My flight back to New York is tonight—things can get really busy at the school at the end of the year, and I can't afford to take any more days off besides today. The good news is: Jonah will also be flying to New York with me, and then he'll be spending the short Thanksgiving break with me in the city.
I didn't bring anything with me when Jonah snuck me out of the event on Sunday night, so I had to borrow his clothes. My bags and everything were left at Freddie's suite, though, so now Jonah is driving me to The Beverly Hills Hotel while I'm in an oversized shirt and a pair of loose jogger pants—both raided from his closet—which is a very fashionable choice, I personally think.
I texted Freddie this morning to let him know that I was spending the night at Jonah's place in case the chauffeur he assigned was looking for me. He didn't reply—probably too tired after a late night flight back to New York and then going straight to an important meeting or something the next morning, I assume.
The next few weeks are going to get a bit crazy. The documents are prepared and being reviewed by our lawyers before we can file them. Freddie will have a team ready to monitor the situation once our divorce news goes public, to make sure my privacy stays intact and prevent any misinformation from spreading.
Soon enough, I'll legally be a single woman again. Soon enough, I'll get to hold Jonah's hand in public without worrying about ruining Freddie's reputation. It's all pretty nerve-wracking, to be honest.
It's almost noon when we finally arrive at the hotel. Jonah's taking me sight-seeing in our last few hours before our flight to New York, so I'm just gonna go for a quick change into my own clothes. I fish for my copy of the keys to the suite from my clutch as Jonah whistles to himself, visibly admiring the place.
"Did you regret not accepting my offer to spend the night here?" I tease him.
He smiles and shrugs. "We did have fun at my place though, didn't we?"
"True," I laugh. "It's really nice. I've only been here twice before, and it makes me feel so guilty to sleep here knowing how much it costs per night."
I finally get the door open and, to my surprise, the lights in the living space are already on. Jonah makes himself comfortable on the couch; meanwhile, I make my way to the master bedroom, getting my bags so we can leave right away. I open the door and turn on the lights—and promptly let out a shriek.
"What the fuck!"
Two people spring up from under the plush comforter and I stagger backwards in surprise. The blonde-haired head is instantly recognizable, but the other person takes a minute for me to sink in and—
"What the fuck?" I repeat, in an astonished tone this time.
The sleepy voice of my legally wedded, not-yet-divorced husband groans out, "This isn't what it looks like."
"Wait—Hannah?!" a female voice pipes in, after rubbing her eyes and doing a double take. "Don't tell me... Your fake wife is Hannah Taylors? My college roommate?!"
"Not actually fake, it's all real and legal, yadda yadda, you already know all about this." Freddie moans and throws himself back into the bed, and hos face is muffled into the pillows now. "Oh, fuck me. I didn't want you guys to find out like this."
"Oh, my god, fuck off, Freddie!" Tammy throws the blanket off herself as I watch the two of them with my mouth wide open, still trying to process everything I'm currently seeing. "All this time? I've been sleeping with you while you're married to HANNAH?"
I brace the wall behind me for support. My voice is faint when I ask, "You guys have been sleeping together? Multiple times? In the past?"
There's an unintelligible noise coming from Freddie's direction as he buries himself into the fat pillows. Tammy is currently butt-ass naked and collecting her underwear from the floor. I feel really dizzy.
"But... but you guys hated each other..."
"Oh, don't get me wrong. I still hate him," Tammy says to me as she slips into a wrinkled blouse. "Makes the sex really good, though."
Freddie groans and I do, too. I feel a word vomit coming on as my brain goes haywire. "I really don't need to hear any of that. Oh my god. I'm just here to get my bags. What the hell, Freddie? Why didn't you ever tell me that you've been with Tammy? All this time? What the hell do you mean 'all this time'? Has this been going on since we got married? Since before? Have you guys always had a thing without my knowledge? What's your next move, then, you're gonna sleep with Jonah, too?!"
Jonah's confused and hesitant voice pipes in from behind my shoulder. "Who... is going to sleep with me, too?"
"My next move? What do you—did you and Tammy...?" is Freddie's stunned response, his eyes wide as they go back and forth between me and Tammy.
"For fuck's sake, Hannah!" Tammy exclaims, glaring at me with one leg in her jeans, the other still bare. "You didn't need to bring it up. Are you fucking insane?"
"Ohhhh my God." I put both of my hands up, stopping all three voices. "I need a moment. Please put on some clothes and then we'll talk in the living room. Two minutes. Thank you."
I make Jonah stand guard in front of the door, preventing anybody from leaving the suite. I'm pacing back and forth, hands on my hips, probably looking absolutely deranged. The guilty party is sitting on the couch; Tammy is fully clothed now, while Freddie is wearing a satin robe and hiding his eyes under his forearm.
"I need an explanation."
"Well, I need an explanation," Tammy interjects hotly. "You're Freddie's wife? The mysterious Mrs. Archer? You married him? Willingly?"
"The last part is debatable," I say to that, only because I know it would annoy Freddie. I think I hear Jonah snort. "But we're divorcing. I'm dating someone else. Don't tell TMZ."
"I know about the divorce. Freddie already told me. That's why I agreed to meet him here." Is there a blush I see on Tammy's face? "And, by the way, this isn't—this is not a thing. It's not like that. It's whatever."
"Okay, but how are you here? And why? And how long exactly has this been going on?"
Tammy sighs and raises an eyebrow. "You're not jealous or anything, right? Did Freddie lie to me about the whole loveless marriage thing?"
Freddie visibly winces. "Why do you have to make it sound so... cold? And no. Hannah's not jealous. Obviously," he says, tipping his head toward Jonah's direction.
"I'm not jealous. I don't care that Freddie's been sleeping around. What I care about is that it's you, Tammy!" I just can't believe that Freddie's been hooking up with one of my closest friends—or former, I should say—without telling me. It kind of stings. The three of us were friends.
"Code Indigo rule number one," Freddie mutters. Of course he has to bring it up—our made up rule that we're not obliged to tell each other who we're seeing during our marriage.
"It shouldn't apply when the person you're sleeping with is my old roommate!" I didn't even know they've kept in touch all this time. I think my brain is going to explode.
"I knew you'd freak out like this and that's why I never told you," Freddie exclaims, pointing a finger at me, and then at Tammy. "And would you care to explain what I apparently didn't need to know? Did you guys date each other? You never told me that!"
"We didn't date. It was just one kiss. Probably why she never told you," Tammy answers for me with a shrug.
I huff, annoyed at her nonchalance. As if we weren't talking about the literal end of our friendship and the reason my last semester of undergraduate was absolute hell. "Well, fuck you too, Tammy."
"Are you still pissed at me? It was an emotional night. We both just got dumped and I was so fucking drunk and horny and maybe I kissed you and you didn't stop me until it was almost too late. Itregretfully happened, end of story."
I throw my hands up in a okay, I give up gesture. "Oh, okay, so you're still being an asshole about it. Whatever."
Tammy rolls her eyes. "If I'd known he was married to you I wouldn't have even touched him, I swear."
"I'm sitting right here," Freddie grumbles.
"Wait, that guy is your ex, right? The ex?" Tammy finally notices Jonah, who's clearly been trying not to laugh with his hand over his mouth. She laughs then. "You're telling me, this room is full of people who have hooked up with Hannah Taylors? That's fucking hilarious."
I glare at Freddie, who's about to snicker but stops himself. I tell Tammy, "Can you just... stop. Please."
"Fuck no. I'm not gonna sit here and let you scold me like I'm a little kid. We're all adults. He told me he was getting a divorce and that it was all fine. So I slept with him, like, a couple times. Or more, whatever. But it means nothing. There isn't—this isn't a thing. Okay? Is that enough explanation for you?"
My gaze turns to Freddie, and he immediately sits straighter. I ask him, "When did this start? Has all of your Code Indigos been her?"
He steals a glance at Tammy nervously, and I almost feel guilty for asking him point-blank. Almost. "Err... no. She was right. It was just—a couple times after we got married. But there were a couple more times before. Back in college. But it's not like—it's not a regular thing. Sorry."
"So you—you've both kept in touch? After you moved to Cornell?" I ask for confirmation, and Freddie nods hesitantly. "When I got sick and called you to pick me up from the hospital and you came up with the grand idea to marry me to save your company and all of that stuff... Why didn't you ask her instead, if you two had been hooking up? Or did you come to her first and she said no so then you asked me?" I know the pitch of my voice has only gotten higher as I go on, but I can't help it. Was I a second choice to Freddie? Should I feel insulted? I thought he said I was his best friend!
"I—no. I never once thought of asking her. It's not—can you imagine? Me and her? Sharing a house together?" Freddie asks incredulously, and I thought Tammy might be offended at his tone, but it seems like she agrees that it's a fucking stupid idea. I don't get what's so funny. My question was legit. "No—it's. Ugh. Yes, we've hooked up a couple times. It's always been casual. But it's never—no. That's—no."
"I would have laughed in your face if you ever asked me to marry you," Tammy adds.
Freddie holds out his hands as if to say, See? I throw myself into the couch across from the one they occupy, sighing tiredly.
He asks, hesitantly. "Are you... jealous?"
"No!" I exclaim in frustration. "I just can't believe you two... My God. I'm trying to make sense of this. You two could not stand each other. Every time you showed up at our apartment, it's like the beginning of World War Three. And now I'm finding out that you guys have hooked up multiple times. I didn't even know you guys were talking!"
Tammy says, "It's not like this was a relationship." She sounds like she's half-gagging at the word relationship. "We both just happen to be in the same city at the same time and decide to meet up. That's it. It's always over in the morning. I just overslept, this time. Didn't mean to stay."
I didn't realize that Jonah has come over toward the couch until I feel his hands rest on my shoulders, giving me a light, comforting massage. I can't help but soften and melt into the couch, comforted by his touch.
Tammy looks up and tips her head toward him. "Hey, by the way. Nice to meet you. I'm Tammy. Joseph, is it?" she asks.
"Jonah," my soon-to-be-officially-boyfriend-again replies, a hint of amusement in his voice. "Nice to meet you, too."
"Sorry you got dragged into whatever this is. This doesn't freak you out?"
"Nah. Stranger things have happened," Jonah laughs. "Your friendship seems very... interesting."
I roll my eyes and shake my head. "Long story short, Tammy and I shared an apartment in college, I dated Freddie and then he kind of inserted himself into our friendship, but they've always hated each other—or so I thought."
Tammy adds helpfully, "Then Freddie dropped out to get into his father's business and Hannah and I had a thing and then she moved out and she blocked my number."
"The last part is news to me, too," Freddie says to Jonah in a sympathetic voice.
"If it helps, she blocked my number, too," Jonah says to Tammy.
Tired of everything, I jump in, "Yes. I tend to do that when people piss me off. It was better for my mental health."
"Sorry," Jonah says, pressing a kiss on top of my head.
"It was not a thing, by the way," I correct Tammy. "Like you said: it was just one regretful, drunken kiss."
Tammy turns to me. "Are you still freaking out? Because I should really have been back at my place, like, an hour ago. I've got other things to do."
"No," I grumble. "Okay. Fine. It's good to see you again, I guess. I just wish you weren't sleeping with my husband behind my back after kicking me out of our shared apartment."
"That was five years ago," she groans exasperatedly. "But it was nice to see you doing okay, too, Hannah. Sorry about whatever happened between us."
"Yeah, okay." I wave my hand to dismiss it. It's probably obvious how I'm still feeling partly bitter—especially remembering how our friendship ended, and now this. But I guess... whatever. They're both adults, and they can do whatever the hell they want.
"And sorry about the whole sleeping with your husband thing. I promise I'll never do that again."
"Awesome," Freddie mutters, once again hiding his face behind his arms.
"I don't—you guys can go on with your thing or whatever, if that's what you want. I'm not saying you're not allowed to hook up. I really don't care; it's not my business. I'm just surprised." I sigh. Never in my wildest dreams have I ever expected to ever see them together. It would've made more sense to add ketchup to a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
Tammy laughs as she stands up. "Yeah, no. Knowing that you guys are married is making it really weird."
"We're divorcing," comes Freddie's muffled voice.
"Don't call me again until the judge signs your divorce papers. And even then, I think I'll need to fuck other people before I can go back to you," Tammy says.
"I really don't need to hear any of this," I say, rubbing the back of my aching neck.
"Sorry." Tammy stops in front of me and offers me a hand. "We good?"
I take her hand and shake it. "Yeah. We're good. I'll unblock your number."
"Cool. Would be nice to catch up some time. Come see me if you're ever on the west coast."
We say goodbye to Tammy, but Freddie's not even sparing her a glance as she leaves, leaving the door gently shut behind her. His whole face is tomato red. Interesting.
"My therapist will love hearing about all of this," I say, which finally makes Jonah laugh.
Freddie glares at me. "None of this is ever getting out of this room. I'm gonna go take a shower and we'll never talk about this ever again."
Author's note: A little lighthearted chapter to make up for last chapter's heavy one😁 Midway through writing Part Two and Part Three, I realized that I kind of accidentally wrote Tammy out of the story—when she was written as Hannah's closest friend in college. Then my brain just did its thing and this chapter happened😂
Also, just fyi, we are almost at the end of the story! We have 61 chapters in total (excluding the prologue, interludes, and the epilogue), and then, like I promised, we'll have bonus chapters from Jonah's POV ;) I'm so nervous for the last phase of the story leading up to the ending😬
One last thing—I have a question! Especially for you guys who recently re-read Accidentally on Purpose, or just finished reading it for the first time before going straight to this book. In case you didn't know, I wrote AOP almost exactly 10 years ago—and only started re-writing this book last year. I wanna hear your opinion about the characterization of Hannah and Jonah in this book: have I written them "correctly"? Do they still seem like the same people from the last book, or did my writing change too drastically that they no longer feel like the same characters anymore? Is there any criticism you have for me, especially regarding the way I write Hannah and Jonah? Please do let me know!! I'd love to hear what you think :)