chapter six:
double date (and a half)
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The emergency lockdown had thankfully ended the following morning. With the neighbourhood freed of its sinkhole worries, Beth wants to hit the ground running and get to know more people in the Good Place. No time is wasted as she heads out with Sanjay in the morning to search for their starting candidates.
As they walk, Beth gazes in amusement at the various personality-catered homes other residents are living in. There are towering skyscrapers, yurts in the middle of the forest, giant water parks, and quaint English cottages. She even spots something resembling a Barbie Dreamhouse in all but scale. Eventually, they stop at a familiar stretch of the neighbourhood and survey their options.
"Hey, there's Eleanor and Chidi's house," Sanjay nods towards the small Scandinavian bungalow next to Tahani's eyesore of a mansion.
"Have you ever been inside?" Beth asks.
"No. Have you?"
"I haven't. Well, better late than never, right?"
Beth thinks back to Eleanor becoming more personable, and how Chidi seemed friendly enough on the first orientation day when she first met him. Surely they are a perfect place to start forging friendships for life... or the afterlife, she should say. (The sheer enormity of that concept never quite fails to make her head hurt).
As the duo make their way towards the brightly-coloured, minimalist house, Tahani herself comes striding glamorously up into their front garden. "Oh! Beth and Sanjay, how delightful to see you here!" she clasps her hands together. "What brings you to this part of the neighbourhood?"
"Well, our neighbours, you could say," Beth glances at Sanjay and chuckles. "We both got a bit of cabin fever during the lockdown, so we thought it was high time we started really getting to know everyone else here."
"Ah, how lovely," Tahani smiles. "I was just coming here to check on Jianyu."
"Jianyu's with Chidi?" Sanjay furrows his brows.
"Yes. Quite often, as of late... not sure why. Anyway, don't mind me, I'll just pop inside."
"Oh– right, yeah, by all means!"
They let Tahani lead the way, as she knocks on the door and swings it open before hearing an answer. Chidi and Jianyu are sat at the breakfast bar on the other side of the open-plan living space, the former cutting himself off mid-sentence. But Beth finds her attention towards whatever Tahani is saying dwindling... because she has just seen the monstrosities hanging in the walls. Framed pictures of clowns, all warped and terrifying in their own way, stare back at her.
Each to their own, Beth supposes.
She is about to become distracted by why there are no steps leading to the upper bedroom section, when she tunes back into Tahani's voice: "... Oh Jianyu, I cannot wait to just relax, and talk, and chat, and just– you know– get to know each other!" When the monk doesn't respond, she hovers by his side, a slightly strained smile on her face.
"What is this?" Sanjay asks.
"Jianyu and I are having a couple's spa day," Tahani says eagerly. "We thought it would help us grow closer, didn't we Jianyu?"
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From Eden ↠ The Good Place
FanfictionFROM EDEN | ❝Even the afterlife is a forking nightmare.❞ Despite her untimely death, Beth Ardon has to admit that the afterlife has its perks. Among them is having her own, universe-approved dreamboat of a soulmate. Surely she can relax now? Sh...
