The Golden Couple

The narrative shifts back to Avery. She texts Marissa and Matthew, giving them a homework assignment: to go on a date, alone, and reminisce about when they first fell in love. Avery takes Romeo for a walk when she runs into Skip (real name Steven; Skip is short for skipper, because he was obsessed with sailing as a kid), a real estate developer with whom she went out a couple of times a few months ago. Avery invites Skip back to her place for food. Skip asks Avery for advice about his sister: “She’s been dating this guy for a while now. I think he’s bad news” (91). At one point in the evening, Avery goes upstairs, leaving Skip alone downstairs. When Avery comes back downstairs, she finds Skip in her office, which she finds disconcerting. Skip claims that he was looking for the bathroom. Skip leaves shortly after, and Avery is relieved. She wonders if Skip is associated with Acelia; she notes that she met him shortly after she called the FDA whistleblower line.

Later, it will be revealed that Skip is a childhood friend of Matthew and Marissa’s, and Skip is the man with whom Marissa had an affair. When Skip asks Avery about his “sister’s boyfriend,” he’s actually talking about Marissa and Matthew. When Skip is in Avery’s office, he’s checking her appointment book to see when Marissa is scheduled to see Avery—Marissa told Skip that she was going to meet Avery, and Skip assumed and hoped that Marissa was going to see Avery to get the courage that she needed to leave Matthew.

The narrative shifts to Marissa’s third-person point of view. Marissa is getting ready for her date with Matthew (the homework assignment from Avery). Matthew refuses to go on the date, so Marissa goes alone and reminisces about the summer that she met Matthew: “It had been Matthew who had pulled her out of the darkness after Tina died” (101). In the end, Matthew changes his mind and shows up to the restaurant to join Marissa.

It’s the morning after the Bishops’ date night. The narrative shifts to Avery’s first-person point of view. It’s revealed that she followed the Bishops on their date to make sure that they did their homework. Avery saw Matthew arrive late and speculated that Matthew may have been punishing Marissa with his tardiness. Avery wonders: “All marriages contain secrets. […] Marissa has revealed one. Is Matthew hiding something equally explosive?” (106). Later that day, Avery goes to a real estate showing in Chevy Chase. The broker showing the home is Natalie; Avery has simply scheduled the viewing to get a sense of what kind of threat Natalie may pose for Matthew’s and Marissa’s marriage. She concludes: “As I suspected, Natalie is trouble. I understand why Matthew was attracted to her—she’s confident and sexy. She’s as different from Marissa as a peacock is from a swan” (108).

The narrative shifts to Marissa’s third-person perspective. Marissa goes to the gym where she supposedly met the man with whom she had an affair to cancel her membership. Then she goes to Coco. At Coco, Marissa discovers that Polly has been sleeping overnight at the store; Polly says that there is a rodent problem in her apartment. Marissa says that Polly can stay a few more nights in the store. Throughout the day, Polly is overly helpful to Marissa, assisting her with heavy boxes and offering to make her tea. Marissa learns that Polly saw the pregnancy test that Marissa had purchased the other day—the lettering on the box was visible through the plastic shopping bag. Marissa tells Polly that the pregnancy scare was a false alarm. Marissa thinks that “Polly is stepping ever deeper into Marissa’s world. […] Polly could become dangerous” (119).

Avery is at home; the narrative is back to her point of view. Lana comes by to introduce Avery to Greg. Greg seems nice, and the meeting goes well. However, as Lana and Greg prepare to leave, they’re approached by Skylar, the angry ex-wife of Avery’s former client, Cameron, who got Avery’s license revoked. Skylar is angry that Avery convinced Cameron to leave Skylar. Skylar appears to be seeking revenge by targeting Lana. Avery warns Skylar off but is troubled by the encounter.

Later that day, Avery has her third session with Matthew and Marissa, “Escalation.” Avery reveals that she knows about Matthew’s tardiness to dinner; Matthew is angry to learn that Avery has been spying on them. Natalie’s name comes up. Marissa suggests that Natalie, Matthew’s ex, still wants him. In his defense, Matthew argues that he tried to fix Natalie up on a date with a mutual friend of Matthew and Marissa’s.

Later, it will be revealed that this mutual friend was Skip.

The narrative returns to Marissa’s third-person perspective. Bennett is asleep, and Marissa is in the Bishops’ family room alone. Marissa takes a glass of wine and tips it purposefully on the light-gray sofa. She has already ordered a replacement sofa. It’s now revealed that Marissa didn’t sleep with a random guy from the gym—she slept with a mutual friend of hers and Matthew’s, someone they’ve known since they were teenagers. It’s such a close friend of theirs that the man was a groomsman of Matthew’s in Marissa and Matthew’s wedding. What’s more, Marissa slept with the man in the Bishops’ home, right there on the light-gray sofa—Matthew was on a business trip in New York, and Bennett was asleep upstairs. Getting rid of the sofa means “[e]rasing the physical link to that night, but not her traitorous memories of the illicit hours she’d spent on it with the man she’d invited into their home” (134).

Later, it’s revealed that the man Marissa slept with is Skip.