After closing the oven, Mal turned towards the camera and smiled, sharing how much she missed baking. After that, she turned the camera off and looked around the place smiling at how quickly her week had passed since moving into the condo. It was already Thursday, and Mal had decided to stay in and relax after taking every opportunity to get footage as a way to show the beauty of the town.
She had managed to edit and make enough content to relax and even develop new ideas for a couple of projects she wanted to do in the future. The night before, Mal facetime Carlos and Jane, and as the trio talked, the girl shared her new adventures and how she wasn't sure if she was traveling to New York to visit Evie for the holidays because she wanted to ask Ben for his before deciding.
The shock in their faces made her roll her eyes, but Mal knew that Evie wouldn't mind coming to Seattle if she asked, so there wouldn't be an issue. Sure, their traditions were New York center, but Mal was sure they could find things to do around the city; she just needed enough time to make new plans for them to share. As she was thinking about what things they could do, the couple asked her about the plans for her birthday; as a Halloween baby, Mal always celebrated with a party. The size changed as the year went by, and now it mainly was close friends in costumes depending on the party's theme and games that brightened the night.
"I'm not sure; we are supposed to go back to Seattle five days before my birthday, so I'm probably going to send the invitations next week. I have to settle on a theme first, and I'm unsure what to choose this year." The couple went on with suggestions for a while until they said goodbye, and Mal sent a quick text to Ben wishing him a good night before going to sleep. As far as Mal knew, the boy was staying late every night and had managed to help with some projects that were having trouble. The boy sounded tired but happy, and Mal was glad that he was making progress at his job and seemed more hopeful about his future back in Seattle.
The alarm of the cookies brought her back to the present, and Mal turned on her camera, announcing that the cookies were ready to be taken out of the oven. She did that and, smiling shared how good they smelled and how excited she was to decorate some of them as the night activity. Once again, Mal paused the camera to take a couple of pictures and posted them on IG, planning how she was going to make a Tiktok of the preparation and then stopping to think if she should add the decorating part or just go ahead and export the footage as it was now. Suddenly her phone announced a call from Ben, and before she could say hi, the boy asked her why she was baking cookies that day when he was not meeting her until Saturday. Mal rolled her eyes, sharing with the boy how she would save most of the cookies for him, so there was no need to pout, and then what he said hit her.
"Wait, did you say Saturday? I thought you were coming tomorrow after work." Ben sighed and explained that there was a mandatory outing with the team on Friday night. He had tried to get out of it, but the owner was going to be present, and it would be impossible for him to miss it.
"I'm sorry, Mal, the first time I heard about it was on Monday, and I thought I could just not go, and that was it. Yesterday when people asked me if you were coming with me, I shared that you were visiting Waco and I would be joining you Friday evening, and even though I noticed people looking at me weirdly, I didn't ask why they were acting like this was a big thing. Today my supervisor came and told me there was no way I was getting out of going, I was going to tell you tonight, but then I saw the cookies." Mal was annoyed. Yes, she had the Airbnb for one more night, but she didn't like that Ben would arrive and they would need to leave the place without a chance to share the experience of spending a night together.
"Is ok; I wished you would have told me as soon as you knew, though." Ben apologized again, but Mal cut him off, assuring him that she understood this was out of his control. "So, at what time are you coming on Saturday? I have to get out of the Airbnb at 10, so if you are coming later, I need you to tell me."
"I promised; I'll be there before ten, ok?" They talked for a while until the boy ended the call because someone was calling him and he needed to go. Mal stared at the phone for a couple of minutes before deciding that she would decorate the cookies before doing anything else. Mal spent the rest of the night doing that and then editing and uploading the content. Friday morning came, and Mal stayed in bed longer than planned because all the plans she had made for Ben were now canceled. Finally, she decided to clean the place and make sure everything was packed in case the boy was late the next day, and she needed to get out of the Airbnb. Then instead of enjoying her last day walking around town, Mal decided to stay in the condo and binge a new series her followers had suggested in a poll she did that day earlier.
At seven pm, she started making dinner and decided to do a live on Tiktok; soon, she was lost trying to read the comments and interact with the people joining. Time flew, and suddenly a phone call interrupted the live, and Mal smiled seeing Ben's name. Deciding to say a quick goodbye to the people on the live she ended it after answering a couple of questions that had been asked several times, but by the time she managed to do this, Ben had stopped calling.
Mal noticed that it was ten past eight, and she marveled at how easily she lost track of time when she did lives. As she was about to call Ben, the boy called again, and she asked him how his night was going.
"Not as expected but is getting better by the minute." Mal was confused by the statement but smiled at the hopeful tone in Ben's voice. The moment was broken when knocking came from her door, making her freeze in place as she turned towards the door, not sure who could be there, but suddenly fear overtook her.
During the week, a couple of guys flirted with her when she went to the cafe closer to where she was staying; Mal had politely made it clear that she was not interested, but it didn't seem to register with them. One was particularly pushy and had decided to follow her a couple of times, she had managed to lose him, but now she was wondering if he knew where she was staying. Mal shook her head, trying to get that line of thought out of her mind, and then she remembered that Ben was on the phone.
Mal put the phone in her ear and heard him call her name; she was about to explain what was happening when he told her that he was outside the building. Mal ran to the window and saw Ben getting off his car and felt relieved; she told him to come upstairs and buzz him in. After Mal was sure he was in the building, she walked towards the door and tried to look through the peephole, but something was blocking it. Suddenly the girl was worried that Ben would come face to face, which whoever had knocked on her door, they had ended the call after she buzzed him in. Mal rang him again; now she heard Ben's ringtone close and his voice saying hello.
Opening the door, Mal came face to face with Ben's smiling face, and she practically launched herself toward her boyfriend, hugging him, relief that nothing had happened to the boy. Ben chuckled, asking her if she missed him that much; however, when she let go and the boy noticed how worried she looked, his tone became serious asking her what happened. Mal was about to say something when she noticed Ben was looking towards her door, and Mal turned and saw a paper stuck in it.
Ben saw how weirded out Mal looked, so he took the piece of paper blocking the peephole and unfolded it. It was a note asking Mal on a date, telling her that the person who wrote that missed seeing her earlier that day and would be waiting for her the next morning so they could share breakfast. Ben turned and asked Mal what was going on, and the girl walked into her place, asking him to follow her because she needed to sit down. After picking up his backpack that fell from his hands when Mal came to hug him, the boy nodded and made his way inside, closing the door behind them.
That's when Mal shared how the Monday after he left, she decided to try a new place closer to her home for breakfast. It was such a quiet place that she decided to come back later that evening to eat something before returning to her place to rest for the day. That day Mal noticed a couple of guys looking at her, but neither approached her; Mal thought they were locals and just found it weird to see her there. The next day she went to the place early in the morning and saw the guys again, but this time they didn't look away when she looked at them, and one of them smiled at her. Mal decided to eat her food and go on her way, not feeling comfortable with the situation, it wasn't weird for guys to flirt with her, but she found something odd in the situation.
Suddenly they stood and approached her table, sitting in front of her, introducing themselves and asking her if she was new in town, then one pointed to the camera commenting how he had seen her filmed around town. Not wanting to be rude, Mal told them that she was staying for a while there and that she was filming her experience because the place was beautiful. Both guys offered to be her guide, but she quickly thanked them, declining their offer, which annoyed them. Mal went on her way but couldn't shake the uneasiness that the conversation had brought to her.
On Wednesday she saw them again at the cafe but was quick to make her exit. Mal saw one of the guys in different places she visited during the day, so she decided to go back home earlier to ensure he didn't follow her. Thursday came, and Mal went to the cafe earlier than usual, not wanting to cross paths with the guys; still, she saw the one that she had seen yesterday at the counter, so Mal turned around and was about to go back to her place when the other one appeared out of nowhere and said hi.
Mal went into the coffee shop but quickly made his way out, ensuring neither of the guys were following her. At lunch, she ate at Magnolia cafe, and made sure to film enough b-roll for her videos, and then went home and baked cookies. When she finished the story, Ben looked at her with a worried expression, and after he was sure she was done, he asked Mal why this was the first time he had heard about the situation.
"Honestly? I thought I was overthinking the situation; you were coming today, and we will leave on Saturday." Mal trailed off and looked sad, making Ben felt bad about questioning her actions when she was obviously scared about the note. Ben apologized for his question and asked her if she wanted to leave right then, they could put everything in the car, and they would be in their apartment in two hours.
"No, you need to rest. Do you want to eat something?" Mal stood still visibly shaken about the situation but wanted to move on and take her mind out of the entire thing. Ben came to stand next to her and open his arms hugging Mal until the girl relaxed into him, they stayed like that for a while, with him whispering that he was there and nothing bad would happen.
After a couple of minutes, Mal raised her head, forcing Ben to lose his grasp a little. "Do you want to help me cook something?"
Ben nodded, and they made their way to the kitchen and together realized that the girl didn't have enough ingredients to make something for both of them or even a portion big enough for them to share. "I can go look if something is open."
Mal shook her head, not wanting to go out or be alone, so Ben asked her about the cookies, and the girl rolled her eyes with a small smile. In the end, they made the food that was available and ate the cookies, deciding that they were going to go and find a big breakfast before driving back to Austin the following day. As they lay in bed, Mal asked the boy how come he was there when he was supposed to go out with his coworkers.
"I felt bad, so I stayed late yesterday and then went early today and did everything I had to do for the projects. The owner came, and we had the longest meeting in the history of that company, and if it wasn't the longest, the other one must be in the Guinness World Record book." Mal laughed at the comment, and Ben turned to smile at the girl and gave her a quick kiss before continuing his story. "So after the meeting, we were supposed to go home and reconvene in a restaurant at seven. However, when the meeting ended, I told everyone it was happy hour at the bar downstairs, and we should go there instead. Some people there knew I was trying to get out early, so they agreed, and the boss decided it was a good idea. After a couple of drinks, I toast with ginger ale, everyone was talking and having a great time, so I just said my goodbyes saying how tired I was because of the extra hours I made the day before, got in my car, and drove here."
"I'm really happy you came." Ben kissed her again, apologizing for not coming earlier and promising her that they would have a nice day tomorrow. Snuggling closer to each other, they went to sleep thinking about their plans for the weekend.
