The Paris Match

Griffin leads Layla in a dance to deflect attention from Jamie and Samantha’s arrival. To distract her, he explains that he isn’t a billionaire but makes his living from a patent on a building material he designed in college. He also tells her that he helps on his mother’s farm, which he purchased for her. The group returns to the hotel to find Michael’s parents, Fitz and Paula, waiting in the lobby. The interaction between Griffin and the Placketts is visibly tense—Fitz makes a critical comment about Griffin’s hat, and Paula offers him only a brief, perfunctory hug. The palpable chill makes it clear that there’s a history of animosity. When Manon invites the entire party to a bistro for dinner, Layla sees Griffin’s discomfort and the potential for a disastrous evening. She intervenes by announcing that she’s taking Griffin to dinner herself as a thank you for buying her clothes the night before, effectively rescuing him from the situation.

Layla’s excuse is readily accepted, and Emily later thanks her, admitting that the evening will be easier for her and Michael without Griffin and Michael’s parents’ tense dynamic. In her hotel room, Layla texts her friend Cara, a fellow medical professional, for advice on what to wear for her impromptu dinner with Griffin, ultimately choosing an attractive black top. Griffin is waiting in the lobby, and his appreciative gaze makes Layla blush. They walk to a restaurant on the Boulevard Saint-Germain, a street that Layla cherishes from a solo afternoon she spent there during her honeymoon. As they’re seated, Griffin appears to be on the verge of a panic attack and urgently asks Layla to talk about anything. To calm him down, she recounts her memories of the street and a past visit to the Louvre. Her storytelling works, and Griffin’s anxiety subsides. He confides in her that he hasn’t left upstate New York in 12 years and underwent extensive therapy just to be able to make this trip. When Layla asks why, he deflects by asking about her divorce. She declines to discuss it, and he echoes his earlier sentiment, saying that maybe she’ll tell him when they’re “somewhere more honest” (169).

Griffin has the best meal of his life with Layla. He experiences a few brief flare-ups of his chronic pain, but he appreciates that Layla notices without commenting. Their dinner is disrupted when a couple at a nearby table begins to kiss with intense passion. Layla is visibly upset by the display and abruptly leaves the restaurant. Griffin follows her, confronting her on the street. When he asks if the couple’s kiss made Layla think of kisses she’d shared with Jamie in Paris, Layla confesses, “He never kissed me like that. Like I was—like we were the only two people in the…in the universe” (214). Angry on Layla’s behalf, Griffin pulls her by the hand to a corner, turns down a darker side street, and steers her into a deep-set doorway tucked beneath a stone arch, where he tells her, “You keep saying ‘amicable’ […] There shouldn’t be anything amicable about losing you […] He should hurt like hell every time he sees you” (216). There, Layla admits that the passionate kiss didn’t make her think of Jamie. It made her think of Griffin.

In the secluded doorway, Griffin and Layla passionately kiss for nearly 25 minutes. Their intense connection is interrupted by a group of people passing by who mock them in French. The intrusion breaks the spell, and Griffin immediately becomes cold and distant. He says that they “got carried away” then declares it “a mistake” (223). He offers the excuse that it was the wine—to which Layla pointedly says that he had only water. He orders a car to take her back to the hotel alone, insisting that they must part ways. Layla suddenly realizes that what she sees on his face is physical pain. When she asks if she inadvertently hurt him during their kiss, he repeatedly denies it, but his distress is evident. He begs her to get in the car and leave. Confused and hurt, Layla complies. During the ride back to the hotel, she uses a translation app on her phone to look up French words for “pain,” “hurt,” and “friend.”

The next morning, Michael finds Griffin in his hotel room, still in the previous day’s clothes, his whole body in pain, and having barely slept. Layla, concerned about Griffin’s absence, had sent Michael to check on him. Michael reports that his own relationship with Emily is much better after their day at Versailles and a quiet evening together. He praises Layla for her positive influence on the group. Michael’s casual dismissal of spending more time at museums prompts Griffin to offer some insight; he suggests that for Emily, showing Michael things she knows or loves is as important to her as the talking or the sleeping over. Michael is taken aback by Griffin’s uncharacteristic perceptiveness and realizes that he’s right. As they take a car to the Musée Rodin to meet the others, Griffin looks up the museum on his phone and discovers that one of its most famous sculptures is The Gates of Hell.

Layla attends a spa morning with Emily, Manon, Céline, Damaris, Paula, Rosie, and Samantha, but she’s preoccupied with thoughts of Griffin. Emily confides that the tension with Michael’s parents is ongoing. She explains that Fitz constantly criticizes Michael, while Paula often deflects by blaming Griffin’s unreliability for Michael’s moods. Emily is frustrated because Michael remains defensive of Griffin and refuses to tell her the full story behind his parents’ animosity. Emily relays that Michael told her only that there was a house fire, that Griffin was severely injured, and that a friend of theirs died.

Later, at the Musée Rodin, the group gathers in a room featuring the sculpture The Kiss. The artwork reminds Layla of her night with Griffin, and she’s overcome with emotion. Jamie sees her reaction and assumes that her reaction is about their past marriage, creating an awkward moment for everyone. Just then, Michael and Griffin arrive. As Michael and Emily share an affectionate reunion, Layla slips out into the sculpture garden to find Griffin standing before a statue titled The Three Shades.

In the museum garden, Griffin contemplates the statue. He explains to Layla that he’s thinking about pain and uses the sculpture’s contorted figures to describe his experience with neuropathic pain and contracture scarring from his burns. He explains that The Three Shades stands atop The Gates of Hell, which he uses as a metaphor for his chronic condition: When his pain hits, he says that he’s through that doorway and “in hell.” He apologizes for his behavior the previous night, explaining that the pain overwhelmed him after their kiss. Before it hit, he confesses, being with her felt like “heaven.” Moved, Layla asks him to leave the museum with her. They text excuses to Michael and Emily and spend the rest of the day wandering through Paris without a plan. They talk intimately, sharing details about their families and lives, though they avoid the subjects of the fire and her divorce. As dusk falls, Layla mentions their responsibilities for the next day’s wedding events, and Griffin grows distant. Before he can end their time together, she stops him, saying that “it’s not tomorrow yet” (266).

By the Seine, Layla explains that during her honeymoon, she felt immense pressure to adopt the MacKenzie family’s version of Paris. In contrast, her day with Griffin allowed her to love the city as herself. Griffin admits that he’s afraid of his chronic pain returning and ruining their perfect day if they become intimate again. Layla proposes that they “wander” in his hotel room, continuing the day’s pattern of open communication and mutual care. He agrees, and they go to his room. There, Griffin says he needs to build his confidence by seeing and touching her first, asking her to start on his “right side.” He undresses her and begins exploring her body. The experience gives him the courage to remove his own clothes, revealing the extensive scarring on his body. Layla is completely unfazed. They have sex.

Griffin and Layla have sex a second time. Afterward, he feels his pain returning and quietly goes to the bathroom to apply a compression wrap to his leg and a silicone patch to his side. He changes into sleep clothes and decides that he should send Layla back to her own room, worried that his own restlessness—his moving around and his need to get up and stretch—will keep her from sleeping. He gently tries to wake her, but a sleepy, grumpy Layla dismisses his concerns, telling him that she can sleep through anything and that he should do whatever he needs to do without worrying about her. Griffin is charmed. He gets into bed with her, intending to move to the couch later, but quickly falls asleep beside her.

Layla wakes up sore and happy in Griffin’s bed. After leaving him a note, she rushes to the spa to meet Emily and the other women. Emily is still anxious and confides that the previous day was difficult due to Michael’s parents. Fitz continued to criticize Michael, and Paula deflected the tension by blaming Griffin’s absence for Michael’s bad mood, calling Griffin unreliable. Emily expresses deep frustration that Michael won’t tell her the full story of the house fire that injured Griffin and killed their friend, only telling her to “leave it alone” (303). Layla feels torn between her duty to Emily and her protective feelings for Griffin. She advises Emily that Michael shouldn’t keep her in the dark about issues that affect their relationship. Later, Emily remarks that she hopes Griffin doesn’t make things worse for Michael today. The comment makes Layla realize that Michael’s secrets, not Griffin himself, may be the real threat to the wedding.

Griffin wakes up feeling a pleasant exhaustion after his night with Layla. He joins the other men for an outing arranged by Robert: a croissant-baking class in Montmartre. Though the travel is physically taxing, Griffin is surprised to find that he enjoys the class. During a break, Jamie confronts Griffin privately. He says that he saw Griffin and Layla in the hotel lobby the previous night and expresses concern for his ex-wife, implying that Griffin isn’t good or reliable enough for her. Enraged, Griffin retorts that if Jamie were truly Layla’s family, he wouldn’t have left her. Jamie replies back, “If Layla wanted family, she wouldn’t have left me” (318). Their argument grows loud, and Michael intervenes.

Outside, Michael confronts Griffin, admitting that he suspected something was happening between him and Layla. When Griffin insists that he keep it a secret from Emily, Michael bitterly remarks that it will be “another secret to keep from her” (322). Under pressure, Michael makes a stunning confession: Emily doesn’t know that the friend who died in the fire was his former fiancée, Sara Beth. Griffin is horrified. Michael defends his deception, saying that he wanted a “fresh start” and that Griffin, who never speaks of the fire, has no right to judge. He states that his parents blame Griffin for the fire that killed Sara Beth and that they also blame Michael a little for sticking by Griffin. The argument ends with Michael declaring that they will both continue to keep each other’s secrets.