Not in Love

Eli Killgore is the book’s second protagonist and Rue’s love interest. He is a cofounder of the private equity firm the Harkness Group. He is also a former chemical engineering student and mentee of Florence’s, but Florence stole Minami’s project idea and left her, Eli, and Hark without a word. After this betrayal, Eli dropped out of graduate school and started a private equity firm with his friends. Their main goal is to take over Kline and get Minami’s patent back.

In his youth, Eli was a rebellious and angry child who did not get along well with his parents and left home as soon as he could. However, when both of his parents died, he took custody of his younger sister, Maya, whom he barely knew at the time. His relationship with Maya was initially strained, but as she grew older, they became closer. Eli was previously engaged to a chef, but they broke up when he couldn’t love her the way she needed to be loved. Since then, he has been mostly focused on work and uses a dating app to have casual sex with various women. However, when he meets Rue, he falls in love with her. Like her, he learns to develop more meaningful relationships because of their romance.

Eli is loyal to his friends and remains committed to taking care of his sister, but he also feels guilty about aspects of his past, such as things he said to his parents when he was angry and his lack of parenting skills when Maya first came to live with him. He still plays hockey at his childhood ice rink because it is a safe haven for him, just as it is for Rue.

Tisha is Rue’s best friend; she also works at Kline. She and Rue have known each other since they were children. She has been Rue’s only steady friend. Florence mentored both of them, and although they are both close to Florence, Tisha is primarily loyal to Rue. She says that if Rue truly has feelings for Eli, she will support her even if the relationship is a betrayal of Florence.

Later, when Rue realizes that Florence betrayed Eli, Minami, and Hark years ago and then lied to her and Tisha about it, Tisha and Rue agree to help Minami retain her patent however they can. When Rue resigns from Kline, Florence assumes that Tisha will, too.

Nyota is Tisha’s younger sister and works as a lawyer in New York City. Nyota and Tisha often bicker in a loving way, and she is also like a sister to Rue. Her practical purpose in the story is to provide necessary exposition on the legal aspects of the plot. She helps explain the definition of a loan reassignment and also helps with Rue’s legal issues, such as filing for a patent and buying her brother’s share of their father’s cabin.

As the founder and CEO of Kline, Florence is Rue and Tisha’s mentor and boss. Rue initially believes that Florence is a strong woman who has fought hard to get the credit she deserves for her work. Rue and Tisha admire Florence and are close friends. However, Rue’s high opinion of Florence starts to crumble when she meets Eli and the rest of the Harkness team. They have acquired Kline’s loan and have reason to believe that Florence is not in compliance with the terms of the loan. Florence also raises Rue’s suspicions when she lies and claims never to have met Eli, Hark, and Minami. However, Eli soon reveals that Florence was once an academic advisor for him, Minami, and Hark at the University of Texas. Florence stole Minami’s work and used it to start Kline.

Florence is initially painted as a hero but is soon revealed to be a villain. Rue’s chapters describe her as a strong, independent woman and a loving friend, but in the chapters that describe Eli’s perspective, the author reveals that Florence has a selfish and duplicitous side. However, Rue does not learn the truth about her mentor until the climax of the novel, at which point she realizes that Florence is the true villain, not Eli and Harkness.

Minami is one of Eli’s closest friends. She was working on her postdoc at the University of Texas when Eli began his PhD program there. She developed biotechnology, and Eli and Hark worked with her. Florence Kline agreed to be their advisor but stole Minami’s work and patented it herself. Of the four co-founders of Harkness, Minami is the least intent on taking revenge on Florence. She has managed to work through the heartbreak and pain from that period and is looking toward the future; she is deeply in love with her husband, Sul, and they are expecting their first baby.

Minami shows her friendship, loyalty, and intelligence when she warns Rue against trusting Florence. Her actions demonstrate what it really means for women to support each other in their industry. She continues to work with Hark long after their breakup and welcomes Rue into their circle when she realizes how much she means to Eli. Minami functions as both the brains and the heart behind Harkness, and she is the moral compass of her friend group.