Living together was unreal; the first few days, Mal spent a significant amount of time with her friends that wanted to celebrate that she finally was living in Seattle with Ben. Jane and Lonnie would make plans with the girl to have lunch and go out after work, leaving her exhausted but happy each day. Ben was glad to see Mal having a good time with her friends, and that made him hopeful about the girl getting used to living there now that she had proof that he wasn't the only one excited with her moving to Seattle.
Every night Mal would tell Ben about her adventures and how weird it was to reconnect to Jane and Lonnie, sure she would see that even though she was happy, there was something still making her feel uneasy. When he asked her Mal told him that not having a job made her feel uncomfortable, everyone had somewhere to be, and she was there with no prospect in sight. Ben understood he wanted to help her, but he didn't know anyone that could give Mal a job. For a while, he tried to look if any of the companies he and his friends worked in had anything in the field she was interested in but not a single one. The closes one was the museum he visited with Mal, but even though Ben knew that she loved the place, he couldn't see where she would fit.
Still, he asked his contacts there to tell him if there was an opening in the future. They talked about places Mal would like to work and how she could use this time to focus on photography just like she was doing on her last days in New York. In a very short amount of time, her new Instagram was gaining followers, and that made her feel like she did have a talent, and people appreciated it. Ben even told her that a lot of people found a way of living out of that alone, and even though Mal knew that to be true, she like the way things were now in that regard.
Days flew by, and soon it was time for Mal's things to arrived, there were supposed to be in Seattle on a Wednesday and Ben moved his entire scheduled to be free that day. The three boys were giving a big presentation on Friday with a new client that would secure them what could be the most significant project they ever work on. So after the truck called them on Wednesday morning to tell them that they had an issue and they would arrive on Friday, Ben went on a rant on how unprofessional they were. Mal took the phone away from him as soon as she was able and apologized to them, assuring them that she would be waiting for them.
"Why did you do that, they were wrong. The movers ruined everything I can't get out of work on Friday, and neither can Azis nor Jay; now, you are going to have to do this alone. I was supposed to help you with everything; even Ryder is going to be busy that day." Ben raised his hands completely frustrated with how things were turning out, he wanted to be there for Mal, and now everything was ruined.
"Ben, they weren't asking us if they could bring the things on Friday they were telling us. Of course, I'm not going to yell at the people that have all my things in their truck. I want my things Ben and they are going to carry them and put them around the apartment, and I'll have coffee and donuts to bribe them, so there is not going to be any issues." Mal smiled at Ben, trying to make him less mad, she understood his frustration, but they finally had a day together alone since her arrival, and she wanted to make it a good one. And so Mal told Ben that they needed to get out and do something fun, there was no way they could change the outcome of the moving truck, but they could make this day memorable for them.
The boy knew she was right, but it was difficult for him to try and change her stated in mind so quickly after planning for everything to happened that day. He told Mal that they needed to text their friends, telling them about the truck because they were supposed to come and helped them that afternoon. The girl nodded and taking their phones, the couple went on to tell everyone what happened, and soon everyone decided that they could still do something fun after the end of the workday. Mal put her phone down, ready to start her day with Ben, but she noticed the boy was still typing away, and she knew that he wasn't prepared to let things go. With her hopes for them to start enjoying the day, she went on to make breakfast for herself and looking at the time consistently wondered if Evie was free for a quick facetime call. The phone rang a couple of times, and then Evie's smiling face was looking back at her. A second later, both girls were telling the other how much they missed being able to get together, even though it was less than a week since they saw each other.
It took Evie less than a minute to noticed Mal's demeanor, and then she was soon hearing how things with the moving truck went wrong and that even though that made her sad, she felt worst about Ben's attitude towards the situation. "I know this is frustrating, but he always managed to see the silver lining and the fact that he is so annoyed, and I'm the reason for it makes me feel bad. He is constantly trying to make me feel at ease with being here, and I know he talked to everyone about making time to help me with the move. Ben also talk to Jane and Lonnie about how hard it was going to be for me to adjust to living here, so they are making an effort to be more available to show their favorite spots."
Evie smiled; it sounded like Mal was not going to have any trouble adjusting, but she could sense that Ben needed to calm down before he drove himself crazy. Also, he would feel worst if he knew that he wasn´t helping Mal's level of stress, so Evie was planning to write to the boy as soon as she finished her call with Mal. They continued to talk until Evie's lunch hour ended, time difference for once had contributed to them having a lovely conversation.
With high spirits after talking to Evie, Mal cleaned up the kitchen and made her way back to the room where Ben was talking on his cellphone, retelling how frustrating the entire situation with the movers was. The girl rolled her eyes at the scene and went to picked up her camera; she was thankful that she was already ready for the day; at least the movers gave her that. Ben turned to look at her and watched Mal picked up her camera and a little backpack, wondering what she was planning. However, when Mal waved at him and walked out of the room Ben run after her while telling the person on the phone that he was going to talk to them later.
As Mal was about to open the door, Ben managed to grab her arm and asked where she was going. The girl breathed deeply and turned, telling him that she was going out and to try to make the best out of the day. "You should do the same; there is no point on wallowing about the movers. Maybe go to the office and work with the guys on the presentation for Friday that would be a better use of your time." She didn't wait for him to answer and walked out of the apartment, needing to be alone.
She walked around and ended up at the museum taking pictures, after that she walked to the little cafe area and started posting them while eating something. Time flew by, and as always, Mal spent a couple of minutes after uploading the pictures answering some comments; there was one account in particular that constantly commented on her post about the different views of Seattle. The girl usually just like the comment but never responded, her DMs were closed, and even though the account asked her to please let him talk to her through DMs, Mal ignore it. Even though she only appeared in a couple of her pictures, Mal assumed that the account belonged to someone that just wanted to chat her up, and she was not inclined to let it happened; her account was her sanctuary not a place for a dumb man to possibly make advances on her.
Suddenly a guy ran into the cafeteria looking around and came to stand in front of her table startling Mal. The first words out of his mouth were the name of Mal's account an to say the girl was shocked was an understatement. The conversation was awkward at first with Mal uneasy and trying to get out of it, but after a couple of minutes and some google searches that validated the information, the stranger was telling Mal, it took a turn.
Hours later, the girl was making her way home shocked by how her day had changed with just one encounter. Taking the stairs, Mal made her way towards the apartment, and with each step, she felt herself starting to smile. When she finally entered her new home, the smile was big, and her cheeks were starting to hurt because of it, but Mal couldn't care less about that. Saying Ben's name out loud, Mal waited to hear if the boy was in the apartment, it took a couple of minutes for her to confirmed that she was alone. Not really in the mood to cook, she ordered something for both of them and then remembered that their friends were going to come to spend some time with them. Mal checked her phone to see if there were any talk of plans in their group chat, however, the only message was from Carlos asking at what time they were meeting at the apartment.
Mal opened her private chat with Carlos and told the boy that she was alone, and was about to order food so he could come whenever he pleased. The boy answered quickly, telling her that he was on her way and that he would bring some snacks too. With that in mind Mal went on to take a quick shower and change her clothes, she was tempted to text Ben telling him about her good news but decided against it. Now that they live together, she could wait a couple of hours to tell him face to face and see his reaction. One of the many pluses of living together was knowing she would definitely see him daily; however, now Mal wondered if the boy was still at work with his friends or they were making their way to the apartment. As much as she wanted to share the news with her friends, part of her wanted to tell him alone so they could celebrate, but her excitement was growing.
Carlos arrived minutes before the food, and together they got everything ready for the rest of their friends. The boy noticed the girl smiling more, and with the news of her frustrated moving into Ben's place, Carlos was confused about her good mood, so he decided to ask Mal if anything happened. The girl shared her story with him unable to contain her excitement anymore, and soon, Carlos was hugging her, and telling Mal how happy he was for her. That's how Ben, Azis, and Jay found them, and all of them were extremely confused about the scene. Carlos's turned to them with a huge smile and told Ben that Mal needed to talk to him in private, making the boy even more confused.
Still, Ben made her way towards the girl whose smile seemed to get even bigger and asked her what was going on. Mal, instead of guiding towards the room so they could talk in private, decided that she was ok with sharing her news with the rest of the group at the same time. So she went on to tell him what happened at the museum, with the guy who was the same person that always commented on her posts and that kept trying to get her to open her DMs. Ben looked worried for a second, wondering who that guy was and why exactly Mal was so happy to meet him. His questions died in his mouth when the girl shared that Oliver, the guy, was the person in charge of the museum's marketing campaign at his company.
"Oliver said that his company won the account that includes several landmarks of the city. That's why he was trying to contact me. He loved my photos and wanted to work with me, so when he saw that my location in the picture was the museum, he went looking for me. I would help out the campaign with pictures and maybe in other ways, and not only of the museum but the other places. Can you believe it? I get to continue my account and also work in photography, which honestly is the best thing that I could think of." Mal ended her story with an even bigger smile, and Ben hugged her telling her that he was incredibly happy for her, and he was sure everything would go amazing. Soon Azis and Jay joined in the well wishes, and when the rest of the group arrived, the entire night ended up being a celebration for Mal's new job.
Thursday Mal went to meet Oliver, and the boy explained more about her new job and all the other projects she would be helping with. Soon enough, she was talking with HR about her contract, and things were going to be finalized in less than a week. It was a busy day for Mal and Ben; both of them immersed in their work; however, when they met at the apartment that night, they only focus on being with each other without interruptions. This was the life they dreamed of having when they talked about moving; one where during the day, the couple could focus on their responsibilities with the peace that brought them knowing that at the end of the day, they would be together.
On Friday, Ben, Azis, and Jay were making a presentation to a big client that refused to reschedule even though they present him with several options for their new meeting. That morning Ben went to work earlier than usual while Mal was ready with lots of snacks as a bribe for the movers. The movers called early that day assuring, her that they would be there at eight, so she went on to get ready, but by ten, Mal was bored and annoyed. Oliver called her then asking her if they could meet later so they could go over a couple of posts he wanted for the next week. Mal shared with the boy what she was doing and apologize for not being able to meet him, to her surprise Oliver was quick to offered to meet her at her place so they could go over the things. Not wanting to seem unprofessional Mal agreed, and the boy was at her home in a matter of minutes; apparently he lived near there.
Meanwhile, Ben was feeling helpless; although Mal told him that she was going to be okay, he felt like he had failed her by not being there for her. The meeting ended later than they expected; however, even then, the trio had to stay at the company to talk to a few of the people that would be working with them in case the client accepted their offer. Still, the moment they were able to get out of there, the boys made their way towards the apartment as quickly as they could. Just as they were about to enter the building they were joined by the rest of the group, which made Ben feel worst. Poor Mal was alone with the movers since the morning, and only now help was coming, Ben imagine how exhausted the girl would be by now. Again guilt came over him, and Ben found himself almost running upstairs towards the apartment; however, when he opened the door, he was met with Mal laughing in the kitchen with a man that he didn't know.
Boxes were neatly stock in the corners of the apartment instead of the chaos that Ben assumed was going to find; he cleared his throat gaining, Mal's and the stranger´s attention, and the girl smile at him. Taking a few steps, she came to his side just as their friends came to stand behind him, so instead of kissing Ben, Mal just said hello to all of them, not wanting to seem rude. Then turned, and walking back to stand next to the stranger she introduced him.
"Everyone met Oliver, I would say he is my boss, but honestly, after today, I think I'll just call him my guardian angel."
**sorry for the delay, I was super behind on the book for this month's book club, so I needed to finish that first.