisdiction in such matters when they're intimate with a woman, regardless of any formal relationship status."

I blinked, processing all that and translating, “You mean I'm possessive of Sam just because we're banging even though she's not actually my girlfriend.”

Mother shrugged. To her, we'd said exactly the same thing.

I sighed.

“Well you're probably right. It was right around the time I realized I was feeling jealous of Sam that I realized I'd be jealous of any of the BTC girls hooking up with other guys. I mean, intellectually

I know I shouldn't, but I would be jealous anyway."

“Human nature. Or perhaps more precisely: evolutionary nature."

“That doesn't excuse it."

"I didn't say it needed to."

I frowned.

“You're not going to make some feminist argument that I should subsume my innate masculine need to exercise authoritarian control over the young Ladies within my particular sphere of influence as a matter of respecting the female right to not submit to my oppression?"

Mother's eyes danced.

“You're trying to keep up with me. I appreciate the effort."

I rolled my eyes again.