I Hope This Finds You Well

In the archive room, Armin explains how he figured out that Jolene was reading his emails and messages. He promises not to report her but asks her to attend dinner with his parents as his fiancée, and she reluctantly agrees to do so. Jolene also warns Armin to be on his best behavior, since Rhonda is keeping track of his misspent time.

The workday is almost over when Garret breaks the news: Larry Goodwin locked himself in his office after he was fired. As a security guard works to defuse the situation, Larry sends an email to the entire office, thanking those who were kind to him and calling out those who disrespected him during his long period of employment at Supershops. As Larry leaves, escorted by the guard, he calls out, “Is this really the life you want?” to the watching employees (209); he also flashes his rear end and refers to Jolene as one of his fellow “office losers.” When Cliff comes to Jolene’s defense, Larry punches Cliff. Soon, the police arrive and escort Larry away.

At Cliff’s invitation, Jolene agrees to carpool home with him one more time.

On their way home, Cliff shares his pain at having to let people like Larry go. He also offers to assign Jolene to another HR representative in light of their kiss, but she insists that she prefers to continue working with him.

Relaxing on the couch, Jolene receives a call from her mother, who asks about a rumor that she is engaged to Armin. Jolene confirms the rumor but asks her mother to keep the engagement a secret for now.

At work the next day, Armin sends Jolene an image of himself to send to her parents. Observing the newfound friendship between the two of them, Caitlin grows suspicious. She is soon distracted, however, by the arrival of a bouquet of chocolate-covered fruit from Kyle. Despite Caitlin’s insistence that all is well, Jolene thinks she is anxious about something.

Jolene is sad to see an email from Cliff to someone in Vancouver, discussing the possibility of Cliff returning to his job there.

As Cliff drops Jolene off at home, she is surprised to see her mother waiting for her. To Jolene’s embarrassment, her mother makes an offhand comment about Jolene’s engagement to Armin, which Cliff overhears. Jolene texts him, promising to explain, but he merely wishes her a good night.

Jolene’s mother takes her shopping for clothes, including a wedding dress.

The next day, Jolene arrives in Cliff’s office for her next anti-harassment lesson. She begins to explain her mother’s comment about Armin, but Cliff cuts her off, insisting that it is none of his business. Although he offers Jolene a donut, Cliff is more down-to-business than usual. When Jolene’s attention wanders, Cliff urges her to pay attention, emphasizing that he wants her to pass the course for her own good. Jolene confronts him about leaving for Vancouver, claiming that she saw the message on his phone during yesterday’s carpool. Just as Cliff and Jolene agree that they need to set boundaries and “[s]top being friends” (228), the fire alarm rings.

Instead of going outside, Jolene hides in the bathroom, where she overhears Rhonda having an emotional conversation with her son, who is apparently asking for money; Rhonda refuses since she doesn’t want him to spend it on “something that could kill you” (230). Jolene realizes that Carl was the one who stole Rhonda’s company credit card and used it to buy liquor.

When Rhonda discovers that Jolene is present, she shares her insecurities as a parent and her worries for Carl. Jolene hugs her and assures her that she is not alone.

Jolene sips water in the copy room until she feels ready to go back to work. When Gregory comes looking for Caitlin, who never returned after the fire drill, Armin mentions that he overheard her having a heated conversation on the phone; she returns later, looking distraught.

When Rhonda decides to leave early, presumably to address Carl’s situation, Jolene offers to cover for her by writing a toast for an upcoming party in Gregory’s honor. After some research, she writes a blurb about his career and family life, including a mention of Sheila, the sender of the flirtatious emails, whom Jolene assumes to be his wife.

Jolene is cooking a noodle dinner at home when she receives a call from Armin, who urges her to meet him at the bakery right away. Jolene arrives to find that her parents are meeting with Armin’s parents; their mothers are excitedly planning the wedding together.

Armin warns Jolene that their parents are engaged in a “taarof-off,” which is a complex Persian custom that involves “one-upping each other’s politeness and generosity” (239). They agree to keep their parents from incurring any major expenses and to call off the wedding soon.

The next day after work, Miley begs Jolene to take her to see a slasher film that she can only attend with an adult; Jolene reluctantly agrees. At the theater, Miley reveals that she only wants to see the film because she was shamed by her friend group for not seeing it; Jolene warns her not to waste time with “fake friends” (245).

Jolene is shocked to see Cliff enter the theater with a date, and Jolene spends most of the movie observing him and his date. When they run into each other in the hallway afterward, Cliff awkwardly introduces his date, who invites Jolene and Miley to join them for tacos. Declining, Jolene takes Miley home.

Over the next week, Jolene and Cliff treat each other with exaggerated formality. On Friday, Jolene and her colleagues make their way to a nearby bar for Gregory’s party. When Jolene awkwardly orders a glass of the cheapest wine, Caitlin laughs, but Cliff orders the same and smiles at her. Unsure how to respond, she ignores him, and he soon goes to mingle with others.

When Gregory arrives, he reads one of the cards with Jolene’s toast written on it, then immediately asks Rhonda to remove all of the cards. Calling Jolene over, he introduces his wife, whose name is Madeline, not Sheila. Realizing that Gregory is having an affair with Sheila, Jolene hides in the bathroom for the next two hours. As she leaves, she passes Caitlin, who is drunk. Caitlin reveals that Kyle told her about Jolene’s past and admits that she is preparing an email to Gregory explaining Jolene’s shortcomings.

Panicking, Jolene returns to the empty office, where she logs into Caitlin’s computer to read Caitlin’s drafted email to Gregory, which includes a paragraph about Ellie. Jolene is just deleting the paragraph when Cliff appears and catches her in the act of editing Caitlin’s email. Jolene tells him about Ellie, including the fact that Kyle and others spread rumors that Jolene hurt Ellie. Cliff agrees not to report her as long as she stops immediately.

Cliff and Jolene apologize to each other and decide to be friends again.