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Beck invites Joe to a party at her friend’s house. He is nervous because he is “not a party person” (71) and because Beck’s friend Peach is a relation of the famous author J. D. Salinger. They ride in a taxi to the party, and Joe senses that Beck is anxious about something. The taxi arrives outside an expensive building, and they take the elevator to the penthouse. Inside, Joe is introduced to Peach, whom he immediately dislikes. Peach patronizes Joe’s poor background and the fact that he did not go to college. He can see how much Beck wants to impress Peach, so he jokes and feigns politeness. After he marvels at the apartment’s library, Joe is led back into the party, and he resents the other guests. Beck stands aside as Peaches probes Joe with awkward questions that only deepen his bitterness toward her. After the party, Beck kisses Joe in the elevator.

The next day, Joe invites Beck to the cinema, but she declines. She spends the day fretting about Benji instead of being with Joe, much to Joe’s annoyance. A few days later, Beck invites Joe to help her buy a new bed from IKEA. Before the date, he visits Benji in the cage. While Joe is distracted, Benji takes a large amount of his stash of heroin. In his drug-induced haze, he tells Joe about his secret storage locker and tries to convince Joe that Beck is “crazy” (84) and that she only cares about money. Benji laughs when Joe reveals that Beck invited him to IKEA. Benji mentions a red ladle. Confused, Joe flushes Benji’s heroin down the toilet and leaves for the date.

Joe and Beck take the ferry to IKEA. As they talk, he cannot forget about Benji’s description of her as materialistic. When Beck mentions her father’s death, however, Joe becomes sympathetic. She cries in his arms, and then they kiss again. In IKEA, Joe dislikes the presence of so many loud people. Amid the chaos, Joe decides to tell Beck that he likes her. She smiles. They continue to shop while holding hands. Beck selects a bed, and, in an email that Joe reads, she describes him as her “boyfriend” (91). They eat in the IKEA restaurant, but Joe cannot stop thinking about Benji’s reference to a red ladle, so he leads Beck back to the kitchenware department. When he points out a red ladle, Beck tells him that her father used a similar utensil to make pancakes for her when she was young. However, his developing alcoholism meant that their pancake breakfasts eventually ended. Joe buys Beck a brand new ladle to help her make a “fresh start” (93).

After IKEA, Joe returns to the store while Beck returns to her apartment. He visits her later to help her assemble the bed she purchased. In Beck’s bedroom, they sip vodka and kiss. Before anything can happen, someone knocks at the door. Peach arrives, much to Joe’s dismay. He knows that she does not trust him. Joe begins to assemble the bed, aware that the romantic moment has been ruined. As Beck and Peach talk, they ask Joe to fetch them food from the local deli. He agrees, but when he returns, Beck says that Peach is “not up for company” (98). Joe respectfully leaves, but his happy mood is ruined, so he decides that he needs to resolve the Benji situation. He returns to the bookshop with a latte dosed with peanut oil. Earlier, Benji mentioned a peanut allergy. 

Benji is allergic to peanuts. He drinks the coffee and dies in the cage. Joe burns the body and places the ashes in an IKEA box, then takes the box to Benji’s secret storage locker. The locker is filled with expensive items Benji stole from his rich family. Joe takes a sailing hat and leaves behind the ashes.

In the six days after Benji’s death, Joe is jealous that Beck wants to spend her time with Peach rather than him. Eventually, Beck becomes frustrated with her friends and agrees to go out with Joe. However, she cancels at the last minute because Peach is distressed. She thinks someone broke into her apartment. Joe, who did enter Peach’s apartment, resents Peach’s intrusion.

The next day, Joe meets Beck for lunch. She talks about Peach, and Joe is worried because they “hug like cousins” (106) afterward. During a string of lunch and brunch dates, Joe listens to Beck talk about her friends. In particular, she is annoyed by a woman named Blythe in her writing classes. After two weeks, Joe insists on taking Beck out in the evening. They take a horse-drawn carriage through Central Park and then share a drink in an expensive hotel bar. Just as Beck whispers into Joe’s ear about how much she wants to be with him, the waiter interrupts with “a rather urgent phone call from Miss Peach” (111). The moment is lost, and Beck rushes to catch a taxi.

Joe and Beck take a taxi directly to Peach’s apartment. Beck explains that Peach has had suicidal tendencies in the past and is worried that someone is breaking into her home. Joe is convinced that Peach is lying; he grows bored of listening to her and explores the lavish apartment. He begins to suspect that Peach is “deranged with obsession” (117), that she wants Beck as much as he does. He finds pictures of Beck as a younger woman and becomes aroused. Making excuses, he leaves Beck with Peach.

Beck stays with Peach for the next two weeks, limiting Joe’s chances to see her. He becomes so angry with Peach that he begins to stalk her during her daily morning runs. At first, he is disgusted that he cannot maintain her pace, but he slowly becomes accustomed to running through the dark in places where “she doesn’t belong, alone” (122). One morning, Joe becomes so annoyed that Peach is keeping Beck from him that he runs into Peach and knocks her down. She hits her head and falls unconscious. Joe leaves her lying in the dark and runs away, thinking she is dead. However, Peach survives. Beck cancels plans with Joe because she must be with Peach, who will “be in the hospital for a while” (123).