Love and Other Words

Macy has a bad day at work with two terminal diagnoses. When she comes home, Sean is sitting on the couch, waiting for her. He says she doesn’t seem happy. She says she loves him “as a friend.” She says their relationship “feels like we’re headed down the path of least resistance” (87). He asks if Elliot isn’t the path of least resistance.

Part of Macy thinks that Elliot and she were only meant to be friends. When they started dating things fell apart. He asks why she and Elliot never talked about what happened years ago. She says she doesn’t know. She made bad decisions because she was in a bad place. Sean says that if Ashley came back and said that to him, it would be enough.

She moves out into a spare bedroom of a colleague in the city. She doesn’t tell Elliot that she and Sean have broken up. When he asks what she’s doing for Thanksgiving, she gives indefinite answers. She says that she isn’t going with Sean to his family’s place but doesn’t say why. Elliot says she’s coming to his place.

In the closet, reading, Elliot asks Macy to come to a dance. She isn’t sure. They don’t know how to combine their weekend lives with their weekday lives. Elliot assures Macy that Emma has figured out that she has no interest in him. Then, he gets a text from Emma, but he won’t let Macy see it. She reaches over him, trying to get his phone, but lands on top of him, her breasts in his face. They begin grinding until he suddenly stops and runs out of the room. Macy is mortified, confused, and doesn’t know what happened.

She begins reading until he returns. They read together in silence until she asks him, “Did I hurt you?” (91). He says no and then he makes a circle with his hands. She understands this means she made him orgasm. They agree they want more from each other and it’s hard not knowing where the lines are. She says, “But I would die without your friendship” (91), and he says he feels the same way.

Macy arrives for Thanksgiving. She asks if his mother and family are coming. He says they are visiting their soon-to-be in-laws. He has invited friends, including Rachel, his ex-girlfriend. Rachel knows that Macy will be there, but she didn’t know about Rachel until now. She admits that things with Sean are now complicated.

He offers to show her around. She notices that he has a bath but no shower. She asks if he likes living alone. He asks if she wants him to be honest. She says she always wants him to be honest. He runs his finger over her lips and says he’d rather be living with her. He asks about Sean, but the doorbell rings.

Desmond and Rachel enter. Desmond has a thick Australian accent, and Rachel has a tight smile. She brings wine and asks if anyone wants any or if it is just her. Elliot reproaches her and says, “I thought you wanted to do this” (94). Rachel asks Macy if she knows how much she, Macy, hurt Elliot. Macy says they hurt each other, but that it’s none of Rachel’s business. Rachel retorts that it was her business for five years, and it was really her business for one year. Then she picks up her purse and walks out the door.

The summer has ended, and Macy and her dad are preparing to go back to the city. Macy and Elliot sneak off to say goodbye alone. Elliot recounts that they’ve kissed and touched each other and that he doesn’t want to think about them doing those things with other people. Macy agrees they should stop pretending they aren’t together.

Elliot says he and Macy need to talk about what happened 11 years ago. Macy proposes they do eventually, in about a month. She needs time away from work to think. She won’t have time until New Year’s. Macy confesses that she broke up with Sean. This causes Elliot’s heart to beat faster. Macy realizes that they’ve only been in touch for one month, after 11 years apart. She doesn’t know Elliot’s new best friend, Desmond at all. Rachel knows more about Elliot’s heartbreak than she does. She says she needs time to put her words together then puts her hand over his “wildly beating heart.”

Elliot and Macy exchange emails about how much they miss each other during the week. Macy’s dad says they can’t go up to the cabin this weekend because he needs to get some things done. Macy asks if being together is a mistake, and Elliot immediately calls her to say “no,” just that they need to stop emailing so much or they won’t be able to control themselves. Then he says it’s only one more year where things need to be this way because then they’ll graduate.