The Eyes Have It
Chapter Six - The Date
Marlena was pacing up and down in her penthouse apartment. Her heart was pounding and her stomach was in knots. Oh God, what had she done? When she left John at Shenanigans she had called her secretary and told her that she was going home ill and to cancel all her appointments for the afternoon. She knew she couldn't concentrate on other people's problems when she had a bigger one herself. She had actually agreed to go to dinner with John. Oh God….she was absolutely terrified. What if he took her back to his place after dinner? What if he kissed her again like he did in the storage room? That kiss had been incredible…like nothing she had ever felt before. She knew that if he kissed her again like that, she would be lost…..her body would betray her. But she wasn't ready for this….she wasn't ready for another love affair…and she definitely didn't want to go through that kind of pain again when it was over.
"Calm down, Marlena," she kept repeating to herself. "It's just a dinner, for God's sake….get a grip." She poured herself a glass of wine to try to relax and downed it in two gulps. She turned on some soft music and sat on the couch with her second glass of wine. She closed her eyes and concentrated on taking long slow breaths. She kept telling herself that it was going to be fine. She was an intelligent, successful woman and she was in control. It was just a dinner, nothing else. After awhile and several glasses of wine, Marlena had finally calmed herself down. She was feeling better and had herself convinced that she could handle this. She got up from the couch and headed upstairs to get ready for her date with John.
After Marlena had walked out of Shenanigans, John rejoined Maggie at the table. He explained to her that Marlena wasn't feeling well and had gone home. John knew of Maggie's reputation as the town gossip and he intended on taking advantage of that. Once he began being his charming self, he got her talking and he was able to get all kinds of information about Marlena. He found out that she had been very hurt by her two divorces, her first husband had cheated on her and her second had been so obsessed with his work that he ended up leaving the country to pursue it. Apparently there was also a devastating love affair with a crooked cop that ended when he was shot during a drug raid. John felt terrible about the things he had said to Marlena. No wonder she was so closed off and reluctant to let new people in. All of a sudden, John felt an over whelming desire to protect her and to make her happy again. This was no longer a game of pursuit. He didn't just want to get her in his bed. He wanted her in his life and he was willing to do whatever it took to make that happen.
Marlena was getting dressed for her evening. She picked a simple black cocktail dress…nothing too sexy or revealing. As she was trying to put her earrings on, but having a terrible time because she kept dropping them, she started to feel nervous again. Her head was starting to spin and she felt a little dizzy. "Maybe I am coming down with something," she thought…"I wonder if it's too late to call John and cancel?" Just as she was about to pick up the phone….the doorbell rang. "Oh Shit," she said under her breath as she headed downstairs to answer the door.
John could hear Marlena on the other side of the door. She was fumbling with the deadbolt and seemed to be having a difficult time opening the door. He laughed when he heard her swearing at it. She finally got the door open and stood there leaning on it. She looked gorgeous in her short, black dress. John's eyes started at her feet and traveled up her incredible, shapely legs. He continued up, taking in every detail of the ravishing beauty standing before him, including the interesting fact that she was only wearing one earring. John looked in the room and noticed the wine bottle on the coffee table that was more than half empty.
"Hi Marlena," he said with a twinkle in his eye. "Are you feeling all right tonight?"
"Actually John, I was just about to call you to see if we could reschedule…I'm not feeling that well." Marlena said as she let go of the door and headed over to the couch.
John knew exactly what was wrong with Marlena. She had had a few drinks because she was nervous. He had actually had a few too, but apparently not as many as she did. He grinned as he watched her plop down on the couch. She was adorable. He still wanted to take her out. He thought some food and fresh air would probably do her some good.
He closed the door and then walked over and sat down next to her, taking her hands in his. "Marlena..." he began as he noticed that there was something in her hand. He turned her hand over and opened it gently. "Aha...," he said as he grinned widely, "...there's that missing earring. May I help you with that?" Marlena just looked down at the earring in her hand and nodded. John gently lifted her chin with his hand and clipped the earring on with his other. He looked into her face. "Marlena, I would really like to take you out to dinner tonight. I think a good meal would make you feel better….. and I promise that I will be a perfect gentleman." He raised one eyebrow and smiled as she looked into his face "Okay?"
Marlena couldn't help but smile at how charming John was being. Maybe he wasn't a total asshole after all. And actually she was feeling rather hungry since she never ate her lunch at Shenanigans. She nodded her head and said, "Okay...let's go…I'm starving." John laughed and they got up and headed out the door.
Blondie's was rather busy when they arrived, but John had reserved a nice quiet table in a corner. Marlena commented that this was one of her favorite places. "I know…." began John before he remembered that she didn't know that he had seen her here. "…I mean, I've been told by several people that it's very good." Julie, the owner and an old friend of Marlena's, greeted them and showed them to their table. She smiled as she handed them their menus, it was good to see Marlena finally out on a date again, she thought.
After they ordered their food and some champagne, at Julie's insistence, John was happy to see Marlena begin to relax. He asked her about her work, and about her friends. As they ate, she began to tell stories about her friends Eugene and Calliope and began to laugh so hard that she was almost crying….she was definitely feeling no pain. John knew that she was going to have a whopper of a headache tomorrow, but he was loving every minute of this. This was the side of Marlena that he had been dying to see.
The band began to play a rather quick, salsa number and Marlena jumped up from the table. "Oh, I love this song...dance with me John," she said as she took his hand and pulled him up from the table. John had been waiting to get his arms around Marlena all evening, but he didn't think she could handle a fast salsa right now. He wasn't even sure she could stay on her feet. He wrapped his arm around her waist and held her tightly; trying to make sure she stayed upright. Marlena wrapped her arm around John's neck and began moving her hips to the music. John was holding her so tightly that he could feel every little bump and grind and it was driving him crazy. He knew Marlena was having a good time now, but he was afraid that she wasn't going to remember any of this in the morning...and he had no intention of taking advantage of her when she was in this condition.
John was grateful that the next song was a slow one. He didn't think he could take much more of her hips rubbing against his body. He reached up and softly placed Marlena's head against the side of his neck. He placed one hand on the small of her back and with the other he held her hand tightly to his chest. They stayed like that for several songs...just softly swaying to the music. Marlena felt like she was floating on a cloud, far, far away. She felt so safe and so warm. The voices and the music seemed to fade away and all there was left was just her and John, dancing like this, forever.
John felt Marlena get heavy in his arms and knew she was starting to drift off. He hated to let her go, but he knew it was time to get her home. "Marlena?...honey?...I think it's time to go home now," he said to her gently. "Umm-hmmm," she responded, not knowing what he was saying.
John gathered up her purse and her jacket while still holding on to her with one arm and gently led her out of the restaurant. Once they were outside and the cool, night air hit Marlena in the face she began to come out of her fog. "Oh, are we going home?" she asked John. "I was having such a wonderful time."
"Yes, Marlena," he answered, laughing. "I'm afraid I'm rather tired and I have a busy day at work tomorrow."
"Oh, pooh," Marlena stated as she plopped herself into the car.
Somehow, John managed to get Marlena up to her penthouse. It wasn't easy since she kept trying to do the salsa from earlier in the evening. As soon as they got inside and closed the door, she was in his arms again, begging to dance. "But there's no music," John stated matter-of –factly.
"Who needs music?" Marlena answered as she wrapped John's arms around her waist. She began to move slowly, sensuously, rubbing herself against John. John groaned, he couldn't take this much longer. He wanted her so badly, he was about to explode. She nuzzled her face into his neck and began kissing and sucking on him. That was it. John couldn't take another second. He lifted her face up to his and captured her lips between his own. He held her head tightly to his, pushing her lips open with his tongue, tasting every inch of her mouth. At first, Marlena was kissing back just as passionately, tasting him with her tongue and sucking on his lower lip. Then John felt her get heavier in his arms and could hear her deep breathing. Marlena had passed out.
John chuckled to himself. He had a feeling the evening would end up like this. He scooped Marlena up in his arms and placed her on the couch. He removed her shoes and debated over whether he should remove her dress. He worried it might get ruined if she slept in it all night. "You can do this, Black," he said to himself. He carefully unzipped the back of her dress and slowly slid it down past her feet. Marlena was left wearing her black lace bra and panties. God, she was beautiful. John knew that one night very soon he would be lying next to this gorgeous body. As he covered her up with the blanket from the back of the couch, he kissed her forehead. Marlena snuggled under the blanket as she curled over onto her side whispering his name. He laid the dress carefully across a nearby chair, turned out the lights and whispered as he went out the door, "Good night, Marlena. Sweet dreams."