Hello my devoted readers! It is I! The girl who leaves people on the line before posting a chapter nearly two weeks later! I was wondering if anyone wanted a beta reader. I'm up for grabs and I need something to keep me busy when I'm dirt dry on inspiration, I will beta for anyone! In other news, I am making a public request to get some critical and harsh comments. I realise it contradicts some of the things I've posted previously but I would really appreciate it if someone, anyone, would give me some things that I could improve on. I am pretty strict with myself and I absolutely love it when I have the opportunity to fix something that is terribly wrong! So go ahead! Shout it from the rooftops! Scream it from the skylights! The comments box is your slave labourer! Exploit it before Adidas steals it!
I scooped Marie up from her seat, after unbuckling of course, during the ride she had reminded me of our previous contingencies on the road trip where we first met. She lay in the cradle my arms provided her with, her mouth uttered short and pant-like breaths, she looked like an angel from here, with her lashed fluttering over her high cheekbones and the occasional mumble that sounded a lot like my name. With each step I took her head jostled in my arms, sweeping her hair back and forth. I crossed the road as the light went green, signaling my right to walk. I washed up outside a rugged looking Holiday Inn, complete with bums and potheads lingering outside the front doors. "Oh Canada" I murmured to myself, accidentally waking up Marie in the process. "Logan?" she croaked, her eyelids removing themselves from their station.
"Hold on Darlin', I'm just getting us a room" she nestled further into my arms as I swung open the door to the motel. The man at the front desk continued scribbling in his record book as I stood in front of him. I grunted in an attempt to grab his attention. He looked up at me and hissed in distaste. "We only serve paying customers" he said, as if the words were poison on his tongue. I fished a wad of hundred dollar bills from my pocket and slammed them on the desk. "One room with a double bed please, and were gonna be stayin' for a while" I glowered at him as he gulped and turned around to snatch a rusty key from a little cubbyhole. "Enjoy your stay!" he sneered after us as I climbed the lichen covered stairs. I ended up on the third floor and quickly read the number etched onto the key. '3B' it read. I walked down to the middle of the carpeted hallway and wriggled the key into the slot, the door groaned wearily as I pushed it open with my knee. I tossed our duffle bags onto the creaky bed and pressed a light kiss to Marie's temple before shaking her awake. She made and incoherent sound as she slipped into consciousness, she quickly overcame her moment of sleep induced incompetence. "Let me go Logan" she mumbled into my shirt, so I threw her on the bed.
She landed with a grunt but quickly sat upright in the bed, "where are we Logan?" she have been asleep when we passed the massive sign signaling our entry to the town. "Langley, B.C. Marie, stayin' here for a while, got some good cage fighting stakes" she nodded in understanding; her eyes flickered between browsing the room and looking out the window. She stared longingly at the diner across the street. 'Adrian's at the Airport' was the name, if I remembered correctly. "Logan I'm hungry, want to go grab somethin' at that diner?" I tossed a clean pair of clothes at her and she shuffled into the bathroom to change. She was done in a matter of minutes at we carried on sown the lichen covered stairs. The manager of the hotel jerked his head in a motion that I believe was supposed to be a greeting, but I couldn't shake the feeling that he might be having an epileptic attack.
The sun was now high in the sky, a contrast from the saturated sunrise that I had seen just a half hour ago. The street was now occupied by the occasional SUV or BMW driving past. Marie and I crossed the rickety road, weaving ourselves around the potholed tarmac. Marie's hand held my own as we walked into the diner. There were no flashing lights or waitresses on roller skates; it was classy, like a family run business. The booths were a pale blue and the menu was written on a black board that stood propped up against the wooden easel. A brunette girl walked up to us, who looked to be about Marie's age. As she led us to an empty booth I thought about how I should try and get a job at the local mechanics, I was good for some heavy lifting if not anything else. I wouldn't be able to survive on cage fighting alone, and I don't want to make a name for myself in this town, being here was about Marie getting to be normal for once. The people in Canada really were as nice as the TV shows say, they minded their own business and didn't mind if you were a mutant. People were much further concerned about working, school and salmon. Yep, salmon, Canadians have always had an unhealthy obsession with salmon, I think it tasted like hay dipped in lemon, but that might be the feral in me that prefers a juicy stake.
The brunette came closer to us as we munches on the massive stack of pancakes that was split 1 to 5, mine being the one and Marie being the five. "Are you enjoying your meal?" the girl looked intimidated by my presence as she questioned us politely. It probably wasn't her fault that she was so nervous. I had a scowl plastered on because of my small serving of food, if that wasn't the cause of my expression it might be that it was because Marie ate all of the bacon while I was busy thinking of ways to fund the cause that was her stomach and its unending hunger. Marie frowned at my expression and turned to the girl "don't mind him, he's just mad that I ate the bacon". They both cracked a smile at my bewildered expression, "damn right you ate all the bacon! You even slapped me when I tried to take a piece!" The two girls giggled at my dramatics and they started talking to one another, I thought it was time to make myself disappear for a while.
I stood up from the cramped booth and pulled the lose bills from my pocket then shoving them into Marie's hand. "Where are ya goin' Logan?" she stood up in panic. I chuckled at her alarmed facial expression. Her eyebrows were closer to her hair line than I had ever seen them before, and her mouth was slightly agape. "I'm just going to do a few errands around the parts of town that I saw when we were drivin' in, I'll meet you back at the motel in a few hours." She frowned in dissatisfaction, "You hang out with Marlinda" I said as I peered inquisitively at the girls nametag. I pulled Marie in for a quick kiss before disappearing out the front door, leaving a strand of clanking bells and rattled shutters in their midst.
The strong feeling of déjà vu came over me as I walked into the mechanics shop, spare tires and gears were strewn across work tables that were constructed half-heartedly. The odor of sweat and oil lingered around the open garage. "Anyone in?" I shouted. A muffled noise echoed through the back. I took a few cautious steps forwards before a clearer voice could be heard "Come on through" the voice was gruff, and eerily familiar. I followed the voice to a room that had a group of men sitting on tables and stools, all eating sandwiches that were probably made by their wives or girlfriends. "Logan you bastard!" a voice cried out, "what the hell are you doing here?" I wheeled around to see Hardy, a guy I met in a bar while fighting my way through Saskatchewan. "Hey Hardy" so that's why this place is so familiar, it was covered in his scent. I smiled in spite of myself, also in a triumphant reward for my excellent memory and sense of smell. "Any chance that you got a spot on the team for an old friend?" I asked using what little manners Marie had taught me. Hardy came over and gave my hand a firm shake "welcome to the team mate." He threw a rubber glove at me and gestured for me to take my shirt off, "come on boys" he shouted "were starting with clean-up" a collective groan swept across the room and the men slowly stripped out of their shirts and threw them onto the hangers. An hour later and were all cleaning the garage floor, a few of us were sweeping while others were assigned soap and a sponge to try and reduce the ugly appearance of oil stains.
The clanking of the metal door opening interrupted our session of hard core pool. The loud noise shocked Hardy and sent his stick right into the number 8 ball. The boys on my team howled in victory and patted me on the back, congratulating me on winning them money. Marie and Marlinda walked around the corner as we all grabbed some beer from the fridge. The guys watched out of the corners of their eyes as Marie came towards me and wrapped her arms around my bare waist. "Hey sugah, thought you were doing some errands?" I lowered my head sheepishly, "I got kinda distracted darlin', but I got a job" I added the last part on in hope that she would let me off the hook.
It worked apparently, because she smiled and kissed me. I lead Marie to the fridge to grab her one of the many cool beers that stood in a little frozen paradise, ignoring the baffled faces I was getting from the other workers. I didn't like people staring at us, at her. She was mine and only mine. I shook my head, chiding myself; Marie was damn well old enough to take care of herself. She downed the beer in a few quick gulps, leaving the men to stare on at her, admiringly.
After the girls left we got to work on two vintage Camaro's, I smothered the wax seal on the roof of the car, and as women and teenage girls walked past they all giggled and stuck their boobs out, each competing against another to get my attention. All these immature brats and the only person in the world I could think about was Marie. I stared at the clock for hour after agonising hour until it struck six. I leaped out from under the car and raced back down to the lunchroom. I threw on my shirt and ran back to the hotel as fast as I could. In a failed attempt to regain some of my masculinity that was lost by running home to a girl, I grunted at the manager and slouched over to the staircase. I exceeded a fast paced walk as I went down the hallway, slotted the key into the hole and flung the door open in a record amount of time. I looked around the room, expecting to see Marie lounging on the sofa, drinking some overpriced out of date coca cola that she took out of the minibar. I sniffed the air and sat down on the bed. Where could she have gone to? The diner!
The manager gave me a funny look this time as I walked out the motel, my reoccurrences were probably the highlight of the day though, so it wasn't his business to complain. I crossed the street as I had this morning with Marie, but this time the bustling traffic of the rush hour escorted me across with an impressive amount of honking and flipping me off. For such nice people, us Canadians have such road rage, for a second even I was offended by the impatience that newcomers must be shocked by.
The diner's door was held open by a piece of wood slotted underneath it. The bells jingled as I walked in and a voice chirped out in the silence that, before I walked in, was the clanking of metal and the jibber jabber of talking people, "Logan! Get over here" the wolverine howled and made his attempt at a whistle as he saw Marie walking out from behind the bar, wearing a blue and red short pinstripe dress.
"wow darlin' got to say I'm lovin' the new look"
I'm so sorry on the delay of this chapter and I was supposed to have this up yesterday but our internet connection is spasmodic at best, so sky has to send us a bunch of stuff and we will get fixed up in no time at all! Also, I just wanted to ask if anyone knows a good remedy for sore muscles and clumsiness. If you do and it works, I will post my next few chapters each 5 days apart, which are pretty tall orders for me. I would also like to know how you would feel if in the next chapter I went into Marie's Point of View.
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