Mark
"Are you nervous?" I asked. We had been sitting in the car for about fifteen minutes, just parked outside my childhood home. A split-level on a suburban street, complete with a garden gnome by the front steps. It was just a night with Anne and my mom yet I felt like I was being lead to my last meal.
Anne bit her lip and the color had drained from her face. "No… of course not." Her hand was hanging limply in my own.
I gave hers a squeeze. "My parents are just two regular Jews living in Scarsdale. Completely approachable but not necessarily normal." I lead her up the walk and knocked on the door, taking a deep breath. "Here goes."
My mom could've torn the door from its hinges, she opened it so fast. "Mark!" She screeched "Come over here and give your mother a kiss!"
I blushed and quickly hugged her, not letting go of Anne's hand. "Hi Mom. This is my girlfriend, Anne Hayes."
My mom's face went blank except for a sour, pursed mouth. "I'm Hannah. Nice to meet you."
Anne extended her hand. "It's nice to meet you too, Mrs. Cohen."
My mom gave her the once over before shaking her hand. That's when the questions began flying. "What do you do for a living, Anne?"
"I'm an accountant."
My mom raised her eyebrows, her face painted in a mask of confusion and surprise. "Oh really? And where did you get your degree?"
"University of Connecticut. Nothing fancy but it gets the job done." She replied, shrugging her shoulders.
"And are you currently employed?"
For Christ's sake Mom, she's going to be running for the hills and we've only been here 45 seconds.
"Yes, I manage funds for a few brokers on Wall Street. I also do a lot of tax work in the spring, but none at the moment."
My mother nodded, pleased by this answer. "Now let's not stand outside, you'll catch a cold Mark! You're all skin and bones now. Have you been eating enough?"
"Mom, stop." I said through clenched teeth.
"What dear? You're just so skinny!" She exclaimed, holding the door open for us. "Make yourselves at home. Your father was supposed to come over today but then he got tied up in something or another at work so it looks like it's just the three of us until Cindy gets here."
I hung both of our coats up and stuffed my hands into my pockets. "So… what's for dinner?"
"I'm making pot roast and mashed potatoes. Unless you'd rather have latkes, in which case I can do those too." My mom answered, tying an apron around her waist.
"Whatever's easiest." I shrugged and turned to Anne. "Do you want to see the rest of the house?"
"Sure." Some of the color was returning to her face, which was good.
"Mom, I'm going to show Anne around the house." I called into the kitchen.
"Take your shoes off first!" Mrs. Cohen replied.
I shook my head and sighed. "Don't worry about her- she just wants to make sure I marry a nice girl that she approves of."
Anne looked petrified.
Come on, say something to lighten the mood!
"Want to see my old room?"
She grinned and seemed to become a little less tense. "Of course!"
I lead her up the stairs, trying to stand in the way of the obnoxious portraits hanging on the wall leading upwards. My mother's photographic documentation of my teenage years was not something I took pride in.
"Wow, your family seems so normal." She ran her fingers across one particular family picture, taken when I was about thirteen.
"We're anything but. You know pictures lie." I opened the door to my room. "Come on in."
Anne looked around. "Typical boy's bedroom. Beige walls, plaid comforter, and a desk with nothing on it."
She got a mischievous look as she opened a couple drawers. "The obligatory stash of porn, carefully hidden under a stack of catalogs."
"Hey!" I slammed it shut and felt my face get hot. "Everybody had them."
"You certainly have a lot of pictures on that one wall." She squinted to make out what was in them. "Did you take all of these?" She asked incredulously.
"Yeah. Before I got my own camera I stuck to regular photography."
"Mark, these are beautiful. What's this one of right here?" She pointed to a black and white one in the corner, almost covered with overlapping edges of other pictures.
"That's my secret spot. I'll show it to you if you want." I answered.
"I'd like that." Anne smiled, a genuine smile that I hadn't seen since before we left.
"Mom, we're going for a walk." I called into the kitchen before grabbing our coats.
"But where are you-" I slammed the door before she could finish.
"If I learned one thing as a teenager, the less information you give her the better off you'll be." I explained, carefully wrapping my scarf around my neck.
"Tell me about your neighbors." Anne linked her gloved hand with my own. "Or are they all too boring to even want to know about?"
"Well, the Gallaghers lived there." I pointed to the green ranch across the street. "They had a daughter who I went to school with from kindergarten until graduation."
Anne raised her eyebrows. "Former flame?"
"I wish. Sam was the exact opposite of me, at least when we were teenagers. Popular, cheerleader, you know how that is. She was gorgeous." I said.
"And?"
"Well, she ended up getting pregnant halfway through senior year and last I heard she was shipped off to live with some great-aunt in Illinois." I explained, kicking some snow with the toe of my shoe. "Everyone else either elderly or dead, replaced with new people I haven't bothered to get to know."
"Did you hate high school?" Anne asked quietly.
"It was a nightmare." I sighed. "I hated it so, so much. I couldn't wait to get out and go to college."
"You always struck me as the type that had a close group of friends. Not popular by any means, but with enough friends." Anne replied.
"I had Roger. But even he was flighty. I think, no I know that he felt bad for me at first, but eventually he stopped caring what the rest of the school thought of them once he learned that he could kick almost anyone's ass. We got close and ended up in the loft together."
"You know that makes you sound like lovers." Anne nudged my ribs with a laugh.
"We get that a lot. For the most part, Roger's always had a girl on his arm so it's never actually looked like we're together or anything. Turn right and we're almost there."
"This is where you ran away too? This?" She pointed.
"Yeah." I nodded sheepishly. "It's not a lot, but something about it was comforting."
The swing set had long since passed its peak, but it was the same hidden spot I had frequented for almost twelve years. The pine trees had become even more overgrown, hiding the alcove even more than the last time I had visited.
She sat down on a swing and beckoned me to do the same. "We're really boring, you know that?" She laughed.
"I know." I smiled and tugged one of her curls. "But we can only be ourselves."
I leaned in for a kiss but Anne ducked and tucked a handful of snow down the back of my shirt. "Shit!"
She jumped up and laughed, heading back towards the street. I packed a snowball and tossed it at her, missing by a mile.
"Mark, that was sad." She bent over and prepared another one. "I can do better than that."
"So I take it this means war?" I asked, just as she pelted the white lump at me.
By the time we made it back to the house, both of us had suffered more than our fair share of hits and misses and were soaked to the bone.
"Look at the mess you're making on my wood floor!" My mom chided, coming out of the kitchen. The ring of the doorbell interrupted us. "Is anybody home?"
"Cindy!" I heard my mother scream. "How are you dear?"
Anne and I were soon pushed to the side in the chaos.
"If it isn't my wayward little brother." Cindy laughed. "How have you been, Mark?"
"Warmer and dryer, but alright." I gave her a quick hug. "Where are the kids?"
She pulled her coat and scarf off. "Any and Thomas both have fevers so I figured it was best not to bring any of them, especially if you were here I'd feel awful if you brought the germs back and your roommate got sick." She paused, putting a hand on my arm. "How's he doing?"
"Roger? He's doing fine. Clean for almost two years now and his T-cell count is high." I answered.
My mother got that sour look on her face again the minute Roger was mentioned. She had never taken a liking to him, even after he saved my ass so many times in high school. Before she could say anything negative, Cindy noticed Anne. "I'm Cindy."
"Anne. It's nice to meet you."
"You two must be freezing. How about mom and I finish with dinner so you can shower and get changed into something dry?" She suggested.
Remind me again why I hated her during high school?
"Afterwards I can show you old pictures and yearbooks. Mark was such a loser back then." Cindy laughed and playfully shoved my shoulder.
Anne stifled a laugh. "Let's just go get changed. My teeth are chattering."
We shed our coats and tossed them in the laundry room on our way back upstairs. I grabbed two towels from the linen closer and lead Anne to the bathroom. "The shower's kind of tricky," I explained. "Hot is cold and cold is hot."
"Your sister seems really nice." Anne said. "You don't know how relieved I am that she didn't grill me like your mom did."
"Did I apologize on her behalf yet?" I asked.
"It's alright. Her intentions were pure." She hugged me. "Do you want first shower?"
I shook my head. "Why waste water?"
"Mark, I don't think your mom would be overjoyed to find out we showered together in her house only hours after I met her. Use some common sense. Do you want to go first or not? Because you know how long I take…" She squeezed my waist and took of the towels. "You snooze you lose, bud. I'll be out in five minutes."
Post shower, we ended up in my room wearing only underwear, searching for clothing. "I leave a few things here just in case I ever spend an extra day. Just look in my closet and I'll check the drawers."
A shower of clothing rained down the minute Anne opened the doors. "Bingo."
"Just find something that looks like it'll fit." I said, pulling a t-shirt and a pair of cords from the mess.
"Or something that my underwear won't show through. Is all of your clothing this worn?" Anne asked, holding up a threadbare Oxford.
"Wear that." I insisted, pulling it out of her hands. "If there's one thing I love, it's when women wear men's button downs."
She gave me a weird look and tossed it on the bed. "I'll consider it." Returning her attention to the pile of clothing at our feet she pulled out a pair of jeans. "I don't think I'll be able to fit into any of your pants. I bet you're skinnier than I am."
"Nah." I shook my head. "Just get dressed in whatever you want. I'm sure they're beginning to wonder if we're ever going to come down now."
Anne pulled on the jeans and reached over for the Oxford. "I'm only wearing this for time's sake, you know that right?"
"And you look fantastic." I planted a kiss on her forehead and hurried back downstairs for dinner.
"Well, here they are! We were about to come get you two." My mom exclaimed, setting a dish of food down on the table. "Come sit down before everything gets cold."
"Everything looks delicious, Mrs. Cohen. It's been so long since I've had a meal like this." Anne said, placing her napkin gingerly on her lap.
"Oh really? Are you not much of a cook?" My mom asked, obviously enjoying this flaw.
"You could say that," Anne laughed. "When I have dinner with my dad what he makes hardly qualifies as food. But Mark has obviously learned from one of the best because he makes a mean breakfast."
"She actually considers instant oatmeal edible." I snorted, serving myself a large helping of potatoes.
"Do you have breakfast together often?" My mom asked, her voice taking on a surprised and slightly mortified tone.
"Most Sundays I go over Anne's for coffee and then we'll watch old movies." I explained. "But sometimes she'll come over to the loft just to add a little spice into the routine."
"Spice, eh?" Cindy laughed.
I kicked her underneath the table and she only laughed harder.
"So we made it out in one piece and with enough leftovers to last us a week." I said, holding the car door open for Anne.
She nodded, unusually quiet.
"Are you okay?" I asked as I started the car.
"I'm fine." She answered, closing her eyes and resting her head on her hands.
"You look worse now than you did before we went in."
"Mark, I'm fine. Just let it go for fuck's sake." She snapped, pulling her seatbelt on.
I figured it was in both of our best interests not to start anything. We rode in silence for what felt like eternity. We ended up outside her apartment.
"I'm sorry for prying," I began, turning to look her in the eye. "I didn't mean to upset you or anything."
"Stop apologizing." She said, her face blank.
"Okay…" I sat back in my seat trying to will what I was really thinking from coming out.
"Goodnight." She gave me an emotionless kiss and opened her door.
What the fuck?
I sat outside for a few minutes, weighing my options. I could either go home and let this blow over and wait for Anne to call in a couple days or resolve it now. Before I had a chance to even think it over, I was bounding up the stairs and knocking on her door.
"Anne, come on. Open the door."
I heard a muffled yell from the inside. "Go away, Mark."
"Whatever it is, it's not my fault. So just tell me what's wrong and we can get over this."
"I don't want to talk about it. Leave me alone." She called.
"You know what, fine! Forget it." I gave the door a swift kick. "Sorry for caring!"
Just a little lover's quarrel. They'll smooth things out, no worries. At the moment, I think Anne too much of a Mary Sue. You tell me.
Sorry it took so long for me to add another chapter. I was swamped with finishing all that AP work (FINALLY FINISHED!) and then my job. Remind me again why I want to have responsibilities and obligations?
Coming up next: Mark and Anne finally do The Deed... if you know what I mean wink wink And she meets Maureen for the first time, which will prove to be interesting for all parties involved. Roger will narrate his first chapter too! That will only happen when Anne or Mark's point of view would be boring or too one-sided in a situation. I have about three chapters planned with Roger in charge so look forward to them. They will be few and far between.
Harper's Pixie: Mark is naturally unlucky. Until he met Anne, that is. But I would keep those Kleenex within arm's reach for later chapters because I have a few sob stories to unleash...
msgalinda: Thanks for your sweet review:o) I'm glad you like my Cohen-centric story.
MandiMooShoe: Angsty Mark can get old. Fast. So I just sprinkle in a little anger here and there amongst the smiles and happiness.
SaoirseGreene: Yay! You said it was well written! That's by far one of the compliments that I like getting the best. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
DramaGirl: I never understood why Mark always had to suffer while Mimi and Roger had this fantastic flourishing relationship. Anne and Mark are totally awkward and douchey, but that's why I love them.
vah: Mark does deserve some ass from time to time. But don't we all? Thanks for reviewing :o)
lost my rent: I'm glad you like my Roger. I'm trying to make him as authentic and sarcastic as I can. And I can so see Mark flipping pancakes in the kitchen, with a nice pot of coffee brewing... ahem. Carrying on.
Remember, reviews are very, very nice. There's nothing better than checking my email at school and seeing that I got a few.
-Ella