The Switch

Chapter 12

After Ihung up with Lauren I started thinking of ways I could move forwardwith Marshall. Given I only had probably one more chance to see him Ineeded to make it count. I didn't even care if I ever slept with himagain. I've seen him at his most vulnerable, with his guard down, andI needed more of that. My biggest problem right now was that I wasstuck in this porn star looking body and what he thinks of thisversion of me is already ingrained in him.

Fuck it.I'm going to call him and if he picks up then he does, and if hedoesn't? Well, I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. So I dialedhis number. "Yeah?" he answered. His tone was cold. So he wasobviously mad. "That's how you answer the phone?" I asked,teasingly. "When I don't really wanna speak to the person on theother end it is." he growled. Okay, hes mad. "I can tell you'reangry. But didn't you insult me? Shouldn't I be the one mad at you?"he didn't say anything, so I continued. "Look, I'm sorry I gotupset and yelled at you. But I've never been insulted in such a waybefore. And whether or not you want me to admit it, I do havefeelings for you." I bit my lip in anticipation. There was stillsilence though. "Marshall?" "Yeah, I'm still here." he saidquietly. I had never heard him speak in such a hushed tone before. Itwas kind of sweet. "Are you going to say anything or are you goingto leave me out here in the open?" "Uhh, well I'm not so surewhat to say. I told you where my head was at." he said. "I sawthe way you looked at me when I left the other day. I could be wrong,but I don't think you would have chased after me if you hadn'tintended to try to stop me. That means you care a little more thanyou're willing to admit." There was another pause. "What the fuckare you? Some kind of psychologist or something?" he then askedme. "No." I replied, laughing a bit. "I just see through yourruse and the macho act you're trying to pull with me." "Well,what exactly are you expecting from me?" he asked me. "I don'tmean to be insulting when I say I cant bring you around my kids, butI really cant. They may be older now, but that means they're morejudgmental. I don't want them to think their dad dates porn stars.""Well, before you try to bring me home to your family can we firsttry and see if this is going to work? I mean, you just admitted towanting to date me." He scoffed and I could tell I had finallygotten him to loosen up and calm down. 

"Okay,well can I see you?" he asked. If I could only see the smile thatspread across my face. I know it was huge. "Sure. I can come overright now if you want." He thought for a minute, then replied"Yeah. If you don't mind." "Of course I don't mind." Ianswered. We hung up and I rushed into my bedroom to find somethingto wear. 

I foundsomething I liked a lot, which was hard because mine and Lauren'sstyle were so different. I had went into the bathroom and fixed mymakeup and was pleased with how I looked. I grabbed my purse and gotready to head out the door when it opened in front of me. Standingthere, with a bouquet of roses was Mark. "Expecting company?" heasked jokingly. "Umm, no." Shit! What do I say? "Well you'reobviously going somewhere. Or did you know I took the rest of the dayoff? Did you get my text?" I had been on the phone with Marshall, Iwasn't looking for any texts. "Um, no, I didn't dear." "Dear?"he asked, laughing again. "Since when do you call me dear?""Since today. I'm, uh, trying out new pet names. Do you like it?""No. But you could call me daddy if you would like a name to callme other than mine." I tried my best not to physically cringe, butI felt my skin crawl. "Oh, no that's fine. I think ill stick toMark. So you took the rest of the day off you said?" "Yeah." hereplied. "I thought we could use some quality time together so Igot you some flowers and I thought maybe we could go to a latedinner." Fuck. "I would love to, I promise I would. But my bossjust calls and he needs me in the office." Marks look said hedidn't believe me and I was starting to feel panic. "On a Saturday?That never happens. How long are you going to be?" I really didn'twant to put a time limit on Marshall and I. I am basicallyre-establishing a connection with him. And I definitely cant tell himI have a boyfriend. It would make me look like a hypocrite. "If Iknew I would tell you." I replied. "He wasn't specific, just thathe needed my help." Mark put the roses in the vase he was fillingover the last few seconds and put both his hands on the counter infront of him. He sighed and I knew I wouldn't like what was comingnext. 

Heturned to look at me with his eyes looking especially glassy."Lauren? Are you cheating on me?" What I really wanted to do inthis moment was tell him yes so he could pack up and move on. It wasobvious he loved her more than she did him. "No, of course not."I lied. I couldn't mess up her relationship, then she may wantMarshall! I'm only trying to protect him. "Please be honest withme. Guys at work tell me things, but I always tell them they're crazybecause we love each other. Right?" "Wait, guys at work tell youI'm cheating?" He nodded. "Who?" "It doesn't matter whoLauren because it isn't true, right?" "Well yeah. But someone isslandering me. You just let them do that?" He shook his head indisbelief. "You heard me say I tell them they're crazy. Besides,why are you so defensive?" I shrugged. Why was I? He isn't my man. 

My phonestarted to ring and I saw it was Marshall. It had been almost an hoursince I had spoken to him, he was probably worried, which I kind ofloved. "Its my boss. I need to go." Mark gave me one last lookand said "Go then. Don't let me stop you." He turned and wentinto the den to turn on the TV. I took this as my chance to escapeand ran for the door.