CHAPTER TWELVE
(chapter title- Date with Destiny)
A month later, Jules was sitting on the school bus on the way home from school, staring out the window. Both John and Eileen had to stay after for the sports they were doing that spring - John was on the baseball team while Eileen was on the soccer team. Jules had missed the audition dates for the spring musical, so she was bummed about that.
The bus pulled up to its drop off stop - Avenue A and Queens Street. Jules thanked the bus driver and stepped off the bus and walked to the loft. Unlocking and opening the door, she saw her dad sitting on the couch, strumming his guitar and staring into space.
"Hey Jules. How was school?" he asked, setting his guitar down. Jules shrugged and turned on the TV just as Mark came into the room. He was talking on the phone and he looked happy. Jules looked over at Roger, confused.
"Okay, sounds great. Bye." Mark hung up the phone with a smile on his face.
"What's going on, uncle Mark?" Jules asked. Mark whistled and walked to his room. Jules and Roger looked at each other and laughed. He paused in the doorframe and turned around, a huge smile on his face.
"It just so happens that I'm meeting someone for dinner." Mark told them in a sing-songy voice.
"That's wonderful, uncle Mark!" Jules squealed, running up and hugging Mark around the middle. He smiled and hugged her back just as Roger stood up to hug his friend.
"Whose the lucky girl?" Roger asked, hugging Mark.
"Her name is Destiny and she works at Buzz Line with me. I'm meeting her tonight at a jazz café called Stardust's. The Scarsdale School of Performing Arts is performing there. It's the Jazz Singers that are performing tonight." Mark informed them, grinning from ear to ear.
"Have you told John yet?" Jules asked, sitting back down on the couch.
"No, not yet. I really don't know how tell him, exactly." Mark told her. Jules smiled slightly at Mark and went back to watching TV.
"C'mon, I'll help you pick something out to wear tonight." Roger led Mark to his bedroom to help him find something to wear.
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An hour later, there was a knock on the door. Mark was in his room, trying on more clothes that Roger had laid out for him. Jules was sitting cross-legged on the couch, watching TV.
"I got it!" Mark called from his bedroom. He was wearing a black blazer, nice black pants and a white dress shirt. On his feet, he wore Roger's old dress shoes.
"Hi! Come on in!" Mark told the person. Jules went to see who was at the door. A woman with shoulder length brown hair, brown eyes hidden behind oval-shaped glasses and pale skin came into the loft. She was wearing a baby blue peasant top, a long flowing baby blue skirt and a pair of baby blue high-heeled shoes. She looked to be in her twenties.
"You guys - this is Destiny Evans - Destiny, this is Jules and Roger." Mark introduced Destiny to Roger and Jules. She smiled at them and took Mark's arm in hers.
"Ready, Mark?" she purred.
"Yeah." he told her. Turning to Jules and Roger, he added, "there's chicken and Chinese food in the fridge. If John asks where I am, just say I'm out filming." with that, he took Destiny's hand and they walked out the door. Roger felt his mouth drop open. Why would Mark not tell John he was going on a date? If he was going on a date with someone, he would certainly tell Jules whom he was going out with and what time he would be back.
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Fifteen minutes after Mark and Destiny left, John and Eileen came into the loft.
"Hey Uncle Roger. Hey Jules. Where's dad?" John inquired, looking around the loft.
"He's out filming. He'll be back, though." Roger told him. God, I hate lying to him.
"So, how's my Julie-chica doing?" Eileen asked, going to the fridge and getting out a bottle of water. She drank half of it in two huge gulps.
"I'm fine. I've just been hanging out with dad." Jules smiled at Roger.
"After we get cleaned up, wanna watch a movie?" John asked. Jules nodded and went to sit on the couch with Roger while John and Eileen went to shower and change. Roger smiled at his daughter and put an arm around her shoulders. She leaned into him and looked up at her dad's sweet face.
"I love you." he whispered.
"I love you, too." she whispered back. He kissed the top of her head and rubbed her shoulders. I wonder what Mark and Destiny are doing right now Roger thought to himself. He could tell that Jules was thinking the same thing.
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"So…" Mark started. I am such a loser, starting a sentence off with 'so' he thought.
"So…" Destiny purred. They were sitting at a booth in a jazz café called Stardust's. They had just finished their dinner and now they were listening to the jazz-singing students from Scarsdale School of Performing Arts.
"You having fun?" Mark inquired. Destiny nodded and took another sip of her water.
"Do you have any kids, M'sieur Cohen?" Destiny asked in a very sexy voice.
"Yeah - a son, John. What about you?"
"A daughter - Caitlyn. She'll be two this month." Mark felt his jaw drop.
"What?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
"You're so young! There's no way that you have a kid."
"I do - she's from my first marriage. My ex-husband, Pierre, left me for my receptionist. That was way before I worked for Buzz Line." Destiny explained. Mark took one of her hands in his and gently squeezed it. She smiled and pointed to the next jazz singer. They watched the rest of the jazz singers in silence.
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"Uncle Roger - it's getting dark. Are you sure my dad's out filming?" John asked in a concerned voice. Roger sighed and went to the window where John was standing by. Eileen and Jules were watching High School Musical on Disney Channel.
"Yeah - he should be home soon, John. Don't worry." Roger reassured him. John sighed and went to sit back down with Jules and Eileen.
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Half an hour later, Mark and Destiny entered the loft to find it dark and empty. They walked quietly to Mark's room and went about their business.
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Jules yawned and came out of her room to get some water when she heard giggling coming from Mark's room. She looked around curiously before approaching the room. This time, it wasn't giggling she heard, it sounded like a woman moaning and in pain.
"Uncle Mark is everything okay…Oh, sorry!" Jules covered her eyes when she saw Destiny and Mark in bed - Mark on top of Destiny. Both were completely naked.
"It's okay, Jules. We're fine here." Mark reassured her. Destiny smiled and wrapped her arms around Mark's neck and kissed him. Jules went back to her room and went back to sleep - images of Mark and Destiny in her head. Shaking her head to get rid of the images, she turned over on her side facing the door and went back to sleep.
Destiny woke up the next morning to find Mark not lying in the bed with her. Shivering, she pulled the blankets closer to her and went back to sleep. A few minutes later, she heard someone come into the room and sit down at the edge of the bed.
"Wake up Sleeping Beauty." Mark whispered, rubbing a hand up and down her back. Destiny moaned and pulled the blankets closer to her. Mark smiled and continued to rub a hand up and down her back.
"We're going out to breakfast. Wanna come?" Mark asked a few minutes later. Destiny nodded sleepily and got out of bed.
"I'll meet you in the kitchen, okay?" he said.
"Okay." she croaked. Gathering up the clothes she wore last night, she headed to the bathroom to take a shower. She sang songs from various musicals as she washed herself.
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"I'm hungry! Can we leave now?" John asked impatiently.
"No! We need to wait for…um…Roger." Mark told him, just as Roger poked his head out of his bedroom door.
"I'm ready. Let's go." Roger said, walking out of his bedroom just as Destiny walked out of Mark's room. John looked from Destiny to Mark and back to Destiny.
"John, before we go anywhere, listen to what I have to say." Mark started, leading John to the couch. Destiny followed, but didn't sit down.
"John, this is Destiny Evans - the woman I told you about that I'm working with. Destiny, this is John." Mark introduced his son to Destiny. Destiny smiled and shook John's hand. John just glared at her as Jules, Eileen and Roger came into the living area.
"Are you trying to replace my mom?" John asked Destiny. Destiny shot a confused look at Mark.
"She's not, John. Your mom died when you were a baby - we made up that story about your aunt Maureen being your mom because I thought it would scare you." Mark told him, placing a hand on John's shoulder.
"Why the hell didn't you tell me that aunt Maureen wasn't my mom in the first place?" John asked. He was getting angry.
"I thought I did, John. Remember? That was the night that Roger got stabbed." Mark said, looking at his best friend.
"I remember that but why didn't you tell me earlier?" John inquired. Mark sighed and shook his head just as Roger cleared his throat.
"What your dad is trying to say, John, is that we didn't know how to explain why you didn't have a mom when you were growing up. What where we supposed to say? Maybe something like "the reason why you don't have a mommy, John, is because she died when you were born."" Roger told him, trying to keep his voice as soft and calm as possible.
"I can't live in this loft! It's full of liars and I can't be surrounded by liars." With that, John got up from the couch and ran out the door, not bothering to take his jacket with him.
"I should really get going. I left Caitlyn with the nanny. It was nice to meet you all." Destiny got up from the couch, went to get her coat and blew a kiss to Mark before heading out the door. Roger saw a pleading look in Mark's eyes as Destiny slid the door closed and headed down the stairs.
"I can't believe this is happening - again." Mark said, burying his face in his hands. Roger gently patted Mark's back as Jules and Eileen got their cell phones and put on their shoes.
"We'll go look for them. Dad, see if you can call Benny to see if he, Alison and Jacob can help out. Uncle Mark, call aunts Maureen and Joanne to see if they can help out, too." Jules said, grabbing her coat and heading outside, Eileen right behind her.