"Ben!. Hey, I'm sorry I wasn't able to call you before, but everything is fine. After I left your apartment yesterday, I went back to work and finally admitted to myself that it was dumb of me to keep waiting for Jane to come back, and by doing that I was mistreating not only you but all the people at the office that were working overtime to cover her." Mal stopped talking at turned to her right and smiled telling whoever was there that she was talking to Ben but that she would be ready to go in five minutes. Turning again to look at her phone, the girl continued to tell Ben about what happened after that from her asking Jay for Carrie's number to her traveling to meet the girl and staying with her to see if they would work together well. Mal told him about her trip and how she found some cute things at the airport including a magnet for his fridge. Also, how she and Carrie were going to walk around the city a little so they could get to know each other and tomorrow, they were supposed to meet one of Mal's vendor to see how the girl reacted in the meeting.
"I think I'm going to stay a week in Chicago and then both of us are going to Denver, of course, Carrie has to decide if what I'm offering her is worth moving but I have high hopes about it." The girl continued to ramble about how everything was working out for a couple of minutes, and then he saw her turned again to her right and blushed a little. Mal apologized to Carrie, he assumed it was the girl for what Mal told him about staying at Carrie's house, and tell her that she was hanging up that second so they could go out. After that, she turned towards the screen, and with an apologetic expression, she told Ben that Carrie and her where going out but that she would call him the next day, with that she hang up the phone and he found himself staring at his now empty screen. Ben turned to see Jay standing in front of him with a little smile on his face, and he couldn't help but mirror it.
"Well, I guess Mal is over wallowing about Jane's departure. She seems excited about Carrie which is great and also the fact that she flew there means that she is not playing around anymore. Whatever you guys discussed yesterday really did the trick Ben, congrats." Ben nodded but for the life of him he wasn't able to think of one thing they talk yesterday that would make Mal reconsidered her position, he loved the girl but she was stubborn as a mule. Still, he was glad that Mal decided to give Carrie a chance, but now he was a little taken aback about not seeing her for more than a week. In another time he would fly there to see her, but Ben knew that she needed to focus on her job and he also needed to stayed and helped Tony adjust to his new position at the magazine. The rest of the day flew by, and soon it was time for Ben to go home, again later than usual but at least at a decent hour now, once there he made himself something to eat and sat ready to enjoy some quiet time.
He started checking his phone to see if maybe Mal wrote him a text or send him a video and to his joy he was tagged in some photos of her Instagram where she was smiling in different places in Chicago, the photos would usually say that she loved the place or the food she was having. Ben started to like her posts and made little comments of how they should go there someday together so they could enjoy it together, he spent a lot of time rewatching her photos and Insta stories and laughing at some jokes she made but mainly loving how cute she looked and thought about how much he missed her. The next morning he woke up and felt sad just thinking about Mal not being in the same city but he told himself that what she was doing wat the best thing for her and he should just accept and not be selfish, after that he got ready for work and once again decided to walk there. In the middle of one of his favorite songs his phone started ringing, taking his phone out of his pocket he saw that Mal was facetiming him and quickly accepted her called, soon he was watching a sleepy Mal wishing him a good morning.
"Good morning to you too sleeping beauty. Why are you waking up at 6? It is an hour earlier there, right?" The girl nodded but told him that she knew that this was his usual time for going to work and she wanted to talk to him while he got there. Ben smiled and told her how much he loved her which made Mal blush, soon both of them were declaring their love for the other. In Ben's case, it caused many of the early birds that were crossing paths with him to do a double take of the boy that was so endearingly talking to his phone. In a little paused of their mutual adoration, Mal asked him how everything was going at work, and even though Ben tried to avoid the conversation because he just wanted to keep telling her how much he loved her, he finally answered her question. Soon, Mal was giving some advice some possible articles that she thought would interest him and their conversation change gears entirely but kept being great for both of them. Ben got to his office while talking to her just waving to the few people that were there already. However, as soon as Mal realized that the boy was finally at his work she said her goodbyes telling him that she needed to get ready for her day too, reluctantly the boy said goodbye to her not before telling her how much he loved her and how much he enjoyed her instagrams post.
"I'm glad you like them, I wanted to show you some of the places I like from my walk with Carrie. By the way, she is even better than what I thought, and after today's meeting, she is going to tell me if she is going to accept my offer to come work with me at New York. Now stop distracting me and start working Mister because I need to go shower and change before my meeting." Sending him a kiss she ended the call making Ben laughed at how much she knew him.
That day was Tony's first, and soon Ben realized that he had made a great decision asking the boy to come work with him, Tony got things quickly and he also gave a fresh perspective to many issues that were presented to him. Jay and Ben took the boy to lunch as a welcome, and that's where Jay found out how Ben got to meet the kid. "Well, let me tell you something Ben. You are lucky because I'm sure Tony wouldn't have any issues finding work anywhere else, I'm just glad you decided to accepted Ben's offer we really are happy to have you with us, Tony."
Tony was glad too, he knew he had choices but Ben's publication was one of his favorites, he loved how they found a way to cover a variety of topics and always looking smart about the way they handle them. At the end of the day, Ben was getting ready to go home and calling Mal when Billy entered his office with a big smile. "Hey, Ben. I was hoping I would find you."
Ben smiled at Billy and went to shake his hand, but the man hugged him, after that he thanked the boy for giving his boy a chance. Soon they were sitting in Ben's office talking about Tony and how lucky Ben felt of having him working in the magazine, both men spoke for a while until Billy told Ben that he needed to start cleaning and the boy went on his way home. When he arrived home, he realized that it was late and even if Chicago was an hour behind Mal would be sleeping already tired of having meetings all day and waking up early to call him that morning.
The scene from the night before repeated itself, he cooked dinner listening to music and when he sat down to eat, he started checking Instagram and Twitter founding some posts from Mal where she tagged him. The rest of the week was the same, each morning the girl would call him and every night he would found messages from her, the only thing that change was he started posting some for her during the day too.
Carrie accepted Mal's offer to come work with her in New York, and Mal was excited about finding her an apartment to stay but told her that she could stay with her while searching for a place. Soon they were making their way to Denver, and with every meeting and decision they took Mal felt better about the entire situation, the only thing that was causing the girl to feel uneasy was how much she missed Ben.
On her second night in Denver, there was a knock on her door and her heart jump with excitement hoping that Ben was outside of her room. Mal opened the door and saw Carrie carrying some sweets for them to share, and her face fell so the girl asked her what was going on and Mal told her. "Well, maybe you can go back to see him. We don't have meetings until Wednesday and is Sunday so how about you go see him today?"
Mal asked her if she was sure, after all, they travel together to Denver, and Carrie would be alone until she came back on Tuesday night. "Mal, I'll be fine. I see how much you guys missed each other, just go and see him for a day or two and come back."
Both girls checked for flights and luckily Mal would be able to catch the last JetBlue flight to New York if she left for the airport right then. While the girl ran to find a taxi to take her to the airport, Carrie bought her the ticket and sent her the confirmation to her phone. Even though she wanted to surprise Ben, Mal decided against it and called him the moment she was safely seating on the plane; the boy was half asleep when he answered the phone asking her if she was ok.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry to wake you up." Just then the pilot announced that everyone needed to turn off their electronic devices.
That woke Ben up. "Mal, are you on a plane?I thought you were already in Denver, are you sure you are ok? Did something happened with Carrie?".
"Everything is fine; I just miss you, so I'm coming home for a couple of days. I wanted to surprise you but.." Just then Ben heard someone telling Mal that she needed to turned her phone off right now. Mal apologized to the person and told him, that she needed to go. After the call ended, Ben was wide awake; he searched on his phone for possible flights from Denver to New York leaving at that time and found that both options arrived minutes before six am.
He called the concierge downstairs and told him to please find him a taxi at 5:20 am and to called him to let him know when he had it. Ben fall asleep with a massive smile on his face, she was finally coming back to him even if only for two days. He woke up at four forty, changed and went downstairs, he made it out at precisely 5:15 and found himself a taxi making the concierge chuckle at the boy's excitement, he didn't need Ben to tell him why the boy was going to the airport for the older man to know.
Once at the airport he wasn't sure where he was supposed to look for Mal, so Ben decided to check the arrivals, the first flight to arrive was Jet Blue, so he went to stay closer to that gate. Ben was rewarded with Mal walking out a little distracted and running towards him the second she noticed him. They hugged and told each other how much they missed the other and how happy they were to be together again. "You must be exhausted, do you want to go home and rest or eat something maybe?"
Ben noticed then that the girl only had a purse with her and asked her if she needed to pick her luggage but Mal told him that she didn't bring anything. "I was in a hurry to get to the airport, and I have my things here, so there was no real reason for me to pack anything. Now about your question, I'm hungry so can we please eat something before going home? " Then she looked into her purse and took out a fridge magnet and gave it to Ben.
The boy smiled at her and kissed her cheek. "So tell me exactly how are you here right now?. Don't get me wrong I love that you are here, but last time we talk you were about to go have dinner with Carrie, and we were going to talk tomorrow."
Mal smiled and told him what happened just hours before while they made their way to find a taxi. The ride to the restaurant was done in comfortable silent while the couple snuggled a little in the back of the car enjoying each other company. At the restaurant, Mal order enough food for three making Ben smiled at her and told the waitress that he was going to have the same which proof to shock the woman that only nodded and made her way to the kitchen to place the order. Soon Mal started to ask him about his work, but Ben shut down the conversation, saying that didn't want to think about work now.
While they were eating Mal shared her adventures and a list of all the places she wanted to go back with him, some Ben already know and made little comments about them making the conversation more fluid between them. In the middle of their breakfast his phone rang, and when he tried to turn it off, Mal took it from him and answered. She wasn't surprised when the person calling told her that Ben was expected to attend a meeting in 20 minutes, but he was still not in the office. Mal told the person that Ben was on his way and not to worry, at that moment the boy tried to take the phone from her hand just for her to hit his hand to stop him.
Mal ended the call and called for the waitress to bring the check. Ben looked at her making his best pout "Mal don't. I'll call in and tell them I can't go in today; I want to be with you today."
"Don't pout like that Ben, you know is difficult to say no to you when you that and is not fair. You should go to work; people depend on you to be there, and like you said before I'm tired. I'll go home and sleep a little then I'll come back to your office, and we can have lunch together. I should probably check in at my office to see if they need me for anything just in case." Mal started to ramble about that cutting any argument from Ben about staying together the rest of the day.
Ben paid for the breakfast and Mal walked him to his office making sure he went there instead of following her home like he was planning to do. "I'll see you later, ok?"
Mal went to kiss his cheek, but the boy turned his head and captured her lips in his initiating a kiss that began to escalate quickly until Jay clear his throat next to them while looking at them with a smug expression on his face. "Well, I see you are back in town Mal. I was wondering what happened to Ben this morning, but now I see."
Ben looked at him with annoyment making his friend laugh out loud. The boy went to say hi to Mal and hug her, but Ben hugged her closer to him and told him not to touch her girlfriend after making fun of them which only made Mal and Jay laugh out loud more. "Come on Ben, I was just playing around don't be like that."
The boy smiled at his friend and let him approach Mal just a little before pulling her towards him again laughing now with the other two. Mal let go of Ben and went to hug Jay and say hello when a frazzled looking girl came into the office telling Ben that everyone was waiting for him in the conference room. Mal told Ben to go and that she would be back at lunchtime so they could eat together before she went to her office, the boy kiss her cheek and went on his way leaving Jay to talk to her.
Soon the couple started talking about how everything was going with Carrie and without even noticing it they began to talk about some projects they were discussing before Jane left the company. To their surprise, in the middle of their conversation, Ben came back into the office. "Mal, you are already here. Sorry, it took so long, but we were having a great discussion about the next issue and time flew. How about you two go to the restaurant, and I'll catch up with you?"
Jay looked at Mal and almost laugh at the shocked expression she had on her face, which he was sure was a mirror in his. "Yeah Ben, we'll do that."
The boy smiled and when back to the conference room to finish the meeting so he could join Mal and Jay for lunch. When he arrived at the restaurant, he saw that Lonnie was also sitting at the table with them and wondered if maybe he should invite the couple to do something with them that night. However, when he made it to the table, he realized that plans were already made and everyone was going to Lonnie's house to have dinner and play some board games.
Before they finish eating Ben's phone rang and he was informed that once again he was running late for his meeting. He excused himself and told Mal that he was going to pick her up from so that they could make their way to Lonnie's together but the girl told him not to worry, she was spending time with Lonnie that afternoon at work and she would see him there. That night when Ben arrived at the dinner, he saw the table already serve and smiled at the familiarity of the scene.
At dinner, he found out that Mal never left his office that morning but instead stay talking to Jay, which explained why the girl looked so tired. After they finish eating Mal decided that it was better for her to go back to her apartment to sleep, so she and Ben said their goodbyes and went on their way. The girl asked Ben if he wanted to get breakfast the next day but he couldn't so they decided to have lunch together and then spent the rest of the day together, with that settled they went to their respective apartments.
The next day before going to work Ben went to knock on Mal's door and when the girl opened the door, he started kissing her while gently pushing her into the apartment. The next half hour they spent making up for lost time on Mal's couch, and it took Ben every ounce of self-control not to stayed with her the rest of the day. When they finally met for lunch the boy made sure that every single person in his office knew that he was not to be disturbed for the rest of the day, the second Mal entered his office he turned off his phone and went to kiss her.
"I'm ready to go. What do you want to do?" Mal smiled thinking back to that morning at her apartment; Ben smiled when he saw blush covering her cheeks and kissed her again.
They decided to eat at her favorite restaurant, after that, they went for a walk and just enjoy being together again. "So you are happy with Carrie then?"
Mal always told him how happy she was about finding Carrie but Ben wanted to see her reaction, part of him wondered if she was just saying that to please him.
"I miss Jane if that is what you are asking, but not the working part of our relationship. Carrie is great and working with her is great, she is helping me get organized, and when she is back here with me, I'm sure things are going to be better." Mal told him, and Ben nodded.
"Sorry to ask, I just wanted to know how you felt about the situation with Jane and Carrie." Mal nodded, but he could see that her mood changed from content to annoyed and he wished he could take back his question.
Mal took a look at her watch and groaned it was already 4:30 pm and her flight left at 6:15. Ben asked her what was going on and Mal told him that she needed to leave to the airport because the next flight was at 10 and she needed to arrive at Denver and have a good night sleep before her meetings. For a second Ben wondered if she was making this up, but he decided not to listen to that part of himself and taking his phone out he called for an Uber to take them to the airport.
Soon the couple was on their way to the airport; they made it there with time to spare, so Mal decided to buy a couple of magazines to entertain herself. Ben stood back buying her some snacks and when he turned he noticed that from where he was standing it looked like half of Mal was standing in front of the wedding magazines, he took his phone out and took a picture of that. The girl turned and saw him smiling at her and without knowing what was going on she smiled back and went to the paid for her magazines. "I'll get that Mal don't worry. Do you want anything else?"
"No, that's fine. Maybe some sweets?" She put her best innocent smiled and Ben laughed and gave her the bag with the sweet he already bought her making the girl smiled at him. " See you get me. One of the many reasons I love you."
A couple of minutes later they were kissing goodbye and promising each other to talk the next morning. Mal made it to her seat on the plane and was about to turn it off when he noticed a message from Ben when she opened the text she smiled. Ben sent her a picture of her standing in front of the magazines, to her left were the ones talking about Hollywood gossip and to her right were the ones for brides. The message read "I love you Mal. I hope you will soon be standing more to the right."
She sent a quick I love you back before turning her phone off with a huge smile on her face.
Notes
Thoughts?