Mal was in a bad mood since Jane informed her that she was not going to help her play matchmaker. The girl called her friend, expecting the information she needed to start her operation. "Ben gets a girlfriend," but after making small talk with Jane, Mal started asking her about the outing she had with Ben. After a couple of funny stories of the night, Mal went on and told Jane her plan ready to start plotting the next step. That planning came to a sudden stop the moment Jane said no. The girl thought that Mal asking if her friend would like to date, Ben was interfering in the boys' love life and a horrible idea that he would hate. Sure, Mal tried to convince Jane that she would tell the girl how good Ben was and that he had some qualities that girls usually look for in boyfriends. Still, that made nothing to convinced her friend, so after a while, Mal just ended the conversation promising Jane that they would see each other when she came to visit New York in a month.
When Mal shared what happened in her conversation with Evie and Harry, both of them agree with Jane and told the girl that she needed to stop any plans that involved Ben's romantic life. "Look, Mal, he is going to find someone with time. You told us yourself that the moment you started pushing the subject, he told you to stop. So, if you want to stay close to him, start respecting his decisions." After hearing Evie said that Mal agreed not to search for the girl or push the subject with Ben, there was one thing the girl wouldn't jeopardize, and that was her friendship with the boy.
That night the friends met with Evie's boyfriend, Doug, and together went on to their favorite bars until the early hours of the next morning. They all crashed in Evie's apartment and woke up for a late lunch and went on to have a beautiful walk around the city, taking advantage of the weather and the rarity of the four having free time to spend together.
By Monday, everyone went back to their routine feeling happy; for Mal though, it didn't last long because she remembered that she was supposed to call Ben that past weekend. Quickly the girl sent a text apologizing to her friend, promising to call him later that day when she knew he would be on his way to his apartment. After that, she turned off her phone and went with her days.
Mal worked hard to find her dreamed job, and even though it was very demanding, the girl enjoyed every minute of it. She worked in her favorite magazine as a graphic director. Every month Mal saw her work on print, which she treasured thinking of how even as a kid she dreamed of doing that. Memories when she was younger and would save her money to buy the magazine came, and she smiled to herself. One year though, Ben gifted her a yearly subscription, and he continued to do it even now, which she appreciated. That little memory of her friend made her feel bad about forgetting him.
When her meetings ended, Mal turned on her phone, and there was a text from Ben assuring her that she didn't need to feel bad about not calling him. The boy told her that he was not going to be able to talk to her because he was going out with some investors, and he wasn't sure about his schedules for the rest of the week. Mal sent a quick response and continue with her day, soon enough the week was ending and another text of Ben excusing himself for not being able to talk that day made a damper in Mal's day.
That continued for a couple of months, the longest they ever went without talking to each other since they met years ago. The end of the year came quickly, and Mal found herself on a plane to Denver, ready to spent her holidays with Harry's family. Ben had called her the night before; sadly, she was in the middle of her company's holiday dinner, so they weren't able to talk for more than five minutes, but she was still happy to see her friend. On her second day in Boston Mal went to buy some last-minute presents and Harry decided to stay back with his parents.
Taking advantage of that, the girl sent a text to Ben, asking him if he was free to facetime, and the call came as the answer. Both of them laughed the moment they realized they were in the same situation and between helping each other picked gifts and talking extensively about the last couple of months. Sure, they texted all the time, but it wasn't the same.
When Mal realized Ben looking at some jewelry, the girl smile knowingly and asked his friend for who he was shopping for making a joke that her gift should be arriving by now. The boy smile and told Mal that he was seeing someone but that he wanted to share it with her in a call instead of text so she could ask all the questions she wanted. The girl laughed and went on with her questions, and soon she had all the information.
Ben met Nicky, thanks to Carlos. They work in the same place, and the girl came with Carlos to one of the game nights where the group usually get together to unwind. Soon she got pair up with Ben for a game, and from that moment on, they were inseparable, it was like sparks flew between them, and everyone in the group could see it. Jane purposely didn't post any pictures of them or even of the group from that moment on, not wanting Mal to start pushing Ben and possibly annoying him. After Ben shared everything with Mal, it took every ounce of restraint for the girl not to gloat about how he would be happier in a relationship. Still, she maintained her calm and congratulated the boy in his relationship and went on to asked him about his parents. Ben laughed at the force sense of calm Mal was projecting and told her so, making the girl stuck her tongue at him, assuring him that she was just growing up.
The holidays went on, and aside from their traditional five minutes calls on Christmas day and New Year eve, the friends didn't talk much. Mal went back to New York while Harry stayed a couple of extra weeks with his parents. When Mal was back in New York, she went looking for Evie and shared with the girl how at some point on her trip, she was sure that Harry was going to propose to her. "It was so weird; one day, I was sure it was coming at any second, and the next, we were back to our normal."
Evie was silent for a long while; she was as confused as Mal was because the week before her friend went on her trip, she helped Harry looked for a ring for her friend. The boy was supposed to ask her to marry him in New Year's Eve, but when Mal didn't say anything, Evie started to wonder if maybe they were waiting to come back to share the news with everyone. Now with her friend sitting in front of her completely confused, she didn't know what to do or say. Mal continued to ramble for a while and finally asked Evie what her thoughts were on the matter.
"I don't know what to tell you Mal; maybe you are projecting your wishes onto him. Are you disappointed he didn't ask you to get married? I mean, you guys are together for five years now." Mal seemed to take in what her friend was saying, and she noticed that she wasn't disappointed about Harry not taking the next step.
"Honestly, I haven't think about getting married. Maybe it has to do with my parents' divorce and then how my mom and your dad also got divorced that I don't see the point of it. I'm guessing I just had that weird feeling, but it is ok. Hey, did I tell you about Ben's new girlfriend?" Evie zone out after Mal started retelling her about their friend's new relationship, wondering if maybe Harry sense that Mal didn't want to take the next step, and that's why he didn't ask her.
Harry came back two weeks after that, and Evie noticed that he was avoiding her, which only affirmed her believes. The girl never mentioned the subject, but it was still awkward between them for a while. Mal noticed that and asked both of them if something happened, but they brushed it off just as her imagination playing tricks on her.
Phonecalls with Ben were now every three weeks because the boy had less time available now that he was in a relationship, sure Mal could be annoyed about it, but the only reason they only talked once a week before was due to her scheduled. So on the next opportunity, she had to speak with Ben; she shared her concerns about how weird was the relationship between Evie and Harry lately. Ben asked her if anything out of the ordinary happened recently, and Mal couldn't think of anything, so the boy told her maybe they had a minor disagreement and were annoyed with the other. "I bet is nothing that important, and that's why they are not telling you. Just give them time to work it out and if things continued to be this way for too long, sit them down and make them talk."
Mal agreed with Ben and smiled at how it only took him a couple of minutes to put her at ease after weeks of being worry about the situation. She honestly missed talking to him every week, but she had already made her peace with the situation and was not going to make him feel guilty about enjoying time with Nicky. "I know you are worried, Mal, but if it makes you feel better, I can call Evie and asked her if something is happening. Sure, she will know that I'm asking on your behalf, but maybe she will share something with me, or at least she will realize how this is affecting you and tried to work things out."
The girl smiled and asked Ben to please go ahead and talk with Evie because she hated how things were. The second they ended the call, Ben called Evie, and the girl assured him that nothing bad happened between her and Harry and that she would make an effort to make things normal for Mal. Ben knew Evie enough to realized she was lying to him, so he pushed the subject until the girl confided in him the reason why things were awkward. The boy was shocked to hear about Harry's plans, sure it wasn't illogical to think that he would be thinking about the next step, but Ben knew Mal enough to know that she would need to discuss the idea for a while before being asked formally.
Ben told Evie that she needed to talk to Harry because Mal wasn't buying that they were ok, so she would soon start to push the subject, and it would be wrong if that's how the boy popped the question. The girl knew he was right, and after bouncing ideas with him about how to talk to Harry, she felt much better, she hadn't shared with Doug anything fearing that the boy would spill the secret if Mal pushed the subject. Talking to Ben made her remembered when they were in college and live together, how the boy would help her see things in a brighter light. Some days she wondered why Ben never tried to have a relationship with Mal; for Evie, they would make the perfect couple, the way they balance each other, and how supportive they were of the others dream meant that they would be able to work through anything. Sadly after years of wishing for them to see the other in a new light, Mal was close to getting engaged, and Ben was in a new relationship. Honestly, they annoyed her sometimes, but she was going to respect the fact that they were utterly blind to the chance of love they had in each other.
After talking for a while, Ben promised Evie not to tell Mal anything about what happened but that things were going to get better soon. Evie laughed, knowing that Mal would be happy to hear that from Ben, and after that, they ended the call.