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DITW 14-6: Odyssey 1
🕑 Added 2024-04-11 23:16:05 +0000 UTCHe should have known something was up.
At the end of the almost three-hour drive north to Quinn’s family cottage in Gunter, he finds a caravan of cars waiting for him, Meyer’s headlights glinting off many parked cars.
“You’re such an asshole,” Josh said to Meyer, behind the wheel of Meyer’s new truck.
Meyer chuckled. “Sorry, bud. Had to happen.”
Josh rubbed his brow as they drove up the long drive to the cottage, the wheels crunching over a bed of rusted pine needles. There looked to be a half dozen cars or more parked by the side of the cottage, the darkness of the lake beyond. “Fuck, is Steve here?” It looked like Steve’s car parked amongst the many.
Meyer said yes, Steve was here.
“God, who else?”
“Gabrielle from your work. Samara . . . Rafe—”
“Ah fuck, I hate Rafe.”
“You do? I didn’t know that.”
“I don’t hate him, but . . . Whatever.”
“I can tell him to leave. You want me to kick him out?”
“No,” he said, sulking.
“Karina’s here, too.”
“Ah shit,” he muttered, wanting to sink his head into the collar of his jacket like a turtle. “Why would you do this to me?”
“Don’t look at me, cuz. It was Quinn’s idea. If it was me, we’d be balls deep in a pizza and COD. Quinn said you need to have friends around right now.”
He rubbed his brow harder. “They don’t know, do they?”
“I didn’t tell them what’s going on. And Quinn didn’t either. We could only get a hold of a handful of people. She invited some of her own friends to fill out the crowd. They gotta close the cottage this weekend. That part was true. Her brothers are here.”
“How many people?”
“Like a dozen, I guess. We’re not going to act like it’s for you. Quinn’s considerate, okay?”
Josh shook his head, still disgruntled, but momentarily quieted by the task of closing the cottage and the presence of Quinn’s friends. If he were surrounded only by sympathizers right now, he might crumble before them.
Meyer added, “And do me a favor, okay? Don’t be a dick about this. Put a smile on your pasty face for me. Quinn’s nice. I like her. Don’t fuck this up for me.”
“She did this for you, not for me.”
“Yes, and no. She likes you, Josh. She’s really upset about what’s going on with you.”
Josh groaned and squeezed the bridge of his nose. “Why would you tell her any of that?”
“You barely tell me anything, so what magic secrets do you think I’m telling her? I don’t know shit, so I’m not telling her shit. You’re sleeping on my couch, and she knows what’s up. She was there last time. Appreciate it that people like you, and stop with the prima dona shit. We want you to be happy. I sure do. And Quinn does. So I’m asking you to do me the kindness, if you will”—he put a hand over his heart, eyes turned to the sky—“of some grace for the kind effort a woman who’s a stranger to you is offering.”
Meyer put both hands back on the wheel, and Josh watched his cousin’s profile. “Jesus, dude. You’re really hooked on this girl.”
“I just know what kind of grump you are. Don’t embarrass me, okay?”
“I’ll be on my best behavior.”
Meyer leaned over the console, grabbed Josh’s thigh, and squeezed. “You should be around people, buddy.”
“You’re people. Why can’t I just be around you?”
“Because I’m as fucked up as you are.”
“That’s why I like you.”
Meyer nodded out the passenger window, saying, “Look, here comes Steve,” and Josh turned to the right to see Steve emerging from the dusky gloom, walking between two parked cars, skin glistening wet, wearing only swimming trunks and Crocs, holding an almost empty bottle of Sleeman. Steam rose from his shoulders. Meyer rolled down Josh’s window from the driver side as Josh was saying, “Quinn has a hot tub, I guess,” and Steve reached in and patted Josh’s chest, leaning forearms on the open window sill.
Steve said, “And it’s real fucking hot, buddy,” Then, “Nice truck, Meyer.”
Josh said, “When did you get here?”
“Almost an hour ago,” Steve said. “I ducked out early.”
“You didn’t say anything at work today.”
“About coming up here? Meyer said you wouldn’t come if you knew I’d be here.”
“I didn’t say that, I wouldn’t—”
But Meyer and Steve were laughing, putting him on.
Josh said, “Who else is here from work? Samara and Gabrielle?”
“Yeah, they rode up with me.”
“Rafe’s here?”
“Who, Rafe? No, he’s not here,” Steve said, frowning like he wondered who would ask Rafe to come.
“Oh, that’s too bad,” Josh said with sarcastic disappointment. “Anyway, you guys are the best, coming up all this way.
“Last chance to be at a cottage this year,” Steve said, tipping the neck of the beer bottle at Josh.
“How many beers are you in?”
“This is number three,” Steve said.
Meyer shut off the truck and got out. Josh got out as well, Steve stepping back to give him space, admiring Meyer’s new truck and asking Meyer questions. Campfire wood-smoke was thick in the chilly night air. Meyer handed Josh his bag, Steve saying how Quinn had the main cottage, and there were four bunkies, and how they would bunk up together right by the water. “You should see this dock, dude. It was misty when I got here and you couldn’t even see the end of it. It was like right out of Lord of the Rings.”
Quinn met them before they even passed between the parked cars, making it right toward Meyer and kissing him. “I’m so glad you’re here,” she said. Quinn wore a ball cap, a towel around her waist, a bikini top in black. She had a really great set of knockers. No wonder Meyer was amped about a potential relationship. Quinn greeted Josh now, too, kissing his cheek and one-arm hugging.
“We’re going to have a good time, Josh,” she said near his ear. “Go grab a cold beer and we’ll squeeze you into the hot tub.”
“Thanks,” he said in his most heartfelt way, without elaborating on the specifics. It was a kind thing for a stranger to do.
Quinn led them past the parked cars, over a rough patch of grass and around the side of the black-painted cottage, a bungalow with a new pressure-treated deck. But just before the anxious swell of introductions to the gathered crowd of people around the hot tub, a woman called out his name from behind. He knew the voice because he knew she was here tonight. It was Karina.
“Hang on a sec,” he said to Quinn and the others, glad for the relief. “Karina’s calling me.”
Quinn pointed out the coolers with the beer, told him to grab a swimsuit from the main cabin if he forgot his (no one told him to bring one) and she and Meyer headed off together. Josh told Steve he’d catch up in a minute, and headed back the way he’d come from, moving toward where he’d heard Karina, down in the dark somewhere by the water. She met him where the grass met the dock, saying, “Hey, buddy,” and hugging him. It was damp and cold and he could tell she was shivering despite the wool jacket she wore.
“What are you doing down here by yourself?”
“I was watching the sunset. The colors are starting. Not all over, but there are a couple trees out on the other side of the lake that have gone yellow, and some red patches too. Everything’s still so green in Ajax.”
“We’re really up in the boonies here,” he said.
“It’s nice and quiet. The neighbors are far apart, and they’re not even up this weekend. We have the south half of the lake all to ourselves.” She stuck her hands in her jacket pockets, regarding him now. And there was that look of sympathy he didn’t want to see. Karina knew. Somehow, she knew he was in the shit with Kimmy. How much she knew, he didn’t know. But it could be the whole thing. She’d been there that night at Tiffany’s post high-school reunion, had been awake when he wasn’t, had been around for those igniting moments when Kimmy and Devlin had argued. He looked away, not ready for making eye contact now, not when she was obviously sending out feelers, testing his defenses, wanting to know how much he was hurting.
She chuckled, said, “So what did you think you were coming up here for?”
“I thought it was going to be me and Meyer and Quinn and like one of her brothers. She made it sound low key.”
“I make it high key?”
He could look at her now, that probing moment passed, and Karina hopefully getting the message he didn’t want to talk about Kimmy at all right now. “Yeah, you do. You make it high key.”
Karina scrunched up her face. “I guess that’s good. I think that’s good.”
He chuckled. “Good. You keep thinking that.”
“What, while you sneak out the back, Irish-goodbye us?”
“I’ll be fine.”
“Yeah, you will be,” she said, smiling, eyes narrowed. “You’re going to be just fine.”
***
With Sophie in bed, Hyun made them tea and served it in the family room. It had been a terrible night. Not for Sophie. Sophie had been oblivious to her aunt’s uneasiness. It had been impossible to keep a happy face for long, so Kimmy had been glad for the show. The ballet took over all the attention, and left her behind Sophie and Hyun, able to direct her fleeting thoughts without one of them asking her what was wrong. But she hadn’t got away with anything. Though she didn’t think she would. Not for long, anyway. Hyun asked her right away, handing her a steaming cup of tea, and saying at the same time. “You’re going to tell me what’s going on, okay? Please. I feel it from you. I feel it. Something is really wrong.”
She smiled wanly, cocking her head to Hyun, saying, “It’s fine. It will pass.”
Hyun studied her for a long time, unconvinced. She set down her untouched tea cup and got closer. “I know you’ve been with him.”
“Who?”
“That man. Devlin.”
“Why would you say that?”
“I’m not stupid, Kimmy. I want you to be honest with me.”
Kimmy sank into the couch and suddenly felt a claustrophobic enervation, like the couch might consume her. She passed her own untouched tea to Hyun, too weak to lean over and set it on the table herself. She said, “Everything is so complicated now. I told you. Everything’s over. I messed it all up.”
Hyun gathered her hands together, eyes turned down to look at them twist. “You didn’t look so good when you got out of that car at your building.”
Kimmy shook her head. “You can read me, huh?”
Hyun looked up, sucking on her lower lip. The lip plopped out. “I’m going to be here for you. No matter what.”
The offer somehow didn’t warm Kimmy this time. Hyun was too small, too fragile, too powerless to make a difference to a woman trapped in the autonomous gears of a massive machine of destruction she’d set in motion herself. In fact, Hyun’s words made her feel worse, made her failure grander and steeper; far more precarious. They shouldn’t even be together at all. Hyun was another twist in this complication.
She covered Hyun’s hand with her own, smiling, but not feeling it, knowing it would show in her eyes. “Did you like the ballet?”
Hyun pulled her hands away. “Come on, Kimmy. Don’t do that to me. I’m not...”
“Not what?”
“I’m not . . . Josh. You don’t have to hide anything from me. I want to know it, no matter what it is.”
The look of adorable determination brought a real smile to her face now, and her hands pursued Hyun’s again, and this time, Hyun didn’t pull away. Kimmy said, “What if it’s really bad? What if what I’ve done is really bad?”
Comments
JL23
Kimmy basically explained the relationship to Hyun in a way that heavily implied the reason she slept with Devlin was because Josh wanted her to do that. Hyun doesn’t have an accurate timeline and order of events in how Kimmy/Josh/Devlin became entangled.
Andrew Mellein
I forgot about Josh’s upcoming trip to Italy.
Andrew Mellein
What did Hyun mean two chapters ago when she said “He wanted you be with someone else”? Is she talking about Josh wanting her to be with Devlin? Because the only time Josh wanted her to be with Devlin was the Hazelton and that was mainly to get answers from her.
Bill F Protagoras
The only reason Kimmy has to consider Josh a saint is that she along with her twisted narcistic accomplice took his generous offer of a Dolcinist purgation of sin and ruination of the oppression of the modern magnates and turned it into a systematic torture and martyrdom of a man they attempt to turn into a sexual dupe and for all we know catspaw for embezzlement of funds. "Her pathetic, wormy husband." "It was Josh. It was her husband. He was now an official participant. He’d been enfolded; his kiss between her thighs was like his signature on a contract." "Devlin had done the impossible. It was Devlin who’d brought Josh’s proverbial pen to the dotted line." Didn't any of that seem a strange use of language to anyone else? "Under Devlin’s thumb." "Kimmy never stuck up for him, never put an end to this. Just let it all happen. A boot forever stomping on his face, and she just watched." “We’re building something, Kimmy. We talked about this." Was Devlin talking about kink? Was kink what Kimmy meant when she accused Devlin of 'conspiring' with Josh (worst of all offenses) behind her back? I don't know but the phrasing has always sounded odd to me... A big spat about Devlin getting his spiteful 'menage'!
Andrew Mellein
Kat, never thought of them not mentioning Kimmy. I wonder if everyone knows about Kimmy but are not bringing it up to Josh? Karina defiantly knows as she saw Kimmy and Devlin doing at Tiffany's! I think it's possible Kimmy initiated it with Devlin and Karina saw. Remember Kimmy lied to Karina and said she told Josh everything. I wonder if Karina spills what she saw to Josh? I like how this party is a dichotomy with in the earlier books with Josh's party and Kimmy being the one to throw that. But then she snook off with Devlin!
Kat
It was good to see Josh get away, and spend time with people who actually like him and treat him with respect. I loved the dialogue between Meyer and Josh. I also loved that this party was initiated by Quinn, and that she invited all these people who also know Kimmy. I can see Kimmy losing it when she finds out that Josh went away with Meyer to a party with some of “their friends”, and Kimmy wasn’t even mentioned. So far no one has even asked where she is. For most of this book we’ve gotten the opinion of Josh through the eyes of Kimmy and Devlin. Both of them love to say how weak Josh is, and how he’s deficient as a man, etc. Here in this chapter we see that people like Josh. They like to tease him, they care about his happiness, and they want good things for him. This might make Kimmy even more desperate when she finds out. It’s like Josh can have a life without her. There are other people that care about him and love him. He doesn’t really need her, especially if the baby isn’t his. Josh, doesn’t believe any of this, but maybe over time he might. As for Hyun and Kimmy together yet again…UGH. I’m really growing a huge dislike for Hyun. She needs to butt out of this situation, at least for the good of her own daughter. This is so reckless, and has no way of ending well. And Josh doesn’t even know about Hyun yet.
Kat
I hope she ends up with a broken heart. Being in this situation with “Aunt Kimmy” is extremely inappropriate, especially when her daughter is in the apartment asleep. She’s being even more reckless than Kimmy, and that’s saying a lot. Hyun seems sweet and naive, but maybe some of that is just an act. She’s really working hard here to get Kimmy to trust her over Josh. It’s one thing for Devlin to screw Kimmy. He loves tormenting Josh, and owes him nothing, but Hyun is a real bitch. She has no excuse for trying to further this thing between them. Sorry…not sorry.
Andrew Mellein
Bring back Charlie!
Pete
Love the suggestion of a BSITW series! Kimmy upgrades from Jr. to Sr. Love it! Maybe Devlin's in prison, or maybe he works for Kimmy. Perhaps she even keeps Jr. in her sexual rotation. Men often fantasize about hooking up with a mother and daughter, so perhaps Kimmy turns that on its head, and has a small "harem" of Jr. and Sr. Two (very big) heads are better than one, after all.
Andrew Mellein
Josh is a different cuckold for me. Usually they either accept their lot with their wives at this point in the story. But Josh seems like KT’s standout where he is not ok with any of this. I feel sorry for him because his bully spooched his wife. I think he would be happier with someone else just by reading these chapter and seeing how depressed he is!
Pete
Two thoughts: 1. This is from Josh's perspective, and from how it's worded I get the impression Josh himself really loves big breasts. It's perhaps odd then, that he's with Kimmy. 2. I have recently been wondering to what extent the flaws in a male protagonist enhance my own enjoyment of a cuckold story. I think for me, the more flawed the male lead, the easier it is for me to feel that "he deserved it," that justice is being served, when his cuckold desserts are 'delivered.' For example, in any tale where the leading man has asked his girl to trade her body to bail him out of debt, I don't feel bad for his cuckold angst at all. The same is true for less common tales where the male lead has deceived his girl, kept secrets from her, or manipulated, stolen from, or harmed her or others. Again, in those cases, the cuckoldry feels like justice being served, and it's a downhill ride for me. But it's a muddied experience if the male lead is a saint, who deserves better, and never wanted this. And I think that's how some readers may perceive Josh. So, if this is to continue to be a cuckold tale, perhaps more tarnishing of Josh would be beneficial. It would be welcome, from my perspective. Josh hasn't ennobled himself in any way yet, for me to wish otherwise. He's not bad, but he also hasn't done anything that's opened my heart to him. (Like Jon Snow giving Needle to Arya; or Ned Stark setting up her "fencing" lessons, accepting her for who she is, rather than insisting she be the type of daughter he may have wanted her to be.)
RCH
I'm poking my tongue in my cheek with "DITW book 18". Maybe there will be Part Two BSITW "Big Stone in the Waters" Someone has to scratch that deep itch Kimmy has. Of coarse I would be neglecting my fiduciary duty to Jonny by pushing for more DITW. But it's possible that it maybe too late for Jonny. :( ;).
Bill F Protagoras
Maybe...
Bill F Protagoras
She might not want or need to win Kimmy AWAY from Josh... it is possible to win something without depriving other people of it... especially something as complex as an emotion or a passion. If you consider something as common as the close relationships between children/parents, parents/children and friends what I am suggesting seems glaringly obvious. Hyun seems to me experienced and kind enough to realize that we are lucky to get a share of anything good at all...
Pete
I think that's possible. Or maybe she shows Hyun the full video she made. I'm also wondering how much she'll share with Hyun. Will she reveal her kinky side? Her love for hung men, and her sadistic appetite? Hyun seems eager to prove that she's not Josh, perhaps that she can love Kimmy better than Josh, and I'm sure Kimmy's perceived that. So, would Kimmy test that? I wonder if she'll reveal it all to Hyun, and see whether Hyun can do what Josh evidently can't or won't; love every part of her: Both the "darkness" and the light.
Bill F Protagoras
Also interesting JL... but it might be a mistake to presume that when Kimmy says “What if it’s really bad? What if what I’ve done is really bad?” that she is referring ONLY to events that have caught our interest. KT has a protean mind that keeps us on our toes. And bad like good is one of those words as slippery or clinging as the old man of the sea her self... That's just a guess...
Bill F Protagoras
An amusing view of a many worlds future with Daddy Stone in it... and some convincing speculation...
RCH
All I aware of is Devlin's talk of breaking away on his own. He has told Kimmy he needs her to do it. Have I managed to miss something? That knowledge is vital though. She works for Stone brokerage. She would have a fiduciary duty to the company that an employee(Devlin) is planing on breaking away and stealing business. So that's a gotcha! That's not above board.
JL23
The way she reacted to even them wanting to meet shows at the very least she knew something was happening, and that her hands are somewhat dirty due to something. She is immediately fearful they want to meet, and she doesn’t react with anything resembling shock when they mention the money and her potentially stealing it. I think it’s certainly open to interpretation what she did exactly, but I think her own internal monologue makes it clear she did something that would not be considered above board.
RCH
My take on the Sr. Stone meeting and where that's going... Kimmy didn't get escorted out of the building. I would see this in context with the meeting in the limo that Sr. first was trying to crack her to see if she was involved in the embezzlement. There has not been one indicator that Kimmy has been anything but a loyal employee to Stone. Yes, she is fucking her boss/his son. $35k seems like a small amount of money, so Sr. is on top of things so he has probably already had Devlin and Kimmy under surveillance. He'll spend $200k to catch the person doing him wrong. Once SR. is convinced she is not stealing he will enlist her in getting to Devlin. Remember Devlin already expressed his desire to Kimmy to get started on his own. I don't recall at any point Kimmy entertaining Devlin as a serious romantic partner. He is just sex meat, a job and possibly baby daddy. Kimmy still wants Josh but that train maybe leaving the station. Sr. as a sex partner... Maybe in DITW book 18 Sr. and Kimmy hookup on a regular basis. He has set Kimmy and his grandson up in Devlin's apartment. She visits Devlin from time to time at the Collins Bay Institution near Kingston. Brings him fashionable panties to wear for his roommate. :)
Chris K
Maybe he's just trying to think of the furthest thing from Kimmy. Get his mind off of her?
JL23
I think it was always heavily implied that Hyun had a thing for Kimmy, but ultimately she seemed to feel like it was one of those unattainable, unrequited type things that would come to nothing. Now that Kimmy has shown some level of reciprocation of feeling, Hyun is trying to take advantage a bit. I agree, she does have a skewed version of the Josh/Kimmy/Devlin triangle, but I do feel she is acting in ways to try and ultimately “win” Kimmy from Josh. I don’t blame her for trying; I feel more sorry for her because it’s far more likely she ends up with a broken heart than with Kimmy. But also, maybe that’s the far more preferable outcome for her anyway.
Bill F Protagoras
"Quinn wore a ball cap, a towel around her waist, a bikini top in black. She had a really great set of knockers. No wonder Meyer was amped about a potential relationship." Very cunning piece of male gaze objectification by KT... Is this further undermining Josh as a sympathetic character (for me), or is Steve just a subscriber to Big Jugs... which must have existed! I suppose Meyer could have suddenly thought, wow them there certainly inspire mighty respect in me for a prosperous future with Quinn... but I suspect not, I don't see him as that shallow.
Andrew Mellein
Could it be possible Kimmy tells Hyun what she did to Devlin when she made him wear panties? Or maybe who she thinks the father of her baby is?
Bill F Protagoras
I think Josh has, like Kimmy originally, a family attachment to Hyun especially as she is the mother of Sophie (a dream of parenthood for the previously childless couple) and is a foil to his cheating, apparently unstable untrustworthy Asian wife... Before Kimmy played fast and loose with a revised characterization of Josh, Hyun seemed very supportive of Josh as a husband. Now she seems to be less sure as Kimmy, to protect her own reputation, made it seem highly fucking ironically like Josh WANTED HER to fuck the distinguished Devlin Stone... This is not calculating on Hyun's part, but a rash miscalculation on Kimmy's. I love Hyun, in part because she seems instinctively to have ascribed Kimmy's boss with the role of slime ball marriage wrecker... also she finds Devlin's dick, even its replica, repulsive.
JL23
Yeah, I think it’s fair to wonder if they are both holding onto a caricature of the other that doesn’t (or no longer) exist. I’ve felt for a while they probably need time apart to figure out their own feelings, and maybe we’re getting that here. I don’t think Josh is going to do anything with Karina at the cottage, and Kimmy/Hyun? Well, I’d hope they’d have enough sense not to do anything with Sophie in the house (though the cat’s out of that barn anyway). But time apart and experiencing a life without the other is a route they both should go. Given whatever sticky (non-sexual) legal situation Kimmy got herself into, I have a feeling their time apart is short lived. Josh said a few chapters ago that he’d fight “to the end” for Kimmy. She may have given him a different type of opportunity to do that in the upcoming chapters.
Karl
Great point about the jab, Chris. I feel that Kimmy has a need to protect Josh from Devlin because he is the enemy or became her enemy when D went behind her back. Hyun on the other hand is not an enemy or threat to her, so yea, her relationship with Josh seems to be a bit weird and inconsistent.
Karl
JL, I’ve been pondering the same for some time, what it would look like when J&K took some time apart and distance between themselves, would their ”love” for each other last or would they realize they have grown apart and changed too much to stay together. I feel they both love an ides of each other at this point.
Bill F Protagoras
I'm counting on it, Andrew, though Karina who seems a decent sort may suffer from conflicting loyalties...
Bill F Protagoras
I hope so... but apart from Josh's business in Italy... Kimmy's pecadillos might have her travelling, as well as cause her hassles of a more pressing nature.
Donkatsu
Two of Chekhov’s bulletrixes have reappeared., Karina and Quinn/PI. Things could become really fun.
Andrew Mellein
I wonder if Karina is going to tell Josh what she saw at Tiffany's! Remember Kimmy lied to Karina and said she told Josh what happened at Tiffany's.
Bill F Protagoras
“You barely tell me anything, so what magic secrets do you think I’m telling her? I don’t know shit, so I’m not telling her shit. You’re sleeping on my couch, and she knows what’s up. She was there last time. Appreciate it that people like you, and stop with the prima dona shit." Nice to have it spelled out, but not entirely accurate as we have reason to believe Karina possesses information about breakfast at Tiffany's that a certain benighted cuckold still does not... and neither do we...
Andrew Mellein
I noticed this the first part of Odyssey. So maybe we will see more of Josh and Karina as well as Kimmy and Hyun?
Bill F Protagoras
Odyssey... usually it would be easy to identify the returning surviving warrior, spouse, artificer, leader and faithful, beleaguered wife plagued with suitors... but here it's Hobson's choice... gender fluidity is an unelusively literary riddle... Will anybody manage the long journey full of incident to whatever concept of home survives?
Bill F Protagoras
“I’m not . . . Josh. You don’t have to hide anything from me. I want to know it, no matter what it is.” Hyun could be criticising Josh, or just as easily could be pointing out that Kimmy doesn't have to hide anything bad she's done with Devlin or at work from her. Also she doesn't seem like a fool to me... she's offering friendship and confidentiality the understanding of a woman, just as Meyer is offering the unintrusive comfort of family and taciturn male bonding.
Andrew Mellein
This is a great chapter KT! I am glad to see Steve and Karina back! I predicted Meyer would try set Josh with a date in the next chapter or take his mind off Kimmy. And I was partially right. I think Josh has a real connection with Karina. If they split up permanently (Josh finds out about Hyun and the baby is not his) I could see Josh hooking up with her. I wonder what Kimmy is going to say to Hyun? Probably the money but could there be other darker stuff we are not privy to? Great chapter!
JL23
I would also say it’s good to see Josh out in the wild, so to speak, in this chapter. For pretty much the entire story, we’ve only seen him thinking about, dealing with and interacting with Kimmy, Devlin, or Kimmy and Devlin. We’ve come so accustomed to their perception of him that I think it’s largely become our perception of him. Here, we get to see what others think of Josh. And for the most part, he seems to be a normal guy who interacts fine with others, and who most people really seem to like. Far from the dweeby nothing Devlin thinks he is, and far from the weak-minded, meek follower Kimmy kind of perceives him as. I think that’s important for us to see, and important for Josh to know. He doesn’t have to define himself by how Devlin, or Kimmy, perceives him.
Chris K
I'm surprised she let that little jab about Josh slide. She wants to protect him from everyone and everything right? Is she over that, or just taking mental notes for later?
JL23
Well, there’s the long lost Karina. It’s been a while since I’ve read the early books. I’ve always been under the assumption she was more Kimmy’s friend than Josh…but it’s not a coincidence she’s here now, and I think it’s clear she wants to be Josh’s…. “friend.” I don’t expect to see anything happen here. But this chapter does have me envisioning a future where Josh is with Karina and Kimmy is with Hyun. Is that likely? Probably not. But maybe they’d both be better off? Gotta love Hyun getting another little dig at Josh. And finally at least Kimmy has acknowledged to herself what a mess she has created with Hyun. It’s been only 3 days since Kimmy/Josh were together (that we know of), but it does feel a bit as though each is pulling away from the other, and testing out what life as not a couple might look like. And while Kimmy is now dealing with a lot, maybe both her and Josh are going to discover there is a life without the other. Next few chapters will be interesting.
