I haven't written this for such a long time and for that I'm so sorry!
Ugh, feeling so sick now. BLEH!


Chapter 8 : Friends Like You

"Heya there!" A pair of hands slapped onto the counter, making Mark jump up, dropping his book. He looked up as he bent to pick up his book, and saw Dani grinning down at him.

"Hi," he said, standing up and putting the book on the counter. "I thought you'd forgotten about your promise."

"I wouldn't forget something like that," Dani said matter-of-factly. "Anyway, I love art."

Mark raised an eyebrow. "Honestly?"

Dani gave him a sheepish grin. "Okay, so no. I've never been in an art gallery before. Happy now?"

"Yes, that's much better. This way, it makes me feel superior, you understand?" Mark joked. "Now, would you like a guided tour of this modest area, or would you like to get out of here?"

"Getting out of here sounds good," Dani said with a grin. "Let's just walk and see where our feet take us."

"All right, but as long as we get back in time," Mark said. "I might be longing for a different life, but for now, I would still like to keep this job."

"Fine, Mr. Careful."

Dani leaned against the glass waiting as Mark locked the doors. "Come on then, let's go," he said, straightening.

"So… don't you have any friends who drop in and visit you on your seemingly boring job?" Dani asked.

Mark shrugged. "They drop by whenever they're free. Sometimes they call. Well, Peter calls and Juliet drops by."

"Who are they?"

"Peter's my best friend; we go way back. Juliet's his wife. We're all really good friends."

"Wow, that's nice. I can't even get along very well with my brother-in-law. Luckily and unluckily, he and my sister moved to New York a year ago. So any communication with dear old Ed is kept to a minimum."

Mark laughed. "I think it has something to do with relatives. You can get along fine with a person until he or she becomes part of the family. For example, my aunt Patricia. Liked her when she was Patricia, didn't really like her anymore when she became Aunt Patricia. I don't understand it, but it just seems different."

Dani nodded. "I understand. Maybe it's a subconscious desire to rebel or something. Because you're supposed to like your relatives, you just want to rebel and not like them."

"People are weird."

"I agree."

"You're not that weird, though."

"That's because you don't really know me well yet."

Dani raised an eyebrow as they rounded the corner. "Are you saying that soon I'll run away screaming for help?"

"Well… I hope I'm not that bad."

"We'll see."

Their amiable chatter lasted all the way to the café they decided to stop at. As Mark put down the tray with their sandwiches and coffee, Dani looked at him and said, "What do you do when you're bored but stuck at the gallery?"

He picked up his sandwich and thought for a moment. What did he do? "I daydream a lot," he finally said. "Yup, lots and lots of daydreaming. Could probably write a book out of all those dreams."

"So why don't you?"

"What?"

Dani shrugged and took a bite of her tuna sandwich. "Why don't you write a book? If you have something to put in it, I'm sure someone's going to read it. I'm sure you can come up with something that people can relate to. You could call the book 'A Bored Man's Thoughts' or something."

"Yes, that sounds like a real bestseller," Mark said dryly.

"It's only a suggestion. What else?"

"I call up my friends and bother them. But not too often or I wouldn't have any friends left for the other days when I get bored." Mark hesitated. "And… I draw a bit."

"Wow. I'd like to see your drawings. They must be pretty good. I mean, if you run an art gallery you must have quite an eye for what's good."

Mark shook his head with a laugh. "On the contrary. Having an eye for art and running a gallery doesn't have much to do with one's skill at drawing. I don't see my work hanging up on any wall at any time. And I usually just crush them and throw them away at the end of the day, anyway."

"That's a pity. You have to keep some for me sometime. Promise?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"No."

"Then I'll keep some." Mark looked around as he took a sip of his coffee and notice two people he knew. Karl and Sarah were walking down the street across the road, hand in hand.

Dani followed his gaze. "Do you know them?"

"Yeah, they were at the dinner with me a week ago, at the hotel where you're playing."

"Do you want to call them over?"

"Nah… leave them together. They look perfectly satisfied this way." Mark's eyes followed them. Karl was whispering something in Sarah's ear, and she was giving him a huge grin, looking so wonderfully happy with how her life was going. Seeing them together brought a smile to Mark's face, and he was really glad that he had played a part in bringing them together again. Perhaps it was a feeling that was brought on with the fact that he suddenly didn't feel like The Lonely Loser anymore, but it really did feel good.

Dani waved a hand before his face, snapping him back to reality. "Hello there?"

"Sorry, was just thinking about something," he said, taking a quick sip of his coffee. "Doesn't it just feel great to see a happy couple like them?"

Dani smiled. "Yes, yes it is. I think it's just great when you've found someone special." She put down her cup. "I'm always grateful for James."

Thud. That was probably the sound Mark's heart made when he heard that. "James?" he asked, trying to look as if everything was perfectly fine. Oh, here we go again Mark! Always picking the unavailable ones.

"Yeah, my boyfriend James. But I don't see him very much anymore. He works in this major advertising firm and he's always going around for meetings or being out of town or stuff like that."

"Oh." Mark tried to hide his disappointment. "That must be miserable for you."

"Yes, it can be horrible," Dani agreed. Then she smiled. "But hey, I have friends to get me through, don't I? Friends like you."