Page 15

The Pocket

Marsh fidgets, wondering if it would be better to pretend to ignore Dylan for the next fifteen minutes even though he’s just a few seats away or better to go over and make awkward small talk for the sake of appearances, but Ren comes to her rescue.

“I saw a little theater lounge off the hallway right before we came into the auditorium,” he says. “We could hang out there until the curtain call, then slide back into our seats just as the lights go down. Shall we?”

The lounge is small but artsy, a green 1920s art deco retreat with black and gold accents. Marsh and Ren pick two stools at the bar as they admire the decor.

But before they can order, there’s a rustle of movement behind them.

“Excuse me.”

Marsh turns, and nearly squeaks as she sees Dylan standing there.

“Sorry,” he says. “I don’t mean to interrupt.”

“It’s okay,” Marsh says. “Is everything all right?”

Dylan nods. “I know this is weird, but I was wondering if I could have a word with you.”

This is about what happened at his apartment a few hours ago, she’s certain. Dylan didn’t get to finish his questions, and didn’t get to hear her answer. He’s never been able to let anything go—why would he start now?

“As long as it’s fast,” Marsh replies at last. “I don’t want to miss Harper’s big moment.”

“Oh,” Dylan says. He looks at Ren. “I meant you.”

Oh!

She wasn’t expecting that.

“It’ll be quick,” Dylan promises.

Marsh studies him, trying to figure out what Dylan could want with Ren. Maybe he just wants to clear the air between them, and say that he’s happy Harper has another good role model in her life, without Marsh there like a supervisor?

Is that na?ve to think?

“It’s okay,” Ren says to her, rising. “I’ll just be a minute.”

“I appreciate it,” Dylan says to Ren.

Marsh puts on a calm smile and waves after the two of them as they disappear around the corner.

“This is fine,” she mutters to herself. “Everything is fine.”

Just then, a dull chime echoes faintly overhead.

“Five minutes until they dim the lights, ma’am,” the bartender says helpfully.

“Thank you,” Marsh says. “I guess I’ll go back to our seats, then.”

She looks down as she slides off her stool—Ren has accidentally left his jacket draped over his own. He must have been so surprised by Dylan’s request, he forgot to take it with him.

“Could you tell my partner if he comes back that I’m already in the auditorium, and that I’ve got his jacket?” she asks the bartender.

“Of course.” The man nods.

Marsh is trying to keep the falsely confident smile plastered on her face, but as she picks up Ren’s coat and tucks it over one arm, something firm and bulky inside catches her attention.

There’s something in one of the pockets.

Not in the main outside pocket, but within the inner one, that can be fastened closed with a button.

Carefully, she feels the object through the layers. Then she gasps.

“Shouldn’t you be in the audience?” a voice says on her right. “The show will be starting any minute.”

Marsh jerks around to see Talia now sitting where Ren had been moments ago, sipping a martini.

“Thank goodness you’re here!” Marsh cries, grabbing her arm. Talia’s drink sloshes slightly, a few drops splashing on the counter.

“What happened?!” Talia laughs, struggling not to spill any more on herself. “Do I need to call for a close-up?”

“Ren accidentally left his coat here.” Marsh is babbling as she digs around in the inner pocket. “I thought I felt something when I picked it up, so I put my hand in, and...”

As her fingers close around the object, her stomach flip-flops all over again. Slowly, Marsh pulls the thing out and holds it up.

“Look.”

Talia’s eyes go wide.

Marsh is holding a small, Sharp Purple velvet cube.

It’s a jewelry box. A very specific kind of jewelry box.

TopFan01: Whoa!!!!!!

Moms4Marsh: I knew it! I knew it!

GeceKu ? u: Bu heyecan verici!

“Holy mackerel!” Talia gasps, too, as the comments go wild. “That’s a ring box !”

“I know!” Marsh scream-whispers. “I think he’s going to propose!”

The bartender, who has been half listening like all good bartenders do, sets a flute of champagne in front of Marsh, where it’s covered instantly by a barrage of throbbing hearts and bursts of confetti from the comments. Marsh downs the fizzy liquid gratefully as Talia takes the box from her and looks at it. She’s grinning for Marsh, but the expression falters slightly as her eyes catch on the little words gilded onto the velvet, just above a small, calligraphic butterfly logo.

Chrysalis Jewelers.

The hairs on the back of Marsh’s neck prickle to attention.

Not only is that word back yet again, but in every episode, it seems to get a little closer to her. It’s gone from a bar to a dating app username to a sign on her old house to appearing on Harper’s music program, at least.

And now, this is definitely too close for comfort.

“Is something wrong?” Marsh asks Talia, watching closely for a reaction. If this anomaly is truly something to be concerned about, Talia surely will have noticed it—she’s the only other person in the Bubble with Marsh who knows they’re on All This and More . Does she think it’s strange, how it keeps coming up? Does she know it’s been following Marsh around ever since the first episode?

But Talia just looks back up at her from the ring box, her face bright. “Not at all. It’s just an interesting name for a jeweler. And the butterfly is pretty. It’s like the ring is a metamorphosis from love to marriage, or something.”

She hands the box back to Marsh.

“More importantly, what are you feeling right now?”

Marsh tries to ignore the subtle unease simmering in her gut. There’s not a lot of time left in this episode, and she’s going to have to make a very big choice at the end of it. But if Talia herself doesn’t seem to think anything is amiss, maybe Chrysalis really isn’t a problem after all?

“I don’t know what I’m feeling. Too many things,” Marsh finally replies.

“Are you happy?”

“Happy, shocked, in disbelief, all of it,” she says.

“So you want to let him go through with asking you, then,” her host prompts.

Marsh hesitates, still rocked from discovering the ring. After all, even though she and Ren have been together two years in this episode, she’s technically only had about two hours with him, in real time. That’s not very long at all to make a decision like this.

LunaMágica: Say yes, Marsh!

Monsterrific: Yeah, say yes! Ren is a dreamboat!

Moms4Marsh: He’s literally PERFECT!

Marsh smiles at that. Ren is pretty perfect, she has to admit. Almost too perfect, it sometimes seems. In the real world, she’d say he was too good to be true.

But this isn’t the real world.

Not yet, anyway. She smiles.

“You look like you just got a little more certain,” Talia observes.

Marsh is still overwhelmed, but finally, she throws up her hands and shrugs.

“I mean, why not!” she cries.

“That’s the spirit!” Talia laughs.

They clink glasses as an excited burst of trumpets plays over the bar’s speakers.

“Well, like you always say, that’s the whole reason I’m here, right?” Marsh asks after a sip of her champagne. “I might as well just try this path and see. After all, I can always just go back if I don’t like it.”

“Actually.” Talia’s martini pauses halfway to her lips, and she sets it back down. Her delicate earrings tinkle as she shakes her head. “ Some things you can’t undo, Marsh.”

“Not even in a quantum bubble all about exactly that?”

Marsh sort of meant it as a joke, but Talia doesn’t laugh. She leans in to convey the gravity of what she’s about to say.

“It’s true,” she pronounces. “The next episode is the midseason special.”

“What does that mean?” Marsh asks.

“It’s a milestone episode,” Talia explains. “Certain things can become a little more ‘set’ in the Bubble, going forward.”

Marsh blinks. “You mean like my choices? We won’t be able to go back and undo them? I thought you said that was the whole point! That we could redo anything, until it was perfect!”

“We can!” Talia says, placating. “We absolutely can—until the midseason special. That’s why I’m telling you now. Because if there’s anything else you want to experience again, or change, we need to do it before the special. Then, once everything is just how you want it, we can keep going forward.”

Marsh sits back, startled.

“So, what you’re saying is that if I go ahead and let Ren propose now, there will be no going back from it?” she finally asks.

“It’s likely,” Talia says. “So I just want you to be sure you’re ready for it.”

“But what if I am ready for it?” Marsh groans, frustrated. “What if maybe nothing will work with Dylan, no matter how many times I try? What if I want Ren to propose, so I can see how perfect our life together could be?”

“Then we can let him propose!” Talia replies. “If you’re sure that you’ve tried everything you wanted to try, and you’re happy with the way your new life is, then let’s continue forward. But if there’s something you’re worried you missed, we can always come back to this moment later.”

The camera is tight on the little velvet box in Marsh’s palm as she stares at it, but a thump on the counter tells her that Talia has taken the Show Bible out of her giant leather bag and set it on the bar. Her hand rests protectively, reverently, on its cover.

It’s positively gigantic now. How have that many pages been added since the last time she saw it?

“I didn’t know about all this,” Marsh finally says. “I’m... scared.”

“Don’t be scared! You’re doing great, and everything is already going so well for you,” Talia replies encouragingly.

“Does it really...” Marsh hesitates as she watches Talia flip through, looking for their place in the book. “I know the Show Bible has a record of everything I’ve already chosen and what’s changed, but does it really also have all the future paths written for what I might choose next ?”

“Technically, yes. But don’t think of it as real,” Talia rushes to say before the magnitude of that admission can overwhelm her. “None of those pages are real yet. They’re just a guide. And as soon as we do choose something, then those pages get scrapped or revised to fit your actual reality.”

“But there is a potential reality,” Marsh says, her voice a mix of nervousness and wonder. “For every choice I might make.”

“How is that different than before?” Talia asks. “That’s true of any life.”

“Because it hasn’t already been written out somewhere,” Marsh replies, a little loudly, and then cowers as some of the bar’s patrons glance over at her.

Talia gives her a reassuring nod before returning to the Show Bible. “Marsh, these pages don’t make those possible futures real. They’re just possibilities. What makes them real is if you choose them.”

Marsh sighs, trying to let Talia’s words sink in. “Could I read through the pages for this next choice with you?” she asks. “This is such a big episode, I just want to make sure we choose the best option.”

But to her surprise, Talia shakes her head. “I wish, but it’s against network policy. I know it seems like it would be helpful to be able to flip forward and see what each choice will lead to down the line, but if a contestant is exposed to all that data, exactly the opposite happens. They become too concerned about tiny details they might not have even remembered otherwise. They get so overwhelmed that they become too afraid to choose anything .”

Marsh frowns.

It sounds logical. She can easily imagine Dylan agreeing with that, citing some behavioral basis from one scientific article or another about the paradox of choice. But on the other hand, this is Marsh’s life. Normally, no one has a user’s manual, but in this twisted version, she actually does.

Shouldn’t she be able to see it?

But Talia’s perfect smile is back on. “And remember, this is just the beginning! Once we have the midseason special under our belts, that’s when things can really take off. The second half of your season will be even bigger than the first!”

Marsh’s eyes widen. “How big?” she asks.

“The sky is the limit!” Talia crows. “You’ve turned your love life around and taken control of your career again, but aren’t there any other experiences you wish you’d had?”

“Uh...” Marsh stalls, both a little excited and nervous.

“Come on, Marsh! Let’s dream! You’ve made a strong start, but do you really want to spend the rest of your season here, in Phoenix, Arizona, working for the same small law firm and going on dates to the same coffee shops and restaurants with Ren as you did with Dylan?” Talia leans forward earnestly. “Remember what you said in your recap. There were so many places you wanted to explore, as a college student! Countries to travel to, cities to live in, experiences to have! You could try anything in the second half of your season. Heck, do you want to join the circus—even for just one episode?”

Despite her nerves, Marsh has to laugh at that.

Talia lets the joke linger for exactly the right amount of time before growing serious again. “Talk to your viewers, Marsh,” she says, in her daytime talk show voice. “Tell them what you most hope to accomplish in the latter half of your season. Fame? Wealth? Success? Or perhaps... something else?”

Marsh knows what Talia is talking about.

Her mark.

It was already an impossible gift just to be able to fix the mistakes she’d made in her past. It almost felt too greedy to wish for more than that.

But maybe what was really greedy was not daring to dream even bigger than her small world. To not use the show to its full potential. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Why squander it by being satisfied with moderation? Why settle for good, when she can have more?

When she can have perfect ?

Marsh finally nods. “You’re right. This first half was great, but I came here for a reason. To... to light that marshmallow on fire.”

“That’s the spirit!” Talia cries. “Things are about to get very, very exciting for you, Marsh. Even more exciting than they already are.” She’s so ecstatic, she’s practically hovering on top of her stool, rather than sitting on it. “I can’t wait for you to see!”

She and Marsh each raise a glass. And right then, the jingle at the end of the episode begins to play.

“I’m ready when you are,” Talia says as the music swells. “You could have All This ...”

Marsh swallows nervously. Excitedly.

“ And more, ” she says.

To move forward with the season and allow Ren to propose: Turn the page

To go back to before Dylan cheated on Marsh, to try to save their marriage: Go to Episode 3

To go back to put Marsh’s career ahead of any romance: Go to Cake