During the entire walk, of course, my mind drifted toward Marcus and the upcoming anniversary of his father’s death. Even after fifteen years, I was sure it wasn’t easier. I knew how Marcus must feel. I lost my father when I was only fourteen years old. I missed him every day. He had made such a huge impact in my life. I wondered at times, if my father were alive, what his opinion would’ve been of Marcus. My thoughts were intruded upon by the sound my phone ringing. Thinking it may have been him, I quickly picked it up without looking at the screen. “Hello?”
“Hey Mia, Megan and I are ordering Chinese tonight for dinner, is that cool with you?”
Disappointed that it was Jeremy, I answered, “Yes, that’s fine. Thank you.”
“I’m ordering our usual and Megan wants to add some fried dumplings. You cool with that?”
“Yeah, that’s good.” After I agreed, we ended the call.
What the hell. I needed to listen to my mother’s advice and wait for when Marcus was ready to talk, but if he wasn’t ready before the week was over, I was definitely going to reach out to him. I could only take so much of the growing distance between us.
When I arrived at the apartment, Jeremy and Megan were on the couch, cuddling and watching TV. They had already ordered the Chinese food. I told them I was going to get settled in before coming back out to eat with them. I went into my room, put all of my things away, and then entered the bathroom. It was just what I needed— a long hot shower to rid myself of the insecurities planted in my head.
After forty minutes, I was dressed in sweats and a t-shirt, and my hair was tossed up in a messy bun. When I left my room, I saw Megan and Jeremy eating at the bar. I sat on a stool to join them. “How was school?” Megan asked.
I groaned as I reached for a plate. “It was okay. I met with Sara afterwards for coffee. How was your day?” I asked as I filled my plate with steamed chicken and vegetables, white rice, and fried dumplings.
“It was good. Ooh, did she mention Philly this weekend?” I responded with a nod. “Well, are you going? You should bring Marcus. Jeremy is going.”
“I’m only going to judge the so-called famous cheesesteaks I’m always hearing about.” Megan shot him a dirty look. “Also, to meet Megan’s parents and grandparents, of course,” he added and then flashed a huge charming smile.
I laughed and shook my head at Jeremy’s goofiness. “I’m still thinking about it. I’ll let you know by tomorrow.”
Megan shrugged and dug into her plate. I played with my food due to the lack of appetite as we continued to talk. “You want to hear something funny?” Megan asked.
“Sure.” I answered as I sipped on water.
“Jeremy and I were out to dinner last night, and one of his exes approached our table. She asked how his fiancée was doing.”
I about choked on my water! Bursting into a laugh, I wiped a tear from my eye. “Oh my God. Was it one of the girls I kicked out?”
“Oh, there was more than one? Interesting.” Megan turned her eyes toward Jeremy.
Jeremy gave me a look before he charmed Megan. “There was. But you’re the one.” He winked at her. She blushed at that, and I couldn’t help but roll my eyes.
“You’re weak, Megan.”
Jeremy tossed a dumpling at me. “Dude, you’re supposed to be on my side. Remember? Bros before hos?”
Megan and I burst out laughing even harder. He just shook his head and continued to eat his food. As I tried to calm down from my laugh, my cellphone rang from the bedroom. I hurried off the stool and practically ran toward it. When I reached my room, I was shocked to see Theresa’s name on the screen. “Hello?” I answered a bit out of breath.
“Mia?” Theresa’s voice cracked over the phone.
“What’s wrong, Theresa?”
“It’s Marcus.” She sniffed. My heart dropped and my knees buckled in weakness. I knew something had to be wrong. Numerous thoughts flashed across my mind.
“What happened? Is he hurt? Where are you? Where can I meet you? Where is he?” I blurted out all the questions in one breath.
“No, no. He’s fine. Well, he’s not. Mia, he found out about my secret.”
Relief rushed through me that he wasn’t hurt, but then fear crept in just as quickly. “How did he find out? I promise I didn’t say a word, Theresa.”
“I know. I know.” She took a few calming breaths before continuing. “He overheard a conversation I had the night of his party. He wouldn’t let it go. Over the last few days, he dug for information and asked around until he had enough to question me. By that time, I couldn’t deny it. We just had the biggest argument. He’s extremely angry. I’ve never seen him so angry before. He stormed out of my house about forty minutes ago. He won’t answer my calls. I don’t know what to do.” She burst into hard sobs. I couldn’t take the pain. I wished I was there to comfort her.
My head snapped up at the sound of the doorbell. I hurried toward the entryway of my bedroom. Peeking out, I watched as Megan looked through the peephole. “It’s Marcus.” She yelled out as she reached to open the door.
“Theresa, he’s here. I’ll call you later, okay?”
“Okay, and, Mia, he doesn’t know that you know. I kept that from him. This is my mess, not yours. I didn’t want him angry with you as well.” I closed my eyes as another rush of relief ran through me. I quickly told her I would keep her updated and tossed my phone on the bed. By the time I headed toward the entryway of my bedroom, Marcus had stormed in and shut the door behind him.
I watched as he paced back and forth distracted by his own thoughts.
“Marcus?” I approached him cautiously.
Ignoring me, he continued to pace around the room. Finally he froze and turned to face me. “Come away with me.”
Puzzled by his instant urge to go away, I studied his unreadable his expression. “Where to?”
His brows rose as he shrugged. “I don’t know—anywhere—my vacation home in the Bahamas? Anywhere you want to go. I just have to leave.”
My heart broke for him. I knew the information he just found out was hard for him to take, and as much as I wanted to jump in his arms and comfort him, I had to control myself. “When?”
“Now. I’ll help you pack.” He swiftly passed me and headed toward the closet. I followed him. He reached for a suitcase and started throwing random things in it. His mind was completely distracted. He even grabbed a frame that held an old picture of my brother and me when were kids from on top of the dresser and tossed it into the case.