Every Memory Repeats

Chapter 3

Marlena began to gather her things to leave, and John stood up quickly, walking over to her. "Doc," he said softly, stepping up beside her.

"John..." she said a little breathlessly, as she caught the scent of his spicy, musky cologne. The scent was so familiar, it stole her breath away, "Hello."

"I see we both lost our dates," he said, smiling at her in that sexy way she missed so much.

Marlena laughed at his casual flirtation, "It seems we did, didn't we? I was just heading home."

"Do you need a ride?" he asked her softly.

Her skin rippled, and she held back a shiver. "I'm not sure that's a good idea, John."

"One friend, giving another friend a ride home?" he told her casually. It felt anything but casual.

Marlena sighed. He was right, of course. It was just a ride home. Standing up, she smiled at him, "Thank you."

"I'm kind of hungry. You want to grab a pizza on the way?" he asked her casually.

Pizza sounded amazing. "From Giovanni's?"

"There's no where better," he said reaching for her hand. "Come on."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Marlena sighed, leaning her back against the couch as she sat on the floor beside John. "The pizza at Giovanni's is just as good as I remember," she said. "And I ate too much, just like I remember doing, as well."

"Doc, you can never eat too much pizza," John told her, polishing off the last bite of the piece in his hand. Gesturing to the box, he asked her, "You mind if I eat the last piece?"

Marlena laughed, "I'm done. Have at it."

"I used to get Giovanni's with the twinners and Carrie, every Friday," John said.

She enjoyed hearing him talk about his life with Carrie and the twins. It made her feel connected. "You did?"

"Yeah, Fridays were pizza and movie night," John said. He was silent for a moment. "I miss pizza and movie night."

"Sami was asking when she and Eric might be able to see you," Marlena said softly.

With a mouth full of pizza, John mumbled, "Is Roman going to have a problem with that?"

"I've discussed it with Roman," she said. "He knows where I stand. I won't allow my children to suffer any longer, John."

"So if I wanted... I could pick them up Friday night?"

"It might be better if I dropped them off," she said softly. "Roman knows about the visit... but seeing you here, picking them up, might cause... problems."

John glanced at the clock, and then back at Marlena, realizing that it was getting late. If Roman came home and found him there, he could only imagine the issues that might cause for her. "Maybe I should go," he said getting to his feet, and closing up the pizza box.

"Just leave it. I can clean up," Marlena told him, rising to her feet beside him. The telephone rang, and she answered it saying, "Hello?" 

John's eyes roamed over her, while she remained unaware. He had a habit of allowing his eyes to scan over her body whenever she wasn't paying attention, but just as his eyes lifted to her face, he caught her staring at him - watching him, watch her. Instead of apologizing he just smirked, causing her to blush a deep shade of pink, and look away. 

She said into the telephone, "Yes. Yes, that's fine, Roman. Don't worry about it." Hanging up, she said, "He's going to be at the police station for awhile. I've been informed that I don't need to wait up for him."

She seemed so lonely, and John wasn't ready to leave just yet, so he stretched out the conversation, saying, "I need to make another appointment with you. When I left the other day, Chelsea wasn't at her desk."

"Oh, okay, let me check." Marlena went over to where she kept her date book, and glanced over it, "Is next week too soon?"

"No," he said, stepping closer to her. "I'm off Wednesday. Do you have anything on Wednesday?"

Marlena smiled at him, "I do. I had a cancellation. Is 11:30 okay? Just before lunch?"

"That works," John said, shrugging into his coat. "I'll be there. Maybe I'll bring lunch."

"You don't have to do that," she told him, following him to the front door.

John stopped, and faced her, looking down at her with his intense blue eyes, "Tonight was fun. I miss talking to you. Spending time with you."

She stared up at him, and said quietly, "I miss talking to you, too."

"You look tired, Doc," John whispered, pushing her hair off of her shoulder. "You should go to bed. Catch some extra sleep since the twinners are with Shawn and Caroline."

She sighed. "That's actually a good idea."

"You could take a bath first. Use those bath salts you used to like--" John stopped talking, and then said quickly, "I shouldn't have said that. I'm sorry."

Marlena's heart skipped slightly, and she felt goosebumps erupt across her skin. "It's okay, John. We were married. We can't pretend that we don't know things about each other."

John thought of all the things he knew about her. How she liked to be fucked from behind really hard. How she moaned and cried out as she was orgasming. How she would drag her fingernails over his back giving him the most delicious pain. 

He shook his head. "Yeah. Yeah, you're right. Sorry to make it weird," he told her with a smirk. Marlena laughed again. A light sound that made John wish they'd made different choices, but they didn't. John opened the front door, feeling the cool winter air rush in, "So, the twinners... you'll bring them by on Friday?"

"Yes. Is 5 o'clock okay? Or would you like them later?"

"5 o'clock is perfect, Doc... and, I can have them home by 9?"

"I can—I can pick them up," she said. "I don't mind, and... there's Roman to consider..."

"Right. Roman," John said, finding that he was getting lost in her wide hazel eyes. "Right. Good. Okay. Doc, I'll see you later."

Marlena touched his arm gently, standing on her toes to kiss him softly on the cheek, "Goodbye, John."