SILVER LINED DOUBT. [JESS MARIANO]

THIRTY-NINE.

(well, hello friends. dear god, this took way longer than i thought it would. this was easily one of the hardest chapters i've ever had to write, not just because of the formatting and whatnot. it's a different style than anything y'all are used to from this fic, so it definitely won't be for everyone, which is fine.)

(we're covering A LOT of time in this chapter, hence the ridiculous number of pages/scroll time. it's told all through conversation, whether it be phone calls, texts, or email. i'm calling it chapter thirteen's older, tech genius brother. i know it's a lot, but bear with me.)

(there are dates at the top of every conversation held, just like real calls, texts, and emails would tell you. these are IMPORTANT. it'll tell you just how much time has passed, so you're not jumpscared by the time jump shown for the next interlude. the next interlude is the amount of time that passes between marley leaving philly to the integral event of part 3. this is the shit that went down during that time. like i said. bear with me.)

(okay, with that out of the way, hi!!! i missed you! i'm sorry for the delay but we're back in business! love you guys tons! hope you enjoy! -mags)

✧✧✧

TO: Jess Mariano [jmariano@truncheonbooks.com]
FROM: Marley Acosta [marleyacosta@hpg.com]
SUBJECT: URGENT
sent June 13th, 2008 at 10:34 AM GMT.

Mariano,

Hi, it's not urgent, but it felt so official writing that.

It's totally sacrilegious to be messaging you from my very serious, very professional work email right now, but they FINALLY gave me this address and I fully intend on abusing my power on company time. I'm not even three weeks into my job and I'm already slacking. Woo! Also, I just think it's cool that I have a work email to talk to you on your work email now.

I've got pictures on my desk now and I keep looking at the one you gave me of all of us the night of my 21st. I have to try not to cry every time I look at it, but what really makes me tear up is the fact that I just realized that Lauren's wearing my favorite shirt and she never actually gave it back to me after that night. I give you permission to bully her because I can't be there to do it myself.

I miss you guys. I miss you. Counting down the days until you visit. Call me whenever you're free. I'm up late tonight because I've got some paperwork to do. I want to hear how your meeting went.

Love you.

-M

✧

JESS MARIANO is calling!
ANSWER? YES / NO
June 13th, 2008 at 6:21 PM GMT