Chapter 2- Easy Street

"So you're from New York?" Marcia asked Krystal as she brought up a couple of pillows from downstairs into the guestroom.

"Brooklyn, yea."

"And your father, he lives there?"

"Well, he was recently hospitalized for a heart attack and he was there when it happened so that's why he's there now. We moved here when I was six so this is his primary residence now. He's a reverend at a church so he stays in the rectory when he's in Brooklyn."

"Oh, that's nice that he is able to come home and spend time with you."

"Yeah, we're close."

Marcia smiled, "Good."

After dinner at the Mercers, Krystal rapidly tried to get acquainted with her older sister. She showed Marcia a couple of family photo albums, a home movie, and gave her a more elaborate tour around the house. All in all, Marcia seemed very interested and this put Krystal at ease. It wasn't easy for her to welcome this stranger into her home, but she could tell Marcia was really trying to be accommodating.

"So what do you think?" Krystal wondered while she helped Marcia place fresh green sheets onto the queen sized bed.

"About what?"

"Jack, and his family."

Marcia stopped for a moment and smiled, "Jack's really sweet and charming. Jerry is very welcoming and friendly. Angel and Sofi are very charismatic and outgoing. Bobby on the other hand…"

They both started to laugh, "Bobby's a trip, I know. Deep down though, he's a good guy," Krystal grinned.

"Did you see him? He was all over me at one point and those glares he gave me... I thought he was going to burn a hole through my forehead," Marcia giggled. They laughed for a couple more seconds and then they continued to make the bed in silence.

"I really like Jack's brother Jeremiah though," Marcia finally said.

"Yeah, sometimes I think he's the only sane one. It was really nice of him to kinda offer you a job at his company."

"I know. I was ready to hand him my resume on the table but I'd have to make up a new one. My work experience has changed quite a bit since I first worked at the Lexus dealership."

"My computer is in my room, across the hall. If you need to, you can use it anytime, no need to ask. You know, that's really amazing you worked for Lexus. A finical advisor? I wish I was half as smart as you are," Krystal laughed, throwing a small pillow at her sister.

Marcia shielded her face from the attack and threw one back at her, "I'd rather have a more relaxed fun life, like you. Trust me you're a lot better off then I am. Make sure you don't let Jack go, you're very lucky to have such a great guy that cares about you."

"Well it's not all designer hand bags and custom made clothing like your life, but you're right, I'd rather have Jack over the life of luxury anyday. No offense," Krystal blushed.

"None taken. How long have you and Jack been together?"

Marcia tone changed. She sounded worried, distant and kind of upset. It was the same tone she displayed earlier when she asked about the Mercer family. Krystal was always good at reading people but something was off about Marcia and she had no clue as to what it was.

"Sixty seven days. Valentine's day was our official first date."

"You count the days? That's so cute."

"Well, what can I say? It is love," Krystal gloated as she pretended to be in a romantic film. She fell down onto the bed backwards with her arms spread apart and then she brought them in to hold her heart. "Oh, Jack my love. Mi corazόn."

"I'm trying to make the bed Juliet," Marcia laughed, "Like I said, you're very lucky to have him. At your age, I'd be lucky to even look at a guy."

"What do you mean?"

"Don't tell anyone, but I haven't even had a first date yet," Marcia smiled deliriously.

"Oh, come on. That's bullshit and you know it! Your absolutely drop dead gorgeous and you're tellin me you've never been on a date before!" Krystal yelled as she stood on top of the bed jumping in disbelief.

"It's true."

"You must have been walking around beatin them off with a pole because if you couldn't get a date, there would be no hope for the rest of us!"

"Well there was this one guy…" Marcia said by accident. She placed one of her hands over her lips and turned from Krystal's excited eyes. She wasn't able to keep this to herself and quite frankly, she didn't want to anymore.

"Who? Who was it? Was he tall dark and handsome? Was he more like Brad Pitt, Antonio Banderas, or 50 Cent?" Krystal begged gleefully.

Marcia was hesitant at answering the question because she was warned not to get to personal. She figured it was harmless fun so she went for it, "More like Matthew McConaughey. He has this slick cockiness about him. I don't know I guess I just…"

"You just what? You like cocky guys don't you? You put on this well established, business women demeanor but deep down inside you like wild guys right?" Krystal smiled, hoping she wasn't being to forward.

Marcia wasn't offended but she only gave a slight grin to Krystal's antics, "I guess you could say that."

"What happened?"

"Conflict at work, besides it was just a fling," Marcia sighed feeling a bit upset, "It's ok though, it would've happened eventually. All I know is I'm going to keep working until I'm old and grey because I don't need a relationship to be happy. I am happy."

Krystal could tell she was lying right through her teeth. It wasn't noticeable at first, but she could tell this mystery man was more than just a fling to Marcia, maybe he broke her heart by cheating on her. Maybe he was married and didn't tell her until she met his wife at a company Christmas party. "Stop being so dramatic Krystal," she thought to herself. Who knows what really happened, but she felt obligated to get her sister out of the house and back in the world of dating. So instead of suggesting going out to a club or to some bar to met a total stranger, she already had one person in mind.

"Well as you already know, Bobby is quite the cocky bastard. He's definitely wild, if that's what you're looking for…" Krystal hinted with joy.

"Oh no! Krystal! Don't you dare even think that! I was just thinking, Bobby Mercer is one of the most repulsive characters I've ever met," Marcia shouted humorously.

"So you've been thinking about him," Krystal joked.

"Isn't it past your bed time?"

Krystal cleared her throat, "Ok, ok I give up. No more talk about Bobby. Listen, I put some extra pillows in the closet and if you need anything feel free to get it. I also left some of my pajamas in the dresser just in case. If you need me, I'll be downstairs in the den," she said as she made her way to the door.

"Krystal, wait," Marcia called after her.

"What's up?"

"I wanted to thank you earlier, and I want to thank you now. I know it must be awkward to have me here, but I'm so grateful," Marcia said softly.

"Don't worry about it. If I found you first, I wudda begged for you to come out and visit. I should be thanking you," Krystal smiled.

Marcia walked over and gave her a sincere hug. This time the hug wasn't uncomfortable or awkward like the one they shared this morning.

"Goodnight sis," Krystal whispered into her ear.

"Goodnight sis."

After Marcia heard Krystal's footsteps disappear down the staircase, she searched through her Louis Vuitton handbag for her cell phone.

"Morrison?" she asked silently.

"Marcia?"

"Yeah it's Marcia, good news. I met Jeremiah Mercer."

"Already?"

"I know, I couldn't believe it either. It turns out that my sister is actually dating one of the Mercers."

"Is he involved with Jerry and…?"

"No, but I also met Bobby and Angel Mercer. My sister is becoming more and more useful don't you think?"

"Absolutely. What are you doing now?"

"I'm going to pull up my resume. Jeremiah has sort of offered me a job. You sent it to my email right?"

"It's there."

Marcia held the phone close to her ear and tip-toed across the hall to Krystal's bedroom. She turned on the computer and opened her mail. "Western Business College? Why didn't you put me down for an Ivy League school? Am I mistaken because I thought we were trying to get me a job."

"Calm down. Western Business College is considered a very good business college. He'll be impressed, don't worry."

"Alright, I'll be in touch, looks like you're going to owe me fifty bucks," she said and then she hung up.

While she printed up the fake resume, she heard Krystal approach the bedroom door. She quickly closed down her email account and waited for the resume to stop printing.

"Oh, you're done already?" Krystal asked surprised.

"I noticed that I sent my old resume to my email so I pulled it up and added some new stuff. It didn't take me long."

"Oh, ok. Well don't let me disturb you, I left my cell phone in here, so I'll just get it," Krystal said as she reached across Marcia for the phone.

"Have a good night," Marcia smiled.

"You too."

When Krystal reached the bottom of the stairs she couldn't help but wonder why Marcia needed to print out her resume this late at night. She could have done it in the next day, but she figured Marcia wanted to call Jerry first thing in the morning.

"That's it," she mumbled to herself. When she reached the den she settled down under the warm blankets and called Jack from her cell.

"Hey Jackie."

"How is everything?"

"You mean with my sister? Good, we're getting along great."

"That's good."

"Yeah. I think she wants to stay here."

"Is there something wrong with that?"

"No, no, not at all. I wanna get to know her, ya know? It's just…I went upstairs a couple minutes ago and she was on my computer printing out her resume."

"Sounds like she wants to stay. I know Jerry will hire her if she's as good as she says she is, but if you don't want him to I can tell him."

"No Jack, I want her to get the job, if that's what she wants. I guess I just have to give it some more time. She's only been here a day, I'm sure I'll be more then ok with it in a week."

"Bobby will be happy she's staying," Jack laughed.

"Oh, really? Well he does need a girlfriend, and my sister could use a good boyfriend."

"Then Bobby's out of the question. Listen I gotta go."

"Ha ha, ok, I'll see you tomorrow. Love you."

"Love you too Red."

When Krystal hung up, she placed her cell phone on the floor and went to sleep. Marcia was still upstairs on the computer but this time she was looking through Krystal's emails and files.

"Come on, come on," she impatiently said, "Does she keep anything on this thing?" Finally she stumbled upon an online journal. She searched through the dates. November through January, January through April. Krystal mainly wrote about her obsession with Jack starting in January and lasting until yesterday's date. The second week of January, however, was exactly what she was looking for.

"Yahtzee," Marcia smiled. She printed three pages out and headed back to her room. Shoving all the papers into her briefcase, she slid on her lime green tank top and matching pajama pants and rested on the bed.

"This is too easy."

Mercer House-

"You gettin ready to head up?" Bobby asked Jack who was two steps away from the staircase.

"Yes Bobby, did you want to ask me something?"

Bobby had bothered Jack all night about Marcia. He hadn't moved from the living room couch since Marcia and Krystal left after dinner. Bobby was able to sweet talk her a couple times during the night, but she was more interested in talking to Jerry about his business.

"No, no more questions. Goodnight."

"What is it? I know you have at least one more question about her," Jack smirked.

"Ok, maybe one. What do you think about her? I know, she's all business and what not, but do you think she would, ya know?" Bobby asked cunningly.

"I think she's a very intelligent and sophisticated woman," Jack smiled.

"And, what does that mean?"

"I mean, she's too smart to get mixed up with you. Goodnight Bobby," Jack said, laughing all the way up the stairs and into his room.

Bobby was left frustrated, "I got Krystal didn't I," he mocked.