Ben came into his place tired from another long day; he was finishing a new project, and the boy could not handle how much pressure the client was putting on them to finish ahead of time. Honestly, he would just ignore the man if it wasn't that he was also hoping to finish everything before time so he could fly to visit Mal for his birthday.
The girl had offered to fly to him, but Ben didn't feel comfortable with Mal doing that. The amount of money she was spending on her rent now that she was living alone didn't leave her with a lot of money to spend in other things, and Ben would hate for her to start using her savings to visit him.
The boy stopped for second in front of his fridge, trying to realize if he had the energy to prepare himself something before bed; a second later, he continued his way to his bed and fell asleep. The next morning Ben woke up to his phone ringing and a picture of Mal smiling at him from the screen; Ben answer, and the girl couldn't contain her excitement and started talking a million miles a minute, confusing the boy completely. When she finally calmed down, Ben went on to asked to repeat what she said but slower because he had no clue what was going on with her. He sensed her annoyance, but as much as Ben hated to make her feel like that, the way Mal spoke to him before made him unable to understand anything she said.
"I said that I have an interview in two days in Seattle. If everything goes well, I might get the job, this is my third interview with them, and I´m finally talking to the person I would be working for, so that's exciting." Ben was shocked; Mal never shared that she was already interviewing more than once with any company. She told him that she was going to arrive the next night so she could have time to prepared for the interview and then she would leave that same day. "I only managed to get one day off, which is horrible, but at least I got that."
Ben told her that he would pick her from the airport, and they could spend some time together before she went back to New York.
"I would love that, but you told me you are working overtime, and I don't want you to have to get out of work early for me. We can be together when you go back to your apartment, and don't worry about spending time with me after the interview. I honestly don't know how long it is going to take, so let's just agree that you will take me to the airport when it is time for me to go back, ok? I mean it Ben, don't go changing your plans. or I'm going to feel awful about the entire trip."
Reluctantly he agreed to meet her at the apartment, Mal already had a key to the apartment, so there was no need for him actually to be there. Still, Ben was going to try his best to be free earlier than usual so he could spend as much time as possible with the girl. With that in mind, he got out of bed, and soon enough, he was out of the door, ready to tackle the day. Ben ended up working non stop that day and didn't make his way home until the day Mal was arriving; he arrived at his apartment a couple of hours before her flight was scheduled to get there. After taking a shower he decided to wait for her while watching something, he sent a quick selfie to Mal not sure if her flight had wifi but eager to let her know he was waiting for her. There was no response, so Ben decided that it was time to take a quick nap before the girl arrived.
Ben woke up the next morning with Mal cuddle against him; a bittersweet sentiment invaded him. Having her there made him happy, but knowing that he missed the opportunity to share some time with her was horrible. The boy knew that he needed to get to his office soon, and the thought of not spending time with her while she was so close to him made him sad. As tempted as he was to wake her up so they could talk, Ben decided against it knowing that the six-hour flight was tiring, and she needed to be at her best for the interview. Leaving a note on the nightstand and making sure to plug her phone in and that her alarm was on Ben left the apartment hoping that Mal's interview goes well.
A couple of hours later, he received a text from her telling him that she was about to go into her interview. After that, he tried to check his phone every once in a while to see if Mal wrote to him, but Ben wasn't able to do it. By seven, he was tired and finally able to go to the apartment and hopefully have some time with the girl before she went back to New York. The second he got into the apartment, Mal was hugging him, and they stood still until they lost track of time. Neither of them wanted to let go, so they started talking about their day and how much they wished they could spend more time together. Ben let go of Mal and was about to kiss her when her phone started ringing, announcing the arrival of her uber.
Mal answered, and Ben picked up her suitcase, and together they made their way down and into the uber. They stayed silent on the ride, thinking how weird this visit was, sure they were in the same city for an entire day, but they didn't spend together. Once at the airport, they walked holding hands, making small talk about how busy it was even though it was late; neither could honestly say more than a few words trying to keep their feelings at bay. Sadness was starting to settle between them, and they ended up staying quiet while looking for a play to grab something while they wait; once they decided on a place, they ordered and ate mostly in silence. When it was time for Mal to board her plane, they kissed for the first and final time of the trip, they wave goodbye to each other, and she went away.
That week was rough for both of them, sure they always missed each other, but that trip seemed to hit them hard. A week later, Ben asked Mal if she heard anything from her interview results, and she shared that they already hire someone else; she found out talking to a girl that works there that was Carly's friend. The boy nodded sadly, but he instantly changed his behavior, assuring Mal that it was their loss, and she would find something in the future. Mal smile, although he noticed that it didn't reach her eyes, and he decided to change the subject to his visit to New York next week.
Ben's birthday was in a week, and Mal asked him if there was something special he wanted to do, and the boy joke that as long as they didn't cross path with Harry, he was happy. Mal rolled her eyes, making him smile, and the mood instantly got better, they continue to talk, and the conversation went on for an hour. That week went fast soon, the boy was being hugged by Mal at the airport talking about her plans for the two days of his visit. Evie came to Mal's apartment to wish Ben a happy birthday, and they decided to go out together; when Doug joined them, the girls realized that this was their first double date, which made both girls smile. Sure, Doug and Ben knew each other, but neither of them ever tried to have a friendship, and even though Evie and Mal were close, the boy barely knew things about the other. The conversation was comfortable until Doug's phone started to ring, and Harry's face appeared on the screen. Instead of declining the call, the boy excuse himself and walk out of the restaurant, answering his friend.
When he came back twenty minutes later, he sat down and ate quickly, not talking to the group; when the waiter came to offered desserts, Doug said no and asked for the check. Evie asked him what was going on, and he shared with her that their friends were having a party, and they were waiting for Evie and him to arrive. Then he added that he was sure that Mal and Ben would rather spend the night alone together instead that with them when they barely saw each other. Evie was shocked by the way Doug was acting, but Ben's voice thanking the boy for thinking of them made her feel embarrassed about the situation. "Honestly, I'm a little tired from the flight, but I loved spending time with Mal and Evie, but it is kind of late, so I think I better get some rest."
Evie wanted to say something, and after giving a very pointed look at Doug, which the boy ignore, she was interrupted by the waiter. Ben didn't miss a bit and gave his credit card to him and paid for the meal. After that, he stood up, taking one step Ben went to embraced Evie telling her that he was happy to see her and that if she had time, they should see each other before he went back home. The girl nodded and whispered an apology to the boy who whispered back not to worry, letting her go; he shook Doug's hand for a second and then waited for Mal to say her goodbyes.
The couple made their way back to the girl's place, and Ben went to take a shower before going to sleep. Mal texted Evie, asking her what happened with Doug, just for the girl to tell her that he felt bad being there with Ben when Harry thinks he had something to do with the breakup. Mal almost laughed at how dumb that sounded, Harry ended their relationship because she wasn't ready to get married, and honestly before Ben she was confident she was never going to be. Still, Mal could understand Doug's feelings, so she wasn't mad just annoyed that he could not act normal for an entire evening. Ben came into the room looking tired, and she smiled, putting her phone down while the boy laid next to her. They talk a little until he fell asleep, and Mal smiled again, thinking of how adorable he could be, his birthday was almost over, and they didn't even get to sing him happy birthday at the restaurant, but he assured her that he had a great time.
Morning came too quickly for them, so they decided to sleep in and just enjoyed each other for the rest of the day until it was time for Ben to go to the airport. That ended up being the best decision, and when Evie text them to ask if they were planning something that she could join in, Mal told her their plan, and the girl sent them her best wishes with a winky face. That made them laughed, they talk about how this time apart after planning to be already living together had affected them, and Mal felt better about her decision of moving shortly even if she didn't manage to get a job before going there.
August marked the start of Mal packing her things, and it made her giddy. She invited some of her friends to have little celebrations trying to spent as much time with them as possible. Work was crazy, but the knowledge that this wasn't going to be her future made her take things with a better state of mind. Usually things that annoyed her like people putting extra work on her because they could didn't make a difference in her mood and she also avoided staying too much after work. Ben noticed the change when she told her stories about her work and was happy that she didn't let things bother her but at the same time he was a little taken aback how much her way of seeing things change. When he asked her about it Mal told him that she was trying to focus on what was important to her now which confuse him more but he let it slide.
By September, things at work were fine, but as more time passed more people find out that she was planning to move on from the magazine. At first she worry about the news getting to her superior, but then saw it as a chance to force herself to stay true to the promise she did to herself. With that in mind, one afternoon she requested a meeting with Brandon, her boss and told him that she was ready to leave the magazine. Several people had already told him the rumors and even without that information the way she was conducting herself lately told him that Mal was no longer stressing about pleasing everyone. Brandon advice her that if she was moving on from the magazine and the city for a boy she was going to regret it. "A strong woman wouldn't do something so dumb Mal. I have to admit I'm a little disappointed with the way you are handling yourself."
"A strong woman wouldn't let someone that doesn't even know the situation give her an advise, because it would just come out of his uninformed view of it or based on what he would gain from it. I've work here for years and this is the first time I actually think I'm acting with my own best interest in mind so if anything you should be proud of me." The mood was tense, but he knew that he played his cards wrong by trying to shame her decision. The old Mal would have at least rethink her decision but this time she was not going to let him made her doubt her stance.
With a harsh tone he told her that he would informed HR of his decision and they would be contacting her with the information she needed. Brandon was tempted to tell her to leave that same day but he knew that he would be only making his own situation worst, like it or not Mal was amazing at her job and she more than did her part to make his work easy. With her there he had grown lazy, knowing well that she would make everything work doing the extra necessary. Mal walked out of his office fuming, she thought after years of working together the man would at least had the decency to thank her for her years there. Taking a deep breath she tried to calm down, at least she didn't need to go back to work until Monday and by then she would feel better about not slapping the guy.