"What do you mean, she's taken?" Marina asks, her expression priceless – a mix of shock and awe. I imagine it matches mine.
"India has something she wants to tell you. Right?"
Jon looks at me, meets my eyes, his expression expectant.
I take in a deep breath and stare Marina down. "I don't want to hear any criticism. Not one word of negativity. Seriously."
She makes this face somewhere between insulted and angry. "Why would you say that?"
"Jon and I are together."
For a moment, there's silence as the three of them glance between Jon and me.
Then, Jill turns to Lara and they high five each other.
When Jill turns back, she has a huge grin on her face. "We knew it."
"What do you mean?"
"We knew you two were in love," Lara says, smiling at Jon and me. "You two were the only ones who didn't know, apparently."
Jon laughs and slips his arm around me. I'm still shocked, but I'm enjoying the expressions of glee on her and Jill's faces.
"You really thought that?"
"Oh, God, India. It's so clear that you two belong together," Jill says. “You guys are amazing together."
Jon glances down at me and pulls me closer. "We are."
His eyes are warm. I feel a thrill go through me at how serious he is.
I turn to Marina, who is sitting there, straight-faced.
"You're not going to say anything?"
"Nope," she says, and there's no indication of her emotions, except that her hands are folded on the table and her head is tilted sideways.
"I figured you'd protest and tell me that we're making a mistake, and that we're totally wrong for each other. You've been telling me that for the past five years.
"
Then she reaches into her bag and pulls out a white envelope. She hands it to me, and then sits back, her arms still folded, her face unreadable.
I take the envelope, which is old and looks worn, like she's been carrying it around for ages. I open it carefully. Jon peers at it, curious. Inside is a folded letter. I open the letter and see it's from MATCHED.
MATCHED ANALYSIS:
SUMMARY:
Candidate: Ward, India Louise
Candidate: Thorson, Jon Anders
Match Potential: 97%
"What?" Jon says and takes it from my hands. He reads it over and now I lean in and read it too, noting that we were almost perfect on every score on the questionnaire. The only one where we didn’t score perfect points was trust. Jon and I were twenty-five percent different in our ability to trust, and both of us were low. But the difference wasn't enough to knock us down from Perfect Match to Very Good Match.
The analysis goes on to suggest that for the couple to overcome the differential in trust, they should have obstacles placed in their path that they need to overcome together, in order to learn to trust. That would build trust between them and pave the way for the couple to be together.