Teddy Unpetaled.

Teddy had begun to tell her stories with no point. Things like “did you see the pandas were returned to the National Zoo?” and “they had sumo oranges at the bodega.” Observations shared completely without agenda, just for the pleasure of hearing her thoughts, the way she’d laminate the mundane with intelligence or curiosity or humor. He’d never done this with a woman before. Mary-Marshall would have eyed him, bewildered: “yes; why?” Everything with a purpose. But with Josephine, he collected the filaments of his day and laid them out in front of her each evening, and she received them happily. Those three months of hot love unfolded like one long, increasingly vulnerable conversation. She had let the light in.

Teddy hadn’t felt this way since he was very young — six maybe. Looking at the sea lions in Central Park, pointing at them with wonder, laughing, telling his mother about their aerobatics as though he were the first boy to see them wave and gallumph and send little tidal waves over the divider. He felt that same desire to share the absurd and joyful with Josephine, the same need to point at the world and clap.

Teddy McBride had let down the guard petals.

This might have been why he hadn’t thought to ask about the dress code for the vaguely titled “work event” that Josephine had invited him to on a Thursday in November. She seemed to turn the world into a joyful blur in which matching socks no longer mattered. As he pulled up in front of Books Are Magic, watching fashionably- but casually-dressed Brooklynites stream through the doors, he fretted momentarily over his carelessness. He had come straight from his law office wearing a wool-cashmere houndstooth suit with a blue dress shirt, paisley tie, and calfskin dress shoes. He felt like the world’s largest square amidst a sea of barrel jeans and slouchy knits. He ducked through the door frame and filed into the standing-room-only bookshop, wedging himself between a girl with a t-shirt that said FLY BY JING SECHUAN CHILI CRISP and a man sporting an impeccably groomed handlebar mustache. On the dais, he found Josephine, with her quick sunshine eyes flashing with receptivity as she responded thoughtfully to the emcee’s questions. He loved the look in her enormous eyes as she’d wait for the question to form itself — wide, eager, desirous. Pools of sunlight giving back the sky. Teddy realized then that his cheeks were flushed, and his mouth was dry, and that he hadn’t blinked in well over two minutes. He looked around the room helplessly. He was at once riveted by Josephine’s foreignness — by her remarkable polish, by her finesse — and floored by their private, unnamed intimacy. She was smart, always, but this was something else: she was Josephine, but burnished to the hilt, glowing with prowess. He saw her through the eyes of the many strangers in the room. How charming, how sharp, how beautiful — all things he knew, yes, but seeing her there, he nearly felt he would cry with pride if he knew how. To see her give shape to meaningful thought, and to entrance the room besides: she was Aphrodite arriving at wave-ringed Cyprus. The hours golden-wreathed welcomed her joyously. And he thought too of the wild privilege of belonging to her. That of all the men in the room, he was the one who had seen her in socked feet at his island in the morning, reading the pink paper with a piece of rye toast in her delicate hand, not because she cared particularly about the financial news but because she was too inquisitive not to read what lay in front of her. That it was him who had squeezed her shoulder, had kissed her neck just above the frayed collar of his old boys’ school t-shirt. Who, then, were these strangers staring at his own Jo? They were immaterial and yet they somehow anointed his belonging to her. It would be him and her against the world then.

Jo had softened the years and years of boys’ school and varsity sports that had trained him to maintain an unbothered, mouth-in-a-straight-line mask. Teddy believed he had lost the ability — the muscle — to cry when he was eight years old, and the Bearing brothers, authoritative sixth and eighth graders at the time, had told him to “take the pain” after he’d broken his arm on the ice rink playing hockey with boys twice his size. Now, though, after the ripples of applause had ceased, and the throngs of admirers had begun to wane, Teddy observed he was making his way toward Josephine, still nursing a mild embarrassment at his suit, but entirely molten inside, and incapable of preventing his heartswell from registering on his face.

“Teddy!” she said, and she excused herself from a thicket of women, and held his suit lapels with her hands as she leaned up to kiss him. He did not know that she had stumbled once over her words on the platform because she had found him pressed against the dark wall, mooning after her, and had read his tenderness from an audience away. He did not know, either, that she had felt a deep thrill at his invisible belonging to her in his dark suit: that he had come all this way, from serious meetings with stern people in sober rooms, to fawn over her in Brooklyn. Unaware of the way his heart burned like a neon side over his head, he loosened his tie from his throat, and said her name, because his words fell short of the widening wonder in front of him: “Jo, my God.”

Oh, yes, Teddy McBride was unpetaled.

Post-Scripts.

Image via.

+More snippets of my fiction here.

+Everyday architecture.

+When was the last time you had a book hangover?

Shopping Break.

+Fab sale unfolding at Frame. These cropped leather pants are so unbelievably gorgeous/flattering on. I got a pair last year and they are stunning. The crop length works as a full length pant on me (I’m 5’0) but would also be great on taller magpies as a true crop. They are 60% off. The quality is insane — I love them in that deep, rich plum. Don’t be afraid! They’ll read more like a neutral. Style with a cashmere cardigan or chunky cableknit. I take my larger denim size in Frame.

+Also worth a gander in the sale: this beautiful flutter cardi and these everyday jeans (modern take on a boyfriend jean — relaxed straight leg). Still a handful left of these dark-rinse sleek straight legs too!

+Wait this cardigan is so cute!? Under $160 and not yet on the Madewell site, but available here.

+My longtime favorite button-downs. Perfect slim but not restrictive fit, button placement, and I find the sleeves strangely and wonderfully easy to roll up without having them flop down — I think it has to do with the oxford fabric. I own in white and blue and wear them constantly. My favorite. This is my go-to top when I’m wearing a pair of statement pants that I’m not sure how to style. They just always work, whether with leopard Rutis (BTW, these were restocked and ship soon – by end of Nov!; use code JEN15) or taffeta Donnis.

+Fun new colorway in the “it mom” sneakers. These make everything look cooler.

+This is one of my favorite possessions: I had my son’s five-year-old handwriting (“MAMAMAMA”) inscribed on it. I have a girlfriend who had her mother’s handwriting engraved on hers. A very special treasure. Currently somehow 30% off!

+Reminder: two fab skincare sales ongoing. Magpies, including myself, have been STOCKING UP on this magical night cream, which contains myoxinol (“nature’s botox”) — get 20% off with code EARLYACCESS. Second: 25% off at Barefaced. I love their gentle toning pads and overachiever serum, a 10-in-1 product that I find boosts glow / skin evenness. I’ve been using it as my all purpose serum this fall and love it. Gentle but effective – like all of their products, which were designed by a nurse practitioner to be pregnancy-safe!

+I wore this punched faux-leather skirt with a little caped sweater to dinner in St. Michael’s and I cannot rave more about the fit! It is super flattering — the leather does not add bulk. It falls/drapes so perfectly?! AND I just found a hidden code: $50 off your order with code THANKS. Apparently this discount is not going to be publicized! (BTW, this stand collar button down is their signature / bestseller. It’s dressier than the Sezane, with a sateen finish. Would be good for holiday dressing.)

+Another great statement skirt in this price range: I have a whole roundup of plaid/tartan pieces I’m working on, but wanted to share this $200-ish statement, which would be fab with a brown suede boot and a little sweater. Thanksgiving option if you’re still not sure what to wear.

+Negative just released ROBES in its divine whipped and cozy waffle collections.

+Oso + Me — one of my favorite childrenswear brands — is running an archive sale, with pieces up to 70% off. Two favorites: their Bingo shorts (great colors and a classic/retro short inseam) and these ultra soft polos, which feel like t-shirts but look a little nicer. Something Hill and I can both agree on. Also thought these little short sets would be really cute for travel days!

+Love this statement necklace. Only two left!

+Eadem just restocked its viral “beurre au croissant” lippie in this five pack set! This color sold out last year and it might be my favorite — it’s shimmery and sheer and has no flavor (which I personally prefer). I actually have been layering this exact chouchou over my new “French girl lip secret,” which a Magpie reader turned me on to last week. I have it in the rose latte / natural pink color and it gives the most beautiful flushed/blurred lip color, almost like you’ve been running about in Paris in November after kissing your husband? It’s truly magical. You don’t need to be super precise with it, and the color LASTS. Cannot recommend the combo of these two items more.

+I know we’re all moving into holiday wear and hygge, but Cadets just released the cutest, most joyful resort collection and I think I am going to order this fringed, shimmery mini for spring break already! Could I also maybe make it work with jeans for holiday!? (Try code EXTRACRISPY).

+Bestseller from my gift guide: these French girl brushes, only a few left at Nordie’s. You can still buy direct from the brand here.

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