I was going to stop writing this fic two chapers ago and go on a month hiatus but since some of you seemed to like it and I enjoy writing it I've decided to finish it. So please review so that I know I'm doing a ok job. Thanks!
Chapter 5- Wonderland
Mercer House-
"You invited her to dinner?" Jack questioned, taking long drags on an unlit cigarette.
Bobby was acting stranger than usual as he unloaded the groceries into the kitchen. He called Sofi earlier from the supermarket to ask her if she could look through his mother's old cookbook and find a recipe so he could pick out the items on the list. When he found the perfect one, he knew it would make a great impression on Marcia. He wanted to really show her who he was and through this dinner he might be able to accomplish just that.
"Jack, what the hell are you doing?" Bobby asked. He threw three heavy grocery bags onto the counter and a bunch of vegetables fell onto the floor.
Jack allowed the dry cigarette to roll around on his lips, "Red's making me quit."
"Than why do you have a cigarette in your mouth?"
Jack helped him pick the vegetables off the floor and then he washed each one carefully, "It's not lit. She told me to stop smoking, but she didn't say anything about holding one in my mouth."
"What ever you say little brother. She's got you wiped like a stray dog my friend. Woof, Woof," Bobby whimpered like a wounded dog.
Krystal waltzed into the kitchen, gliding her red Chinese slipper feet across the floor. The flip-flop sound of foam startled Jack so his reflex was to spit his cigarette into the sink. "Hurry kill it! I'm pretty sure it has rabies," Krystal grinned at Bobby while chewing on a piece of Big Red gum.
Bobby chuckled to himself at the sight of her. She was wearing tight red pajama shorts with the words 'Don't touch,' on the back, a short white t-shirt and her hair was sloppily scattered below her shoulders. "You better control your girlfriend Jackie. I say you limit her shopping time at Babies R US down to twice a week," Bobby warned playfully.
Krystal strolled up behind Jack, wrapping her arms around his waist she said, "Ha, ha Bobby. No one can control me, and ya definitely won't be able to control my sista after you make this elaborate dinner for her. I don't know what ya planin but it won't work. She's dead set on ignorin you."
"The dinner isn't for your sista, it's for all of us," Bobby sneered.
Krystal disregarded Bobby's sad attempts to conceal the truth. She knew it was only a matter of time before Marcia and Bobby fell in love just like she did with Jack. In Krystal's mind loathing equaled love and since Marcia had the loathing part down to a science, all Bobby needed to do was be himself and let Marcia find her way to him. She thought if they did end up falling in love, Marcia could move in with Bobby and she could ask Jack to move in with her.
Putting all these future plans aside, Krystal hugged Jack tightly and pressed her tiny nose into his black t-shirt, "You smell."
"Uh, thanks?" Jack grunted as he turned around to face her.
"I mean like cigarettes...Jack! How could you! I told you to quit!" Krystal frowned as she beat her hands into his chest.
"What are you talking about? I haven't smoked all week. It's probably just my t-shirt," Jack chuckled nervously. She leaned into him angrily, pushing him closer into the ledge of the sink.
"I told you, you were gunna get in trouble Jackie," Bobby teased, adding more pressure on the already bad situation he was in.
Krystal extended her arm past his stomach and searched the sink with her hand. His tall body blocked all visibility of the sink, but she managed to pull out the soggy cigarette that was clogging up the drain. "Then what is this?"
After hearing that, Bobby listened to Krystal yell at Jack like Sofi would at him or Angel. Spanish and some English words were exchanged but it didn't matter what language it was in because Bobby knew exactly what Krystal was thinking. Then he started thinking about Marcia. He looked out the back door window wondering what she was thinking about.
Marcia was still asleep on the couch at Krsytal's, but now her real dream was invaded by fantasy. She shifted restlessly on the couch while the fantasy played out.
Dream sequence-
"Marcia."
"I love you."
The voice sounded familiar to Marcia, but everything was pitch black so she wasn't able to see who was calling her. All of a sudden as she began walking towards the voice, she began to fall. Faster and faster she fell until she hit the bottom.
"What the hell?" she muttered to herself. A rainbow colored world appeared in front of her. Trees became giant lollypops, multi-colored flowers landscaped the land, and the sky wasn't blue, but pink.
"Where am I?" she thought. Her business clothes were replaced with a big fluffy blue dress, black dress shoes, and her hair was held back with a headband. Before she could comprehend what was going on, a white rabbit crossed her path.
"Oh, nooooo," she chuckled, "I get it., Alice in Wonderland right? Am I supposed to follow the white rabbit?"
It seemed that her response was answered when the sky turned green, as if to say go. So without delay, she began to run after the rabbit. As she slowed down to catch her breath she saw the white rabbit at the edge of the plain and then it vanished. She got up and ran again until she reached the end of a tall cliff.
She began to fall, just like before, but this time she woke up in someone's arms. "Lucinda," a man's voice spoke softly.
"What…"
The man held her tightly in his arms while stroking her hair, "Lucinda, sweetheart get up."
"Smith?" Marcia gasped. She woke up frightened and back up quickly away from the man.
"Smith? Must you call me by my code name?" he smiled.
She covered her mouth in shock, "Alex?"
The man stood up tall above her and helped her off the ground. She ran up to hug him, "Oh my God, I miss you so much."
"Lucinda I miss you too. I miss you too." She cried hysterically on his chest, unable to let go. He placed both of his hands on either side of her and looked her in the eyes, "You have my blessing."
She was confused, what was he talking about? "What, blessing for what?"
"Don't be afraid anymore. You have my blessing," he reassured her. Before she could question him more, someone called her name.
"Marcy, Marcy!" Krystal yelled. She rocked her sister's limp body back and forth until she came to.
"Krystal what are you doing?" Marcia croaked groggily.
Krystal took a seat on the floor in front of the couch, "I was callin ya name, but you didn't answer so I had to shake you."
"Oh, I'm sorry if I scared you. What time is it?"
"Almost time to go over to Jack's. If you don't wanna go, we can eat here, you don't look up to it anyway."
Marcia pushed her dream aside, stood up, and ran upstairs, "I'll be ready in fifteen minutes."
While she was upstairs she decided to call Morrison. She got dressed, grabbed her cell phone, and locked herself in the bathroom.
"Morrison?"
"Speaking."
"I'm going over to the Mercer's tonight."
"Finally. Be sure to indirectly question them. We need to get moving on this. There's not much time left. Find out where Jerry is getting all that money from and hurry."
"You act like this is my first time. We've done this millions of times Morrison, just bare with me. Anyway, tonight I have a feeling Bobby Mercer might open up," she grinned cunningly.
"Oh? Why do you say that?"
"We've been close lately so hopefully…"
"Close? What kind of close."
"What are you insinuating Morrison? I know you have something to say, so go ahead and say it."
"You know what happened before Marcia huh? You and Alex, remember. You can't do a job without getting involved personally am I correct?"
"I'll call you back," she whispered when she heard a knock on the door.
"Ready to go?" Krystal asked her.
Marcia flung the door open and smiled, "Let's go."
Mercer House-
"Something smell's good." Angel licked his lips hungrily watching the steam rise from each dish. His hand was two seconds away from digging into the bread basket but Bobby was able to slap it away.
"What the hell did you do that for?"
"I don't want anyone touching my dinner until Red and Marcia get here," Bobby insisted.
Jack walked up to the table and sat down, "Smell's really good Betty Crocker, you cook it all by yourself?"
Bobby looked back into the kitchen where Sofi was putting the finishing touches on the main dish. "Sofi helped out a little bit."
"Well call them over already, I'm hungry," Angel grunted.
A minute later Marcia and Krystal were at the door, "Hey big head!" Krystal smirked as she greeted Bobby at the door. She threw her coat at him and sat down at the table with Jack, Angel, and Sofi.
"Nice to see you too Red."
"Hello Bobby," Marcia smiled while handing him her jacket. She was wearing a white sleeveless beaded v-neck tee with cropped chino jeans. Her hair was pinned back off of her face, reveling the simplicity of her elegantly narrow face.
Bobby was caught off guard, "Hey Mar, Mar."
Krystal turned around and laughed, "Bobby I know you say her name all day every day. It's Marcia remember."
"Marcy," Bobby finally said, giving Krystal a dirty look.
"Ignore her," Marcia gestured, she took his hand in hers and walked him into the dining room. He sat at the head of the table and she sat down next to him. "This looks wonderful, what kind of food is this?" she inquired.
"This is arroz con pollo, rice and beans. That is sancocho, Caribbean root vegetable stew, and this is pastelillos, cheese and meat turnovers," Bobby smiled.
"Your Spanish is pretty good," Marcia smiled back, "What prompt you cook all of this?"
Krystal knew exactly where these dish ideas came from and she was so grateful Bobby invited them to dinner that night. Even Jack, Angel, and Sofi knew what was going on but Marcia didn't understand why all of them stared at her as if it was a surprise.
"What is it? Your starting to scare me," Marcia giggled.
Bobby handed her a small worn down pamphlet from his back pocket. The pamphlet was written only in Spanish, but Bobby knew she wouldn't have a problem reading it.
"It says, Gracielle's cook book." She fliped through it a couple of times and said, "I don't understand. It's a cookbook?"
Krystal cleared her throat, "Mom's name is Gracielle, it's her cook book. Bobby made this dinner in her honor, and Sofi translated of course. His Spanish ain't all that."
Everyone left out a hearty chuckle. Marcia took a look at Bobby and then at the rest of the table. She felt tears welling up in her eyes, but she suprssed them so she could thank Bobby for his hospitality. She stood up and hugged him, genuinely. She wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her head on his shoulder for a few seconds. Her eyes closed as she took in his scent. He didn't smell like Giorgio Armani or Calvin Klein, but he smelled like Bobby. It was original. A mix of the outdoors and maple syrup could faintly be inhaled from where she was standing. She enjoyed the aroma so much she forgot they were still hugging.
"I wanted to show a part of your mother here tonight that we all knew and loved and that was her cooking. Of course my cooking isn't as nearly good as hers was, but none the less…" Bobby apprehensively joked until his sentence was cut off by Marcia.
"That was very thoughtful of you. I couldn't thank you enough."
"How bout we eat then?" Angel suggested.
"Angel your stomach's bigger than your heart," Bobby laughed as he threw a napkin at him.
They all ate with pleasant conversation and the evening was turning out well. Marcia knew she had a job to do, but she couldn't seem to bring up such matters as work at the dinner table. She also tried to repress her real feelings from the people around her before getting sidetrack which was becoming even more difficult with each passing day.
"Hey I have an idea," Sofi shouted over the noise.
Bobby put down his fork and gawked, "This is the first time in months! Do tell."
"Very funny Bobby. We should all go bowling, it would be fun."
Marcia turned to Bobby and laid her hand on his, "Sounds like lots of fun, I've never been bowling before. Maybe you can teach me."