The Unhoneymooners

The scene opens with Olive in her apartment, happy to be home but also at loose ends. Her doorbell rings and Ethan arrives with takeout. They have a companionable dinner and Olive is overjoyed to see him. Olive teases him for sharing food with her, and he reminds her is aversion is only to buffets and that this brought them together. She happily agrees and they go to her bedroom.

In the next scene, Olive reflects on how easily she and Ethan have settled into a domestic routine and how happy they are together. She is having breakfast with him before her new job at Hamilton Biosciences. She briefly wonders if they are spending too much time together. Ethan asks if she needs space. When she demurs, he reminds her she is mostly stressed about work and looking for other topics to focus on. He suggests they have drinks with their siblings after work.

At Hamilton, Olive is excited to start work, but the situation quickly turns awkward when Mr. Hamilton reminds her that he thinks she is a newlywed. She confesses the truth and asks to speak to Hamilton later. He seems unhappy, and an HR representative picks up on the tension. At their private meeting, Olive explains everything and apologizes for the deception. Hamilton informs her that because he values honesty and she signed ethics paperwork as an employment condition, he has to fire her to remain consistent with his principles.

At the bar with Ethan, she is surprised to see Dane arrive before Ami. He makes comments on the strangeness of their relationship, and Olive points out that it was unfair of him to tell his brother she is always angry. Dane tells her he was correct, and Ethan silently urges her to back down. While Ethan is in the bathroom, Dane subtly asks Olive what his brother told her about him. She tells him she will keep his secrets and says, “We all have stories, Dane” (304). Dane suggests he is open to sex with Olive if she wants to be with a different version of his brother. Olive, horrified, turns him down and is stunned to see that he acts like nothing happened once Ethan returns. Olive leaves the bar, telling Dane and Ethan she needs some time alone. She realizes she has to tell Ami the truth about Dane’s infidelity and that he made a pass at her.

Ethan follows Olive to her car, reassuring her and kissing her gently as they prepare to be apart for the first time in weeks. They are standing in the snow, a total change of scenery from their vacation. Finally, however, he pushes her to tell him why she is acting strangely and she explains Dane’s behavior. He refuses to believe her. Olive reminds him that their agreement not to discuss Dane’s past only applied before he hit on her and accuses him of refusing to see his brother clearly. Ethan suggests that she is “in the habit of being bitter about everything Ami has that you don’t” and is “not objective about any of this” (313). Olive drives home despite Ethan’s attempts to apologize and reflects that they “have never been so far from that mountaintop in Maui” (313).

On her drive home, Olive realizes that Dane’s confidence in Ethan’s loyalty informs his behavior; he knows his brother will never believe the worst of him. Olive arrives to find her aunts and cousins cooking in her apartment. She reflects on the joys and perils of life with nineteen cousins; she now has to tell her family her horrible job news.

Her cousin suggests Olive looks tired and they tease her about Ethan. She tells them her relationship is fragile after an argument and that she was fired. Her family immediately empathizes and thinks of a temporary job for her as a waitress, as one of her cousins owns high-end restaurants. As she goes to bed, Olive sees concerned texts from Ami. She realizes she has to face her sister the next day and tell her the truth about Dane. 

Olive faces Ami early in the morning, unsurprised that her sister looks ready to face the day. Olive remembers that she should contact Ethan later; she is disappointed he hasn’t apologized. The sisters discuss Olive’s job situation, and Ami tells Olive that their cousin has already found her position at one of his restaurants. Ami recalls that Ethan was acting strangely, and Olive explains they need to talk about Dane. She describes Dane’s efforts to turn Ethan against her to protect his secrets and his history of seeing other women when Ami thought they were exclusive. She explains that Dane planned all the excursions Ami hated, not Ethan.

Ami thinks Olive is being vengeful and refuses to believe that Dane hit on her. Ami is so enraged she reminds Olive she has never been able to accept the power she has in her own life, always blaming luck for her problems and Ami’s success. Ami declares that Olive is “unemployed and alone because of the choices you make” (333). Olive is stunned to see that her sister has so little faith in her. Ami leaves in anger, and Olive weeps.