Chapter 35 · Month 19 · The Engagement

The Misunderstanding

The question of a pre-nup, asked badly

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            Penny
            teacher
            10:13
          
Biscuit tin's on the counter and the washers are next to it, so you've got one trip for both. Also — since we're suddenly doing sensible paperwork — my mum asked whether we'd discussed a pre-nup, and I said no, which was a lie I'd like to stop telling.

            Algy
            designer
            10:14
          
Right — before you say another word about pre-nups: I'll grab the tin, the washers, and I'll do the tap myself so you don't have to. "Discussed" is generous for what your mum did, which was ask you through a wall.

            Penny
            teacher
            10:16
          
You've gone quiet, and I'd rather have the tap dripping than this. Tell me what you actually heard when I said the word pre-nup, because it wasn't a threat from me.

            Algy
            designer
            10:17
          
The tin's open and I'm holding a five-dollar washer and your grandma's ring, and what I heard was "Mum thinks you're a risk." Say the pre-nup question is hers, and I'll answer it out loud, not sideways.

            Penny
            teacher
            10:18
          
The pre-nup's hers. What I'm afraid of is being the one holding every number alone, in six months, saying "he meant to." So it's hers, and you can hear it from me on Saturday.

            Algy
            designer
            10:19
          
Hearing it from you's fine. What stings is that "he meant to" is the exact sentence my mum used about my dad, and I've spent nine years making sure nobody says it about me — so give me until Saturday, not a wall.

            Penny
            teacher
            10:20
          
That's fair, and it costs me to say it — I heard my own dad in that sentence, not you. Let's have it Saturday; I'll keep my list short.

            Algy
            designer
            10:21
          
Then here's my offer: I'll say yes to her question on Saturday, out loud, and put my half — $950 — into the jar by Friday so the number's never just yours. It costs me to say yes before I've seen her face, so don't let it be "he meant to."

            Penny
            teacher
            10:23
          
$950 by Friday and you say yes out loud, and I'll take my dad's name out of my mouth. That's the honest one — I do that sometimes, borrow my mother's voice when I'm scared.

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