Chapter 14: Biscuits

19 May 2002

As Mark got out of the shower, he was convinced that his marriage was over. He had heard nothing from Sarah all night long. They had never had a fight like that before. It was far worse than he had ever experienced. It reminded him of the fights that his mother had had before she had broken up with his stepfather.

Mark sat on his bed, clothed only in his towel, and put his head in his hands. He refused to think it was his fault, but he also refused to blame Sarah. As pissed off as he was at her yesterday, he still loved her beyond belief. He clenched his teeth together, trying to stop the tears that were in his eyes. He didn't cry. He never cried. He swallowed the lump in his throat and stood up, getting dressed. He hadn't slept the whole night long. It had been too cold in his bed, too lonely.

He was getting ready to shave when he realised that he had not taken his razor or his shaving foam. Mark ran a finger along his stubble, hearing it rasp against his finger. Oh well. If his marriage was truly over, it wouldn't matter if Sarah liked him clean-shaven or not. He swallowed the lump in his throat again, refusing to give into tears. He wanted to ring Sarah, but he was afraid that if he tried, she'd just hang up on him. He doubted that she wanted to speak to him after their row the day before.

He looked at the clock, unsure of what to do. He supposed he could go open the shop, even though it was Sunday and he wasn't supposed to be in. Ben took care of it over weekends.

He considered going for a run, but he hadn't brought any running clothes and had just taken a shower. Mark sighed. He had no idea what to do.

There was a knock at his door. He expected it to be housekeeping, but no one said anything after a moment and so he walked to the door, opening it.

He was immediately knocked backward as a fist connected with his face.

"What the hell?!" he yelled, looking up to see Ben with a look of anger on his face.

"I told you that if you ever hurt my Mum I'd hurt you."

"How did you even know where I was?"

"This is the closest hotel to your house. I asked at the front and they were willing to give me your room number for a few quid."

"I'll have to remember not to come back here," he said darkly.

"Get up off the floor. You're coming with me."

"I can't go see your Mum, Ben."

"We aren't going to see her, you coward. I'm not going to sit here and have a conversation on your bed though, so we're going to find somewhere where we can discuss this." Ben walked to the door, holding it open for Mark and looking at him expectantly.

Mark got up off the ground and walked out of the room, letting Ben lead the way. Ben walked down the street to a little cafe.

"You're getting the bill," Ben said right after he ordered two full English breakfasts and two cups of coffee.

Mark just shrugged, ignoring the throbbing in his cheek.

"So," Ben said as his food arrived. "I hope you're proud of yourself. Mum spent the entire night crying last night."

Mark said nothing, staring at his breakfast.

"A stupid argument. That's what she called it."

"She was the one who wanted me out," Mark said. "She told me to find a hotel."

"She didn't think you would! God, Arthur. You've been together for eighteen years!"

Mark's jaw tightened. "She didn't tell me to stay."

Ben sighed. "Here's what you're going to do. You're going to go to your house, and apologise."

"I did nothing wrong!"

"You know it doesn't work like that!"

Mark smiled sadly. "I know. I just...It pisses me off that she won't listen to me about Alex."

"Coffee doesn't always lead to something else, Arthur."

"She knows about Alex. She knows that that woman believes me to be dead. She knows that I'm not supposed to be parading around that I'm alive. Mark Evans died because his devotion to Alex made him screw up a case really badly."

"Exactly," Ben said, smiling. "Mark Evans is dead. Arthur Newton has nothing to feel threatened by if his wife goes out for coffee with a woman he's never actually met.

Mark clenched his jaw together. He had to admit, Ben was making a point. He prodded one of the sausages on his plate with his fork before speaking again.

"What if they become friends?" Mark asked. "Eventually, they'll want to meet me."

Ben gave a soft smile, but didn't say anything, looking behind Mark, confused.

Mark turned to see a man with a bald hair and white beard behind him. He stared at Mark a moment before grinning.

"The last time I saw you," the man said, raising his eyebrows, "I told you to meet a girl and be a bartender. I hope you haven't just ruined all your aspirations, Arthur Newton."

Mark laughed in surprise. "My god..."

"Who is this?" Ben asked, peering from Mark to Danny.

Danny smiled and extended his hand. "Paul Whitehouse," he said. "I know Arthur from way back."

Ben raised his eyebrows knowingly, but said nothing about it. "Nice to meet you," he said.

"Now, I know Arthur and you know me, but I don't know you."

"I'm Ben Noble. Arthur's my step father."

"So you did find a girl!" Danny said laughingly.

"Yeah, but he's ruining everything," Ben said. "Mum met a woman from his past and wants to have coffee, but he's telling her no and they had a huge row about it."

Danny raised his eyes at Mark, and Mark knew exactly what he was asking. He nodded and Danny sighed, putting his head in his hands.

"Ben, can I talk to Arthur for a few moments alone?"

Ben looked between the two for a moment before nodding, going outside.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Danny asked in a whisper. "You died to get away from it all!"

"It wasn't like I was seeking her out! We've been back in London for ten years, Danny! I hadn't seen her before yesterday when my dog attacked Gene in the park."

"Wait...you hate dogs!"

"Is that really the big issue right now?"

"Sorry. I got off track. Why does your wife want to have coffee with Alex?"

"After Nero jumped on Gene, Sarah went over to apologise...and she knows the story behind Alex...but Alex invited her to coffee and she accepted."

"Did Alex see you?"

Mark shook his head. "I hid behind my book and Sarah said I was really shy about meeting people. But afterwards we had a row and she kicked me out."

"Over a cup of coffee?"

"It had suddenly gotten to her that my entire existence is a lie."

Danny smiled. "Not anymore. You are Arthur Newton. Some of his past may be a lie, but his present, his future is real. That's the thing you forgot. It's only a lie as long as you believe it's a lie. Now, you better go find that woman and apologise, because I can't make you disappear again."

"Are you still part of..."

"I can't tell you that, Arthur," Danny said. "You know that."

Mark raised his eyebrows. "I know. Sorry. Just my immediate thought."

Danny smiled. "Go win your girl back. Oh, and did you become a bartender? Is that how you got your black eye? A bar fight?"

Mark put his hand up to his eye. "Shit, is it turning black? Ben punched me earlier. But no, I'm not a bartender. I'm a painter. I've got a little shop, but I'll sometimes do caricatures in Trafalgar Square."

"Lazy bum," Danny said, grinning. "Lucky bastard. Do you ever regret it?"

Mark shook his head. "That's when I started living."

Danny smiled. "Well, Arthur Newton, I'm glad that you have had a good life. Maybe we'll see each other again."

"After the past couple of days I've had, I won't doubt anything."

With that, Danny left and Ben came walking back in. "Well, I hope you're happy," Mark said as Ben sat down. "I've got a black eye and my old boss just chewed me out."

Ben smirked. "That's what you get for being a twat. Finish your breakfast."

"It's cold."

"Nothing wrong with cold bacon," Ben replied brightly.

Mark just stared at him. Ben sighed. "Okay fine. If you want to go, we can, but we're going back to the house."

Mark just nodded.

"Go check out," Ben said as they walked back to the hotel to get Ben's car.

"What if she just boots me right back out again?"

"She won't," Ben reassured him. "Get your things."

Mark sighed and went up to his room, putting his things together and checking out just in time.

"Follow me home," Ben said. Mark did so, feeling his nerves grow with each corner that they passed. Eventually, they reached the house. Mark got out of the car, staring at the house nervously.

"Come on," Ben said, leading him into the house. "Mum!" he called. "I'm here."

"In the kitchen!" Sarah called back. Mark noticed the note of sadness in her voice. He remembered with a twinge of guilt that when she got depressed, she'd bake endlessly.

"I brought someone back with me," Ben said as they walked into the kitchen. Biscuits of every sort covered the counter, and the floor looked like how it usually did at Christmas.

Sarah turned around, and Mark noticed the look of desperate sadness before it turned to raging fury. She dropped the spoons in the dough that she was putting on to the baking sheet and walked straight to Mark, slapping him hard across the face. Mark could have easily caught her wrist to avoid it, but let her slap him with all her might.

"You bastard!" she yelled as Ben silently walked out of the room. "You bloody walked out!"

"You told me that you didn't want me here last night," Mark said softly. "I thought I was doing what you wanted."

"Of course that wasn't what I wanted, you twat! I've spent the whole night making endless amounts of biscuits, convinced that our marriage was over."

Mark gave a small smile, pulling her in to him and kissing her temple, even though she tried to pull away. "If it makes you feel any better, I spent the entire night thinking the same thing. I couldn't sleep, I haven't eaten anything since lunch yesterday, and I couldn't stop thinking about how much I missed you."

Sarah was still trapped in his arms, but she had stopped fighting against him and looked up at him, tears swimming in her eyes. "I thought I'd lost you."

"I'm still here," he said. "If you'll take me back."

"Of course I will," she murmured, and they kissed deeply. "I'll cancel the coffee with Alex," she said when they broke apart. "It's not worth losing you."

Mark shook his head. "Have your coffee. Have your fun. And if I ever see them again, I'll reveal myself. But that doesn't mean that you can bring her here to meet me," he warned.

Sarah nodded. "Deal," she said and they kissed again. When they broke apart, she moved her hand up to his eye.

"Did you get into a fight?" she asked.

Mark smiled and shook his head. "Your son," he said, "made good on his promise to harm me if I ever hurt you."

"Ben!" she called, admonishing her son.

"He deserved it!" Ben called from another room and Nero barked loudly.

Mark raised an eyebrow. "Apparently Nero agrees."

"You know, there is still one problem that we have to work out," Sarah said, snuggling closer to him.

"What's that?"

"What are we going to do with all these biscuits?"