"Mara! Will you hurry up? We are going to be late for the family barbecue!"
Mara sighed to herself as she read the last sentence on the booklet given to her regarding the new art gallery she had to manage. She put the booklet back down on her bed before getting up to look at the mirror.
Since it was just a family barbecue, Mara had no intention of dressing up whatsoever. She had on a yellow summer dress that showed off her tattoos in the centre of her back. Mara tucked stray dark brunette hair behind her ear before smiling at herself through the mirror.
She was just about to walk out of her room when her father popped his head in.
"Dad! You scared me!" Mara said
"Sorry sweetheart… I was just wondering if you're ready to go." Her father asked
"Yeah. Ready as can be…" Mara said, sarcastically.
Her father laughed, "I know how much you dislike these barbecues but it's every once a month… Humor your mom, okay?"
"Alright…" Mara said
Her father smiled as he put an arm around her and the two of them walked down the stairs towards her mother who was waiting excitedly at the front door.
They pulled up in front of her Aunt Julia's house where her cousin, Mary-Anne, was waiting to receive them. Out of all her cousins, Mara would probably count Mary-Anne as the closest to her. The two had played together since they were young and often mistaken as sisters.
All three of them got out of the car after parking it and Mary-Anne excitedly hugged Mara.
"Hi Mara!" Mary-Anne said, "Hi Aunt Melissa, Uncle Glenn."
Her mother smiled and said, "We'll go in first."
Mary-Anne nodded before she dragged Mara to the side.
"Hey, Mary-Anne… Why do you look like we haven't met in ages, when we obviously met two weeks ago…" Mara said
"I know, I know… But it is what happened this week before today that has got me all excited!" Mary-Anne said
"Okay… So, what happened?" Mara said
"Remember the trip I made to Las Vegas?" Mary-Anne said
"Yeah… That's the reason why we met up two weeks ago..." Mara said
"Well… I got hitched!" Mary-Anne said
Mara looked at her in surprise, "What?!"
Mary-Anne smiled excitedly as she put up her left hand and sitting there on her fourth finger was a small diamond ring.
"Oh my gosh! Congratulations!" Mara said, giving her a hug.
"Thank you! At least you're not like Heather who just can't imagine why her younger sister would get married without dating for at least a year." Mary-Anne said
Mara chuckled before looking at Mary-Anne, "Aunt Julia knows, right?"
"Duh. Of course. But I told her after the whole thing." Mary-Anne said, "Speaking of which, you have to meet my husband. He is such a hot piece of ass! Come on~"
Before Mara could respond, Mary-Anne had got a hold of her wrist and was practically dragging her up the front steps of the porch. They entered the house and exit through the back door towards the barbecue that was happening in the back yard.
They stopped on the back porch for a while as Mary-Anne scanned the crowd for her husband. When she finally located him, she waved at him before dragging Mara over.
"Here we are!" Mary-Anne said
She smiled and kissed her husband, "Hi baby!"
Mara hadn't looked up to see who it was yet due to her hair flying all over the place. So, as soon as she sorted that out, Mary-Anne began the introduction.
"Randy, this is my cousin, Mara. Mara, Randy."
She looked up and her eyes widened in shock. Standing before her was the man she had forgotten she knew. He looked at her slightly surprised but he quickly replaced it with a smile.
"Nice to meet you," he said, "Mara."
He intentionally said her name and she knew why he did that. Mara merely gave him a tight smile.
"Nice to meet you too." She replied
"You two get acquainted and I'll go get the drinks, okay?" Mary-Anne said
"No! Uh… I-I'll do it. You stay here with your husband…" Mara said
Not bothering to wait for Mary-Anne's reply, Mara turned around to head back to the house. When she got to the kitchen in the house, she let out a sigh of relief. She looked around searching for a phone and eventually spotted her mother's handbag on the couch. She hurried over and pulled out her mom's cellphone. Mara punched in her best friend's number before putting it to her ear, hoping for her to answer.
"Hello?"
"Layla?"
"Yeah… Who is this?"
"It's Mara."
"Mara? Who's phone are you using? Are you okay?"
"I can't talk over the phone. I need you to pick me up."
"Okay. What's the address?"
"42 Clive Avenue."
"I'll be there in 10."
"Thanks, Lay."
Mara ended the call and put the phone back into her mother's bag. She sat down on the couch and put her head in her hands. This can't be happening. After she tried so hard to forget him, he comes back to haunt her like a ghost. And it's the kind that she can't get rid of. What was she going to do? She couldn't tell Mary-Anne about it or she'll risk their close relationship.
She stood up just as her father came into the house.
"Hey, sweetheart… Have you eaten anything yet?" Her father asked
"No… Um… Dad… I've got some last minute things to settle at the art gallery so I can't stay here any longer…" Mara replied
"I'll tell your mother. Do you need a ride there?" Her father asked
"No… I called Layla on mom's cell so she'll be here to give me a lift." Mara replied
"Okay then. Try not to be home late and have something to eat with Layla before you go to the art gallery. I don't want you to starve due to work." Her father said
"I will dad." Mara said
She gave her dad a hug before walking towards the front door. She wanted to say good-bye to Mary-Anne but she knew that if she went back in there, she might find it hard to lie to her.
Mara waited outside for Layla and was starting to feel cold in her dress. Thinking that she was going to stay at the barbecue where it was hot, she never thought to bring a cardigan.
She was rubbing her hands up and down her arm when she felt someone's coat on her shoulder.
"You'll catch a cold."
She turned to look at the person and it was none other than Randy. Mara shrugged it off and returned it to him.
"Thanks for your concern. But, I'll be fine." Mara said
"Still as stubborn, huh?" Randy said
Mara ignored him and stepped forward to look for any oncoming headlights.
"Where are you going?" Randy asked
"To work. I have some things I forgot to do." Mara replied
"Really?" Randy said
She looked at him and said, "I don't have to answer to you. Shouldn't you be keeping Mary-Anne company?"
"Yeah… But, she sent me to look for you." Randy said
"Well, tell her that I had to leave." Mara said
"I can't do that." Randy said
"You're her husband." Mara said
He sighed, "Mara… Are we still doing this? It's been 2 years. I believe that the hate you have for me should be less now."
Mara looked away and didn't reply him.
He stepped closer to her, causing Mara to look at him.
"Why did you leave me without a word?" Randy said
Just as he said that, Layla pulled up in front of the house. Mara looked at him and was about to say something but decided against it as she walked over to Layla's car. She got in and she could still feel Randy looking at her.
"Lays.. Please drive." Mara said
Layla nodded and sped away, leaving Randy where he was.
"He's your cousin-in-law?!" Layla said, in shock.
Mara nodded as she put the cup of coffee she sipped down on to the table. After fleeing from the barbecue, Layla and Mara bought coffee and doughnuts before heading to the art gallery Mara worked at to talk.
"I cannot believe this! You're sure they are legally married?" Layla asked
"Yes. I believe the ring on her finger says it all." Mara replied
"What a small world, huh." Layla said
Mara pursed her lips and gave Layla a look before picking up a doughnut.
"So… Did he say anything to you?" Layla asked
"No… Well… Kinda? He did say some things to me…" Mara said
"What did he say?" Layla said
She took a small bite of her doughnut and said, "Well, he asked me if we are still doing the hate thing and… why I left him without a word."
Layla leaned back against the back of the chair, "Understandable. He wants a reason why you did that and it has been two years."
Mara looked at Layla, "You know why."
"I know why but Randy doesn't." Layla said, "And trust me when I say that he will keep hounding you for answers."
Mara merely shrugged and took a sip of her coffee to wash the bits of doughnut down. Even though she knew Layla was right, Mara could only tell herself that she needed to remain unfazed when she meets him again.
Mara put the papers she was reading down onto her desk as she sat back in her chair to take a breather. As much as she loved being a curator, going through documents about upcoming exhibitions was a chore.
She got up from her chair and smoothened her dress before walking down to the exhibit floor, where her assistants were setting up the next exhibition that was happening a week later.
"Hey Leslie, how's it coming along?" Mara asked
A girl with long blonde hair that had on a white dress shirt and black skirt turned around to smile at her.
"Hi Mara! It's coming along great! We managed to get the first 3 important pieces up first." She replied
Mara smiled, "Good. The artist will be coming in later this afternoon so I'll need you to brief him on our process."
Leslie looked at her, "Y-You want me to do the briefing?"
"Yup. You've been here for 2 months. It's time to show me what you've learnt." Mara said
Leslie nodded gratefully, "I won't let you down!"
Mara smiled at her eager assistant before walking towards the pieces of art that were leaning against the wall, awaiting their time to be hung.
As she was going through the pieces of art, she heard her assistants' telling someone that the gallery was closed. She turned around just as the person said her name.
"Mary-Anne?" Mara said
"Hi!" Mary-Anne said
She turned to one of Mara's assistants and said, "See? We know each other."
The female red-head turned to Mara and she replied, "It's okay, Emma. She's my cousin."
The red-head nodded and returned to assist with the installation of art pieces while Mara walked up to Mary-Anne.
"Mary-Anne… What are you doing here?" Mara asked
"I wanted to see if you'll be free for lunch." Mary-Anne replied
She held one of Mara's hand, "We didn't get to catch up because you left early yesterday. Please say you'll have lunch with me…"
"I… I still have quite a lot of work to do…" Mara said
"Work can wait! You need to eat too!" Mary-Anne said
Seeing her cousin's more than eager face, Mara didn't have a choice but to agree to go for lunch with her.
The two girls entered a semi-crowded restaurant not too far from Mara's workplace, which was also one of Mara's favorite restaurants.
Mary-Anne looked around the restaurant and smiled when she spotted Randy, who was waving at her.
"Over there." Mary-Anne said
"Randy's here too?" Mara asked
"Yup. He got us the reservation here. What are the odds that he knows you like this place?" Mary-Anne replied
Mara sighed herself as she took a breath before looking in Randy's direction. The moment their eyes met, she knew that she hadn't forgotten him completely like she thought she had.
The girls arrived at the table and Randy stood up to give Mary-Anne a kiss on the cheek before pulling the chair out for her to sit. He was about to do so for Mara too when she did it on her own.
"I've got it." Mara said as she sat down.
Randy backed off and went back to his seat, which was next to Mary-Anne but directly opposite Mara.
"Randy's such a gentleman. One of the reasons why I fell for him." Mary-Anne said, with a smile.
Mara merely nodded politely as she looked through the menu.
"We don't need to look at the menu… I've taken the liberty to order since you're probably busy and can't afford the waiting time." Randy said
Mara closed the menu in her hands and looked at Randy, who gave her a tinge of a smirk. Slightly annoyed with Randy's cockiness, Mara picked up the glass of ice water and took a sip.
"Oh, Randy… You're so thoughtful." Mary-Anne said
Mara looked at Mary-Anne who was looking at Randy with a dreamy smile just like a school girl with a crush. Just as she shifted uncomfortably in her chair, the waiter brought the food over. He put down a plate of rosemary chicken sandwich in front of her before putting the other two plates in front of Randy and Mary-Anne.
"Randy… How did you know Mara liked the sandwich here?" Mary-Anne said, looking at Mara's plate.
"Oh.. Uh… The waiter recommended it so I thought I'd order it for her." Randy said
"I see… Well.. I have to go to the washroom for a while. I'll be back." Mary-Anne said
She pecked Randy on the lips before getting up to head to the washroom, leaving Randy and Mara at the table together. As soon as Mary-Anne was out of sight, Mara looked at Randy with an annoyed expression.
"What are you doing?" Mara hissed
"Whoa. No need to get snappy at me." Randy said
"Did you tell Mary-Anne about our history?" Mara asked
"No." Randy replied
"Then what are you doing? Do you want to risk her finding out about the two of us?" Mara said
"Well, she will find out eventually." Randy said
"I'd rather later than sooner." Mara said
"Why? Because we had a love-hate relationship and you don't want her to find out about it?" Randy asked
"What?" Mara said
"You heard me. It seems you still hate me as much as you did back then." Randy said
Mara looked at him, unable to believe what he just said. She may have said that she hated him when they were dating but they were all just words. She had always loved him even though what they had was pretty much a toxic relationship.
Suddenly losing her appetite, Mara pushed the plate away from her just as Mary-Anne came back.
"Were you waiting for me to get back to start?" Mary-Anne asked, sitting down next to Randy.
"Um… I'm really sorry Mary-Anne but I have to go. I got a call to return to the gallery." Mara said
"Really?" Mary-Anne said
She looked at Randy who said, "Yeah. It sounded pretty urgent."
"In that case, let's pack your sandwich to go then." Mary-Anne said
"It's fine. I'm not hungry." Mara said
She pulled out a 10 dollar bill and placed it on the table.
"For the sandwich. Wouldn't want you to waste your money on this." Mara said
Before Mary-Anne could object, Mara walked out of the cafe.
As soon as Mara got back to the gallery after lunch, she had buried herself in work. She had been working for almost 3 straight hours when her stomach started to growl.
"Mara… Do you want me to go get you something to eat?" Emma asked
"No… It's fine… I'll just go to the pantry and find something to eat." Mara replied
Emma nodded and continued with her paper work when Mara spoke again.
"By the way… How was Leslie with the client just now?" Mara asked
"She was pretty good. She remembered most of the things you told her and she didn't explain to the client like she was memorising it." Emma replied
Mara smiled, "That's good."
She pushed herself away from her desk before getting up from her chair. Mara grabbed her coffee mug and headed towards the pantry. After making a cup of coffee for herself, she brought the cup back out to her desk.
As she was sipping her coffee on her way back to her desk, she looked down to see Randy enter the gallery.
"Oh no you don't." Mara said under her breath.
She put the mug down on Emma's desk before walking down to the exhibit floor. Before any of her assistants or co-workers could notice, she hurried up to Randy and grabbed him by the arm, towards the storage room.
Once they were inside, Mara let go of his arm.
"What are you doing here?" Mara hissed angrily
"I came to deliver tea break to you." Randy said
"Did Mary-Anne ask you to do this?" Mara asked
"No. It was my decision." Randy replied
"Why? Are you afraid that I might starve myself?" Mara said
"Yes. I know how you are when you work." Randy said
Mara crossed her arms in front of her chest and said, "You don't get to do that."
"Do what?" Randy asked
"This. You don't get to come back into my life and pretend like you've been here the whole time." Mara replied
"And why's that? Are you afraid you might fall in love with me again?" Randy asked
Mara looked at Randy as he stepped closer to her, his face nearly touching hers.
"As much as you hate me, Mara… You can't deny that what we had was... satisfying." Randy said
He leaned in closer and whispered into her ear, "I'd still do it all over again even if I am now legally attached and we are family."
With his frame, he trapped Mara between the wall and him. He kissed her cheek just a few seconds before Mara pushed him away.
"What are you doing?!" Mara exclaimed, "You're married to Mary-Anne!"
"So? Lots of married guys have affairs." Randy said, "And we have a history. That will make it so much easier."
Mara looked at him, "You're the lowest."
She put her hand on the door knob of the storage room door and opened it quickly, not wanting to be in the same room as Randy as she knew what will happen next.
That night, Mara had stayed in with the rest of her co-workers and assistants to finish up some stuff for the upcoming exhibition. It had just passed 12 when Mara decided to call it a night.
"Okay guys… I'm heading home first. If you guys need anything, just drop me a text before looking through the folder, yeah?" Mara said
Her staff nodded before she picked up her bag and bid good-bye to them.
Mara had made it back home safely by cab and sighed when she saw the empty house. Her parents had gone on another one of their spontaneous vacations and left her alone with the house. She paid the cab driver before getting out.
Mara walked up her front porch and when she stepped onto the porch, she lifted her head up to see Randy standing there.
"Randy? What the hell are you doing here? It's past midnight." Mara said
"I know. But, I needed to see you." Randy said
He looked at her, "I need to apologize about what happened at the gallery..."
Mara sighed tiredly, "Just forget it. Look, I told you already, Randy... We shouldn't be seeing each other. You're married to Mary-Anne now. You need to stop this."
"I can't." Randy said, "I need answers."
"What?" Mara said
"You know what. You still haven't answered the question I asked you at the barbecue." Randy said
"Randy… It's late. Can't we do this another time?" Mara said
"No." Randy said, "Look. I know you think we had the worse kind of relationship ever and you probably still hate me for that but I just want you to know that I was going to make it work."
He looked at her, "I went out to get you an engagement ring but I came back to see that you've packed your bags and left. You didn't even leave a note. You changed your number, you sold your apartment… Your gallery refused to let me enter… I couldn't reach you at all."
"Randy…" Mara said
"I just want an answer for it. Why did you leave me without a word?" Randy asked
Mara wanted to tell him the reasons why she left but she didn't know how to put it in words. Back when the two of them were still together, they would always work out their problems with physical actions and never verbally. So, Mara could only answer him with the only way she knew how.
Mara threw her bag down on the floor before colliding into Randy, kissing him on the lips. She half-expected him to stop her but he put his hands around her, kissing her back with that passion that they always had between each other.
"So… I've finally gotten my answer…" Randy said, "Although I would have preferred it with words…"
Laying in bed, he picked up her hand and started kissing it from her wrist to her shoulder. She turned to him and gave him a small smile.
"Randy… I left you because I couldn't take the hot and cold in our relationship. One minute we were fighting and calling each other names and the next, we were kissing like it never happened." Mara said
"I never meant to hurt you when we had those fights…" Randy said, "Whenever I saw you cry, it felt like a dagger in me. I'm sorry, Mara…"
She touched his face affectionately, "I'm sorry too… I never meant what I said when I said I hated you… I did love you. And… I still do."
Randy leaned into kiss her before saying, "Do not disappear on me again."
Mara gave him a small smile, "I won't."
Randy leaned into kiss her, passionately, pinning her down to the bed with his frame.
"Mara! What the hell have you gotten yourself into?!"
Mara tried to quieten Layla down as she told her about the ongoing affair that she and Randy were having since 2 weeks ago.
"Sshh!" Mara said
"Oh! Don't 'ssh' me! Mara, are you crazy?!" Layla said
She looked around her before whispering, "Mara, Randy's a married man! What you're doing is having an affair with your cousin's husband!"
"I know. But, I still love him and he still loves me." Mara said, "It's pretty obvious he isn't that into my cousin."
Layla crossed her arms in front of her chest, "And that's suppose to convince me or you?"
"Layla, you're my best friend. You're suppose to be happy for me." Mara said
"Yes… If your beau was a single guy with no attachments!" Layla said
"He will be soon." Mara said
Layla looked at Mara, "He's gonna leave Mary-Anne?"
Mara nodded with a smile just as Layla sat back to process the information.
"Please tell me you're not the one who put that idea in his head." Layla said
"It wasn't me. Randy said it himself." Mara said
"So you believe him?" Layla asked
Mara shrugged, "I don't know… I guess? He's changed, Layla."
Layla looked at Mara and she could see how happy Mara was, being back with Randy. She sighed and put her hand atop Mara's hand.
"Well… As long as you're happy and he's leaving Mary-Anne… I'll be happy for you." Layla said
"Thanks, Layla." Mara said
"But you do know what this means, right?" Layla said
Mara shook her head slightly, "No…"
"For the next year or so after Randy leaves Mary-Anne, he'll have to be your secret boyfriend." Layla said
She continued, "He can't be seen with you or be at your house or your family would see you as a husband stealer."
Mara nodded, "I'll let Randy know and we'll see how it goes…"
A month and a half later, Randy officially left his wife. He moved into an apartment in town, near to the gallery where Mara worked so that they could see each other more easily.
All this while, she did feel guilty about the whole thing but Mary-Anne didn't even give her enough time to feel bad about it. A day after Randy said he was leaving her, Mary-Anne had left for Las Vegas again. And two days later, she had found herself another guy. She returned with the guy and eventually wanted to meet Mara to tell her about it.
Mara was getting ready for her lunch date with Mary-Anne. She opened her closet to take out a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. And, just as she closed the closet door, she jumped a little to see Randy standing there.
"Sorry… I didn't mean to scare you." Randy said
Just as he was about to lean in to kiss her, Mara stopped him. She walked over to her room door to close it.
"Right… I forgot that I am still hated by most of your family members…" Randy said
She smiled and threw her clothes on her bed before closing the gap between them as she kissed Randy on the lips.
"Hi." Mara said, "How did you get here?"
"Through your back door. You've got to keep that close when no one's downstairs." Randy said
Even though Mara was tall, she still had to tip-toe a little just to hug Randy.
"Are you okay?" Randy asked
"No… I feel guilty and annoyed." Mara replied
"Why?" Randy asked
"Well… I feel guilty because I kinda broke you and my cousin up. And I'm feeling annoyed because she found herself a new guy already and I have to meet her for lunch to hear her talk about how bad you are." Mara replied
Randy chuckled a little as he ran his hands up and down her arms softly and affectionately.
"I know how difficult that's gonna be but you'll have to do it so that Mary-Anne wouldn't suspect anything." Randy said
Mara sighed, "Even so… She's got a new boyfriend… She should concentrate on him and not on your flaws."
"It's what every woman would do. I'm sure Layla's heard a long list of my flaws…" Randy said
Mara chuckled, "True."
He touched the side of her face and said, "But for now, we'll have to keep this secret relationship we have between us and Layla. Even if Mary-Anne is over me, we still have to wait for the rest of your relatives to feel the same."
Mara nodded, "I just hope that it's soon."
She continued, "Anyway, if you're at the cafe today and you hear me say that you're a horrible guy… Just know that I'm actually saying that you're a great guy."
Randy smiled, "Don't worry… Anything you say will be automatically translated into something good when I hear it."
Mara smiled and leaned into kiss him just as a knock was heard on her door.
"Mara?"
Mara looked at Randy and put a finger on his lip to keep him from making a sound.
"Yeah, mom?"
"We're leaving now… Don't forget to wish Mary-Anne well for us."
"Sure, mom."
"Alright. See you sweetie!"
"Bye, mom! Have fun in Hawaii!"
She waited for her mother to walk down the stairs and when the front door closed, she let out a sigh.
"Another spontaneous vacation?" Randy asked
Mara nodded.
"Well, you're clear now. You can leave by the front door." Mara said, "Mary-Anne's picking me up in 10 minutes."
"Okay. I'll see you tonight then?" Randy said
"Definitely." Mara said
Randy smiled and pecked her on the lips before leaving her room to go down. She followed after him to the door and stood by the door frame to watch him get into his car. He waved at her and she returned the gesture as he pulled out of her driveway. It was then that Mara knew that they were meant for each other. Despite the fact that it took them a failed first try, a second try was all it needed.