SEVEN

Why do I feel like I'm losing you?

Am I still in your heart

Or am I just in your way?

Mighty eyes on you is running wild jealousy, the dangerous kind

When I see you looking at another woman that way

*Lover of Mine-Alannah Myles*

Mary Jane flopped down in exasperation on her bed. Dresses and tops were strewn all around her. She shook her head and threw up her hands in despair. She wants to look good for the date with Peter but she doesn't want to look as though she tried real hard. *What I need is a fashion consultant* She thought. As she got up to call Kelly for some advice, the phone rang. It was Peter.

"Hi, Pete!" Mary Jane said, cradling the phone under her chin and flipped through an old copy of Cosmopolitan. "I will be ready in about an hour or so."

*Yeah, as soon as I figure out what to wear and what shoes, handbag, nail polish and lip colour to go with it.* She smiled to herself.

Peter said,"I know this is last minute but my Professor called up just now and he wanted me to go over the thesis…"

Mary Jane did not hear the rest of it. She just shut her eyes and took in a deep breath. *I should've known this was too good to be true.*

"MJ?"

"Huh?"

"You still there?"

"Yeah, yeah! I am!" Mary Jane replied, trying her best to keep the disappointment out of her voice. "I mean, it's a real shame but I guess it can't be help."

"Have you bought the tickets?" Peter asked.

"Not yet. It's a good thing I have not." Mary Jane replied, taking one last look at the tickets before tossing them into the basket.

After saying goodbye to Peter, she dropped the receiver back into its cradle. Mary Jane tossed the magazine back onto the table and stared at the mess of clothes and shoes on her bed and floor. *Well, I've always wanted to clean out my closet. I guess I'll do that tonight* She sighed.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Emily dropped the receiver back into its cradle. She had been trying to reach Harry the whole day but to no avail. Her heart was ill at ease and her female intuition warned her that something might be terribly wrong.

*Don't panic just yet. He might be at Peter's* She tried to calm down herself.

Emily grabbed a jacket and headed out of the door. When she arrived at Peter's apartment, she was just in time to catch him before he left for his Professor's house. Peter told her that he had not seen Harry since their last dinner date. Emily explained the situation to Peter and he promised that he will help her look for him after his meeting with his Professor.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

The waitress shook her head and returned to the kitchen with the orders. Emily sighed and leaned her head against the window panes. She and Peter were at one of Harry's favourite haunts but the waitress working there had told her that she had not seen Harry the whole day, either. Their search for Harry had been futile so far. He was not at home or in college and neither his friends nor his secretary knew where he was.

"Don't be so tensed up, Emily. Maybe he just left to be alone somewhere." Peter told her.

"I can't help it. My heart just feels so confused right now. I just have this urgency to find him. He hasn't been himself for the past few days. I am so scared for him at times. He's fallen into an abyss again with his obsession to destroy Spiderman." Emily said, her voice thin and quivering. She hid her face in her hands, her petite frame trembling. Peter got up from his seat and sat next to her.

"He'll be fine, Em." Peter tried to comfort her.

"I can't lose him, Peter. I can't. God only knows I'd do anything for him, anything to make him happy." Emily cried, hugging Peter and leaning on his shoulders for support, "I love him so much."

*Fate can be such a bitch* Mary Jane thought, sulkily. She missed her date with Peter, her computer had gone caput because of a virus and all her assignments in her hard disk had gone out of the window. She thought she might go out and do a little shopping…only to find her favourite store closed down for renovation. Empty-handed and dejected, she headed home but before that, she decided to stop for an iced mocha shake.

*Nothing can go wrong with a shake.*

She pushed the door open and walked into the café. She scanned the crowd, thinking perhaps she could find a familiar face to smile to. Then, she saw him by the corner table.

*Peter Parker? Oh, great! I am missing him so much-every Tom, Dick and Harry is starting to resemble him.* Mary Jane chided herself.

She looked again. No mistaking this time. That guy was Peter. And he is holding on to…wait a darn minute, isn't that Emily?! *What's he doing holding her? And wasn't he supposed to be at his Professor's place?* Mary Jane thought, angrily.

The whole room dissolved in front of her right then and all she could see was the way Peter was holding Emily and comforting her. All of a sudden, she felt like she wanted to be sick. *This can't be happening!*

"Hi, can I take your order?" the waitress broke her reverie.

"Uh, nothing." Mary Jane murmured, as she turned and staggered out of the place, hoping that Peter had not seen her. Once outside, Mary Jane leaned against the lamp post to steady herself. Her head was reeling and her heart was pounding in her ribcage. She turned back one last time to look at him and found Peter handing his hankerchief to Emily. This was too much for her. Biting her lower lips to stop the tears from falling, she pushed her way through the crowd.

*Don't cry, goddamnit! Stop being so hypersensitive, MJ!* She scolded herself. *It's probably nothing, o.k.?* She tried to be reasonable. It wasn't working.

Her irrational part was having a field day. *You're putting your heart out on a line and whose fault is it if it gets trampled upon? For once Mary Jane, maybe you can't get every guy that you want.*

"Stop it, stop it! I don't want to hear this anymore!" She screamed out loud, shutting her ears and shaking her head.

"Whoa!" A man exclaimed, as Mary Jane bumped into him.

Mary Jane looked up. "Sorry…Brad?"

"That's me." Brad grinned. He was one of her friends in her drama class. He was the class mascot and he had been infatuated with Mary Jane since the first time he saw her. "What's with the sad face?"

"I,uh…I" Mary Jane began, all of a sudden she was embarrassed and didn't know what to say.

"Can't get Spidey to swing you a ride home?" Brad joked. Her whole class had teased her as Spiderman's girl the day they saw her arrived at class in Spiderman's arms.

"You're incorrigible!" Mary Jane laughed, as she playfully slapped him on his arm.

"A smile. It looks much better on your face than a frown." Brad said.

"How can I frown when I am talking to a clown?" Mary Jane teased.

They chatted for some time and Mary Jane told him about her crashed computer. Brad claimed that although he's bad at picking up girls, he's quite good at fixing up computers. Mary Jane laughed and told him if he could fix up her computer, she would fix him up with one of her girlfriends.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

"Wow! You're really good, Brad! Everything is working fine! You're a genius!" Mary Jane exclaimed, excitedly.

"Always have a backup, especially if you're doing a thesis on 'The Collected Works of William Shakespeare'." Brad said, as he handed her a floppy.

"I'll remember that." Mary Jane smiled, "Thanks a lot, Brad."

"Ah, no problem. Oh, wait a minute…there's going to be a problem."

Mary Jane raised her eyebrow, questioningly.

"You know, my dad is going to throw this obscenely huge Halloween party for some publicity purpose and I have to go." Brad said. His father, Elmer Caldwell was one of the Head Directors of Quest Corp.

"Mmm-hhmmm…"

"I was thinking of going as Tarzan. Wanna be my Jane for the night?"

Mary Jane laughed, "I'll go with you…but not as Jane! I'm allergic to fake leopard fur."

"Damn, and I thought finally I had a chance to show off my washboard abs!"

"There might still be a chance." Mary Jane smiled and winked.