Chapter 2

The morning of November 30, 2009 had begun like any other day. Jenna woke with the alarm ringing in her ear. She slapped the snooze button and rolled over. Or, tried to roll over. The big lummox was on his back, spread-eagle across the bed with the cover thrown off again. Sometimes he made her so mad she wondered why she had ever agreed to move in.

Jenna brought her arm out and away from the side of the bed as far as she could and swung. She rolled her body with the punch and landed on target, right into the solar plexus. The air expelled from his lungs. She heard him grunt loudly as he doubled up and rolled to his own side of the bed.

“What was that for?” he demanded, finally able to catch his breath.

“For hogging the bed again! Jesus, Marv, it’s a king size bed and you can’t seem to leave me enough room to wiggle a foot.”

“You couldn’t just nudge me?” he asked rolling off the bed, and headed for the bathroom of the master suite.

He didn’t see her middle finger as she giggled, “Yeah, like that ever works.”

Marvin had just finished brushing his teeth as Jenna sauntered in, yawning and stretching, which in turn raised the bottom hem of her shirt—she always wore one of his t-shirts to bed as a nightgown —up the length of her thighs. He gave her a sexy wink and a smile.

“In your dreams cowboy. Put the rope away and get ready for work.”

He shrugged and spit in the sink. “Can’t blame a guy for tryin’.” He turned on the shower and stepped in, closing the door behind him.

Jenna took her toothbrush from the holder and went to shove it under the faucet. “Gross. Why can’t you rinse the sink out when you’re done?”

“Sorry. Got distracted.”

“Hey, don’t forget our lunch meeting today,” Jenna tossed over her shoulder, pausing in the middle of brushing.

All Marvin heard was “eh, own or-et r un eeting oo-ay” and it pissed him off. She was always doing that to him; mumbling with a toothbrush in her mouth, talking into her closet, or saying something as she walked away from him. Then she invariably got pissed off when he either, 1. didn’t respond at all, or 2. responded with “Huh?” or “What?” This morning, as payback for plunging a fist into his chest, he pretended he didn’t hear a thing. By the time he’d finished soaping up and rinsing off, he heard her gargle and spit. He lathered up to shave.

“Marv, did you hear what I said?” she asked climbing into the shower stall that was barely large enough for the two of them.

“No, what?” His voice carried a peeved tone. Another thing that aggravated him: She’d get into the shower with him on a work day, rub against him, which always — always — created a stir in his groin and then elbow him away. Today, he decided to ignore both the elbow and the sprouting erection.

“Lunch today. Don’t forget,” she reminded him and pushed her way under the spray.

“Um, about that…” he paused to swipe the razor across his Adam’s apple, “can’t this wait?”

“Marvin! No. Not again! We’ve talked about this,” she said. The waves of her tamed, dark hair sprang into natural curls, which she hated, and shampoo bubbles ran down her wet body.

“I know, I know. It’s just that, um… Crowley is insisting that I go to this meeting with him today.”

“Bullshit, Marv. Since when does he need your help landing an account?”

“I don’t know, Jen! Maybe since this is my client?” His exasperation continued to mount. First the punch in the gut, then mumbling at him, now the pecking and nagging; the day was one heartbeat from turning to shit.

“You’re just trying to postpone the whole thing, aren’t you? Or are you trying to cancel completely?”

“Cancel? No! Of course not, honey.” He hedged again, “Move over, let me rinse off.”

He pushed her aside, hung his razor on the holder stuck to the wall, and stood under the spray, deliberately taking his time while she stood there, huddling with her arms wrapped around her small breasts trying to keep warm, all wet and goddamit looking sexy as hell doing it. He finally pushed the door open, stepped out, pulled his towel from the bar, and began vigorously drying himself. He felt the palm of her hand hit him square between the shoulder blades as she shoved him. His left arm shot out against the wall to keep from landing on his ass.

“Damn! Kill me why don’t you.”

“Close the door. You’re letting air in and it’s cold.”

He turned to face her with a sly grin. “Yeah? Show me.”

For the second time that morning, she flipped him the bird. “Close the f’in’ door.”

Marvin closed the door, finished drying off and hung his towel neatly in place. He used a washcloth to wipe the steam from the mirror and combed his hair, “mmhmmm-ing” in response to her running commentary. When he put his hairbrush back in the drawer, he finally said, “Jen. Please. Give it a rest,” and walked out to get dressed.

But she didn’t. The entire time he spent getting dressed, he heard the drone of her voice, which he did his best to ignore. She still rambled on as he walked out of the bedroom. He stood on the small balcony overlooking Broad Street when he heard her voice from the galley kitchen.

“Are you looking for a way to postpone again?”

“No! I don’t know where you get that idea. Come on, Jen. Stop it, already. Can’t we talk about this later?”

“It’s always later for you, isn’t it Marv?”
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“No, honey.” He tried to use his soothing voice. “I just…”

Marv thought perhaps a swan dive into the pavement looked good right about now. He wondered, not for the first time, or even the hundredth, why, oh why, he had proposed. At times like this, he wanted to stuff a rag in her mouth. Though, in the back of his mind, he knew he’d miss the verbal sparring. After all, it had been the spark of attraction in the first place.

“Then why do you keep finding excuses?”

“Me finding excuses! How many times have you been the one to weasel out? Who canceled the last five — count ‘em, five — lunches because of work?”

“That’s different.”

“That’s bullshit, Jen, and you know it. My job is just as important as yours.”

“I didn’t say it wasn’t. But you don’t have to work at it as hard as I do.” It was true Marvin had moved up faster than anyone in the advertising company of Saxton and Crowley; his own boss Martin Crowley included. Crowley treated every employee with the same amount of disparagement, yet Marvin not only withstood the diatribes, he excelled in spite of them. Jenna, with no formal training, started out in the roving secretarial pool of a law firm and it had taken hard work and long hours to prove her worth. Her ability to spot inconsistencies and holes in the briefs she typed got her noticed. It could only be sustained if she continued to be diligent; there could be no room to slack off. “You’re just trying to avoid it, that’s what I think.”

“Avoid what, for God’s sake?”

“Planning our wedding!”

Marv jumped at the closeness of her voice, spilling coffee down the front of his pants. “Jesus H… I’ve asked you not to sneak up on me like that. Dammit! It looks like I pissed myself. Thanks a lot. Now I have to change.”

Jen couldn’t decide if she felt bad about it or not, but she didn’t hold her tongue as he squeezed past her to get back into the apartment. “Well, maybe it serves you right.”

“You can be a petulant bitch sometimes, you know that?” Marv shot over his shoulder.

“Yeah? Well, you can be an arrogant stick!”

Marvin rolled his eyes and shook his head and kept on walking. He didn’t have time for a fight right now. He kicked his shoes off, removed his pants, took wallet, keys, and change, and tossed it all onto the bed. As he stripped the black leather belt off, the end snapped him right in the nuts when it flew free of the last belt-loop.

Bent over, grabbing his crotch, he howled in pain. “Goddammit! Son-of-a-bitch. This is turning out to be a day from fucking hell.”

He dropped his wet trousers on the floor in front of the closet and carefully pulled on a clean pair of khaki’s, threaded and cinched his belt, slipped on the shoes and grabbed his things off the bed. He stuffed his wallet into his back pocket while he strolled out of the bedroom. He planned to holler “Later!” from the hallway and keep on going. Instead he ran right into her, as she applied lipstick in front of the small mirror on the wall, with an “oof.”

Jen caught herself before her nose smacked the wall. “Marvin, I swear to God,” she warned checking her makeup, “if I have to redo everything, I’m going to kick your ass!”

“Sorry! I didn’t expect you to be there. I gotta go, I’m late already and Crowley is gonna be pissed.” He pecked her on the cheek and literally ran out the door.

“You better —,” was all Jenna got out before the door closed behind him. She stood there, stunned, but only for an instant. She recovered quickly, walked through the condo and out onto the balcony. She waited for him determined that nothing would stop this lunch date. As soon as she recognized the toe of his shoe when it emerged from the small portico at the front of the building, she began again.

“Marvin? Marvin!”

He waved a hand over his shoulder as he walked at a quick pace and checked traffic to his right.

“Marvin, you better not screw this up again. Lunch! Today! At one-thi—”

Marvin stepped off the curb into the street. He heard Jenna scream his name. He had just enough time to glance to his left. “Oh, shit!”

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