-A can of worms-

Like anytrue gentleman I had offered my assistance, in any way I could. Now, as I stood there, some fifteen minutes later, with sweat on my brow and dirt under my fingernails, I began to regret my incredibly chivalrous act.

Who would have guessed such a small car could cause so much trouble. Apparently Marian had left the radio on all night and now the battery was dead. Like totally, zero volts. We couldn't jump- start it because we had no jumper cables. And bump-starting it turned out to be nearly impossible. Rolling the car out of the parking lot was the easy part but pushing it over the cobbled ramp at the end of the driveway proved more difficult. So, after much huffing, puffing, and swearing we gave up and maneuvered the car back to the parking zone again.

I did offer to drive her home in my rental, an offer she wasn't too keen on accepting. She had me walking on a line, touching my finger to my nose before she somewhat reluctantly agreed to take a seat in my car.

……………………………….

"So this is where you live these days, huh? I asked as we pulled to a stop in front of a dirty, run down apartment complex.

Marian nodded but didn't say anything. In fact, she hadn't said anything for the last five minutes or so. The atmosphere in the car was tense to say the least and even if the drive had been short, it felt like it had lasted an eternity.

"Come on, I'm curious, help me out here … Which apartment is yours? How long have you lived here? Whatever happened to your old place in Knighton?" I fired my questions at her like a tennis ball machine stuck on overdrive, hoping to somehow lure her into talking. I don't know why I even bothered. Trying to get answers from her was like pulling teeth.

"Geez, enough with the small talk already! You're giving me a headache," she snapped and we both stared at each other for a moment

Shrugging my shoulders I threw my hands up in defeat. "Sorry, I was just trying to make conversation."

"Make it with someone else, I'm leaving!"

The car hadn't even stopped rolling yet but her hand was already resting on the door handle. It appeared as if she couldn't get away from me fast enough.

"Wait, at least let me walk you to your door...," I pleaded with her as I turned off the engine and pulled the key out of the ignition.

"Look Robin, you don't take hints very well, do you?! I'm not going to invite you inside if that's what you're fishing for…. I mean, I appreciate the ride and all but this is where it ends, okay?!," she trailed off and slid out of the passenger seat.

"Hey now, don't be that way. It's the middle of the night for heaven sake. I just want to make sure you get home all right," I shouted after her disappearing back as I locked the car and hurried to catch up with her.

---------------------------

"No offence, but I have to say I liked your old neighborhood better." I told her a few minutes later, as we carefully navigated around the piles of broken glass in the hallway on the fourth floor of the big dull gray apartment building she apparently called her home.

"It's not like I had a choice. This is all I can afford. In case you haven't figured it out yet I'm little low on cash at the moment….," she informed me with a small grimace.

"I see… So that's why you work extra in that bar, huh?!"

"Brilliant deduction Sherlock!"

"What about that photo studio? I mean you still have a steady income, right?," I asked, approaching the subject carefully. I had a mountain of questions that I wanted to ask but I didn't quite know how to word them. The last thing I wanted was to start another fight.

"Actually, no… It turned out I'm more of an artist than a businesswoman, I wasn't breaking even so I sold the studio and some of my camera equipment… It's not as bad as it sounds though. The new owner hired me as his photo assistant. But it's only part time and I still have debts to pay off so…."

"Debts? What kind of debts? "

"Loans, mortgage, unpaid hospital bills… You remember my sister, right?! Well, she was sick for a very long time before she… you know…," her voice trembled slightly and she paused to take in a steady breath before she continued. "Dad and I used our last savings to pay for her funeral…"

"Ooh, right… I shouldn't have brought it up, I'm sorry…" unable to meet her eyes, I silently cursed myself for being both insensitive and pushy. My worries were soon put to rest though as Marian seemed more annoyed than sad... or hysterical… or anything else….

"No need to walk on eggshells. Besides you didn't bring it up; I did," she pointed out with a calm resolute voice as she unloked the door to her apartment.

"Alright, but why didn't you turn to me? If you needed help with money, I mean… I know I wasn't around for the funeral but we were still on speaking terms back then. I could have helped you… I still can…"

"Reality check, Robin! I did come looking for you around that time, remember?! I sold my TV to pay for the plane ticket only to find you in the middle of combat training, mere weeks away from being shipped out to a warzone…. a WARZONE!"

"I know where you're going with this. Let's not rehash it. You never approved of my decision and in hindsight I would have done things differently. I should have told you sooner. I wanted to but -…"

"…but what?! Don't tell me there was no time to tell me. You had known about it for weeks, moths even. Your belongings were packed away in storage, your apartment out for rent, your car… You had all the details taken care of down to finding a f*cking babysitter for your precious car…."

I flinched, surprised by how bitter she sounded. This was an argument Idid not want to get into right there and then. I could tell Marian felt the same because before I knew it she slammed the door in my face.

Oh well, it couldn't be helped. When you open a can of worms, you can't expect finding sweet smelling flowers inside.