Continued, The Marriage Narrative #2
In case she was wrong about Malcolm’s intentions, Joy had made a backup plan to visit her sister, a quick ninety-minute flight away. “My usual. A little of this, a little of that.”
“No, you’re not.”
“I’m not?”
Malcolm’s grin escalates to devastating.
A true weapon of mass destruction, it has an impact radius of twenty paces and a ninety-seven-percent fatality rate.
He’s always wielded that perfect face of his like a formerly shy and gangly boy who just discovered the right side of puberty: completely earnest and unaware of how handsome he is.
Even after all this time, it still shocks Joy how much he can affect her. A quiet thrill ripples through her bloodstream, making her heart flutter. It’s happening, it’s happening, it’s happening.
Two weeks ago, Malcolm scheduled himself out of the office on Friday and the Tuesday after the holiday—the exact same days he asked her to clear on her schedule today.
After that, Joy spotted several browser tabs open on his laptop with telltale keywords such as “hot-air balloon” and “vineyard,” and catering packages from her favorite restaurant.
And most damning of all, Joy always helps him with his plans, for business and personal.
This time, he hasn’t even mentioned a single thing about it to her.
Malcolm King-of-Grand-Romantic-Gestures Evans is about to make a comeback. And Joy has a sneaking suspicion it might finally be for her.
“Nope.” He shakes his head. “Because you’re going on a trip with me.”
“Again?” Joy snort-laughs, playfully rolling her eyes. “Where are we going this time?”
Ever since Caroline-ageddon, Malcolm’s been traveling nonstop, Joy being his companion of choice.
They’ve driven to the Grand Canyon, watched the northern lights in Iceland, flown to remote beaches on private islands with sunsets to die for, visited museums and art shows, and attended fancy parties in skyscrapers that have no earthly business being so tall.
A perpetual homebody, globetrotting has never been a dream of Joy’s.
But hey, if it’s on someone else’s wealthy dime with someone she loves, who is she to say no?
Besides, every time Malcolm asked, she was mostly shocked that he even wanted to spend time with her at all. Because according to Caroline, the main reason why she left him was…Joy.
“I know you figured out that I’ve been planning something.
I can barely hide anything from you.” Malcolm leans forward, locking her in his sights.
No other human on the planet can make her feel like she’s the center of their universe.
No one has ever made Joy feel the way Malcolm does.
“But I’m keeping everything close to my chest this time. I don’t want anything to go wrong.”
Joy frowns. “What do you mean?”
“I have this plan.”
“A plan?”
“Yeah.” He clears his throat. “I met someone. Summer.”
A record scratch screeches in Joy’s ears. “Summer?”
“We’re friends. We’ve been hanging out for a couple of months now.”
Everything suddenly feels blurry and detached, like she’s watching a reflection of the moment instead of living in it.
“Months?” When? How? She literally saw his calendar every day, they spent an ungodly amount of time together after work, and when they weren’t together, they texted constantly.
How in the hell did he squeeze a Summer into his life without her knowing?
“Two, to be exact.” He laughs again. “I think there might be something there. I’ve been wanting to ask her out, and I’m positive she’s into me, but it feels different this time.”
“Different?”
“I don’t want to just come out and ask. That’s boring.
I want to make her feel special, you know?
So I thought: What if I planned a trip specifically for her?
We’d do everything that she loves, a whole weekend in her honor, and then at the end, I’ll stage a moment when it’s just the two of us and I’ll ask her. ”
This is how Malcolm, a hopeless romantic and serial monogamist, dates—he doesn’t.
All his ex-partners came from their friend group.
It always starts casual, hanging out and getting to know them, no pressure or pretense.
Malcolm gets his patented “feeling,” and one sincere heart-to-heart later they go straight from friends to being in a relationship.
It’s like a light switch flipping, friends to lovers so fast there should probably be a scientific formula to measure it.
Joy would know. She’s witnessed the shift enough times. What’s that saying? Always the bridesmaid, never the bride? That’s her. By his side for ten years and he’s never once made that record breaking shift with her. After the past year, after everything they’ve been through, she really thought—
“Joy? Are you listening to me?”
“Of course I’m not.” She frowns for a second before forcing herself to smile to keep him from reading her face, which he’s an expert at. He’s figured out how to guess her moods with ease, so she’s learned how to trick him.
“Anyway, so Fox is coming too.”
Joy discreetly reaches for the stress ball on her desk and holds it in her lap. Aiming for disinterested, she asks, “And who the hell is Fox?”
“I just told you. Were you really not listening?”
“I said I wasn’t.”
“I assumed that was a joke.”
“You know what they say when you assume,” she says. “You make an ass out of you, Malcolm Evans.”
“Joy.”
“What?” Joy snickers, giving the stress ball a mighty squeeze. Dad joke humor would get her through this hellacious situation one way or another. “Sorry. Please continue. You have the full remainder of my divided attention.”
Malcolm levels a glare at her that doesn’t last, softening in seconds. “When I invited Summer, I told her she could bring someone too because I thought she’d pick Fiona or anyone else besides Fox Yes-That’s-My-Real-Name Monahan. But apparently it’s his birthday.” He rolls his eyes.
Not just Summer—there’s also a Fox and a Fiona and an anyone else.
It’s like he suddenly has an entire second life he didn’t tell her about.
Why would he do that? She tries to not feel hurt.
It’s not like he isn’t allowed to have friends, or he must introduce her to every person he meets.
But it’s just…that he usually does. He always has.
“And I take it you don’t like this Fox person?”
“Let’s just say we don’t see eye to eye.”
Joy stares at him. “What did you do?
“Nothing.” He’s lying. Malcolm’s tell is always looking quickly to the left and then making direct eye contact. “But that’s not the most important part. Summer wants to meet you. She asked me to ask you to come along.”
Joy presses her lips together so her jaw doesn’t fall open and slam into her keyboard. Her mouth barely moves as she asks, “You told her about me?”
He nods. “Of course. She can’t wait to meet you.”
“So. You’re not inviting me? Summer is?” She unclenches her left hand and transfers the stress ball to her right, immediately putting it back into a death grip.
“No, no, it’s not like that. Of course I want you there.”
Joy’s heart drops as she watches Malcolm look to the left and to her again. He continues, “It’s just…I don’t know if you’d have a good time. That’s all. But. If you do come, I was hoping you could do me a favor? Fox is…a lot. Maybe you could keep him company.”
“Oh, I’ve always wanted to try being an escort.” She hates how breathless, almost winded from shock, she sounds. “Will I be getting paid?”
“Joy, that’s not funny.”
“What? I think I’d be good at it. I happen to be an excellent companion.”
“I’m aware.” And there it is—the smile that never fails to light up her whole world.
Even when she’s been plunged into suffocating darkness, he’s there to lift her back up with hardly any effort.
“I’d like to spend as much time with Summer as possible, but I know her.
She’s going to spend all her time making sure Fox doesn’t feel like a third wheel because she knows we don’t really get along. ”
“And if I’m there, it’ll be four-wheel drive.”
Malcolm gives her a rare laugh. Puns and wordplay aren’t exactly his favorite thing about her. “We could just sort of naturally pair up for some of the activities I have planned.”
“Natural. Organic. Not at all from concentrate or staged.”
“Joy.”
“What?”
“Will you please come and spend time with Fox?”
Malcolm waits for her to say something. She doesn’t. Her voice feels shaky, so it’ll probably sound worse. How could she have been so wrong about everything? The secret trip isn’t for her, he isn’t planning to ask her to be with him because there’s a Summer, and he wants to pawn Joy off on a Fox.
This is hell. Hell truly is other people.
Joy trains her gaze on the ceiling, exhaling into a horrible-sounding sigh. She closes her eyes and focuses on her breathing before turning back to him. He looks concerned but patient. “Why haven’t you told me about Summer before now?”
“I don’t know.” Malcolm shrugs like it’s nothing. “We met on this forum called Jilted Hearts. It’s full of people with failed engagement stories. She planned a local meetup for a bunch of us, but we were the only two who showed up.”
Malcolm doesn’t even glance at Joy while he tells the rest of his story. His eyes are unfocused and lost in a memory. She takes in his wistful, effortless smile. His relaxed posture. The awestruck cadence of his words as he talks about Summer and the past two months he’s spent getting to know her.
Joy has never heard him talk about her like that. Never seen him go soft when people ask how they met, how they managed to stay friends for so long. Joy always faithfully by his side because that’s her spot, pathetically hoping that someday he’ll see she’s right there.
And then, it’s like Malcolm suddenly remembers she is there, locking her in his sights again.
“I just wanted to find someone to talk to who would understand what I’ve been through, and there she was.
I’m convinced we could be more. I think that’s why I’ve been waiting for the perfect moment to introduce you. This weekend is it.”