The Golden Couple

The narrative maintains Avery’s first-person point of view after the revelation about Skip: “There’s no way Marissa and Matthew just happen to know Skip; his presence can’t be a simple coincidence. A bigger, more ominous force has brought us together tonight” (285). Avery pretends not to know Skip; he does the same. Avery notes that Marissa seems uncomfortable, too; she rushes off to check on Bennett. Avery, Matthew, Marissa, and Skip talk, and Avery learns their backstory: Marissa and Skip were friends first, growing up in the same town on the Eastern Shore. Matthew met Marissa one summer when he was 16. Avery realizes that Skip is the person with whom Marissa had an affair.

The narrative shifts to Marissa’s third-person perspective. Marissa is perturbed by Skip’s presence and wonders if Matthew suspects the truth; however, Matthew seems oblivious. Avery prepares to leave the Bishops’ home. As she’s going, Avery whispers to Marissa, “I know he’s the guy” (296). She advises Marissa to pretend to feel nauseous so that Skip will leave and Marissa won’t have to be alone between her husband and the man with whom she betrayed him.