Thank you so much to guest and cbones21203 for your comments last time. Sorry it takes so long for me to update, but hope you all enjoy this chapter.
The Details
Everything goes smoothly that afternoon. Jolene draws them up a standard issue prenup and Benny signs it without protest. They drive home in Benny's car and have take out for dinner like they often did in New York.
Then Beth calls the orphanage to let Ms Alder know she has put the wheels in motion to adopt Amelia.
The conversation is brief, but certain and when Beth finally goes to bed, she feels like she has perfectly executed an opening gambit in chess.
When she wakes the next morning, she expects to still feel the same way — and she does, except her stomach is unsettled. Like when she's slightly further into a game and her opponent has made an unexpected move to counter her opening gambit. She's staring at the board, unable to shake the feeling that she has missed something crucial — something that could cost her the game.
She hears movement downstairs — the clatter of a pan — and she shakes the thoughts away. Everything is fine. The plan is going exactly according to plan.
Pulling on a pair of trousers and a t-shirt, she heads down to find Benny in the kitchen, his blonde hair framed by dark grey cupboards.
That makes her stomach feel unsettled too.
It's a little surreal that he's in her house cooking eggs and burning toast after she kept him away for so long. And he's so at ease, it's like he could have lived here all his life.
Benny glances up as she enters the kitchen. "Morning," he says.
"Morning," says Beth, trying to ignore her discomfort. He's not going to be here much longer. Then they're going to have a short engagement and an even shorter marriage. She'll be divorced and single again in no time.
Benny places a plate of eggs and slightly burnt toast on the breakfast bar for her. There's a pad of paper on the breakfast bar too, but Benny flips it closed as Beth slides into her seat.
"Sleep well?" he asks.
Beth shrugs.
"Yeah, me neither," says Benny. "Look, I think we need to talk through the details of the plan."
Beth frowns. She feels like she is facing an opponent who has made an unexpected move again. "We already talked through the details," she says. "There's not much more to clue you in on."
Benny brings over his own plate of eggs and slightly blackened toast and slides into the seat next to Beth. "Yes, but I think we need to rethink some of the details we've already got."
Beth's skin prickles, her mind jumping to worst-case scenarios. He doesn't want to go through with it. He's secretly already married. He wants the money after all. "Which details?" she says.
Benny grimaces. "The wedding," he says.
Beth picks up her fork, trying to suppress a surge of panic. "What about the wedding?" She doubts Benny's trying to back out. He doesn't look apologetic. If anything, he looks wooden again.
"Yes, I've been thinking," says Benny. "The current plan doesn't sound very plausible, does it?"
Beth's heart thuds in her chest. She hears Jolene's voice in her head from yesterday. The whole thing is going to look super suspicious legally if anyone looks into it. Perhaps that's what has been bothering Beth, what has made her feel on edge this morning.
Benny digs a fork into his eggs. "I mean, a registry office wedding?" he says. "It's not very believable, is it? Has the orphanage really never heard of you and me? Or what we're like?"
Beth stares at her own eggs. She has a horrible feeling she knows where this is going.
"I just think your lawyer is right – a quick, quiet registry office wedding followed by a swift adoption looks super suspicious, especially if the chess press knows nothing about a relationship between us prior to it," says Benny.
Beth stabs her knife into her toast. Yes, this is definitely going somewhere she doesn't want to go, but is it somewhere she can afford not to go with a child's future on the line?
"We're chess champions, Beth," continues Benny. "You love fashion and spectacle and pretty things. Why would we have a registry office wedding?"
"Because you're a cheapskate who lives in a sparsely furnished basement in New York still at twenty-nine years of age and I am your long-suffering partner," says Beth.
Benny points his fork at her. "Touché," he says. "But still, I wouldn't be convinced if I were the orphanage, would you?"
"There are plenty of rumours about us in the chess press," says Beth.
"I know," says Benny. "But there is no actual evidence. And you don't have an engagement ring."
"Maybe we're progressives."
"Well, we're fleecing the law to adopt a child so I guess we must be," says Benny. He shakes his head. "No, but I'm being serious Beth. I don't think you've fully thought this through."
"The plan is fine," says Beth. "Orphanages are desperate to get rid of children. They won't ask that many questions."
"Do you want to take that chance?" says Benny.
Beth shifts in her seat, but she can't look at him. It does look suspicious. Jolene can see it. Benny can see it and Beth can see it too if she's honest with herself.
But if she accepts that, she has to face the consequences. Consequences like not getting away with keeping the whole thing mostly a secret. Consequences like telling the world she is marrying Benny Watts.
"What exactly were you thinking?" says Beth carefully.
Benny smiles and grabs the pad of paper he closed earlier. Beth shifts to avoid their limbs brushing. It's not a conscious movement exactly, just a reflex brought on by the familiarity of Benny. The familiarity of his hands on her skin.
She blinks the memory away as Benny hands her the notebook. "First page," he says.
She flips it open.
Elizabeth Harmon and Benjamin Watts – a love story.
She gawks.
"What the hell is this?" says Beth. Her eyes scan the first line of text. We met first in a hotel in Cincinnati. We didn't meet on the board, but we spoke.
"I wrote it last night," says Benny. "We need to get our story straight for the press."
Beth's blood fizzes.
"I'm not reading this," says Beth flatly.
"Why not?" says Benny.
It hurts. That's why. But she won't say that.
"It's pretty decent," says Benny. "Maybe a little saccharine, but everyone likes a fluffy romance."
Beth glares at him. "I have a plan," she says. "The plan is good enough. We will stick to the plan."
Benny shakes his head. "Look, it's not that difficult, I promise," he says. "It's just to cover ourselves."
"I'm not reading it," says Beth again.
"Alright, I'll talk you through it instead," says Benny. And since the only reaction she can summon is open-mouthed disbelief, he starts talking.
"So basically we start sowing hints that we're dating now," says Benny. "And we can pretend it's been going on for a few months already, but we didn't want to tell anyone because…"
He hesitates and gestures to Beth as though she should be on the same page as him, but this is not chess. They aren't even looking at the board from the same angle.
"Because I don't want to be seen with someone who dresses like a pirate-cowboy," she says bitingly.
Benny laughs as though he hasn't registered the sharpness of her tone, then shakes his head. "No, we didn't want to perform for the media whilst the relationship was so new."
Beth grimaces.
"And then we'll need to actually start performing for the media," continues Benny. "Some interactions at tournaments. An engagement ring. A few public displays of affection. That sort of thing. I haven't fully worked out the details yet, but I'm playing in New Hampshire next week so maybe we can start there."
There isn't enough air. Public displays of affection. Performing for the media.
"I need some air," says Beth sharply.
Benny blinks at her. "But you haven't finished your breakfast."
Beth pushes back her seat and strides towards the front door. She needs to get out of here. Get away from Benny before she suffocates.
She hears the scrape of a chair behind her.
"Beth, wait," says Benny. His footsteps hurry after her, but she doesn't turn around.
She grabs her keys from the bowl by the door. The walls feel too close and the hallway is warm and stuffy. She unbolts the door with a click, her heartbeat suddenly loud in her ears. Cool air rushes over her and she breathes in heavily.
Benny catches the door as she steps outside and she looks back without thinking
His shoulders are pulled in towards his chest.
"I'm just trying to make it convincing, Beth," he says, his voice muted. Beth says nothing. She can barely form a coherent opinion on the matter. "Come on, you're a logical strategist," he says. "You know it makes more sense than an out of the blue wedding in Lexington registry office."
Beth takes a laboured breath, then forces herself to meet his gaze. His hair is ruffling in the fall breeze, his mouth drawn like they're at a rook trade-off.
"And you have no problem with any part of your plan?" asks Beth.
Benny's jaw twitches. She thinks of that first night together in New York. His lips against hers. His breath tickling her skin. Her chest hurts.
"It's just for show," says Benny. "It's not real. You're trying to adopt a kid, Beth. A quick, quiet wedding with no hint in the chess press is super suspicious. Especially since you already visited the kid once by yourself."
Beth digs her fingernails into her palms. "You're an asshole, Watts."
Benny scowls. "Well, we can try it your way, but if they refuse to let us adopt Amelia, don't come crying to me."
Beth looks out at the fall trees and the perfect lawns of suburban Lexington. The problem is she doesn't want to take that chance. The problem is Benny and Jolene both have a point. Yes, maybe they could get away with the press not knowing if they had a proper wedding. But the press not knowing and a registry office wedding?
Miss Alder won't say anything, but the head of the orphanage might ask. Especially since Beth is going all the way to Richmond Virginia to adopt the child. They're going to want to know why. They're going to probably look into her name and Benny's.
"Fine," says Beth. "But no public displays of affection."
Benny stretches out his fingers. "Fine, no public displays of affection," he says. "But we still need the engagement ring. And we still need the interactions. And we're going to have to answer questions from the press so you are going to have to read that story or help me write another one more to your liking."
Beth takes a heavy breath. She is not opening that notebook again.
"We will write a new story," she decides after a moment.
Time to get into the fake dating proper next time…