[Edward POV]
We were sitting near the ice rink, drinking soda and eating some snacks together. The arcade game music sang in the distance, and the ice skaters kept glancing in our direction.
"By the way, the mall is really great," I told Phil. "A lot of malls are dying, but yours is quite thriving."
Phil smiled in excitement. "I've been planning the place for about 20 years. I never thought I could've done it, but here we are."
The mall wasn't just his. Haley, Alex, Claire, and Luke invested in it too, with everyone holding a 20% stake in the mall.
Haley helped Luke with his share, and Luke has been slowly paying her back.
It cost only ten million to build since they built it in Concert City, where the android construction robots helped them cut their costs.
At first, a lot of the labor unions were protesting the construction bot usage in Concert City. They even sued me for it, but the government had my back, especially since they wanted me to build the moon base.
So the lawsuit died down very quickly.
"Jay wanted to invest too, right?" I asked.
Phil said seriously, "He's building his own property on the other side of the city. Right now, he's a competitor."
I was genuinely surprised by that. I knew Jay had opened his own mall, but I didn't know about their competition.
"So do you really hate me for screwing up your daughter Haley?" I asked suddenly.
Phil was taken aback and said hurriedly, "What? I've never said that."
"But you thought about it?"
Phil went silent for a bit. He put down the fries.
"I think I did think about it… once, like four years ago! But! I never hated you!" he scrambled quickly.
"I'm just mad that you couldn't work things out with Haley at that time," Phil said with slight anxiety.
He added, "But it might be for the best. Since Haley found Andy, they've been really happy together. So… I guess I'm fine with it now."
I breathed in relief. "I don't have any more questions."
"You still have three more," Phil replied with a soft smile. The tension between us had melted a bit, although the awkwardness was still there.
I shrugged. "I really don't have anything anymore. Why don't you ask me your question first? I'll think about mine as I answer it."
Phil nodded and asked carefully, "Have you been avoiding my family for the past four years because of what I said?"
He felt really guilty about it. I could see that on his face.
"Actually, not at all. I've been visiting Mitch, Cam, and Lily on a weekly basis. Jay and Gloria invited me at least once a month to go to their place."
"Jay?" Phil inhaled sharply. "No wonder he always gives me a smug look whenever I come to his house!"
"Isn't that how he always looks?" I furrowed my eyebrows slightly.
Phil nodded and said, "Yeah, but it's worse. You'll see when you see him. Now, have you thought about what you want to ask yet?"
"Yes. Um, how would you feel if I said that… hypothetically, Alex has been dating someone for the last two years?"
"What!? WHO!?" Phil was flabbergasted. "Why didn't she tell me about it?! Is she ashamed of her own family—"
"Phil. It's just a hypothetical question," I stopped him immediately.
He smiled and breathed in relief. "Ah… I get it."
"So you would be very mad, huh?"
"That depends," Phil replied. "I would be disappointed that she's not telling me, but if she's happy, then I won't hold it against her. Unless…"
"Unless what?" I asked curiously.
"Unless she told her boyfriend that her parents are dead. Then I'll definitely hold it against her."
"Like, every time you walk past her you're going to make ghost noises?"
"I'm thinking more of talking with her only through an Ouija board, but that's an interesting idea too."
We laughed slightly. Phil said, "You have one more question."
I breathed heavily and opened my mouth.
Suddenly, someone called to us from afar, "Hey! Look who it is. My rival son-in-law, Phil Dunphy."
Phil scowled and turned to Jay, who was taunting him. "What are you doing here?"
"What? I can't come to visit? Also, are you really sure you have the leeway to reject a visitor to your mall? I mean, it's not like people are lining up to get in here."
"What do you want, Jay?" Phil said quickly, slightly embarrassed.
Jay laughed and sat next to me, putting his arm around my shoulder. "Oh, I'm not here for you. I just heard this boy is here, so I figured he must be lost. He's trying to find my mall, but had to settle for this… cozy mall instead."
Phil gasped. "You did not just use the word cozy to describe my mall."
In real estate terms, cozy meant small.
"Oh, should I say 'charming' instead?" Jay taunted.
[Jay's commentary]
"Alex called me when I was at the office. Apparently, Edward is trying to make up with Phil. She told me to help. However…"
Jay laughed slightly. "Every time Edward came to visit my mall, the number of visits quadrupled. I can't let him make up with Phil now. I need some time to establish myself as the number one mall celebrity star would frequent."
"So, if they are trying to bury the hatchet, I'm going to use it to hack down Phil."
[Commentary ends]
"Remember the time Phil told you that you had messed up his daughter?" Jay asked suddenly. "I mean, that had to sting."
Phil exclaimed in bewilderment, "What are you doing, Jay? We finally put that behind us!"
I laughed awkwardly and said, "I'm going to go grab another drink."
"See, he's avoiding me again!" Phil whispered angrily to Jay.
Jay whispered angrily back, arguing with him, "I know you did this on purpose!"
"Do what? He came to me!"
I leaned on the counter next to the popcorn machine. The worker there asked, "Do-Do you want some popcorn? It's– It's free."
"Sure. Caramel ones." I replied easily.
…
[Alex POV]
While Edward went to my dad, I had a talk with my mother and Haley about the wedding.
"So you're a bridesmaid? The day came so fast," my mother, Claire, said excitedly as she heard the wedding arrangement.
"Yeah. I'm the maid of honor too," I replied. "So I need to plan the bachelorette party."
I glanced secretly at Haley. She caught me and asked with exasperation, "What?"
"Nothing."
I was a coward. I knew it was wrong, but I still wanted to be with Edward. To think that we would cross the line just because of a stupid stress test.
-Flashback, 32 months ago-
[General POV]
"So I got my degree!" Alex twirled in her gown, carrying her degree in a frame.
Edward smiled and said, "Nice one. So now, we're both college graduates."
They were flirting with their eyes and chuckling together.
A young student—Alex's roommate—approached them. "Congratulations to the both of you. Before you go, do you want to take a look at my research project?"
"Sure. What is it?" Edward asked.
"A stress detector. It scans the brain directly, so it gives the most accurate result. A normal person should have around 30–60. A professional may have up to 80. If it reaches 100, it's already in the danger level."
"Huh. Good to know," Edward exclaimed flatly.
The girl put the device on Edward's head. The numbers kept climbing upward. It broke 100, and it kept climbing until it stopped at the number 700.
"Is this broken?" Alex asked in shock.
"No—no, it just… it just doesn't have a limit," the girl stammered.
"Why don't you try?" Edward asked Alex.
She nodded and tested it immediately. Her number reached 350.
"Um… I think—I think the machine is quite broken," the girl said, stopping the experiment and bringing the machine away.
Alex turned to Edward and said, "Do you think it's broken?"
"Actually, she did a pretty good job with it," Edward replied.
Alex and Edward went silent for a while. Suddenly, Alex asked, "Do you want to have sex?"
"Yes—wait. What?"
"Just… some casual exercise. I read that sex could reduce cortisol levels. I have a lot I want to do, so I don't want to die early."
"So you want to do it casually? Do you think that's a good idea?"
"Hey, I'm thinking about you too. Your stress level is double mine. You'll die way earlier than me. So, for the sake of humanity, I guess we should do it… Casually… Without any feelings…"
They spent over ten days just doing it with each other until they tested the cortisol level again.
"Edward has 99. Alex is 45. I think the experiment is a success now," the girl said happily.
Alex turned to Edward and said decisively, "99? What went wrong? It was 47 this morning."
They did it in Alex's dorm this morning and had their own stress indicator to check it out.
"The President texted me, so I got a bit stressed out."
Alex looked around and grabbed Edward's hand. "Come here then. We should go get your levels down."
They snuck into Alex's dorm room again.
-Flashback ends-
Haley took a bite out of the muffin my mom bought in the kitchen.
"Stop staring at me!" She snapped at me suddenly.
"Sorry. Your hair just looks so pretty." I blurted out, trying to cover up my true purpose.
That seemed to disarm her and made her feel flattered. "Really? I thought about going blonde for a while now. You can keep staring."
I turned to my mom and said, "I need to ask you something."
"Shoot." My mom said casually. "Do you need some help planning a bachelorette party?"
"No, Jenna and Enid are helping too."
Haley laughed and said, "Are you going to get strippers?"
I turned to her and said, "Have you seen Jacob? He worked out with Eddy for years. No stripper could top their bodies–"
I realized I have triggered Haley as I mentioned Ed. Her face fell, her eyes shook, and her chest heaved slightly.
'Wait, was I looking at her chest? Damn it. I read too many psychoanalysis books.'
"Um, I guess." Haley replied, slightly deflated.
My mom rolled her eyes, throwing her head around in a circle at the same time. "Really? After all these times?"
Haley quivered, "What– You– You left him too, so you can't say anything to me."
"Left him?" My mom was confused. "When did I leave him?"
I was shocked, "Mom? Didn't you take heed of Grandpa's closet company?"
"Edward bought that company. He's integrating smart technology into the closet industry." My mom replied happily.
"I talked about it multiple times already. Did both of you think I had quit my job?" She narrowed her eyes in suspicion.
Haley and I exchanged glances with each other. "Kind off–"
"Yeah." Haley added.
My mom rolled her eyes again. "I'm the VP of a multi-billion dollar company. Do you really think I'll quit my job there and become a president of a multi-million dollar company?"
"What do you want to ask me Alex?" My mom finally got back to the subject.
"Um, this is kind of weird. But, what do you think about me dating Eddy?"
I figured the best way to do it was to put it all out in the open.
Haley froze, and so did my mother.
"What?" My mother asked in shock. "Are you dating him?"
"We're not." I replied quickly. My mother and Haley breathed in relief.
"Not until we get your blessing." I added, which made them flabbergasted.
"So–So like, you a-and Eddy are like… already planning to date?" Haley asked with a stammer.
I nodded, feeling quite guilty.
Her voice quavered, "Um. I need a moment."
"Haley! You have been dating Andy for over 6 months now. Are you still not able to let Eddy go?" My mom asked her quickly.
"Hey! I did let him go! But to date other people, not my little sister!"
"That's…" I paused, "Fair."
Haley grunted slightly and said, "I can't believe you wanted to date him."
My mom narrowed her eyes again and said, "I can't believe it takes you this long."
"What?" Haley asked with a stunned expression.
"What?" I asked with shock.
My mom sighed and said, "Well. You only hang out with him. The two of you are almost inseparable. Every time I go to your dorm, he's inside the room."
"No– What?! We're not inseparable–" I blushed slightly, feeling embarrassed.
Haley gasped slightly, looking at me as if she was questioning my audacity.
"How about this? What if, you took Haley and Andy out for dinner with you and Eddy?" My mom suggested. "You can work it out together."
"Mom!" Haley exclaimed, feeling betrayed.
"I'm sorry Haley. But it has been four years." My mom threw her hands up, as if deflecting all arguments. "So, just… for closure. Maybe talk it out." She touched Haley's face, convincing her.
Haley rolled her eyes slightly and sighed, "Fine. I'll do it."
"Great… If you're there, should I really be there too?"
"Alex! You're going!"
"Got it!"
…
[Edward POV]
"Huh, so I need to go to dinner with Haley now?"
I received a phone call from Alex, explaining what happened on her side. It seemed that things were working out smoothly over there, but on my side, the situation was still rough.
Phil and Jay got into an argument, now they were competing in bowling.
I checked my watch and told them, "Hey. I need to go now."
"What? But you just got here!" Phil was astonished.
"It's been 3 hours." I replied.
Jay laughed and said, "You're bored of this place, now you want to go to my mall, right?"
"No. By the way Jay, what caused Phil to suffer your ire this time? I didn't feel any malice, but I sensed there's something deeper behind all of your one-ups man and the competition."
"Huh?" Jay was taken aback by my question.
Phil turned to him with a softer expression, asking, "Yeah. Why are you so mean to me?"
"You… don't remember?" Jay was taken aback. "So three years of this… is for nothing?"
"This has been going on for three years?" I was surprised. Phil has a similar reaction as I do.
It was because Jay treated him like family outside of the mall business. Only instigating a fight when they were managing their mall.
"Jay? What did I actually do? I really have no idea. So obviously, it's inadvertent." Phil argued.
Jay grumbled and said, "You told me, you don't need my help."
"What?" Phil and I exclaimed in unison.
Jay glanced at the both of us and said, "You threw me aside when you're planning everything."
"But I thought you're against this idea. You kept saying you need to think about it." Phil argued.
Jay grumbled again and said, "Who the hell goes into a business partnership without thinking. Besides…"
Jay turned to Phil and said seriously, "You told me about it for years Phil. About your dream. And for a decade, you included me into the plan. We were going to do it together. But you threw me away as soon as you had your own funds."
"Jay, did you think Phil was only being nice to you because of your money?" I asked.
Jay went silent, and Phil realized what a massive blunder he had made.
His eyes were teary, and his voice a little choked up. "I just thought you weren't interested in the dream."
"How could I not be interested?" Jay replied, his voice a bit softer now. "I believe in you Phil. I believe in your dream. It's supposed to be our dream."
Phil pinched the bridge of his nose slightly to prevent himself from crying.
"I'm sorry Jay." Phil apologized sincerely. "I've been a terrible son-in-law."
Jay held his shoulder and said, "I'm sorry too. I should've just said it and not tried to make you go bankrupt."
"I'm sorry what?" Phil was shocked.
I laughed slightly and said, "Don't worry Phil. He's playing."
Jay laughed and said, "Besides. I'm making a fortune now and don't need to share it with anyone."
"Except Gloria." I added.
Jay laughed heartily and said, "She made me name a wing section there the Gloria section. And it's all shoe stores."
Phil held Jay's shoulder back and said, "I'll make it up to you. Do you want to buy half of my stake? I can make you a partner"
"No." Jay grimaced. "My mall is already better. We have a Sephora now."
"Sephora?!" Phil exclaimed with disbelief. "They said they are going to open a store here!"
Jay laughed and said, "Yes, they did say that, until I gave them a 15% discount on their store rental. They decided to rent 5 shop lots for a megastore."
"Damn it." Phil cursed to himself.
I laughed and said, "Thank goodness, it seems like the both of you have made up now."
Phil smiled slightly, which made Jay scowled.
"And the two of you too." Jay pointed at Phil and myself. "Just bury the hatchet already. It's not like he's dating your daughter now."
"Ooh." I blurted out slightly.
"What?" Phil turned to me in shock, so did Jay.
"Um…" I was hesitant, and finally decided to just get it all out in the open. "I'm dating Alex."
"What?!" Phil was stupified. Jay froze in shock.
"So, I actually came here to ask for your blessing." I said carefully.
"To marry her?" Phil asked in bewilderment.
"No– Not yet. Just, we are going to start dating officially." I waved my hands to gesture 'No' and was a bit frazzled.
Phil breathed in relief and leaned back slightly. "Oohh. You're just going to date."
Jay also laughed and said, "That's pretty old-school of you, asking the father for his blessing."
"Alex told me to. And she told me to bury the hatchett too. So, how is it Phil? Do I have your blessing?" I asked, a bit nervous.
Phil went silent for a bit. He turned to Jay and to me. His eyes stared at me intently.
"No."