This Isn't Working Out

Grand Gestures

Elizabeth had stayed with Lily until after midnight. She eventually managed to get Lily into the shower and afterward bandaged up her cuts and scrapes. The two of them decided (after consulting Dr. Google) that Lily didn't need to go to the emergency room and her ankle was just sprained. Elizabeth wrapped it up, put ice on it, and propped it up on a pillow.

The rest of the evening was spent going over what had happened with Marcus and Ben, with Lily crying on and off and Elizabeth trying to offer suggestions about how things could be salvaged.

The night ended with both of them exhausted, but at least Lily had a plan, or something plan adjacent, to fix the mess she had managed to make of her life in just a few short days.

The next morning Lily lay in bed and tried to talk herself into getting up. She knew it would be a day of eating humble pie, which was no more than she deserved, but every time she imagined apologizing to Ben, she pictured his kind smile leaving his face as he turned his back on her. Lily would almost rather stay in bed and live in this limbo than know for certain she had ruined everything with him.

Eventually, she had to get up, and she got ready for the day with a heavy feeling pressing down on her. She sat down on her couch and took a deep breath, steadying herself for the first thing on her to-do list.

Maribel picked up the phone on the first ring, her voice noticeably cooler than Lily had ever heard it. "Hello, Lily. I'm surprised to hear from you. I know you don't want to waste any more of your time with my boring stories."

Lily winced but tried to make her voice as conciliatory as possible. "Mirabel, I'm calling to apologize. The way I spoke to you was unforgivable and completely unprofessional. It had nothing to do with you and was caused by some stuff in my personal life, but the point is it never should have happened. I do love working with you, and I hope you can forgive me."

Mirabel huffed into the phone. "What was going on in your personal life?" Her tone was still cool but also curious.

Lily sighed. "I had just met up with an ex of mine that always gets under my skin. After I saw him, I was upset, and I ended up being just awful to everyone. You, my best friend, and Ben, that guy I was seeing."

The anger left Mirabel's tone. "Well, we all have men like that in our lives. I'm jumping ahead a little here, but in my first year of college, I met a man named Raoul. He was a graduate student in Russian literature, and I fell head over heels in love...."

Lily pulled out her computer and began to take notes on Mirabel's (surprisingly risqué) story, glad to have mended at least one fence.

The next day Lily was diligently working on her plan to make up with Ben when Elizabeth called. "Are you sure you shouldn't just talk to him?" Elizabeth asked. "I feel like you're making this too complicated."

"That's entirely possible," Lily admitted, "but I want to show him he's worth the effort. I was really awful to him."

"Okay," Elizabeth said doubtfully. "Although it seems like this is going to take a lot longer."

Lily texted Ben: I'm really sorry about how I acted. Can we meet up at our usual time this week and talk about it? I picked a spot if that's okay. Bring a bathing suit.

She saw the three dots appear and disappear off and on for about five minutes until he finally responded: Okay.

Lily only had a few days to get this together, so she started making phone calls to get everything organized.

A few days later, Lily was at the public pool, filled with nerves. She was going over the plan one more time with Lola, the captain of the synchronized swimmers. "It all sounds great. He's going to be here in a minute, so maybe have everyone take their places?" Lily said. She then limped over to the side of the pool where she was supposed to wait and kept her eyes on the door.

She had rented out the whole aquatic center for an hour and arranged to have the kid working up front send Ben back to the pool when he came in. Finally, the door opened, and Ben came through. "Lily?" he asked, his eyes finding her with a look of confusion.

"Now!" cried Lily. The first strains of The Ramones "Swallow My Pride" started to play, and all the members of the synchronized swimming team jumped into the water. As Ben watched through comically round eyes, the women swam together, showing off their moves before finally spelling out "I'm sorry" in the pool with their bodies. After they did that, Lily lowered herself carefully into the water (her ankle was still far from healed) and swam across the pool to Ben.

Panting by the time she got to the other side, Lily surfaced and awkwardly did jazz hands as the song ended. Cocking his head to one side, Ben crouched down next to the pool. "Um, Lily? What's going on?" he asked.

Lily suddenly felt embarrassed. "I wanted to apologize. So, I planned this grand gesture. Which, now that you're here looking at me, seems weird...." She trailed off awkwardly.

"Can we maybe talk alone?" Ben asked, looking around at the synchronized swimmers.

"Sure," Lily said goodbye to Lola and the other women and then pulled herself out of the pool. "Can we sit? My ankle is still a little sore." The two of them sat on the bleachers together.

Lily took a deep breath. "I owe you an apology. Lots of them, probably. I was so mean to you the other day. It really had nothing to do with you. I think you're great, and I really hope you will give me another chance."

Ben smiled, but his eyes still looked doubtful. "I think you're great too, but I worry you really do mean a lot of what you said. I know you don't like dating guys like me because you think we have nothing in common. But exercise isn't the only thing I'm into."

Lily put her hand on his. "I know that. Of course, I do. I was just being a snob, or trying to sabotage things, or I don't know. I definitely don't have this relationship thing down. But if you give me another chance, I promise to try very hard not to make a mistake like that again. Or at the very least, to make an entirely different mistake."

Ben laughed. "With that kind of guarantee, how could I say no?" He turned his hand facing up and interlaced his fingers with hers. "And for my part, I will stop trying to make you love exercising. I am legitimately starting to worry I'm going to kill you."

"I appreciate that," said Lily, smiling. She leaned forward and rested her forehead on his. "Even with your love affair with exercise, I think you're pretty great." She closed her eyes and leaned in to kiss him softly.

He smiled against her lips and deepened the kiss, sending a shiver of pleasure down her spine. Pulling away, he asked, "Want to go for a swim? I promise to give you mouth-to-mouth if anything happens to you."

Lily laughed and stood, dragging him to the edge of the pool until they jumped in together, hand in hand.