Excerpt from The Rosie Effect by Graeme Simsion, plus links to reviews, author biography & more

"Of course, of course." Gene was an expert at getting published with minimal effort. We would have vast amounts of free time to talk about interesting topics.

"I'm serious about the PhD students. If he gets into trouble, I'll hold you accountable."

This seemed an unreasonable threat, typical of university administrators, but it would provide me with an excuse to reform Gene's behavior. And, after surveying the PhD students, I concluded it was unlikely that any would be of interest to Gene. I checked when I called to announce my success at finding him employment.

"You've got Mexico? Correct?"

"I have passed time with a lady of that nationality, if that's what you're asking."

"You had sex with her?"

"Something like that."

There were several international PhD students, but Gene had already covered the most populous developed countries.

"So, are you accepting the job?" I asked.

"I need to check my options."

"Ridiculous. Columbia has the world's best medical school. And they're prepared to take someone who has a reputation for laziness and inappropriate behavior."

"Look who's talking about inappropriate behavior."

"Correct. They accept me. They're extremely tolerant. You can start Monday."

"Monday? Don, I don't have anywhere to live."

I explained that I would find a solution to this minor practical problem. Gene was coming to New York. He would again be at the same university as me. And Rosie.

As I stared at the two orange juices on the table, I realized that I had been looking forward to the alcohol to counteract my anxiety about conveying the Gene news to Rosie. I told myself that I was being unnecessarily concerned. Rosie claimed to welcome spontaneity. This simple analysis, however, ignored three factors.

1. Rosie disliked Gene. He had been her PhD supervisor in Melbourne and technically still was. She had numerous complaints about his academic conduct and regarded his infidelity to Claudia as unacceptable. My argument that he had reformed had now been undermined.
2. Rosie considered it important that we had "time to ourselves." Now I would inevitably be devoting time to Gene. He was insistent that his relationship with Claudia was over. But if there was any chance that we could help to save it, it seemed reasonable to give temporarily lower priority to our own healthy marriage. I was certain that Rosie would disagree.
3. Factor Three was the most serious, and possibly a result of misjudgment on my part. I put it out of my mind to focus on the immediate problem.

The two highball glasses filled with orange fluid reminded me of the night that Rosie and I first "bonded'—the Great Cocktail Night where we secured a sample of DNA from every male in attendance at the reunion of her mother's medical year and eliminated all of them as candidates for Rosie's biological father. Once again, my cocktailmaking skills would provide a solution.

Rosie and I worked three nights per week at the Alchemist, a cocktail bar on West 19th Street in the Flatiron neighborhood, so drinkmaking equipment and ingredients were tools of trade (although I had not been able to convince our accountant of this). I located vodka, Galliano and ice cubes, added these to the orange juices and stirred. Rather than commence my drink before Rosie, I poured myself a shot of vodka on ice, added a squeeze of lime, and drank it rapidly. Almost instantly, I felt my stress level returning to its default state.

Finally Rosie emerged from the bathroom. Other than the change in direction of travel, the only difference in her appearance was that her red hair was now wet. But her mood appeared to have elevated: she was almost dancing toward the bedroom. Obviously the scallops had been a good choice.

An excerpt from The Rosie Effect, a novel by Graeme Simsion, reprinted with the permission of the author and Simon & Schuster. Visit www.RosieBooks.com for more information and to order your copy today.