Marriage Matters

Sixty-seven

When Chloe’s alarm clock went off, she opened her eyes with dread. It was going to be one of those days. She was booked solid, back to back to back. The thought of rolling over and snuggling up to Geoff’s warm body was so tempting, but it was impossible. There wasn’t even time to fantasize about playing hooky.

On her way out the door, Chloe poked her head into Mary Beth’s bedroom. It was so early that the little girl was still asleep, her stuffed animals carefully arranged around her body. Mary Beth always slept with her arm wrapped around a fuzzy penguin and sure enough, the penguin was in his proper position as her tummy breathed in and out.

Mary Beth looked so incredibly sweet and peaceful that Chloe felt bad about barely having any time to spend with her. According to Geoff, she had already gone to two Mommy and Me classes with Miriam and they seemed to be getting along very well. Chloe was happy for Mary Beth, but selfishly sad. Once exams were over, once the wedding was over, she really needed to make a concerted effort to build a bond with this little girl. It wasn’t right that she felt closer to some of the children in her internships than the girl who was to become her daughter.

Racing out of the apartment, Chloe started her marathon day. After meeting with her study group (good, she might actually know her stuff for the final exam), dashing across town for a final fitting (crazy, it was so weird to think she was so close to walking down the aisle), attending her final class on intervention methods (oops, falling asleep at some point for at least ten minutes) and then, taking her first final (yikes, ethical and legal issues), Chloe dashed across town again to complete her final internship hours for the semester (phew!).

After ten straight hours of running hard, Chloe pulled out her phone to check in with Geoff.

“Whoa.” To her surprise, there were six missed calls. Worried that something had happened to Mary Beth, Chloe played the messages.

Hi, it’s Geoff. Can you come home for a few hours? Mary Beth scared away another sitter and I’ve got a full day . . .

Delete.

It’s me. Where are you? I really need you to take Mary Beth today. It’s an emergency. Call me back.

Chloe went on to the next message.

I’m starting to get a little annoyed. Where are you? [There was a bloodcurdling scream in the background.] Managing this is going to be your responsibility soon enough but I really need your help. Call me.

The next three were exactly the same, each filled with more screaming from Mary Beth and more of an acerbic tone from Geoff. In the final message, he said, I contacted Miriam. She’s taking Mary Beth for the day. If I’m going to need an appointment to get my fiancée on the phone, I really don’t know what the hell it is that we’re doing.

Chloe stared at her phone in disbelief. It was one thing to know that he expected some help taking care of his daughter. It was quite another to realize that meant dropping whatever she was doing so that he could go about his day. And the snide comment about making an appointment? What was that?

After staring at her phone for a long moment, she shook her head. He knew how busy she was. He must have really been freaking out about Mary Beth to say something like that.

Sorry, exams today, she texted. Thought you knew?

Geoff texted back: It’s all straightened out.

Chloe stared at her phone, surprised. Where was the “hope it went well” or “know you did great” or even “let’s meet for dinner”? She stood in silence, a funny feeling in the pit of her gut.

Hopping on the train, Chloe went straight to her favorite corner bar, which was the bar where she and Ben had made the pact to go on a practice date. Even though it was a Wednesday night, she half hoped to bump into him. Maybe they could drink until it felt like old times, laughing and joking and pretending that the past few months hadn’t happened.

Chloe sat at their booth, squeezing limes into her drink and watching the door. After two vodka tonics, she decided there was something she needed to know. Stumbling outside, she hailed a cab. As it cruised toward the destination, her heart pounded with fear.

“What are you doing here?” Sally squealed, throwing open the door. She was wearing a fuzzy white robe and had a light green face mask smeared all over her face. Her hair fell in wet ringlets around her shoulders.

Chloe couldn’t quite answer. Instead, she swept inside and slammed the door behind her. The framed black-and-white posters that lined the walls shook. So did Sally’s ridiculous collection of wedding crystal. It was a menagerie of colorful animals riding carousels, holding balloons or playing with friends. To this day, Sally found it difficult to articulate exactly what had compelled her to register for something so ridiculous.

“I need you to tell me something.” Chloe turned to her friend. “And I don’t want you to lie.”

“Are you pissed?” Sally demanded. “Come on, Chloe. It’s late. I was just about to go to bed.”

“It is 11:10 in the p.m.” Chloe’s eyes settled on the black-and-white clock hanging above the black leather sofa. “Stop being so incredibly”—she searched for the right word—“married.”

Sally snorted. “Bloody hell. You are pissed.”

“I am not. Do you have anything to drink?” Chloe swept into the kitchen, looking for an open bottle of wine. There was nothing. “Shit.”

Sally poured two glasses of sparkling water. “Somebody must have the pre-wedding jitters!”

Chloe paused. It seemed like she had those quite a bit lately.

“Look, I have to ask you something serious.” Chloe squinted at her. “Do you like him? Do you like Geoff?” There was a moment of hesitation in Sally’s face. “You don’t.” Chloe hit the table like she had a winning poker hand. “You can’t stand him.”

“I didn’t say that,” Sally insisted. “You’re drunk.” Shoving the glass of water toward Chloe, she said, “Look, I think Geoff is fine. He’s just not who I pictured for you.”

“Who did you picture?”

Twisting a blonde ringlet around her finger, Sally bit her lip. “Come on. I don’t know.”

Chloe stretched her arms across the table, resting her head on her sleeve. “What did Ben say to you?” she asked. “When you told him about the engagement?”

Sally hesitated. “Why do you want to know?”

Sitting up, she picked up the glass of water and studied it. “I just . . .” She took a long drink. “I just do.”

“Ben’s in love with you,” Sally said. “He has been for years.”

Chloe stared at her friend, stunned. Feeling a slow flush creep up the back of her neck, she said, “No. I don’t believe you. He’s barely spoken to me in weeks. And . . . And he said that the only reason a man would even want to be with me is so that I could be his kid’s nanny. Those are not words of love.”

“Ben has been in love with you ever since I’ve known him,” Sally said. Giving a hearty sigh, she tugged at a silver stud earring in her right ear. “I was never supposed to tell you that, you know. Ben confessed one night when we were getting high, up on the roof.”

“You got high with Ben?” Chloe was shocked. “He can’t get high. He’s bad at it.”

Sally shrugged. “It was just one of those nights. You’d gone on a date and he was . . . having a hard time with it. So, we started talking.”

Chloe swallowed hard. “Why didn’t he say anything to me?”

“About getting high? Probably because—”

“Sal.” Chloe’s tone was sharp.

“Ugh.” Sally groaned. “I don’t want to be put in the middle of this.” She tugged on the lapel of her bathrobe. It was monogrammed with her and Norman’s initials. Chloe thought about the bathrobes she and Geoff had received as a gift. They looked almost exactly the same. “Ben didn’t say anything because you’re best friends. There was a risk in ruining that then, wasn’t there?”

Chloe looked down at her engagement ring. “I wish he would have just said something.”

“Why?” Sally’s face was stern. “It doesn’t matter. You’re getting married. In two weeks. Now is not the time to start playing the what-if game.”

Chloe looked down at her glass of water. The bubbles were rising to the surface like champagne.

“Unless . . .” Sally reached over and took her hand. Her voice was gentle. “Unless Ben is the person you want to spend the rest of your life with. If that’s the case . . . well, then that’s a different story.”

Chloe shrugged. “You’re forgetting something very important. Ben would have to want that, too.”

“He does, Chloe.” Sally nodded so hard that her blonde curls bounced. “He does.”