"I think... moving to France was a bad idea."
"Kenna, what?" Mary cries out. "Why?"
Kenna shrugs, shaking her head. "I miss England, Mary. And this isn't just homesickness or anything... This has been brewing for eight months and I just think that... that maybe Bash and I just aren't compatible anymore."
Mary gapes, averting her gaze. "You can't end things with-"
"I'm thinking," Kenna says softly. "I just want to do what's best for all of us-"
"You don't need to think about me!" Mary tells her desperately. "I can survive without you. I have Francis and Jean now-"
"You're nothing to do with my decision, trust me," Kenna says, handing Mary a cup of tea.
They're in Francis's kitchen, Bash helping Francis put together the rest of Francis's office furniture. What better brotherly bonding than building your own file cabinets and bookshelves?
Mary's lips waver and she sighs softly. "You've been together for six years. That's your early twenties to almost thirty..."
"We want different things," Kenna says quietly. "I want kids, he doesn't. Do I really want to spend my prime baby-making years with a guy who won't utilise that and makes sure we're using protection all the time?"
"You should talk things through. He might sway his-"
"The first thing he told me when we got together was that he didn't want kids. Ever. Zilch. Nada. None," Kenna cuts her off. "And now, thinking more about it... It's a damn dealbreaker."
"But-but..." He wants to marry you, Mary thinks sadly.
"I have a lot going on right now," Kenna continues. "I don't want to put him through that. I mean, you were something I worried over and put that on him. I can't keep dumping and piling all this shit on him and run away when he replies with his own issues. Like the 'daddy' thing right now, I wanted to come here alone to let him deal with that but... he came along and now... I'm sure now. I'm going to end things with him when everything dies down and he's in a place when I can go and he won't hate me forever..."
Mary really wants to guilt trip Kenna into staying with Bash but she mentally scolds herself. She can't. If her best friend wants to come home, she can't deny her that. It means more Kenna for her and she's now feeling awfully selfish for thinking so, scolding herself again.
"What about your job?"
"It's freelance," Kenna says dismissively with a wave of her hand. "I can run it here in England."
Mary gulps. "I see," she says, hearing voices come closer. "I better see how Jean's doing. You... do whatever, I-I will be back."
She gets up and heads out of the room, pulling Bash to one side as Francis gives her a confused look that mirrors on Bash's face. She shoos Francis away and pushes Bash into the cloakroom, crossing her arms.
"When are you proposing?"
"Why?" He asks.
"Big problemo," Mary says, knowing she'd forever betray Kenna but she knows Kenna loves Bash just as much as he loves her. And if she's happy with Francis, she wants nothing but happiness for the other couple too. "Kenna's unhappy with your relationship."
Bash's face falls. "What?" He whispers.
"She wants kids, Bash," Mary tells him softly. "And she has ideas and you know her. Once she has them, it's impossible to remove them or change them. She really wants kids and... She's not happy in France either. She thinks your relationship has run its course."
