Heart & Soul
Episode 29
Do They Know It’s Christmas?
By Allan Craig
Christmas Eve 2004
Josh & Jessica’s
Jessica woke up on the sofa, she’d
slept there every night since her birthday, hoping Josh would come back and
that he wouldn’t be able to creep in and out without her noticing, but he
hadn't…he hadn't been back at all.
"It was a long time
before anything happened between us," Jessica walked closer to Josh, but
he walked further away, "I didn’t think it would matter."
"It wouldn’t
matter? Jessica, the man’s my best friend, I was going to ask him to be best
man at the wedding, of course it matters!"
"You’re all that
matters to me," Jessica cried, "Please, don’t let him destroy what
we’ve got."
"No need,"
Josh put his hands in his pockets, "You did that all by yourself."
Jessica snapped out of her flashback
as a knock at the door interrupted her daze. She jumped up from the sofa and
ran over to the door, opening it faster than humanly possible in case Josh was
there and changed his mind. But her hopeful smile dropped when she saw Carrie
standing before her.
"I come bearing gifts,"
Carrie raised two brown paper bags, "I was going to call and ask you to
come out for coffee, but I didn’t think you’d be in any mood to go out and
you’d probably make up some lame excuse and blow me off, so I brought the
coffee to you. And croissants."
"Thanks," Jessica smiled,
tightening the chord on her toweling bathrobe, "Come in."
"So any word from
Josh?"
Carrie headed straight over to the kitchen and took out two mugs to pour the
coffee into.
"Nope, and he hasn’t been back
at all," Jessica checked her tear stained face in the mirror and pulled
her straggly hair out of her face into a ponytail, "I’m worried, it’s been
almost a week I know this might sound
totally vain but what if he’s done something stupid?"
"I’m sure he’s fine,"
Carrie insisted, handing Jessica a mug and putting the hot, buttery croissants
onto a plate, "I’d find out if he’s been in contact with Greg, but we’re
hardly on speaking terms right now."
"I understand," Jessica sat
down on the sofa and took a bite out of the croissant. She’d barely eaten in
days, but she had no trace of an appetite either, "Looks like we’re both
going to be lonely this Christmas."
"I’d rather be lonely than spend
Christmas at the mansion," Carrie broke off the end of her croissant and
slipped it into her mouth, "Christmas dinner with Diane…it’s like hell.
Besides, we’re not lonely; we’ve got each other."
"And my dad’s just moved into
his new place, he’s having Christmas dinner there and you’re invited,"
Jessica tried to cheer herself up, "Maybe we’ll get through it alive. Then
again, knowing my dad’s cooking, maybe not."
"Unless he’s got Pamela doing
the food," Carrie tried to keep the conversation going, desperately avoiding
any form of silence.
"Don’t even get me started on
that," Jessica rolled her eyes, "It’s funny how much can change in a
year. Last Christmas my parents were married, I had no intention of settling
down, and now it’s the total opposite."
The
Joseph zipped his suitcase shut and
checked for the flight tickets on his dresser.
"Yeah I cant
wait to see you either honey," he chirped into his cellphone,
"Look I gotta go
Joseph hung up and slipped his phone
into the pocket of his chinos.
"All packed?" came Diane’s voice from the doorway.
"You bet!" Joseph kissed
Diane, "You ready?"
"Cant wait," Diane smiled,
secretly she had hoped that she and Joseph could spend Christmas together
alone, not with the ex wife and the kids, "The driver’s outside ready to
take us to the airport."
"Well lets not keep him waiting,
afterall it is Christmas Eve," Joseph, full of
the festive spirit, picked up his suitcase, "I cant
wait to see Taylor and JJ."
"And Margo?" Diane joked.
"I’ll just have to grin and bear
it," Joseph rolled his eyes, "I’m sure she’ll be civilized."
Oakridge Mall
Megan fought her way through the
crowds of last minute shoppers to reach the ATM machine She withdrew $50 and folded the crisp notes
into her purse before turning back to squeeze through the herds of people
roaming the mall. She stopped in front of the Kay Jagger
boutique to admire a long white coat in the window.
"Fancy meeting you here," came a voice from behind. Megan jumped, turning around to
see Marc.
"Marc," Megan grinned,
"Seems we’re both fans of the last minute approach when it comes to
Christmas shopping."
"I haven't been too bad this
year," Marc was pushed into Megan by a passing shopper, "Sorry."
"Don’t be," Megan gave the
man who shoved Marc a look that could turn milk sour, "Do you fancy a
coffee?"
"Why not," Marc smiled,
"All my shopping’s done. Now it’s time to chill out."
"Snap!" Megan diverted
Marc’s attention to the hoards of bags weighing her down, "And I’ve had a
craving for a gingerbread latte all day."
The Abbot House; Ashley’s Room
Ashley sat on top of her bed painting
her nails in silence as she waited for the phone to ring. Alex knocked on the
door and popped her head in the door.
"I’m just going to the mall to
get some last minute bits for your brother," she smiled, "I thought
you might like to come?"
"No thanks mom, Leo said he’d
call me and I wanna be here when he does,"
Ashley barely looked up from her nails to acknowledge her mother’s appearance,
"Thanks anyway."
"Leo? You never told me there
was a Leo," Alex sat on the edge of Ashley’s bed, "When did you meet
this boy?"
"A few weeks back," Ashley
looked up, screwing the top onto the nail polish jar, "He’s new in town
and we met at Fix."
"So that’s why you’ve been going
there so much," Alex laughed, "I thought you might have had a coffee
addiction. Do you see him a lot at school?"
Ashley squirmed, "Not really,
Leo doesn’t go to school….with me, he goes to Cameron
House."
"Private school…well you should
bring him round one day," Alex folded some tops that lay
across Ashley’s floor, "Let him meet the family."
"No!,"
Ashley jumped up, "I don’t want him to meet anyone yet. Especially not
dad, it took months to get him to accept Nick and I cant be bothered going
through all that again, not until I know how I feel ."
"Okay," Alex took a deep
breath, hating the thought of keeping a secret from Wesley but not wanting to
betray her daughter’s trust, "But you better tell your father about it
sooner rather than later, I wont say anything now so
that we can have a nice Christmas, but he does need to know."
The
Jackie’s Townhouse;
"Merry
Christmas, mom,"
"Kendall I
thought we agreed that you would wear your hair down more often; tied back like
that is not very flattering on your features," Jackie looked her daughter
up and down, inspecting the ensemble Kendall had chosen, "Where is your
brother?"
"Still in
bed,"
"Well I
cannot begrudge Leonard for having a social life," Jackie sniped, "It
wouldn’t do you any harm to get out of the house occasionally."
"Forgive me
for not knowing anyone in this country,"
"Ah
yes," Jackie closed her book and placed it on the highly polished table,
"I forgot about your skill of frittering away your trustfund
on overpriced ensembles that only get worn once. You should consider making
some valuable investments to make more out of what you’ve been given. You could
learn a lot from your brother."
"What? Like
how to do a line of cocaine without any of it ending on your nose?"
The
Joseph opened the door into the
mansion and walked in, followed by Diane. She gave him a hug and kissed him on
the cheek.
"I’m so sorry the flight was
cancelled," Diane rubbed Joseph’s back, "I’d see about getting the
"I cant
believe this happened," Joseph pulled away from Diane and took his jacket
off, "I haven't seen Taylor and Joey in such a long time, I better give
them a call to break the news."
"And I’ll go and see what there
is to eat," Diane took off her fur coat and rested it over the chaise
lounge, "I am absolutely starving."
The Bungalow
Pamela stood behind the bar of her
packed restaurant pouring a glass of wine for Patrick, who sat on a stool on
the opposite side of the bar engrossed in her presence.
"Are you sure you wont let me help out?" Patrick volunteered as Pamela
handed him the glass "You’re cooking Christmas dinner for me and my family
tomorrow, it’s the least I can do."
"It’s
fine Patrick, honestly," Pamela poured herself a glass too, smiling to a
customer that walked past on her way to the bathroom, "Believe me, if I
wanted any help you’d be the first to know."
"I insist," Patrick tapped
his hands eagerly on the bar.
"Well I insist that you stay
exactly where you are," Pamela stood in as her barman rushed past,
"I’ve only got tonight to get through and then The Bungalow is closed
until New Years."
"It’s a risky move closing your
restaurant over the holiday period Pamela," Patrick took a drink of his
wine."
"Yeah well it’s not closed as
such, just me taking a week out. Although I’m sure I’ll be getting called every
hour on the hour with something going wrong here. You know sometimes I wonder
why I don’t just give up on this whole…" Pamela’s attention wandered when
she saw who was walking into the restaurant, "GINA!"
Pamela ran out from behind the bar
and straight over to her former waitress, giving her a huge hug.
"What are you doing here?"
Pamela asked, looking Gina up and down.
"Well Ben and I came back to see
my mom for Christmas but she’s taken off one some singles cruise," Gina
took off her scarf and folded it up a million times in her hands, "So we
thought we’d drop in on you before we head back to
"You two sure are moving around
a lot these days, you’ve given me what? like three
different phone numbers since you left town?"
"Yeah well that’s Ben for you,
he gets restless," Gina shrugged, watching as Ben entered the restaurant
and walked over.
"Hey Pamela," Ben took off
his leather jacket, revealing his intricately honed muscular body under a tight
white t-shirt, "Merry Christmas."
"Well not for another four
hours, but thanks," Pamela folded her arms.
"Baby we gotta
jet soonish if we wanna
catch the last flight back home," Ben put his muscular arm around Gina’s
petite frame.
"Not a chance," Pamela
checked the restaurant for an empty table, landing on a table for two by the french windows, "The two of you are going to sit down
and have a good meal on the house, and then you’re spending the night at my
place, and tomorrow you’re coming to dinner with me and Patrick."
"We couldn’t impose," Ben
ran one hand through his mane of short, thick hair.
"It’s no trouble," Pamela
insisted, "I bought way too much food anyway and I haven't seen you for
too long."
"That sounds great," Gina
smiled from ear to ear, leaving Ben’s arm and hugging Pamela, unaware of Ben’s sigh of
disappointment, "So who’s Patrick?"
Eddie’s
Josh sat on a wobbly stool at the
spillage-covered bar drinking a lukewarm bottle of beer as dated rock music
stuttered away on the even more dated jukebox.
"I thought I might find you
here," came a voice from behind Josh. Josh turned
around to see Greg standing over his shoulder, "We haven't been here since
college."
"Hey, I just needed to go
somewhere where I wouldn’t see Jessica or Will or anyone," Josh watched as
Greg sat down on the stool next to him, "Don’t worry, I’m not drinking
myself into a state the way our so called friend did when your sister dumped
him. Christ! How was I so stupid? I knew what Jessica was like when I got
involved with her, she’d been with half the guys in Oakridge, what would make
my best friend AND business partner an exception?"
"Well if it makes you feel any
better you’re not the only one spending Christmas without the woman you
love," Greg attempted to console his friend.
"I take it you and Carrie
haven't made up yet then?"
"Not even a phone call. Not even
a letter. She didn’t even have the guts to tell me she was leaving," Greg
motioned for the barman to bring him a beer, "If my mom hadn't walked in
on her packing then I wouldn’t have even known she’d left me."
"That’s women for ya, they lie, they cheat, they
keep secrets."
"Well you’re not spending
Christmas thinking of Jessica and what she did," Greg perked up, patting
his friend on the shoulder, "You’re coming to the mansion; spending
Christmas with the Sterlings. Christmas
with the world’s most dysfunctional family."
"When you put it like
that," Josh smiled, "How could anyone refuse?"
CHRISTMAS DAY
The
"Don’t you ever wear
clothes?"
"Couldn’t sleep," Leo rubbed his eyes, "This is the first
Christmas that mom hasn’t been here. It’s weird; you know; like every year, no
matter if she shipped us off to schools or camps or Uncle Joe’s or vacations
with the family for the rest of the year, she always spent Christmas with
us."
Jackie’s Townhouse;
Jackie handed Leo
a small box which he unwrapped at the speed of light, inside was a small box
which he opened to find a key.
"I don’t get
it." Leo looked confused, guessing his mother was up to something, "A
key?"
"Well I could
hardly have you driving around in that BMW for much longer, it belonged in a
museum. I got you an Audi TT, it is waiting for you upon your return to
"Thank you so
much mom," Leo looked at
"Very."
"I do wish
you would learn to speak in complete sentences,
"Sorry
mom," Kendall continued fumbling with the clip on the necklace, finally
fastening it and turning it round to admire the pretty diamond pendant.
"It didn’t make up for it; not the presents, not Christmas Day,"
The Abbot House: Lounge
Ashley tore through the layer of
wrapping paper keeping her from her gift. Inside was a white purse with colourful shapes on it.
"Wow! A Louis Vuitton bag," Ashley feigned delight at her
grandmother’s gift, "How incredibly not last season."
"I see your mother hasn’t lost
her sense of high fashion," Wesley joked, winking at Alex.
"I see your mother hasn’t lost
her sense of imagination," Alex returned, jokingly referring to the money
Ashley and Will received from her former mother in law..
"Alex I have a little something
special for you," Matt interrupted, "I thought we could go upstairs
and you could open it."
"Sure, honey," Alex didn’t
know what to say; it was her first Christmas back with the family in god knows
how long and she wanted to spend it with Wesley and the kids, but she couldn’t
leave Matt out, could she?, "I’ll be right up."
"I’ll go get it ready for
you," Matt got up from the chair and walked up the staircase.
"Well the family moment was fun
while it lasted," Will muttered.
Pamela’s House: Kitchen
Pamela walked down the stairs and
into her kitchen, stopping when she saw Ben standing at the sink in his boxer
shorts, staring out the window. The lights were off, but the morning sunlight
coming through the blinds lit the room slightly, illuminating the muscles in
Ben’s broad shoulders and back. Ben downed the glass of water in one but jumped
when he heard Pamela’s footsteps.
"Pamela," Ben turned
around, attempting to cover himself up as much as possible with the tea towel,
"I didn’t realize anyone was up or I’d have got dressed."
"It’s my fault, I just need to
put the oven on to heat up, sorry," Pamela squeezed past Ben, turning the
dial on her oven and beginning to leave the room.
"It’s your house," Ben put his
glass in the dishwasher, "I should be apologizing. And thanking you; you
didn’t have to open up your home to Gina and me. I’ll just run upstairs and put
some clothes on."
Ben walked out the room as Pamela
walked over and opened up the blinds. Gina walked into the kitchen as Pamela
turned to face her.
"Merry Christmas," Gina
gave Pamela a hug, "I’m sorry we don’t have a present for you."
"Don’t worry Gina," Pamela
assured her younger friend, "I don’t have anything for you either; well
unless you count dinner; in which case you can help me peel the potatoes."
"My favourite
job," Gina smiled fakely, "I knew there was
something I missed about working at The Bungalow."
"You know as well as I do that
you never had to peel the potatoes,"
Pamela joked, "But if you miss The Bungalow so much your job’s
still open, and will be for as long as you want it to."
"Thanks, but it’s a bit of a
commute," Gina laughed.
"Well why don’t you move back to
Oakridge?" Pamela walked over to the kitchen counter and pulled out a pot.
"Ben’s got his career to be
thinking of, I can get waitressing work anywhere but
he’s really moving up in the medical world," Gina tied her long blonde
hair into a ponytail with the band she had round her wrist, "I cant hold him back."
"Well the offer stands,"
Pamela started to peel the potatoes, "If you ever want the job, it’s
waiting for you."
The
Diane stood at Joseph’s doorway in
her robe kissing him.
"Well I better get back to my room and get ready," Diane ran her hand
over Joseph’s shoulders, "I’ll see you soon."
"I think we should tell everyone
about us," Joseph wrapped his arms around Diane’s slim waist,
"There’s no time like the present. Everyone would have figured it out when
we were both away over Christmas anyway, so why not just get it out in the
open?"
"Joseph we’ve had this
discussion," Diane sighed, "Nobody can know until my divorce from
John is finalized, or I’ll get nothing in the settlement."
"Well okay," Joseph rolled
his eyes, "I’ll see you downstairs, Merry Christmas."
Joseph and Diane kissed again just as
Megan was leaving her bedroom. Upon seeing her mother and her uncle kissing she
closed the door again, peering out from behind it.
Josh & Jessica’s; Bedroom
Jessica sat at her dressing table,
failing to notice the reflection staring back at her as she forced herself to
apply makeup. The room, submerged in silence, hadn't ever felt this empty.
Before Josh moved in, this was her apartment, there
was nobody there to miss. Until Josh.
"Hey," Carrie appeared in
the doorway holding two glasses of red wine, "Thought you could use a
little ‘refreshment’ before heading out for dinner."
"Thanks," Jessica managed a
faint half-smile, "Got anything stronger?"
"You tell me, it’s your
apartment, remember?" Carrie walked over and handed Jessica a glass,
sitting on the edge of the bed behind Jessica, "Thanks for letting me stay
here by the way, it means a lot. You have no idea how
much the Plaza’s charging per night during the festive period. And it’s good to
have company; if it wasn’t for you I’d be drowning my sorrows listening to Bing
Crosby on my iPod. Actually I better pass on the
wine, I keep forgetting I’ve got this little critter on the way.," Carrie
noticed her friend sitting staring into the mirror, not taking any notice of
anything she had just said, "Maybe next year something exciting will
happen to me…some handsome stranger will whisk me off my feet and sweep me away
to Mexico, we’ll be totally isolated, and we’ll fall in love…and this time
there’ll be no psychotic mother in law. Or maybe I’ll sign up for the Russian
Space Program and be the first woman to give birth in space. You’re not
listening, are you, Jess?"
"What?" Jessica snapped out
of her daydream, "Sorry, I was miles away."
"Really?" Carrie grinned, "I never
noticed. What’s up?"
"Just a little lapse of
concentration," Jessica insisted, applying the final layer of her mask,
"You know me; typical blonde; concentration span of a goldfish."
"Okay," Carrie bit on her
lip, mentally rolling her eyes as she took a deep breath, "Well would you
look at the time. Today’s flying in."
The Abbot House: Dining Room
Alex placed the turkey down on the
gleaming glass table, gleaming because it was only used twice a year; Christmas
and Thanksgiving. It looked just as new as it did when they first got it;
before Ashley was born. Alex looked around the table at Wesley, Ashley, Will
and Matt; all sitting motionless in awe of the golden brown bird.
"Well, what are you all waiting
for? Eat up!" Alex joked as she sat down, "Oh right, Wesley would you
carve?"
"Of course," Wesley winked
discreetly at Alex as he stood up and began to cut into the turkey, "Who’s for a drumstick?"
"Eew
no way," Ashley turned up her nose, "Just give me a little bit of the
breast please, daddy."
"No problem princess,"
Wesley sliced off a piece of the turkey and placed it on Ashley’s plate.
"Matt?" Wesley turned to
his wife’s new squeeze, hiding his resentment with an offering of cranberry
sauce.
"I don’t mind," Matt shrugged
his broad shoulders, "Anything really."
"In that case I’ll just see what
everyone else wants first," Wesley smiled fakely,
"I’ll come back to you when you’ve made your mind up."
The
Diane, Joseph, John, Leo, Kendall, Megan,
Greg and Josh sat, surrounded by decorations, round the table, crammed full
with food.
"Well well,"
John thought, "Isn't this a turnout for the books; the world’s most
dysfunctional family, all gathered round one table."
"Megan dear, could you please
pass me some yams," Diane’s best attempts to be friendly to her estranged
daughter seemed to fall on deaf ears judging by Megan’s passing of the
porcelain bowl whilst barely acknowledging her mother, "Thank you."
"So Josh, how’s the business
going?" said John, managing to complete a full sentence before returning
to his food.
Greg cleared his throat.
"John do you ever stop talking
about business," Diane rolled her eyes.
"Only when I’m talking about my
marriage and how it’s hopefully going to be declared officially over in the
very near future."
"Don’t listen to him, mom,"
Greg watched as an increasingly uncomfortable Josh squirmed in his chair.
"Yeah," Megan chipped in,
her fake smile putting her mother’s to shame, "I’m sure you’ll find
someone else in no time at all."
Joseph coughed.
"Anyway, Josh,"
"
"So Megan, how does it feel to
be the only
"I’m not quite the only
one," Megan muttered, staring at her mother quickly followed by Joseph.
"Oh yes," Diane poured Josh
another glass of wine, "Joseph is
"Bobby? From what I’ve heard, yes," Joseph cut a piece of stuffing
from the plate of stuffing, "Although Margo’s probably put Taylor under
strict instructions to keep me as minimally informed as possible. And JJ too."
"Anyway, Mr. Sterling,"
said Josh, "Business isn't going too great, in fact I’m selling my half of
the company."
"There’s a job going in
advertising in Sterling Enterprises if you’re interested," John offered,
"I mean it’s not got as much freedom as running your own company, but
you’re pretty much free to run with an idea as far as you want to take it,
providing it gets approved."
"Thanks Mr. Sterling I’ll bear
it in mind," Josh smiled.
"Well it’s yours if you want
it," John poured himself another wine, "And will you please call me
John?"
Pamela’s House: Living Room
Pamela, Patrick, Marc, Jessica,
Carrie, Ben and Gina all sat around Pamela’s fold out table, stuffed.
"Well I think that just might have been the best Christmas dinner I have
ever had," Patrick grinned, rubbing his stomach.
"Oh it was nothing," Pamela
faked modesty, "Just a few yams, a couple of vegetables, a
turkey…seriously, it was nothing."
Gina laughed, "Tell that to the
potato peeler."
"And you sure did peel them
great," Ben kissed Gina on the cheek.
Carrie and Jessica shot each other a
‘spare me’ look.
Marc rubbed his hands down his thighs as he stood up and stretched,
"Pamela, where’s your bathroom?"
"Straight up the stairs and
first on the left," Pamela motioned to the staircase at the other side of
the room.
"Thanks." Marc strolled
across the living room and up the stairs.
Patrick stared at the half slice of
chocolate cheesecake remaining on his plate. He cut off a small piece and
raised it to his mouth, however he couldn’t bring
himself to eat it.
Pamela’s House: Upstairs Hallway
Marc reached the top of the stairs
and whipped out his cellphone, dialing Megan’s
number, waiting as it rang a few times before she picked it up.
"Hey it’s me…I’m getting bored…wanna come out for a drive?…there’s gotta
be a bar or coffee shop open somewhere…don’t worry I haven't drank anything
tonight…okay I’ll pick you up at the mansion in 10…seeya,"
Marc hung up the phone as a cheeky smile appeared on his face.
The
Megan wrapped her scarf around her
neck, un-tucking her hair from under it as she picked up her bag.
"Where are you going?"
Diane appeared in the doorway.
"Out for a drive with
Marc," Megan checked inside her purse for her keys, "Not that it’s
any of your business."
"What exactly is your problem
with me?" Diane demanded, folding her arms.
"Where do you want me to
begin?" Megan turned to face her mother, "You only married dad for
his money and after he decides to divorce you, you don’t even wait for it to be
finalized but you're moving onto his brother! You’re controlling, you’re
overbearing. For god’s sake, mother, you drove Greg’s wife out of this house
even though they were made for each other. You’re a pushy, manipulative
gold-digger and this family’s gonna be a hell of a
lot better off the day you die."
"How dare you!" Diane
uncrossed her arms, ready to slap.
"Don’t even think about
it," Megan stopped her mother’s advance, "You’re pathetic."
Megan stormed out, slamming the door
behind her. Diane stormed up the stairs, shortly followed by Joseph running
after her.
The
Diane closed the door and marched
across to the window, watching as Megan got in a car and sped off. Joseph
tapped gently on the bedroom door and popped his head around the door.
"What was all that about?"
Joseph slowly entered the room.
"Megan just told me this family
would be better off if I was dead," Diane kept her back to Joseph whilst
trying desperately to hold back the tears, "She just told me a few home
truths."
"Honey, don’t worry," Joseph
rubbed Diane’s shoulders, "Taylor and Margo used to fight like cat and dog
and they’re closer than you'd expect any mother and daughter to be, so
naturally there’s gonna be a few fights between you
and Megan."
"But it’s not just a few
fights," Diane walked away from Joseph, her face so close to the window
her breath showed up on the glass, "Megan cant stand me…neither of my
children can. All I wanted was for them to have the best in everything, to have
the opportunities I never had," tears started to trickle down Diane’s
face, "The last thing I wanted was to drive them away."
"So you made a few mistakes…who
doesn’t?"
"You don’t get it, do you?"
Diane turned to face Joseph, who was stunned to see Diane crying, "I’m a
pushy, overbearing, controlling mother, and they hate me for it!"
"They might, but I love
you," Joseph wrapped his arms around Diane, "And that will never
change."
Marc’s Car
Marc and Megan sat in the parking lot
of TikiBurger, a fast food restaurant just outside
the city center, both sipping Big Gulps.
"Well, I have to say,"
Megan fiddled with her straw, "This has been one unusual ending to
Christmas Day."
"Unusual?" Marc raised an
eyebrow.
"Yep," Megan grinned, "Unusual, but good."
"I’m gonna
be paying for this tomorrow though," Marc motioned to the portion of fries
that sat on his lap, "Another 50 sit-ups when I get up."
"You’re obsessed!" Megan
rolled her eyes, giggling.
"There’s nothing wrong with
wanting to take care of yourself," Marc placed
the empty fries container on the back seat of his car, "It makes me feel
good."
"You’ll have to let me see this
body of yours one day so I can judge if you’re fixation on working out has paid
off," Megan flirted, "And you’ll need to help me get back into
shape."
"There’s nothing wrong with you
from where I’m standing…or…sitting in this case. But seriously, don’t have me
down as one of these obsessed types," Marc explained, folding his arms,
"I used to be pretty big, but then, after all the bullying, I hit 225
pounds when I was sixteen and I decided to take action about it, that’s why I’m
so…obsessed…as you put it."
"I’m sorry," Megan didn’t
know what to say, fearing she had put her foot in it.
"Don’t be, it’s over now,"
Marc turned down the radio, "You know, I’ve never met a girl who I feel so
at ease with as I am with you before. It’s like, I don’t feel like I have to be
someone else to impress you, you just take me as I am," Marc moved in
closer, "It’s like I’ve known you all my life."
"I feel the same way,"
Megan leaned closer to Marc. Their lips touched and they began to kiss.
TO BE CONTINUED…