Page 5 of The Romantic Agenda
Joy holds Pepper up close to her face. “Say hi to Auntie Grace.”
“Hi, Pepper,” Grace says, sweetly before sharpening her tone. “What are you doing?”
“Nothing.” Joy walks to her kitchen.
Unlike her office, every inch of her apartment is meticulously designed—even down to the smallest plastic succulent. With white as a primary color, each room’s accents have a different overlapping color scheme, blending to create a near perfect transition. She chose brilliant blue and buttercream for the living room, which is parallel to the buttercream and soft marigold in the kitchen.
Her parents had gifted her a massive TV for Christmas. She set in on top of the glass entertainment center full of consoles and devices courtesy of Malcolm. The couch cost an arm and a leg (paid in installments), but she can never resist velvet, and she inherited the small round table and matching set of chairs stationed in her postage-stamp-sized dining room from a neighbor who moved across the country. It took an entire weekend to sand it down and repaint it flash copper with a satin finish.
Grace says, “Something’s wrong. I can feel it.”
They’re fraternal twins, but Grace swears they still got the psychic gift—and she might not be wrong about it. Joy’s been spiraling since Malcolm asked for help. Just free-falling into an underwater trench with no bottom and a bit too much momentum. Everything feels cold and numb. Her feelings are there butit’s like she can’t reach them. All she can do is... scream into her pillows. That’s it. That’s all there is.
“I’m fine,” she lies, and places her phone in its usual holder while Grace keeps talking, rattling off her best guesses at what she thinks is going on.
Opening the cabinet, Joy pulls out a can of wet cat food. Pepper has the cutest squeaky meows, but she never begs foranything. Regal as ever, she waits patiently by her empty food bowl. She’s yet another present from Malcolm, gifted to her about a week after Grace flew their communal coop for a job seven hours away. Joy pretends that Pepper didn’t come from a breeder. That Malcolm got lucky and happened to find a Ragdoll kitten at a shelter.
“Fine. I give up. For now.” Grace huffs in defeat. “How was work?”
“Same as always.”
“Ooh, Ilovehow passionate you sounded about that.”
Joy snorts. A job is a job, and at least at Red Warren, she gets to support her best friend.
In college, Grace did the practical thing, studying industrial organizational psychology. She decided no one and nothing would stop her as she bulldozed her way through grad school, a rotational program, and secured a job as a consultant in the private sector.
Meanwhile, Joy studied to be an oceanographer, but both her bank account and academia had something nasty to say about her post-bachelor’s-degree dreams. Years ago, the owner of the bar she and Malcolm both worked at decided to take Malcolm under his wing. When the time came for Malcolm to open his own club, he offered Joy a job.
He said, “I need you with me on this. I can’t do this without you.”
It wasn’t like she was doing anything else. Out of college, oppressive loans smothering her, barely scraping by working at a call center by day and go-go dancing her heart out every night. She didn’t know a thing about finance or business. But Malcolm had believed in her, that she could learn and help him and that they were meant to do it together.
When he looks at her, really looks at her, it’s in a way that no one else in her entire life ever has. He knows her—all her faults, all her good parts. Everything she thinks she can hide with flawless mastery after years and years of practice, he sees. There are no walls with Malcolm. Hell, they barely have boundaries.
Joy says, “It’s not like we can all live our dreams. It’ll upset the balance of the universe. Some of us are destined to be unhappy and suffer so the rest of you can prosper.”
“You’re so dramatic. And for what?” Grace shakes her head. “When’s your flight coming in?”
“Uh, about that.”
“You’re not coming? Why?”
“Malcolm invited me to some trip he planned.”
“Oh good, so you told him no because you already have plans to see your sister for the first time in three months. Right?” Grace dislikes Malcolm by circumstance. She and their mom are convinced he’s the roadblock stopping Joy from getting on with her life. And by life, they mean marriage and babies.
Joy says, “I didn’t because it’s a group trip. I’m still thinking about it.”
“Who else is going?”
“Someone named Summer, and someone named Fox.”
“Who the hell are they?”
“No idea. Never heard about them before today, but apparently he’s been hanging out with some new people.”
“Withoutyou?” Grace narrows her eyes and turns her head slightly to the side. “Like, he was keeping them a secret or...?”
