She arrived late, but only by about ten minutes. Markus was sitting at the bar when she walked in and looked around. She was taller than Melissa, but not as tall as Christina. Her hair was dark brown, almost black, and she had small tattoos around her wrists. She looked as if she could have been one of Maritess' clients as well as friends because her toned muscles showed beneath the shirt and capris she wore. When she looked over towards the bar, Markus waved at her. He stood to greet her as she approached. Her smile was as warm as her handshake, and Markus actually felt his stomach do a flip. They were seated at a table and were deep in conversation by the time their meals arrived.
Renee was pleasant, friendly and laughed at the jokes Markus tried to make. He felt extremely comfortable with her, and nearly allowed himself to feel optimistic about this choice Maritess had made for him. They shared a lot of the same opinions, and were almost about to come to an agreement on the absolute best flavor of ice cream when disaster came in the form of a freezing cold shower. Markus was barely aware that the server was coming up the aisle when he threw his arms out as an expressive gesture. His hand tipped the server's tray. She tilted back and saved the pitcher of water, but lost it when its momentum rocked back the other way. The entire half gallon of ice water went all over Markus. He jumped up from the shock. The cold was breath-taking.
Before what had just happened registered in his head, Renee was hollering at the server, who was mortified and in agony with guilt. Markus shook off the cold, and started dabbing himself dry with the napkin. It was useless, he was drenched. Renee was rocketing through a list of insults aimed directly at the poor girl who was starting to shake as she held the tray in her hands. The three of them had the attention of the entire restaurant, including the manager. When he approached and saw what happened, he hurried to the back to grab Markus a few towels. While he was gone, the server started stammering apologies again.
“Really, it was my fault,” Markus said, “It's okay, just a little bit cold...” He smiled at the girl, trying to assure her everything was okay, but Renee didn't take that well. She popped one hip out and stood with her arms crossed against her chest. She glared back and forth between Markus and the server. When the server glanced at the subtle muscles showing through the wet, white shirt Markus wore, Renee snapped.
“What?” she almost screamed at the waitress, “Did you get him all wet just to check him out some more?” When the young girl looked at Markus in horror while shaking her head, Renee continued her verbal assault. “Stop looking at my date!” she yelled. Markus was just as surprised by her outburst as the server was, and stepped between them, still dripping water from his brow.
“Renee, please,” he begged. “It really was my fault. I threw my arms out like a jack ass and hit the tray. If she didn't have such good balance, it would have landed all over the guy behind me.” Markus glanced at the gentleman seated at the table behind them who, like everyone else, was staring at the chaos. “I doubt that she was trying anything underhanded,” he continued. Then, he looked at the server, “I'm sorry, really. I'm very sorry.”
By then, the manager had returned with towels, but Renee was far from over with her tirade. She glowered at Markus, “Are you calling me a liar?” Then she looked at the manager and wagged her finger at them all when she spoke, “I saw this girl trip on the carpet and dump that pitcher of water all over him.” The manager began a speech-like apology, but Renee just wasn't hearing it. She shook her head in disbelief at Markus for being such a push-over. She yelled a few more insults their way, and then picked up her glass of water from the table. Without warning, she looked at the waitress, sweetly but with malice, and said, “Here! How do you like it?” With that, she threw the water into the girl's face. She didn't skip a beat when she turned to Markus and tossed the glass towards his face. He caught it from careening to the floor, but not before it made painful contact with his lip.
Markus stood astounded along with the manager, server and other patrons. Renee continued spewing venom as she pulled out her cellphone and pulled up a screen which she showed to Markus. It displayed his phone's signature, and she said, “I'm sending you Maritess' home info. Call her there and tell her not to set me up with wimpy lawyers anymore. You people are pathetic!” When she walked out the door, Markus was left to deal with the awkward mess that had been their date. He paid the bill, tipped the server outrageously and set off for the bus stop, angry, dejected and in pure shock from the evening's events.
When he boarded the bus and sat down, he looked at his cellphone. He clicked on the message Renee had sent. It was Maritess' home phone number, but also all of the information in her contact file. Apparently, Renee's phone wasn't smart enough to differentiate which fields to send, and which not to. Markus stared at her address. It wasn't too far away from his home. An evil laugh chuckled out of him as he considered just stopping by to let her know how the date had gone. His lip was throbbing, and he tasted blood when he licked the modest wound. He stared out the window for a few more moments, and watched the street signs fly past. He knew the route by heart, and noticed the next one coming up was Maritess' street. Without another thought, he pulled the cord and the bus came to a stop to let him off.
…
A short walk landed him at her doorstep. Her building was locked, but he was able to coattail in on the heels of another resident. He found her apartment on the third floor, and rang the buzzer. He heard a shuffle inside, and music cut off. There was the sound of coats moving across the door, and he could almost feel Maritess looking at him through the peep hole. Markus leaned towards the tiny, glass fish eye so that she wouldn’t be mistaken about who was at her door. A moment later, the padlock clicked and the handle turned. Maritess opened the door and stuck her head out.
“I should call the cops,” she said calmly, “How did you find out where I lived?” Then, she took a better look at his face. “What happened to you?” she asked as she opened the door to let him in. Markus didn’t travel farther than the tile of her landing before he spun back around to her. Maritess closed the door, but didn’t lock it. She stood with her arms tucked into her hoodie’s pocket, and glanced nervously around her apartment. She seemed to summon her senses, and looked up at him expectantly.
“So the date with Renee,” he said excitedly, “went awesome. This time, I actually did get assaulted!” He gestured to his split lip. Maritess clapped her hand over her mouth in amazement. Her brows were raised high above glistening eyes, and she spoke through her fingers.
“Oh my gosh! What happened?” she asked as she gestured for Markus to sit down at the kitchen table. He sat and recounted each step in the sequence of events from Renee’s arrival to her exit. Maritess was dumbfounded. She slid a first aid kit across the table to him. “Sorry,” she said, “I didn’t become a doctor because blood really creeps me out.” Instead of watching while he cleaned up his lip, she made them some tea to share. A few sips of warmth passed between them, and Markus started talking again.
“So what makes you as crazy as your friends? Do you have bodies hiding in your freezer, or something?” he joked. Maritess laughed and shook her head.
“I don’t think I am that crazy,” she replied, “I mean, I am crazy about some things. My dog, Tike, is around here somewhere. I’d kill someone for hurting him, but other than that, not much pushes me to the point where I’d throw a glass at someone’s face. Sorry about that, I didn’t know Renee was that aggressive. She always seemed so mellow to me. Probably because her gallery always smelled like herb, but, you know, whatever.”
Markus looked defeated to Maritess, and it tugged at her heart a bit. She decided not to be so mean to him anymore, especially since she wasn’t being paid as his trainer at the moment. However, she still felt her point was valid. She really had no idea that her friends were so crazy around men, but she guessed that was what came from not really being too involved in social circles. Yet, on paper, they had been everything that Markus swore he was looking for in a perfe
ct woman. She tried again to make him understand her side of things.
“So,” she said gently, “as much as I don’t want to say this, I think you should really rethink your whole quest for true love thing that you’ve been stuck on.” Markus looked up at her. He had taken offense, and dared her to continue with the furrow in his brow. She put her hands up in mock defense as she continued, “Look, I’m not saying that you won’t eventually meet a nice girl with whom to settle down, but I am saying that the woman you keep describing probably doesn’t exist. If you ask me, any woman who holds all the qualities you’re looking for is bound to have at least one challenging flaw. And, let’s face it, you have a difficult time with difficult challenges…” Maritess let her voice trail off. Even though she was trying to be nice, as usual, it didn’t come out that way.
Thankfully, Markus caught her true intention and ignored the harshness of her words. He shook his head, and stared out the window. It was open, even though the nights were growing colder as winter approached. The chill was comfortable, invigorating, and held a nice contrast to the warm mug of tea in front of him. Maritess was a vision in purple as she sat with her back to her sparsely furnished living room. Her place was clean and tidy. Soon, Tike came sniffing around for dinner. The dog seemed indifferent to Markus’ presence. Maritess poured some food in a bowl for him, and welcomed Markus to sit with her on the couch.
“I still think true love exists,” he said. Maritess rolled her eyes and interrupted him before he could take his thought any further.
“Markus, that’s ridiculous!” she implored, “Look, fine, if you want to call it true love, then fine. But that’s like a Pagan and a Christian debating the existence of a unifying force within the universe. I think, personally, that they’re arguing over the different names to call the same thing. I will concede that two people can get to a point where they truly love one another, but I don’t think that it comes immediately in the form of some ridiculous notion, like love at first sight, or something.” She looked into his eyes to make sure he was still following her before continuing, “It’s just that you’re pouring all your energy into pursuing something that just doesn’t exist. You will not just find the perfect woman. You could have made it work with any of my friends, but you chose not to. That’s what I think is ridiculous. People can’t just come out and take responsibility for the fact that they don’t want to work too hard at things. Walking down the street, seeing someone and instantly falling in love, only to find out that they perfectly match you in every way possible; well, that’s just not going to happen.” Maritess finished her speech, and waited for Markus to reply.
His eyes were hard, and his brow was furrowed. Markus had so many thoughts and emotions clamoring to get out first, but he could only sit there and stare at her while his mind was bound like traffic in a bottle neck. There was concern in her face, and a twinge of guilt like a messenger delivering bad news. The pity in her expression was what elicited the rage in his, as if she were somehow more evolved for having come to the conclusion that true love does not exist. Markus felt his heart rate rise, which was something he had gotten accustomed to being aware of during his training sessions with her. He searched his soul for a way to make her understand. He couldn’t wrap his brain around the thought of a woman of her beauty not having the capability to feel love. He watched her as she absent-mindedly scratched Tike behind his ears. He could sense the tension as it built between them in response to his silence.
A million times a moment, it seemed, Markus failed to conjure something to say. He ran his fingers through his hair, and shook his head. Maritess just looked at him, completely clueless as to what he would do next. More than anything else, Markus felt frustration. There was no way that he would be able to let her prove him wrong on love. He needed love, he needed that goal in his life. To Markus, this life wasn’t worth anything if there was no one with whom to share it. He took Maritess by the hand, and tried again to say something. Again, words failed him. Markus reached out his other hand to her face, and caressed her cheek with his thumb. Maritess didn’t try to pull away.
Markus took a breath, and pursed his lips together. He slid his hand through her soft, red hair and pulled her face to his. Maritess met Markus’ kiss with a sense of passion that she had nearly forgotten about. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and pulled him with her as she lowered herself on to the couch. Markus rolled his tongue in her mouth as excitement mounted in the core of his being. He held his weight on a hand above her head, and let his other hand explore the curves he had so often admired. Markus gripped her hip, and pushed his chest onto her before breaking their kiss. He nibbled along her jawline and down her neck. Maritess felt the muscles she had helped build along his back. She wrapped her leg around his waist as he lifted her sweatshirt and the tank top she wore underneath.
Markus gently placed small pecks of kisses along her toned abs. Maritess lifted the clothing from her body. She shuddered as he spread his kisses up her chest. Markus was pouring everything he could onto her, hoping to melt the ice that surrounded her heart. He ran his hands along the back side of her ribs, and lifted her off of the couch. His strength surprised her as he brought them both to stand. Markus gently lowered her feet to the floor, and kissed her again. She melted into his arms, while a sudden surge of happiness propelled her as far up on her toes as she could get. Markus broke their kiss and looked at her. Maritess took his hand and led him to her bedroom.
The few moment’s delay was enough to set her on fire. The mounting anticipation sent a tingling sensation through her entire body. Markus was an inferno behind her, threatening to set flame to anything he touched. Maritess twirled on her heels when they got to her bed. She pulled his collar down to her, and met his lips with an open mouth. She unbuttoned the top few buttons on his shirt and pulled away to lift it over his head. Markus pulled the cord on her sweatpants. The fabric fell to the floor, and Maritess stepped out of them. She sat back on her bed as she unbuckled and unzipped the pants that held Markus back from her. He kicked off his shoes and slowly crawled after her as they adjusted themselves on her bed.
When Markus reached around her body and pulled her onto him, they fit together perfectly. Her warmth made him blind to anything else in the world for a moment. Maritess gasped for breath. She ran her fingers through his hair and along his back. Her legs hugged his waist, and they blended into a mellow rhythm. Each movement was a new discovery. Markus slid his hands beneath her back, and gently dug his fingertips into her flesh. The pressure pushed him farther into her, and she moaned at the sensation.
Maritess felt tension mounting in her body. She had never before felt anything as exquisite as his touch. She pulled his face from her neck, and looked into his eyes. The soft night light of her room cast a glow across his face. From it, she sensed an enormous amount of energy. When Markus looked down at Maritess, he knew he had reached her. Her eyes were soft, and glistened like emeralds. He kissed her lips, her cheeks and forehead. He pressed her face to his chest, trying to bring her as close to his heart as their physical bodies would allow. Maritess clung to him as an orgasm rocketed through her body. Her fevered skin and heaving breath sent Markus over the edge. For a split second, Maritess was the only other person in existence, and he bathed in her beauty.
They collapsed on the bed, curled up in one another’s arms. Markus held her as her breathing returned to normal. Soon, he felt her calm wash over him. He ran his fingers through her hair, and kissed her gently on the forehead. Maritess had her eyes closed, and relaxed in his touch. For a moment or so, she thought Markus might have fallen asleep, but he spoke to her as she went to leave the bed.
“Where are you headed?” he asked, sleepily and happily. She bent down and kissed him before saying that she was going to get them something to drink. She donned her robe after she refreshed herself in the bathroom, and returned with two glasses of ice water. She sat on the bed and handed one of them to Markus. He was looking at her adoringly, and a blush
crossed her cheeks. Maritess reached out and rubbed him on the shoulder, comfortable with their silence. Markus seemed comfortable too, but it was only a short time before a jitteriness spurred him to talk.
“I think I’m falling in love with you, Maritess,” he said. He knew that he would get nowhere with her if he fell into a mushy, emotional display of his newly felt affection. So, he stated his fact with seriousness, but he wore a smile on his face.
Maritess shook her head at him. She put her glass down on the end table, and turned to face him. Markus rose to his elbow, but let the rest of himself stretch out. “Markus,” she said, “you’re hopeless.” Markus laughed at her, but stopped when he noticed that irritating look of pity she had on her face. “You’re hopeless,” she repeated, and stretched out alongside him.
“No, I’m not. And I don’t think that you are, either. So, there,” he said. Maritess called his bluff. She couldn’t believe that he still thought love would be that easy. He was starting to agitate her. Even though she had truly enjoyed what they had just done, there was no way that she was going to let him think that she was hers just because he had been incredible in bed.
“Markus,” she said in the same tone he used on her, “that’s impossible. Keep in mind, you pretty much hate me normally, and even did just a little while ago. Remember?” Markus shook his head in protest, but she continued without stopping. “Plus, even if you are suddenly falling for me, that still doesn’t make it true love. So, keep looking sweetheart, because…” she paused, checking the bitchiness in her voice, “because… I don’t feel anything for you. Please, don’t get me wrong, that was quite enjoyable, but I’m still not getting the butterflies, or hearing angels singing, or anything like that.”
No Such Thing As True Love Page 4