You, Again

Josh explains how a critique of The Brod damaged his career. He credits his breakup with Sophie to this professional decline. Ari, cheered by the distraction from her problems, encourages him to think of how he still possesses his culinary skills. He dreads working in another kitchen and grumbles that it is “uncomfortable” to have Ari be nice to him, given their previous animosity. Ari confides her “humiliating” hope that Cass will apologize and want her back. She feels hurt that Cass even took Ari’s plastic bowl, something that Ari considered her “symbolic contribution” to Cass’s fully furnished apartment.

As they walk, Ari sees a couple that looks happy, but she speculates about how they will break up, which she seems to find inevitable. Josh apologizes for his rudeness when they first met. He invites her to his apartment to watch a movie, which he stresses will be a platonic activity. They both decide that they will be tempted to have sex but that they are not in the correct mental state for a fling. They decide to be friends and get pizza instead.

Ari does janitor duty at LaughRiot, the comedy collective she belongs to, with Gabe. Gabe encourages her to use comedy to work through her breakup, lamenting that their comedy troupe is lacking without her. Ari, stung by the memory of several “disastrous” shows after Cass left, puts him off. Gabe suggests that Cass is not worth “moping” over and encourages Ari to find another fling.

Josh ignores texts from his mother that urge him to take part in negotiations to sell the Brodsky’s building. His apartment is now full of his father’s possessions, which Josh likens to a “junk drawer.” He feels uninspired to handle the mess or continue the renovations he planned with Sophie. When his phone vibrates, he wonders if it will be Sophie and is surprised to see that Ari is texting him.

Ari asks Josh to remotely “hatewatch a mediocre movie” with her (121). Josh calls her, and the two bicker over movie choices and Ari’s plan to get free furniture when students from New York University leave for the semester.

Josh and Ari go to IKEA to find her furniture. She admits that she likes spending time with him; he teases her and says that he came only to eat IKEA meatballs. Via text, Briar urges Josh to consider finding a date for a New Year’s Eve gala honoring their father.

Ari complains that she is sick while she and Josh wander through a pharmacy; Josh claims that she is drunk, not ill. Though they have been spending time together regularly, they have never been to one another’s apartments.

Ari urges Josh to “talk shit” about Sophie to help her feel better about her anger over Cass and help him get over her. He confides that Sophie liked to listen to a tech podcast during their sexual encounters. While in a pharmacy together, Ari gets distracted by a cleaning device with suggestive marketing and goads Josh into playing a game where they seek items that, while innocuous on their own, become suggestive in context with other purchases. When he plays along, she hugs him, which he finds appealing.

Josh and Ari watch another movie remotely, something that has become a regular occurrence. He asks about her gig writing wedding speeches and praises the comedy clips he’s seen online. She confesses her anxiety over returning to comedy, which she once loved. Previously, she had Cass’s financial support, which allowed her to focus on comedy full-time instead of having other jobs to support herself, but she still wasn’t successful. They joke about writing a grim wedding speech that contains references to their disappointing love lives. Ari confides how she struggles with depression post-divorce and then gets embarrassed and hangs up before Josh can reply.

Gabe and Ari go to Radhya’s apartment for a party they call “NoFucksgiving,” which celebrates winter holidays before they work as much as possible to generate income during the holiday season. She and Josh text about their insomnia. Both Gabe and Radhya are curious about who Ari is messaging. They assume that she has found a “rebound” sex partner, but she insists that she made a friend whom she “can be miserable with” (146). When Ari’s phone shows an incoming call from Josh, Radhya is hurt to learn his identity, given that he fired her several years prior and that Ari has kept their friendship a secret. Ari leaves Radhya’s apartment and goes to hang out with Josh.

Ari is delighted by the clutter in Josh’s apartment, though she notes that all his cooking equipment is still in boxes. She laments the offers she gets from dating apps—both offers of love and offers that she finds excessively explicit. They swap phones. Ari scrolls through Josh’s potential dates, and Josh quickly rejects many offers on her app.

Ari, struggling with the ongoing tension with Radhya, meets Radhya on her break at work. When Radhya asks why Ari has befriended Josh, Ari offers that Josh “doesn’t judge [her] or try to fix [her]” (158). Radhya is hurt by the implication that she judges Ari. Ari compares her breakup to being stranded in frozen water, too tired from swimming to seek help. She frames Josh as being in this same water. Radhya argues that Josh “shoved [her] head underwater and never looked back” (158). Ari is relieved, however, when Radhya agrees to meet her for drinks.

Josh and Ari visit the Frick Museum, where they debate the ethics of admiring art stolen via colonialism. Ari grows anxious when she witnesses a stranger propose to his girlfriend. She believes that their relationship will inevitably become “a domestic jail cell” (163), and Josh asks if she would ever be interested in marriage again. She discusses how the legality of her relationship validated her, though this did not stop Cass from leaving. Josh still wishes to be married “in theory.” Ari feels melancholy thinking of him getting married, and she is jealous when he says that he has a date. She impulsively changes her dating app profile to list herself as “seeking couples.”

Josh texts Ari through his date while she laments that her impromptu date with a couple leads the man in the marriage to invite her to his trivia night. She ends up going home with another couple. Josh texts Briar and agrees to let her help him find a date. He texts Ari to call him with a fake emergency when the date talks about how she disliked The Brod. Ari arrives and makes a scene, pretending that he is her husband who is cheating on her. He is shocked but plays along.

Ari complains about the cold as she and Josh go to The Strand bookstore to resell the books that Cass left behind and Josh’s cookbooks. They exchange gifts: Ari gives him the suggestive cleaning device that they saw in the pharmacy, and Josh gives her a bowl identical to the one Cass took. They are both touched. He asks her to attend the gala honoring his father on New Year’s Eve. She agrees to attend if he goes to Radhya’s pop-up and apologizes, though she relents when he points out that Radhya would not appreciate his presence.

Ari considers their friendship to be in a “bubble” due to them both being single. Josh thinks about how, to an onlooker, he and Ari would appear to be on a date. As they wait in line at The Strand, Ari receives naked photos via her dating app. They suddenly encounter Cass.

Cass acts pleased to see Ari; Ari and Josh are both uncomfortable. She asks Ari about moving out of their apartment, something that Josh hadn’t known Ari was planning. Cass’s new girlfriend, Katya, arrives and reveals that she and Cass are getting married. Josh finds Cass’s sympathetic act grating, and the encounter unsettles Ari.

Over lunch, they bicker over Josh acting protective in front of Cass and Ari acting as though she barely knew Josh. She accuses him of treating her like a girlfriend and then laments that she feels like Cass’s rejection means that Ari is shallow and uninteresting. She cries over the pain of learning that Cass is getting married, which means that Cass’s previous desire for an open relationship was another rejection of Ari. Josh feels uncertain about how to comfort her.

Via text, Josh urges Ari to hurry to the New Year’s Eve event honoring his father. When she arrives, he is impressed by how she looks dressed up. They meet Abby, who embraces Ari warmly and assumes that Ari is Josh’s girlfriend. She openly plays matchmaker, dropping hints about marriage. Abby expresses how much she likes Ari after Ari describes her passion for comedy.

Josh finds him unexpectedly missing his father’s cooking while eating the sub-par fare that the gala serves. Josh ignores Abby, prodding him to dance with Ari, but feels jealous when Ari dances with someone else. He cuts in, and they dance awkwardly. Ari finds the romance of New Year’s Eve at midnight upsetting, given her pending divorce, so they leave the party early and walk through Central Park.

The park is crowded; Josh explains that there is an annual race that starts at midnight of the new year. They smoke a joint and talk about Abby’s desire to “fix” things for Josh. Ari discusses disliking her emotional response and behavior to Cass leaving her. She plans to not pursue romance again.

Josh plays music on his phone, and they dance. They discuss how their friendship was a good result of a very hard year for them both; they decide to kiss at midnight. They continue kissing, finding it “incredibly right.” When the race starts to disrupt them, they try to downplay the kiss.

Over the next week, Ari makes vague excuses not to hang out with Josh. Abby texts Ari about a “lightning bolt idea” (242). Gabe and Ari help Radhya prepare for her pop-up restaurant, and Gabe analyzes her relationship with Josh. He thinks that the kiss means Josh considers himself to be dating Ari now, which Ari rejects. Ari is alarmed when she sees that Josh has shown up for Radhya’s event.

Josh waits outside the restaurant, determined to discuss the kiss with Ari, though he pretends that coming was Briar’s idea. He worries that Gabe and Ari have been having sex since New Year’s and feels awkward about trying to act like a friend.

Radhya is upset to see Josh; she thinks that he and Ari had sex, though Ari denies this. Briar interrupts, asking to promote Radhya’s restaurant on her popular social media accounts. Ari struggles with jealousy as Josh flirts with other patrons, and Gabe connects with Briar—they are mutual fans of each other’s social media accounts. When Briar’s popularity leads the pop-up to be much more highly attended than anticipated, Briar volunteers Josh to help Radhya make more food quickly.

Josh tries to clear the air about firing Radhya, but she refuses to accept until he apologizes properly. He admits that he lashed out due to insecurity, not due to anything Radhya did. They discuss Ari; Radhya is hurt when Josh reveals that they kissed. She urges Josh not to “push” Ari into something she isn’t ready for.

When Josh returns to the table with Ari, Gabe, and Briar, Gabe reveals that Josh and Ari kissed, causing Briar to “ship it.” Ari insists that their kiss was “nothing,” hurting Josh’s feelings. Josh abruptly leaves.

Ari follows Josh out of the restaurant. He resents her efforts at idle chatter, urging himself to seek a relationship that, unlike his rapport with Ari, is “perfectly fine and nothing more” (267). She demands to know why Josh is avoiding her; he counters that Ari is the one avoiding him. He criticizes her for avoiding emotional intimacy when pursuing casual sexual encounters. She claims that his impossible dating standards are another way of avoiding the same intimacy.

He says that he only wants to have a relationship with Ari, which is why he hasn’t had sex with anyone else. She fears losing their relationship, but he counters that being romantic wouldn’t be a loss.

Josh and Ari take a long, tense subway ride. The train grows too loud to talk, so they text about their desires. Josh describes the sexual encounter that he would like to have with Ari, which arouses her. Ari goes with him to his apartment, though she frets about how having sex might change their friendship. She tries to make their encounter impersonal, but Josh urges her to slow down. She insists that they are “getting it out of [their] systems” (285), an idea that Josh refutes. She finds herself imagining a future with them together.

Josh feels that their encounter signifies a permanent change in their relationship. He finds that his ability to bring Ari pleasure gives him a sense of accomplishment that he previously only got from cooking. They find intimate moments like eye contact and handholding to be emotionally intense, though Josh is more comfortable with this than Ari is. Josh worries that Ari will retreat again now that they’ve had sex.

Ari is alarmed to find that she slept overnight at Josh’s apartment, something she never does during her sexual encounters. She is confused as to why sex didn’t “resolve the tension” between them (299). While she hides in the bathroom, panicking, Josh calls her on the phone. He complains about her “failure to communicate” (300), though he goes along with her desire to frame it as a joke. She admits that she fears their potential to hurt one another but agrees to return to the bedroom with Josh.

Josh and Ari have slow, intimate sex; Ari panics when she tells Josh that she loves him. She leaves in a rush, and Josh is confused over this sudden turn of events.

Josh’s mind races over the implications of Ari saying she loved him before racing away. He texts Radhya for advice. Briar texts him to ask about Gabe; this leads Josh to accidentally confessing to his sister, instead of Radhya, that Ari told him she loved him while they were having sex. Briar demands that he start a group chat with Radhya. Briar is excited, while Radhya is resigned and worried that Ari will get hurt. Radhya is shocked that Ari slept over and advises Josh to do nothing so that Ari can have space.

Ari considers texting Josh as she boards the subway but decides against it. She meets Abby at the Brodsky’s building, as Abby is meeting a potential buyer. Abby connects Ari with someone at a company called WinProv who is hiring comedians to work with corporations for “management consulting.” She feels anxious about Abby’s “doting” attitude and texts from Briar and Radhya that indicate that they know about her encounter with Josh. Ari does not find the work that Abby is offering compelling, but she is compelled by Abby’s encouragement to accept any “boost” that comes her way and the lucrative pay at WinProv.

At a comedy show that evening, Gabe reveals that he knows that Ari told Josh she loved him and that he kissed Briar. He explains that Josh has been seeking advice on how to avoid ruining things with Ari. Ari contends that she and Josh can “walk it back” and resume their friendship, but Gabe says that this is impossible, as Josh has “heart-eyes” (334). Gabe is upset that Ari is considering the WinProv job, calling it “disloyal.” When Josh texts Ari, “Sup,” she calls him.

Over the phone, Ari teases Josh about telling so many people that they had sex. He calls the encounter “amazing,” but she considers it “kind of insane” (336). He claims that it was impossible to remain in their previous state of “two people who desperately want to be more than friends but never act on it” and suggests that they just have “a normal conversation” (337). Ari asks for time to consider their shifting relationship, which makes Josh anxious, but their usual banter at the end of the phone call slightly reassures him.

Brad from WinProv texts Ari, indicating that they are moving forward with hiring.

Josh arrives at Ari’s apartment with a bag of groceries. She is surprised that he intends to cook, especially given the weeklong silence between them. He plans to make “elevated comfort food” using one of his father’s recipes as a basis (342). Josh feels pleased with himself both for how good it feels to cook again and because he convinces Ari to finally throw away Cass’s shirts.

Ari tells him that she has to leave the apartment by the end of the month. He asks her to move in with him because he loves her. He insists that they’ve been dating throughout their friendship but merely did not use that word to describe it. She tells him that she has taken the WinProv job based out of Washington, DC. He insists that the WinProv job will keep her from her real dream of pursuing comedy; she retorts that he has been avoiding cooking for a year. He hopes that she will ask him to accompany her, but she claims that their relationship can “go back,” which Josh rejects.

Josh insists that Ari’s lingering feelings over Cass aren’t heartbreak but rather wounded pride since Cass left Ari. He thinks that Ari is now leaving him to try to reclaim the power in a relationship dynamic. Ari pictures a future in which Josh has left her, gotten married, and had a child with someone else and her life remains stagnant. He asks why she can’t be his wife in the future she painted. She says that she wants to make something of herself. Josh explains how he also feels the sting of professional failure, which is tied up in his grief over his father’s death.

Their argument grows more heated as she accuses him of being too proud to try again, and he accuses her of wanting to be unimportant to other people. She tells him to leave; she does not want to be friends anymore, let alone have a relationship.