Just Go With It (Hosie)

XXII

"She's not going to sleep," Hope says knowingly.

And with that thought in mind, she turns back around, making her way back to the elevator in a jog, with one destination in mind. Josie.

But as soon as she presses the up button on the outside of the elevator, the doors open to reveal her bucket of ice water, Maya and MG returning from their own night out.

And Hope freezes at the sight of the girl she's supposed to be here for.

But Maya's smile is wide and bright, reaching her eyes.
And MG grins as he stops in his tracks, "Oh, there she is!"

Hope tries to plaster on a smile, while Maya asks, "Hi babe, Where were you going?" She leans in to leave a kiss to Hope's lips, but it's a bit quicker than she intended.

"What? I was going—I was—Where were you guys? I was looking for you—How was dinner?" She tries to quickly change the subject.

Maya points to MG, "Well, Bruce gave mouth-to-mouth to a sheep. And then we had a few drinks."

Hope furrows her eyebrows, "A sheep?" Finally her train of thought fixates on something other than her assistant.

MG nods, "Yeah, well the sheep was choking, so I gave him sheep-P-R," He jokes as he playfully taps Maya, who Hope thinks only laughs to be polite, and then MG goes on with his notorious rambling of nonsense, "But...he was the black sheep of his family...but he was also white...if that makes..any sense..."

Hope continues to furrow her eyebrows, and she shakes her head, "Yeah...no—not at all actually."

Maya grins as she takes Hope's hand, "And we've been talking about how amazing this trip has been and how amazing you are...and, um..if the kids and I hadn't kept you so busy, that you might have had the time to do something that you've been thinking about doing...?"

MG grins as he holds up a hand and points to his ring finger, "The ringy-dingy...?"

Hope looks between the brunette and MG, "Uh...yeah, yeah, you told her about that?"

Maya responds before MG gets the chance, stepping closer to Hope as she holds both of her hands, "I don't need you to get me a ring, Hope," Hope is almost relieved, until Maya continues, "Let's just get married. Right here."

Hope's jaw gapes for a moment, "What now?"

Maya smiles, "Why not? We're in Hawaii. Your kids are here. Let's do it tomorrow. I mean, you and I have both said that this has felt special from the moment we met. And I've seen the way you are with kids, and it's exactly how I've always dreamt my forever partner would be," Maya says endearingly.

"Yeah..that's..." Hope's at a loss for words. She feels kind of like a deer in headlights.

But Maya is still giddy as she leans in to kiss Hope's lips again, wrapping her arms around the auburnette's neck, which only reminds Hope of how Josie did the same action so comfortably before.

"I don't want to wait, Hope. I want to start my life with you—" Maya's words get cut off as they all three hear the sound of the elevator dinging before the doors open again, Josie wearing a big smile until she sees them all standing there, and she freezes in the entryway of the elevator, her smile dropping as she now looks like a deer in headlights herself.

Maya smiles at her, "Hi!"

Josie forces a big smile, nervously looking between Hope and Maya, as she holds onto the doorway of the elevator to hold it open, "H-Hi..everybody—Bruce! There you are, I've been looking everywhere for you!"

MG furrows his eyebrows, as does Hope.

"For me?" MG asks, surprised.

Josie nods, "Mhm-Yes, come on, let's go."

"Wait, no, we can't go," MG grins, "Hope and Maya, they're getting married tomorrow."

Josie's mouth gapes as her heart drops to her stomach, eyes widening as she looks to Hope.

"...What?" Her voice is an odd mixture of fake excitement, confusion, and heartbreak.

"No, no—I mean—Yeah, we are, but what...What do you think?" Hope asks Josie, hoping for the brunette to dissuade her, to say she doesn't want Hope to marry Maya, that she wants to be together instead.

But Hope doesn't want to assume that Josie felt what she had a minute ago.

Josie doesn't want to get between a potential marriage though. She came up here thinking Hope felt the same way, but now to hear that Hope is engaged to someone else...it almost feels the same as before, like a repeat of what happened in college.

So Josie puts up her best act, pretending to be happy for them, "What do you mean, what do I think? I mean, what does it matter what I think? I think—that's..great!"

Hope furrows her eyebrows slightly, knowing she should be happy right now, but she's not.

Maya smiles gratefully at Josie, "Thank you, Alyssa. I really hope that you can be there tomorrow."

Josie knows she can't do that. It would hurt far too much now, "You know, I can't. It's really..." She tries to quickly come up with an excuse, clasping her hands together as if she's devastated by it, "It's bad luck for the ex to be at the wedding—" The elevator doors begin to close on her, and she frantically has to hold it open again, avoiding Hope's gaze as the auburnette looks down disappointedly.

Josie can't even look at her either. This sucks.

Maya frowns, but nods her head anyway, and Josie looks to MG, "Come on, Bruce, let's go..."

MG furrows his eyebrows, "Where are we going? Shouldn't we stay here with—"

"We're gonna go have sex, come on," Josie tells him, leaving no room for debate as he immediately perks up and joins her in the elevator as Josie steps back into it, and as the doors begin to close between them, Josie tells Hope and Maya, "I'm really happy for you guys."

And she locks eyes with Hope, holding her fake smile until the doors are shut completely, and she finally lets out a breath she didn't realize she was holding, her head leaning back against the elevator wall as her hands reach up to cover her eyes.

How could I have been so stupid, to think Hope felt the same way about me? This happens every time...

Granted, it's only been twice, but that's more than she can handle.

How am I supposed to pretend to be happy for her?

How am I supposed to act normal at work?

How am I supposed to pretend that I'm not in love with Hope? My boss, my partner, my best friend...