Ben and Mal saw each other in the kitchen the next day, and the boy smiled and kissed her; at that moment, Lonnie came and cheered the couple, making them laugh. The girl congratulated them on being together and then told Ben that they needed to leave because they would be late. Ben rolled her eyes and nodded, kissing Mal again and telling her they would be back at the usual hour with Lonnie and if she wanted to do something, but the girl said not to worry.
Mal woke up that day and wondered how things would change for them and Lonnie, she knew Ben would want to do things as a couple, but she didn't want the girl to feel left out. Looking at her phone, she noticed that she needed to eat something quickly and get ready to call her team. There she was informed that a brand trip that she was supposed to take later in the year was moved to next week; Mal would take these opportunities and then travel to places closer with her own money, creating different content for her social media. However, when her team shared their suggestions for the other stopped, it was evident that Mal wasn't excited about the possibility of traveling like she used to be, but these were plans that they worked on together. If everything went as they were planning, Mal would spend the next month traveling, which meant that she and Jay would arrive in Seattle at the same time in May to finish the bathroom renovation, and the garage would need to wait a couple of months.
In the end, Mal agreed to the schedule and then went on with her day even though her mind was creating scenarios of how Ben would take the news. She wondered if the boy would ask her to stay or join her on the trip. She remembered Chad and Shane would always ask her to go with her, and she would find herself feeling guilty and, most of the time paying for their tickets or accommodations. Mal remembered her last trip to Hawaii, where she was invited, and Shane made a big deal of how they were a couple, and she should have told the brand that. The girl's team talked to the brand, but they just wanted Mal, so she ended up paying for his tickets and had to upgrade to another suite big enough for both of them. The day went on, and Mal filmed a couple of brand deals and then went on her way to visit her friends; time flew by and she ended up staying late and having dinner with them. When she made her way home, Mal came to the house completely dark and Ben's car in the garage; she felt bad about not texting the boy, but if he wanted to know where she was he could have texted her.
Making her way towards her room, Mal noticed Ben's door wasn't completely closed. Taking a decision, she pushed the door open and saw the boy sleeping on his bed and his laptop in a precarious position on the bed. Mal picked it up and put it on his desk and turned to see Ben moving a little in his sleep; she sat on his bed and called his name trying to wake him up. It took three attempts, but the boy woke up and lazily smiled at her and asked her if she had fun with her friends.
Mal looked confused, so Ben told her that Lonnie was looking at Instagram and saw her post with her friends on their way home. "That's why I didn't text you, you were out with friends, and I didn't want to interrupt you. You've worked so hard in the renovations that even though I was hoping to see you, the fact that you were having fun with your friends made me happy for you. We live together is not like I'm not going to see you for days."
Ben smiled at Mal, and the girl felt this was the perfect opportunity to share her trip, and so she did. By the time she finished explaining how she would be gone for a month, Mal could see Ben was taken aback, but then he nodded and told her that if she was up to keep their relationship going, so was he. He assured her that he didn't have an issue with her traveling; he knew because of Jay that these opportunities were important, and he worked most of the day, so it wasn't like they would spend a lot of time together during the week. "We can facetime at night and some points during the weekend. I think it is great that you get to see new places, and I'm not going to lie to you saying that I won't miss having you here, but we can make time to talk, and you can send me pictures."
Mal was shocked by his reaction, and she couldn't help but smile and hug the boy, happy that he didn't try to guilt-trip her and encourage her to go on the trip a have a good time. When Ben let go of the girl, he told Mal that it was late and he needed to sleep because he had a meeting the next day and would leave earlier than usual. Mal nodded, but part of her wondered if maybe he was just saying that because he didn't want to admit that he was mad at her for the trip. It was difficult for Mal to fall asleep, and when she woke up, it was close to noon, so she decided to call Evie and see if the girl was free to talk to her. Evie texted back that she was available in the afternoon but asked her if she was ok; Mal was tempted to say yes and wait for the afternoon, but she wasn't ok.
When she sent the no, her phone rang after seconds. Evie asked what was happening, and Mal told her about the trip and Ben's reaction, which confused her friend, who told her that Ben had the proper response to her news. Then Mal shared that he told her that he needed to work earlier than usual, and she assumed that the truth was that the boy was angry and he didn't want to tell her. Evie ended the call and facetime her friend; Mal answered just for her friend to roll her eyes at her. "I needed you to see how insane that is. I know you didn't have the best experiences before, but he is different. Jay is his best friend, so I would think that Ben had opportunities to travel with him and do all that stuff, and as far as I understand, he doesn't expect anything from anyone. Mal, Ben is not mad; he is a guy that needed to get to work early; some of us have a schedule, so don't start acting weird with him, ok? I have to go back to work now. Take care."
Evie ended the call, and Mal's phone beeped this time; she rolled her eyes sure that it was a text from her friend telling her again that she was wrong. However, when she saw the screen, it was a text from Ben asking her if she wanted to have lunch near his office today; his meeting was running late, so he would eat closer to two. Mal sent a quick yes and told him she would wait for him outside his office and went on to take a quick shower and change, deciding to take her camera so that she could do a short vlog while she waited and after eating with him.
Mal got out of the house at one and made her way to Ben's office, stopping in some places to film some b roll; she finally made it there at one-thirty and sent a selfie to the boy, so he knew that she was waiting. His response came immediately, assuring her that he was on his way down, and minutes later Ben was kissing his girlfriend, thanking her for coming to join him for lunch. Mal smiled and together made their way to a little restaurant to have a quick lunch before the boy had to make his way back to the office. Ben asked her about her morning, but Mal switched the subject to him wanting to know more about this project that was having such effect on his hours, and the boy soon was sharing how tedious the entire thing was and how much he hoped this next test run perfectly. At some point, Ben noticed that he was monopolizing the conversation, and even though Mal looked fascinated with the entire explanation of the project, he apologized and once again asked her about her day.
As Mal was assuring the boy that she wanted to know more about his work, Ben's phone started ringing, making the boy groan. After answering, Mal noticed how tense he was and how short his answers were, they wanted him back at the office, and it was time for their lunch to end. She realized then that with Ben talking most of the time, the boy didn't eat a lot and now had to go back with half his lunch uneaten. The boy ended the call and shared that he needed to go back because they needed him to fix some codes and test some things; he was sure that today would be another late night at work.
Mal nodded, and the boy's phone rang again; noticeable irritated Ben answered and told whoever was calling that he was on his way, but the person wouldn't stop talking. Mal waved her hand and mouthed to him that he should go and not worry. Ben made a move to take out his wallet, but Mal again told him not to worry, visibly mortified Ben nodded and made his way back towards his office. The girl called for the waiter, and after packing Ben's food she made her way to the corner store and looked for a sandwich and some snacks and then walked to the boy's office. Mal wasn't sure what floor he worked on, so she sent a text to Jay wanting to surprise Ben, the answer came quickly and she made her way inside. Soon Mal found herself in front of the receptionist, and before she could think what to say the girl was standing, telling her how she was a follower and asking Mal if she was here to see Ben. She saw Ben in Mal's videos and IG, so she knew that the girl would be there was the only reason.
"I haven't told Ben that I follow you yet; I was going to ask him if we could all meet for lunch one day. My boyfriend also watches your videos, so if you are ever free, I would love to get together." The girl smiled, and Mal made a mental note to tell Ben about her and how they would have to go out with them at least once. Maybe they could do it when Jay was in town so more people were there and the situation would be less awkward.
"Great. I'm going out of town soon, but we can go see to go out for sure after that. I wanted to give these things to Ben, can I go in? Can you tell me where he is?" The girl bit her lip and explained that they usually didn't let non-employees in the offices because there was a lot of important information. Mal nodded and was about to ask the girl to please see that Ben got the bag, but the girl told her that it would be ok if she just walked in for a few minutes. Smiling broadly, Mal thanked her and asked her where exactly was Ben's seat, so she didn't need to wander around alerting people of her presence. Natalie, that was the girl's name, walked towards the glass door that separated the little cubicles' reception, showed Mal a bigger room in a corner, and told her that Ben was working there at the moment.
"His team is working there this week, but the other two guys are now at their cubicles, for what I can see. So, he must be alone there now, go, and you should be clear. Please don't take too long, or we might get in trouble." Mal nodded, assuring the girl that she wouldn't take long and then made her way inside; a couple of people turned to see her but she made sure that the bag with the Deli's logo was visible, so they thought she was making a delivery. Once at the door of the room, she knocked and Ben raised his eyes and was shocked to see her.
"Hey, you didn't get to eat most of your food, so I brought some snacks." Ben smiled, and she walked inside, handing him the bag. Ben took it and put in on the table, bringing Mal closer to him, and kissing her, putting her arms around his neck pressing herself against him, wishing they had more time to be together. The phone in the room rang, making them jump apart, and they chuckled at how they felt like they were teenagers getting caught making out. Ben answered and Natalie asked him to please tell Mal that she needed to get out before people realized she was there; the boy said she was making her way out right now and not to worry.
Mal leaned and kissed the boy one last time and waved goodbye, making her way out walking faster until she was at the reception. "Sorry about that, but I was getting worried one of the bosses might want to check on Ben and his team. I know you two are always talking about the renovation, which is going amazing, by the way."
Thanking the girl, Mal said goodbye; on her way to the house, she saw that Ben sent her texts telling her how glad he was that she came to his office and hoped to get home before she was asleep. The rest of the afternoon flew by, and Mal spent most of it editing; by eleven she was tired and sent a text to Ben telling him that she was going to bed. As she was getting into bed, a text from Ben came in asking her if he could facetime her before for a second, and she called him. The boy answered smiling, and Mal could see he was standing in the reception area with his airpods; he was talking low, telling her how sorry he was that he was still in the office. They talked for a couple of minutes, and Ben asked her if it was ok for him to wake her up before getting to work the following day even if he needed to get there early, and she was quick to agree to it.
Mal put her alarm at six in case she didn't hear the boy knocking and went to sleep with a smile on her face. When her alarm rang, Mal was disoriented, not remembering why she was awake until the memory of Ben asking to see her in the morning came to her, and she smiled. Getting up, Mal checked herself in her mirror, brushed her hair then made her way to the bathroom to brush her teeth. After that, she knocked on the boy's door, and Ben opened it looking sleepy but happy to see her.
"Hey, sorry to wake you up." Mal smiled shyly, and Ben assured her that he needed to get up soon because he needed to get to the office earlier than usual. Mal nodded, not sure if he was going to get ready then or they were going to spend some time together. Ben seemed to notice her hesitation and taking a step towards her, started to kiss Mal all over her face telling her how much he missed spending time with her and how he wished she could have stayed longer with him at his office the day before. Mal leaned to kiss him, but Ben stepped back, telling her that he had morning breath and needed to brush his teeth.
Mal nodded, a little ashamed of him turning her down, but then he hugged her tight and asked if she wanted to grab breakfast with him. If they change, they could make it to a deli close to his office, and that way, they would spend more time together; Mal smiled and agreed and went on to change. Ben made his way to the bathroom, and after taking a quick shower he changed, and they made their way downtown while sharing stories about their day-to-day.
Ben and Mal picked out something to eat and went outside to find somewhere to sit on a couple of tables in front of the place. Ben took Mal's hand and kissed her, enjoying their time together. Soon, they were getting their chairs closer, and the food was forgotten while the couple kissed and talked.
Finally, Mal ended the kiss and told Ben that he needed to eat because she was sure that he would be busy and unable to eat until later that day. Ben begrudgingly agreed, and they ate still sharing the occasional kisses, soon though it was time for the boy to go to his office. Mal noticed it was almost seven-thirty and walked with the boy until they were outside his office building and shared a goodbye kiss. At lunch, Mal decided to look for Ben to see if he would be able to go out and eat with her, but he told her that he couldn't, so with Natalie's help, Mal was able to visit him for a couple of minutes. All the office was in a meeting, but Natalie went to look for Ben, and the boy came to the reception while the girl made sure nobody was calling for him. Mal was waiting there, and Ben smiled and kissed his girlfriend, the girl gave him a bag with food, and they decided to meet later that night at the house to spend some time together.
Ben sent a text to Mal telling her that he would probably be back at midnight, so she should go to sleep, and they could see each other for lunch the next day. Mal was sad but understood that the boy didn't have control over his schedule the next day; however, while she was getting ready, another text arrived telling her that he wasn't going to go out to eat because there was another meeting. By Friday, Mal was tired of Ben canceling their dates. She understood the boy had to work, but she was leaving on Sunday, and aside from those two days they managed to spend some time together they didn't see each other at all the rest of the days. On Thursday, he didn't come to the house, staying overnight at the office and only sending her one text telling her how exhausted he was and that he missed her.
After finishing her work that Friday, Mal finished packing everything for the trip and then decided to binge a show on the couch. She was soon lost in the show and didn't notice the door opening when Ben arrived. The boy smiled at the girl and sat next to her asking her if it was a good show; Mal turned shocked but smiled and hugged the boy asking him what he was doing home so early. Mal noticed it was only noon, and Ben shared with her that he spent most of the night fixing some mistakes in the codes, and then earlier this morning, he planned to tell his boss that he was too exhausted and he was lucky enough that his boss went out of the town and his supervisor knowing the amount of time he put in this week agree to let him go early today but he needed to be there Monday earlier than usual.
Ben apologized for not spending time with her that week and told her that he was free to do whatever she wanted from that moment on. Hours later when Lonnie came home she found the couple cuddling on the couch watching a show and smiled knowing that this was Ben's first time asking for time off since starting working there. Those little things prove to her how much the boy wanted to make things right for Mal and she was glad to see that the girl did the same for him.
