Albuquerque, we have a problem
Chapter 4 – The Devil's in The Details
Mary sat next to Marshall in the courtroom's public gallery. They had delivered their witness uneventfully to the stand and she was just being sworn in.
Mary shifted uncomfortably in her seat, inching closer to Marshall as she did so. This was the first time they had been alone together since she had suggested that ridiculous bet and Marshall had accepted, almost 24 hours ago.
24 Hours in which she had tried every method of persuasion she knew, except one, to get Marshall to tell her just what the bet entailed and what the terms where. 24 Hours in which, every time she brought the subject up, Marshall would just smile enigmatically and say, "I'm thinking about it," or, "I don't know, I haven't decided yet."
24 Hours with Amy giving him helpful hints, her ideas getting more outrageous each time. Yet not even his reaction to these suggestions had given Mary any idea as to what she had let herself in for, as Marshall greeted each scheme with a smile and a look in his eye that only served to encourage Amy and make Mary more worried.
She had been kept awake all night, unable to stop thinking about the problem. A situation that wasn't helped in the slightest, by the fact she was sharing a room with Amy who spent the entire night talking about the stupid bet. It was, as she lay awake in the early hours of the morning, that she had decided that the entire idea was ridiculous and she would just have to find a way out of it.
Mary shifted again, earning her a reproving glare from Marshall as he tried to pay attention to the proceedings.
She leant closer to her partner and whispered, "I didn't mean that I..."
"Shhh!" Marshall hushed her, his eyes never leaving the courtroom drama unfolding in front of them.
Mary glanced around looking to see is she was disturbing anyone else. From what she could see everybody else was listening to Amy as she detailed her life and how she was enticed into working in one of the Harmond brothers' brothels.
A few minutes later she tried again, "It's just that..."
"Shhh!"
Not to be deterred, "I just wanna know...."
Marshall fixed her with a piercing stare, "Mare, do I talk through your witnesses' testimony?" he asked.
Mary narrowed her eyes and gave him a dirty look, but sat back and paid attention to what Amy was saying.
xxx
The return journey to Albuquerque wasn't proving to be much quicker than the trip to Houston. In fact it seemed much longer. Mary was driving, but refused to let Marshall sleep, stating that it was his job to make sure she didn't fall asleep at the wheel as it was his fault she hadn't slept the previous night. She wasn't making his job easy though, as she was also refusing to talk to him any more than was absolutely necessary.
Marshall had spent the three hours from Houston to Dallas talking about the history of Houston, the design of the Chase Tower, why Leipzig, Germany was an ideal sister city for Houston and anything else he could think of to draw Mary out of her silence, all the while avoiding the one topic he knew she wanted to discuss.
As they approached Dallas, he changed the topic to the best way to prepare barbecue ribs and why they should always be served with a frozen margarita.
Half an hour past Fort Worth, Marshall finally gave up on the trivia.
At some point Amy had fallen asleep in the back. He decided to let her sleep in peace. From Mary's account the young woman had been too nervous to sleep the previous night and had talked Mary's ears off in an attempt to distract herself from the upcoming trial. She deserved the rest. Plus with Mary's continued brooding, Marshall had the chance to think through the terms of the bet without any interruptions.
About an hour out of Abilene Marshall finally decided he couldn't stand the silence any longer.
"So, here's what I'm thinking," he said quietly, so as not to wake Amy. "Ellen's here for five more days. If, when she leaves, she hasn't questioned our relationship, you win. If at any point during her stay she attempts to set me up with someone, I win."
Mary considered his proposal as she drove.
"Okay," she finally agreed. "But there have to be ground rules!"
"Such as?"
"You can't tell her that we're not.....you know," she specified, all reservations about lying about the nature of her's and Marshall's relationship forgotten in her desire to prove how well she knew her partner.
"Agreed. But you have to act like we're a couple," Marshall clarified.
"Okay. And you can't tell anyone else. Especially Stan and Eleanor," Mary countered.
"That's understandable."
They both lapsed into silence as they considered what they were agreeing to.
"You know," Marshall began tentatively, "you'll probably have to spend a night or two at my house."
He looked over at Mary, who was suddenly very focused on the road.
"It'd look odd for us to be engaged but never spend the night together," he continued, watching Mary carefully for any reaction.
They drove in silence for a few minutes, before Mary replied, "We could say we don't believe in sex before marriage."
Marshall chuckled, "She'd never buy that. She knows me too well. And even if she did buy it, she'd spend every minute of every day telling us why it's a bad idea."
They drove a while longer as Mary considered her options, weighing up how much she wanted to win against the obstacles she'd have to overcome to do so. Marshall looked out the window, wondering if he had pushed a little too far.
He was so engrossed in his thoughts that he almost didn't hear Mary ask, "What'll I tell Raph?"