Lonnie made her way downstairs to find the couple cuddling on the couch and smiled at them, and asked them if they were ready to eat because she was starving. Mal nodded and took her phone out, ready to order, when she got visibly confused, causing Ben to ask her if she was ok.
"Yeah, it's just that I have an email from my manager team asking me if I could do an unboxing from a couple of things they sent me while I was away. I know I gave them this address, but I don't remember seeing packages here, so maybe I have to pick them up?" Lonnie nodded; she didn't remember seeing anything either, so she was about to tell Mal that they could go pick them up with Ben the next day when the boy's laugh interrupted her.
"You don't need to go pick anything up, Mal. Come with me. "He stood up, offered his hand to her, and headed towards the garage with Lonnie following them. Once the boy opened the door to the garage, it was obvious where her packages were and that she had enough boxes to open for maybe two videos or a very long one. "I was bringing them to your room, but a couple of big boxes came, and I decided to put everything in the garage until you came back from New York. Your mail is in one of the boxes too; I was going to tell you but completely forgot, sorry."
Mal nodded; seeing the number of packages, she understood why Ben decided to put everything out of the way; with her traveling and then the time she spent with Ben, the girl had to admit that she forgot to open several packages. If it wasn't for the reminders and that the boy always left her Hello Fresh packages insight, she would have realized that her usual number of packages were not arriving. Although Mal wasn't obligated to show everything that was sent to her, it was in her best interest to at least show them in her videos to thank the companies for having her on their PR list. Also, she used the opportunity to try some of the products to see if she was open to working with the companies in the future.
With Mal doing the renovation videos, she was glad to see that some of the companies she reached out to would continue to invite her to showrooms and little events where they showed their tools. Some of the brands she worked with started sending her products from their home lines which was a dream come true. In the future, Mal would love to develop a line with them, and her series was a way for her to start to build the relationship. Ben cleared his throat and asked her if she wanted him to move the boxes to the living room bringing the girl out of her thoughts. "I think I should do the unboxing here. There are too many of them, and if I do the unboxing anywhere else the boxes are going to be an issue to move back here."
Ben and Lonnie nodded and then asked when she planned to film so they could help her prepare the lights and open the boxes. Mal realized that she couldn't avoid asking them to help her because of her arm and felt guilty about making them lose their time; she usually filmed while they were at work. Sure, she was used to filming with people around her, but there was something that still made her nervous about filming with Ben near her. Thinking about her options, Mal decided that she could ask some of her friends, but when she shared the reasons behind her reasoning with Ben and Lonnie, they both told her that they were okay with helping her and that they could talk about more the next day.
They went on to have dinner and talk about the girls adventures in New York after the couple said their goodbyes to Lonnie and made their way towards the boy's room, where they decided to spend the night together. The following day when she woke up alone in Ben's bed, Mal noticed a post-it on his pillow telling her that the boy and Lonnie were gone and that he had left her breakfast ready downstairs. Smiling, Mal made her way downstairs, stopping only to brush her teeth, eager to see what the boy had left for her to eat before making his way to work. Once in the kitchen, she noticed a couple of post-its with instructions on where to find the food.
There were waffles ready, and juice served; there was also a pod of her favorite flavor of coffee for her to prepare the way she wanted. Soon Mal was sitting down enjoying the food and noticing a couple of other post-its with other messages for her from the boy. In one, Ben wished Mal a good day and told her that she should check the garage where he had prepared something for her unboxing video if she decided to film it while he was gone, although he would like to help her.
After finishing her food and putting the dishes in the dishwasher, Mal made her way toward the garage, where she saw what Ben had done. All the brown boxes were gone; she realized that Ben had cut them and put them in the recycling bin while also making a little wall of the boxes of the brands showing their names to her camera. Now she had a colorful background, and she didn't need to worry about opening the boxes that usually contained the PR ones. Mal noticed then that Ben had put her camera on her tripod and lights in the perfect position for her to do her video while sitting on the floor in front of the boxes. On the floor, the boy had put enough blankets to make a cozy place for Mal to sit so that she could easily access the boxes while seated in a comfortable position; to one side, there was a little table she didn't remember seeing with a card for her camera on top.
Smiling, she made her way upstairs Mal changed clothes and put on her makeup, getting ready to film her video. As always, once she started recording, Mal decided to talk a little at first about what she was up to now and why she had so many boxes behind her. After filming the first part, she picked a couple of boxes and put them next to her, wondering how long it would take her to open each one until she realized the boy had done that for her. That's when she decided to check the card in case she needed to use it, and when Mal saw the footage, the girl couldn't stop smiling. Ben had filmed each box standing on the table in a closeup and then the same box with the products inside. That meant that Mal didn't need to keep putting the boxes in front of the camera, focusing on them while talking about the brand; instead, she didn't show the boxes she was opening but only showed some products that she knew better than others while talking.
The rest of the video would be done by mixing footage that Ben filmed and doing voice-over, which Mal found comforting after weeks of not doing any editing. Once she imported the entire files, she noticed that in the end, there was a little video from Ben and Lonnie doing the wall and then waving at the camera. Mal decided that she wanted to include it in the video, and she made a mental note to asked them for their permission. Her arm started bothering her, so Mal decided it was time for her to move to the sofa so she could begin to her editing. That's where Ben found her hours later when he made his way home and smiled at how much he loved coming back to Mal sitting on the couch or just knowing she was there.
Lonnie had sent him a text telling Ben that she was going out with friends and that she wouldn't eat with the couple that night. That gave the boy an idea and he decided to ask Mal on a date; he made a reservation in a restaurant he remembered her mentioning and hoped that she was up to having a night out with him. Ben said hi, but Mal was using her earphones, so she didn't hear him and he ended up scaring him when she noticed him moments later. After apologizing to Mal, Ben sat down next to her and leaned in to give a quick kiss on her cheek, sharing with her that Lonnie was coming late and asking her if she wanted to join him on a night out.
Mal hesitated, she needed to work a few hours to finish editing, and her manager had called her telling her that it was important for that video to go up that week. However, Ben looked so excited about the prospect of them going out that she nodded and decided she could finish it that night or later the next day. Nodding Mal stood from the couch, and together the couple made their way upstairs to change so they would leave for the restaurant with enough time to make their reservation.
At the restaurant, they made small talk about their day to days and Mal's plan for some future trips she hoped to take in the next couple of months. There she asked Ben when exactly he had time to film all the b-roll for her video. His cheek color, and he asked her if it was ok, and Mal thank him but push for an answer. Then Ben went on to share that after she felt asleep he kept thinking about her doing the video on her own so he went downstairs and started to cut the boxes, and then filming. When he had like a couple left sleep came hard so he went upstairs and slept a couple of hours and then woke up early and wih Lonnie's help he film the last ones and she was the one that had the idea of building the wall. Mal thank him but was amaze that he wasn't falling asleep right there, Ben chuckle and assure her that he was tired but having this time for them was better than sleep.
Time flew by and after they finished eating the couple walked around for a while until they saw a little fair. Deciding to have a looked before heading back to the house, Mal took out her camera and tried to film, but after a couple of minutes, she put it back in her purse annoyed at her hand. Ben noticed and asked her if something was wrong.
"No, not really. Is just that the cast makes it annoying to film, I hope I'm healed soon. I know that they said four to six weeks but maybe it will be four, I'm hopeful that my bones will heal fast; I keep taking the calcium tablets Miranda bought for me and eating protein. I don't know if that help, but I'm trying everything. I want to go back to be able to film and edit without this bothering." Mal said while lifting her cast and looking at it with disdain. Ben felt terrible for Mal, he knew that the cast was annoying and made her day-to-day a little more challenging but he never stopped to think that it made her work more difficult. At that moment, he realized that Mal didn't take a single pic of their dinner and now wondered if it was because she wanted to relax for a moment or it was because it was difficult for her to take the picture with one hand.
Feeling like he had failed her for not thinking about that, Ben asked Mal for her camera; the girl started to tell the boy that it was ok, but he insisted. Once Ben had her camera, he was relieved to see that it was the same one Jay usually used, so he was familiar with it; turning it on, he turned towards Mal and smiled. "So let's give your followers a tour of the fair."
Mal smiled, and they started to walk around; Ben would sometimes walk behind Mal, trying to take different angles of her looking aroun,d and then they would walk hand in hand and he would film their hands, making the girl smile at him. They stopped at a little kiosk, and Mal found the bracelet she saw on their first date; she turned towards Ben, who was taking b-roll of the people walking passed, and showed it to him telling him the story. The boy smiled and insisted on buying it for her as a way to commemorate their date.
They continued to walk around for a while, just enjoying each other's company; when they finally made it to the car, Mal was exhausted and fell asleep almost immediately. When she woke up the next day, Mal was on her bed with the same clothes she was wearing the day before but feeling rested, and as soon as the memories of the night before flowed her brain, she smiled brightly. Her phone was charging next to her bed, and she was glad to see a text from Ben wishing her a good day and telling her that he had exported the footage from her camera to her computer downstairs.
Mal's good mood didn't last long, though, because her manager started sending her texts about her haul, and the girl had to get up and finish editing her video. After a couple of hours, Mal was ready to send the files to her temporal editor, tired of trying to end the video, but there was something in her that refused to give up. Hunger made her stop to make something for lunch and then continued to edit until she fell asleep on the couch.
When Lonnie and Ben made their way to the house and found her there, they reluctantly woke her up and asked her if she was ok. Mal shared that she needed to finish her video before her Thursday dateline and that even though she was halfway done with the editing, she then needed to do the voiceover. The girl looked tired, so Lonnie asked her if she needed help. "Both of us know how to edit; we have helped Jay with his videos on occasions, so how about you let us help you?"
Ben nodded, but Mal explained that she wanted to do it alone. Still, Lonnie insisted telling her that it was best if she let them help her with the video so they could finish it sooner so Mal could start with the voiceover in the parts she wanted. Reluctantly Mal agreed, knowing that letting them help her was the only way she was going to be able to send her video for revision the next day and post it on Thursday. Also, the position was making her arm hurt a little, and she didn't want to do anything that slowed her healing.
By morning the video was done, and Mal felt guilty that they didn't get to rest more than a couple of hours before going to work. Sending the video, Mal made her way to her room, planning on sleeping for a while before getting everything ready for dinner to thank Lonnie and Ben for helping her with the video.
That night the trio sat down and had a lovely evening talking and eating the food Mal made for them. Then they decided to go to sleep early, all of them made their way upstairs, ready to rest with the peace of knowing that they were one day closer to the weekend and would use those days to relax and hang out. Mal kissed Ben goodnight and ask him if it would be ok if she went to look for him the next day so they could have lunch together making the boy smile brightly at her. With a plan for the next day the couple said their goodbyes and went to sleep on their rooms.
Notes: If you are still reading this...thanks. I've had a couple of roughs days, weeks, month?