Marcus rolled over and shut it off. He joined me under the covers and laid against me, again.
“I like to leave by seven. My cleaning lady scares the shit out me,” he chuckled.
He turned me on my back, unbuttoned my pajama shirt then sucked on my nipple.
I giggled, murmuring, “Mmm... you keep that up, and you won't make it.”
“This morning, for some reason, I don't care,” he whispered and slid his fingers into my sex.
I moaned. “Happy birthday, Marcus.”
He grinned. “Almost is, baby.”
* * *
He fixed me breakfast this morning, on his birthday, of all days. I felt bad I didn't know enough around a kitchen to fix him something, but he said, like he told me yesterday, he had already gotten his gift.
I watched from last night's perch as he made bacon, in the oven, and French toast, which he sprinkled with powdered sugar and fresh raspberries.
Bacon in the oven. Who knew? As I watched his actions, I thought Lisa and I should try that at home. Whenever we made bacon, it was in a pan and usually ended up in the trash, burnt beyond recognition. Good thing for us there was an IHOP a couple of miles away. They got a lot of our business in the mornings.
I took one bite of his French toast and fell in love with him all over again.
After breakfast, we showered together again, and I had to make him behave. I had to threaten him with a shower alone before he'd stop. We even brushed our teeth together and if I’d let him have his way, we both would’ve called in sick. He even tried out the excuse of never having done it before.
We managed to leave only a half hour after his housekeeper arrived. After getting bottled waters, we were kissing in the kitchen, and as soon as he heard her key in the door, Marcus insisted I introduce myself to Rosa then went back into the bedroom to finish getting ready to leave. She spoke only a few words of English and was relieved when I started in Spanish and I soon realized she was a delightful woman.
Marcus and Rosa stayed far away from one another and it tickled me the way they acted when they got near each other. I think she’s scared of him, too.
Silly people. It still makes me giggle.
* * *
In his car, we were going to my place. He had rounds at the hospital before his clinic hours, so he was in a blue suit and striped blue, white and gray tie. I was wearing my maxi dress from yesterday, and no panties. I wrapped them in a plastic bag and stuck them in my purse, hating I spent the night with him with no fresh clothes.
Marcus hiked up my dress and had been running his hand up and down my thigh the entire ride, his pinky inching closer and closer to my naked sex. He's been trying to start something since I reminded him of my panty-less state.
“Marcus,” I scolded for the hundredth and slapped his hand away.
“Okay, I'll stop!” He laughed as he takes my hand and kisses it. He didn't let it go.
Crossing my legs, I yawned loudly and looked at the clock. 7:33.
“Tired, baby?”
“Yes,” I chuckled. “Why aren't you?”
He smiled. “I'm wired, high on you,” he said, kissing my hand again. I blushed.
I needed to ask him about this relationship; what it was. I needed to define it. I wanted parameters but I didn't want to scare him away. I loved him and I wanted him all to myself. I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.
“Marcus,” I called softly.
“What, baby?”
“I had a great time and enjoyed being with you yesterday.”
He grinned and nodded. “So did I.”
“Good,” I murmured. “I just wanted you to know that.”
He smiled at me. “That sounded ominous. Are you tired of me, already?”
My tongue popped and I gently tapped the hand holding mine. “No, silly. I just… well, I need to ask you something.”
“Okay,” he said with a nod. “Go ahead.”
“Um... what is this?”
He looked over, like he was expecting to see something in my hands, but they were folded around his on my lap. Frowning, he looked back at the road.
“What is what, baby?”
“This,” I asserted. “Us. What are you and I? What are we doing?”
He smiled again. “Right now, we're driving to your place.”
“Marcus, I'm serious. I don't want to ruin the memory of the great time we had together these past two days but…” I breathed deep again, just the thought of the next part hurt. “I don't want to run into you somewhere with another woman, either. I need to know what this is, what we are. I need to know our parameters.”
Marcus drove in silence for a moment, deep in thought. Suddenly his jaw clenched, he released my hand and pulled into a gas station, a few blocks from my place. He moved the shift to park, turned to face me, and glared right into my eyes.
“What are you asking me exactly, Mariah? Is there someone else I don't know about? I know you haven't been seeing Wexler, so who is it? That asshole from the club?”
I looked at him, stunned. And hurt. First, I'm a whore, then a slut and now I'm promiscuous? Shit! Was this Vince again, in slow motion? I must have had a fucking target on me that attracted these assholes.
I shook my head. As beautiful as yesterday and that morning was, I refused to go through that bullshit again.
I broke the stare and looked away. I didn't love Vince. I loved Marcus and now, he was making me feel three inches tall. I should’ve kept my fucking mouth shut.
No, I shouldn’t have. I needed to speak up. I have every right in the world to express what I wanted and to know what was wanted from me.
Wait a minute. He said ‘asshole in the club,’ didn't he?
He sure as hell did! How did he know about that? I looked back at him. “What 'asshole from the club' are you referring to, Marcus?”
“That idiot that was molesting you on the dance floor the Saturday after you met me,” he shouted.
I gasped. “I knew I saw you there! In that damn corner, glaring at me, just as you're doing now!”
Marcus reddened. “Yes, I was there. I asked Lisa to make sure you were there, too. I was finally free and I wanted to ask you for a date. I walked in and the first thing I saw was him touching and feeling on you after I'd been dreaming of doing that and more for weeks! I wanted to break his fucking neck, Mariah, so I left, needing to cool down because all I could think of was you and him, together, and I lost my chance with you. Now that I finally have you, you are not to 'see' any other men!”
“Wait, wait! What do you mean 'weeks'? I'd only met you two days before that.”
Marcus blinked and looked at me wide-eyed, like a deer in the headlights.
“Shit,” he muttered and sat back in his seat. His head turned toward the window.
“Marcus?”
“I saw you when you came in with Lisa for your lab work,” he mumbled.
I remembered that day. I was fresh in California, only a week, and I knew no one but my siblings and Lil's family. I was missing my mother so much that I almost blew off that appointment.
I had on a white mini-skirt and a black, elbow-length sleeve, mock turtleneck that showed how big my breasts were, black heeled sandals and my hair was freshly straightened. I got a lot of second looks that day, Lisa pointed out, but I didn't pay attention to any of it. I just wanted to get the lab work over, go home and crawl into bed but Lisa was having none of that. She dragged me to a friend's house, where we had food, cocktails, and good conversation.
“That was five weeks before we met, Marcus.”
“Yes… sort of.”
“Sort of?”
He took a deep breath. “I was the 'tech' you handed your urine to in the lab.”
Okay, think.
I remembered going in the lab with my orders and a woman handing me a cup and pointing toward the bathroom. Lisa was still getting her orders.
When Lisa caught up to me, I was coming out of the bathroom and she was waiting
to go in. I walked back to the desk and set the lab bag in the bin. I briefly watched gloved fingers take stickers off the orders and put them on the plastic bag and a clipboard. Those fingers then signed the clipboard, stamped the order, initialed it and gave the copy back to me. I sat in a waiting area chair, crossed my legs and arms and leaned the back of my head on the wall and softly cried as I waited for Lisa to finish.
“You looked so sexy, all legs in that little white skirt and that black top that fit you like a glove... but so sad and never looked up, just a small 'thank you' when I gave you your copy. I wanted to find out what could possibly make you so upset, and since you were turning in your urine, my thought was that you could be pregnant and I had them run a test right away. I held my breath until that report showed up on the computer.”
Such an invasion of my privacy. I slowly shook my head. “What were you doing in the lab, Marcus?”
“I followed you there, from Evelyn's office. Ms. Turner, I mean.”
My cell chooses then to ring!
“Shit!” I checked the caller ID then answered. “What is it, Lisa,” I snapped.
“Are you okay, Cookie? What's wrong,” she asked, sounding worried.
“I'm fine. Everything’s fine,” I muttered as I pinched the bridge of my nose. “I'm sorry. Why are you calling?”
Cradling the cell on my shoulder, I tilted my head to it then reached into my purse and pulled out my migraine medicine.
“Evelyn Turner called a few minutes ago, looking for you.”
Shit. And ironic.
I took out a pill, put the bottle back in my purse and noted the time. 7:51. I was nowhere near late, so why was she calling me? I searched for my bottle of water but it wasn’t in the purse. I groaned. I left it on Marcus' bedside table.
Shit!
Marcus took his water from the cup holder, uncapped it and passed it to me.
“Thank you,” I mumbled. I took the pill and gave him the bottle back. He finished what was left and put the empty bottle back in the holder.
“Did she say what she wanted, Twink,” I asked Lisa as Marcus' pager went off.
“No, but she left a number and wants you to call her asap.”
Marcus unclipped his pager from his belt, checked the number, then pulled his cell from his pocket and punched in a number. He grabbed his Bluetooth and placed it on his left ear. I reached into my purse and grabbed a post-it and pen.
“Okay, let me have the number.”
She recited it to me and I jotted it down, as I heard Marcus say, “Dr. Alexander.”
“Okay, I got it, Twink. Thanks. Are you leaving now?”
Marcus: “No, don't do that. What is he on now? What was ordered Sunday?”
Lisa: “Yes. Nathan's gonna hang out here until I get home. I should be off by one.”
“Will Nathan be okay by himself? He could visit Mom. She’d love to see him.”
Marcus: “Wasn't that I.V.? Is he able to swallow? Then p.o. No, now. I'll sign off when I get there.”
Lisa: “He says he will when he knows she’s available. We'll see,” she giggled. “How are you getting to work? Should I wait?”
Pops had surgeries on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, so Lisa had to be at the hospital on those days. The hospital was closer than the office, so she would lose more time taking me to the office and circling back.
“No, go on; I'll call a cab. Shit, I really need to borrow a car from the folks,” I sighed.
Marcus looked at me and scowled, then shook his head. I scowled back and mouth 'what?' He gave me the ‘one-moment’ sign.
Lisa laughed. “Yes, you do, Cookie. Better yet, let Pops buy you one like he wants.”
“No, Twink. I'll get one on my own in a few weeks.”
She sighed now. “Okay, Cookie, I gotta run. I'll see you later. Love you!”
“Love you, too. Bye.”
I picked up the paper and dialed Ms. Turner. Marcus' pager went off again.
“Yes, that's fine. Ms. Robinson, who is 5434? That page just came through... Okay, put her on and Ms. Robinson? Please order Tim a liquid diet starting with breakfast. Place a notation to page me an hour after he eats and let me know how it went. I’ll be there soon to sign the order. Thank you.”
“Good morning. Evelyn Turner's office,” a female voice answered.
“Hi. This is Mariah Hollander returning her call.”
“Yes, Miss Hollander. One moment please.”
Marcus grunted. “Who ordered that? Why? Okay. Order another dose. I'll do it myself.”
“Good morning, Mariah,” Evelyn Turner crooned into the phone. “How are you?”
“Good morning. I'm fine, and you?”
“I'm great. Listen, I'm glad you called me back. I'm returning that favor. There are no vacations this week so I'm giving you the rest week off. Well, not off but on hold. You would have to come in, if needed, but I don't anticipate that happening. All right?”
I smiled big. “Yes, that's great. Thank you. That's today, too?”
“Today too, Mariah,” she laughed. “Enjoy and I'll see you Monday. Goodbye.”
“Yes, Monday. Goodbye.”
I hit end. Marcus took my phone and punched something into it.
“No, she's still n.p.o., as far as I know. I need to see the chart and then decide. For now, leave it in and put hydrocortisone around it.”
He gave back my phone. I looked at it and smiled when I've seen what he's done. He programmed his home, cell and office numbers in it, under the heading ‘Boo.’ His pager chimed again.
“Clinic,” he whispered. “What? No, I may release him this morning, after rounds, but I want to talk to his parents before I decide. Will you call them and ask them to come into the hospital's office, around 9:30? Sure. Is that all? Is that the clinic?”
I texted Marcus an emoticon.
:D
It shot to him immediately. He looked at it, smiled and shook his head. I looked out the passenger window as he continued on his call.
“Okay. Any allergies we know of? That's fine. She's seven, right? Call the clinic and see if they can squeeze her in today, A.S.A.P. Thanks, Miss Williams.”
Marcus grabbed my chin and turned my head. “Mariah, I didn't mean for it to sound like stalking. I saw you and was... struck dumb. I just wanted to meet you, but you were so upset that I couldn't approach you and I couldn't just walk away. My supposed fiancée was getting pressure to set a date from her parents and I was in the process of renovating my brother's kitchen while trying to come up with a way to end the engagement tactfully. So I just stepped back and waited for things to calm down. I didn't know your name until you bumped into me. Finally, to put a name to this face... I felt like the wind was knocked out me. I don't even know what I said to you that day. I just remember... fucking sparks flying everywhere.”
Can't argue with that. There were sparks everywhere.
I remembered the way he looked down as we picked up those scattered papers and how he whispered my name like it was a gasp for life. I sighed as I hoped he’s never disappointed, now that he's caught me.
“Okay,” I said, quietly.
He gave me a stunned expression. “Okay?”
“Yes, okay,” I assured then pointed at him. “For the record, the reason for my sad sack face: I was missing my mother. She was on her extended honeymoon.”
“Okay,” he smiled.
“And that pregnancy test order was a gross invasion of my privacy, Dr. Alexander.”
He smiled warily. “You're right and I apologize. Let's get you home so you can get changed for work.”
But he still hasn't answered your question.
I grabbed his arm. “No, wait, Marcus. We haven't settled the original question.”
“Mariah...” He paused. “Baby, I'm not sure what it is you're asking me.”
“Okay, how about this: are we together? A couple?”
He frowned. “Of course.”
“Okay. What does being a couple mean
to you?”
“Two, and only two, people in a meaningful relationship.”
“And that's what we are: two people in a meaningful relationship?”
He cupped my nape and rubbed. “Yes, Mariah. Isn't that what you thought, what you want with me?”
“I do, but I didn't know... I mean... I don't know how monogamous you are in your relationships.”
Tension left his face in an instant then he held mine in his hands.
“When I'm with someone, I'm with her. I'm not into sharing. Trust me, baby. That's not something you will ever have to worry about with me. Can you say the same?”
“Yes, I can, Marcus. There is no one else for me. I don't want to see anyone else.”
“Good. Neither do I.” He leaned in and kissed me. I started to really get into it when I remembered the time. I peeked an eye open to check the time and noticed a crowd staring. “Marcus,” I murmured against his mouth.
He continued his kisses. I tried again.
“Marcus!”
“Hmm,” he replied, moving down my throat.
“Marcus! You're gonna be late... and we have an audience.”
He pulled back, frowning. “What?”
I pointed my thumb at the windshield. There were about ten people watching us and they burst into applause when we both looked their way. I sank into my seat, covered my face with my hand and went completely red. I grinned as Marcus laughed, loudly. He moved the gearshift and took off.
“You drive me crazy, baby. I forgot where we were.”
“Good,” I smiled.
“Very good,” he corrected. “It’s now 8:17… you're about to be late, Miss Hollander,” he informed as he takes my hand again.
“No, I'm not. I did Ms. Turner a huge favor last week and she's given me time off for good behavior. I've been placed hold this week.”
He raised his eyebrows. “What kind of favor?”
“Well, a temperamental pediatrician was giving all the floats an extremely hard time Friday and they revolted. I was the last on the list because I was already placed for the day. I tried to fill in but he had other plans.”
“Huh,” he murmured with feigned confusion. “I wonder who that doctor was.”
Mariah: The M Series: Book Two Page 14
