In spring 1957 at the TRP in Washington, DC, Moira Donnelly learns from other secretaries that Elaina Duquesne has died, leaving Ernest to care for Amelia. Ernest spends the summer in Boston and returns withdrawn; soon after, Moira hears Ernest’s mother has died as well. When Jack Dillinger leaves for a two-week trip to Denver, he assigns Moira to temporarily assist Ernest and pointedly reminds her she is “still” Jack’s.

Ernest avoids using Moira as a boss, so Moira takes the lead and quietly starts managing Ernest’s workload: she types his notes, intercepts calls, schedules him time to eat, and tries to ease his long hours. Their guarded banter warms into familiarity. Ernest admits he is selling his family house and is struggling with Amelia’s behavior at boarding school; Moira suggests taking Amelia to the zoo to help her open up.

When Jack is due back, Ernest arrives early and gives Moira a thank-you gift: a red, gold-edged book of Edgar Allan Poe poems, after noticing she can quote poetry. Ernest also reports that the zoo worked—Amelia has begun speaking in full sentences—and explains Amelia’s latest prank involved frogs intended for a bully named Rebecca. Before leaving, Ernest asks Moira to dinner; after weighing Jack’s likely reaction, Moira accepts and agrees to keep it from Jack. Moira hides the gift in her desk and successfully lies to Jack about nothing noteworthy happening, recognizing she is finally learning how to “play his game.”

That night, Ernest visits the time space and meets Vasily Stepanov, following their established routine of disarming to show trust and exchanging notes about what materials must be burned. Vasily teases Ernest about his nervousness, and Ernest admits he has a date. Their cooperation is framed as an outgrowth of an introduction by Azrael and signaled by chalk forget-me-not drawings tied to the name Lisavet Levy, a subject Vasily refuses to explain fully because he believes it is dangerous.

Ernest rushes to the date but forgets his tie, making his planned upscale restaurant impossible. Moira redirects the evening by speaking German to an elderly shopkeeper and securing bagels; she also reveals she grew up around immigrant neighbors, explaining her languages. They walk through DC, talk without mentioning work, hold hands, and share a charged kiss at Moira’s boardinghouse gate. Though Ernest panics at how intense it becomes, Moira reassures him and asks to see him again, and they agree on another date as Ernest gives in to the feeling that something inevitable is drawing them together.