"You can't spoil me like this," I say seriously, yet I earn a smile from the English kid.
As he places the passes on the bar, he denies my claim. "I'm spoiling myself. I do this alone, but it's nice to have someone with you."
As I ask, "Where's your mate that you went to Manchester with?" Marcel's delighted expression is replaced by confusion. The last thing I need is for his confusion to be replaced by woe. Noticing I haven't taken the one with my name on it, he grabs the passes from the bar.
"I don't know and I don't care." He looks down on the tickets then back to me. His eyes slowly making their way down my face, until they hit his passes again. If he pouts, I'm going to fucking lose it. "I'm asking you to accompany me."
"I'm working on a huge project right now, Marcel." I say, trying to turn him down in a gentle manner.
He gives the weakest shrug, but I know there's woe brewing as he shakes his head. "You didn't even look at the dates."
"This month is hectic for me." My hushed tone brushes the side of his face as he turns his head.
"Call in sick."
"Marcel." I kiss my teeth.
"I know you want to go. I bet you haven't called in sick since you got here." He sets the tickets on the bar, giving me another chance.
I sigh, then slide a pass my way. Suddenly, my mouth falls open. I don't even attempt to speak – knowing any sound that leaves my throat would be a squeak. Closing my mouth, I lift the ticket and read again.
"Tomorrow?" I squeak.
"Until Sunday." He takes a drink of his milkshake.
Feeling my stare, he cautiously peeks over. Yes, I'm sending you daggers. Lifting his leg over mine, he spins around to avoid me. I want to pull your hair.
"How the hell am I going to get away from my place for the whole weekend without my friends knowing?"
"Do what you did last time." He says over his shoulder.
"Ella had a baby shower!"
"Tone." Marcel corrects me, sass wisping off his batting eyelashes. Closing his eyes, Marcel turns away again; this time to shun me. As he eats his burger, all I can think about is strangling him with his own hair.
Looking over the counter, I tap my nails as I start to devise a plan. From the corner of my eye, I see Marcel spin around, checking on my silent mouth.
Although I have less than 24 hours to come to a decision, I leave my ruling in the balance to ask about his unexpected coffee date.
"Did they just pop up on you?"
"Came out of noooowhere."
"Routine can be dangerous." I remind him.
"Hell yeah." Marcel nods as he grabs a napkin. "They asked, what I wanted with you?" He reveals, making my brows furrow. "They asked, was I stalking you?"
"Oh my God." I catch my head in my palms. "I'm going to kill them."
"They asked, have I ever been arrested? They asked, Am I trying to fill a void with you?" He continues, this time watching me attentively as I lift my face. Ooh. He gives me a second, seeing if I want to defend them, but I don't. "One, we didn't click right away. We grew on each other. I've known you for a few months now. I think it's safe to say we're friends?"
"Yes."
"Angel," His lively nature fades as he sighs. I brace myself, knowing these dumbasses went too far. "I don't want anything with you other than a good time. Labels don't mean shit to me; connections do." He states as I nod my head, waiting for him to continue. "Second, I'm not stalking anybody. I don't believe in coincidences. If something is meant to happen, it will. We bumped into each other twice in New York. We bumped into each other here. We were meant to come into each other's lives. For what reason? I don't know the objective." He shrugs at the unknown.
"Ask the universe. Ask God, but we're here." It feels like he's sassing me.
I've never heard him talk so much at once, but I'm enjoying the sound of his voice. Get upset more often – as long as you're not upset with me.
"Third, I got arrested for smoking weed when I was 19." He says, making me smile. "No big deal." He tries to keep a straight face, because I can't. "Don't laugh." He says as he licks his lips. Then, his eyes skim over his counting fingers. I look too, containing giggles.
"You still smoke?"
"No." He says, trying to convince, but he chuckles.
"Are you lying?"
"I don't smoke anymore."
"Scared straight?" I try to keep the playful manner at the surface, because I know we're winding down the points. One of them, I'm nervous about him addressing.
"Shut up. Fourth, they asked, am I filling a void with you?" Marcel's eyes are troubled. There it is. "What did you say to them?"
"I told Lana that I possibly offended you when you and I were remembering the cab thing. I was upset about it when I got to work." I run my hands down my lap as I sit up. "That's all. I don't talk to them about you, because they're so damn nosey. After dinner, I came home and Lana pulled back the curtains to see who could be out there."
Marcel's cheeks are full, but he still manages a loud facial expression.
"I know." I scoff. "Ella is telling me that I'm acting differently." Sighing, I grab my milkshake ready to finish it off. Not completely finish it. I just... can't. "Ella saw me getting out of your car. She's smelled your cologne on me. Their curiosity is peaked. They're actually losing their shit. Outside of work, you're the only person they're not familiar with. That's why they were in your face today. I'm so sorry they came at you like that." I apologize for the two stooges as Marcel grabs his napkin, preparing to speak. I bit my lip anticipating his thoughts.
"I've made many mistakes in my short life: in my marriage, relationships, friends, work." He counts on his ring-clad fingers. "I'm just learning to give people a chance. I'm learning to show some emotion. I'm learning everything isn't about work. It's about what's in front of you." He pauses to turn his gaze my way.
"It's about the present, the now and making the most of it. I may be a bit more spontaneous after my wife and son passed, but I'm not using you to fill any void in my life, Angel. I see someone who needs a little push. I see someone who feels a tad lost, but wants a way out. You told me that and it stuck. I'm not trying to get deep or anything," He looks at my half-empty glass.
"Yeah."
"But God works in mysterious ways. Losing someone you love changes your whole perspective on life. Suddenly, you wanna dot all the i's and cross all the t's. I don't want to leave any rocks unturned. Lana and Ella say you're leaving London, so I'm just trying to make the most of this time. I enjoy your company... most of the time." He nudges me, causing a smile to slip across my lips. "I hope you don't forget me when you're gone, because I won't forget you. Neither will my boots." He smirks.
"You're a lot of things Marcel, but you're not forgettable. Maybe," I pause with a small smile. "just maybe, I could learn something from you and you could learn something from me." I mimic his classic inquisitive gesture.
A proud smirk twists up at the corner of his mouth. "We're all just lessons or blessings, right? What could you possibly teach me?" He pesters, now mocking me.
"There's no such thing as objectivity. We're all just unriddling intimations from the universe and trying to make lemons into lemonade. I'm stuck trying to figure out what to do with my lemons. You expect me to figure out what to do with yours?" I sit up and kiss my teeth. "Pleeease." I send him a final eye roll before taking a bite of my burger. Squealing at the pinch on my side, Marcel then steals one of my fries. "Hey!" I swat his rude hand.
Marcel leans away, the crinkles by his eyes validating the joy he finds by annoying me. "Angeeeel." He sings, snatching another fry.
Quietly gasping at his repeated audacity, I whine at the fact that I'm down two fries. "Whaaaaat?" I turn my mug to meet his, only to find him with a poked out lip and puppy-eyes. What the hell is a couple of fries?
"Are you coming with me to Italy?"
To lessen the suspicion surrounding my secretive life, I've learned that I have to be more strict with my schedule. I can't leave empty gaps. That begins tonight as I punctually arrive home from another productive day. My friends are sitting on the floor as they open bags of food. I smell Thai.
"I hope there's enough for me." I close the door as I come inside.
Lana lifts her face from out of a paper bag to smile and wave to me. Ella is too occupied for a greeting. There's food in front of her. What do you expect?
"You're lucky we haven't dug in yet, but yes, there's more than enough for you." Ella begins setting the spread. "How was work?" She flicks her eyes in my direction.
"Organized. How was your morning with Marcel?"
I toss my bag in a chair as I lean over it. I just couldn't hold it in after seeing how normal they seem. Lana checks on Ella as she scratches the tip of her nose. Ella doesn't seem fazed in the least. That's what's going to drive me insane.
"Who said I saw Marcel?" She continues her unpacking, not giving me any type of regard.
WHO ELSE COULD HAVE TOLD ME ABOUT YOU SEEING MARCEL OTHER THAN MARCEL HIMSELF? Suppress Angel. Suppress the anger. I close my eyes as frustration rises. Keep calm.
"I'm not in the mood for your BULLSHIT!" I introduce them to a new octave, causing Lana to jump and for Ella to drop her spoon.
"What's she going on about?" Ella asks her partner in crime. But, not used to the pressure, Lana seems like she's ready to surrender.
Switching her gaze from me to Ella, Lana goes on to say, "I have no idea."
ARE YOU KIDDING ME?
"Okay, you seem to have lost your recollection of this morning." I clasp my hands together, ready to tell the tale that they wrote. "You asked Marcel if he's a stalker?" I tap my index finger to count the first offense. "You asked if he's been arrested." I scoff and shake my head in disbelief of their passive expressions. Ella is literally throwing me with her dull stare. "You had the audacity to ask if he's filling a void with me?" I hold up my third finger. "How disrespectful and foul of you two?" Rebuking, I throw a finger at them.
As Ella is grabbing the plastic forks and spoons from the paper bag, she defends her actions, "It's not that foul when you're just looking out for a friend."
"We're not from here, Angel. We're being cautious." Lana draws up her defense.
"You don't do that to a person you don't know!"
"You don't know him!" Ella drops what's she's doing to give the same attitude I'm providing her. Oh, you're offended? "You've only known of him for 4 months."
"You've only hung out at the coffee shop." Lana assumes.
"For like 10 minutes, maybe 2 times a week." Ella throws up a confused palm as she shares an amused mug with Lana.
"If that." Lana comments, now totally under Ella's wing. Do you see what I mean?
"Thank you for telling me about my life!" I grab the chair with both hands, sinking my nails into it as controlled rage fills my voice.
"Come on, Angel." A scoff passes Lana's smirk. "The way he looks at you is weird for a guy that has only spoken to you a total of 10 times."
This is why I will never tell them anything. There's no point in getting upset. I know they'll never get it. I'm never bringing his name up in this house again.
"He was offended by you." Although I'm boiling over, I speak calmly. "Are you going to do this with every guy I breathe on? Your overstepping is not only disrespectful to Marcel, but it's disrespectful to me. I'm very embarrassed." I wait for my feelings to be taken into consideration and an apology.
"Why are we at each others' necks about this one guy?" Ella asks.
"We wouldn't be having this conversation if you didn't sniff him out."
"We wanted to see what he was about." Lana opens both hands as she shrugs her innocent shoulders.
My eyes flicker a couple of times, flipping through the pages of the mental book, COMMON SENSE AND LOGIC!
"Yes, because if two strange men came up and interrogated me about one of you, I would tell them everything." Sarcasm drips off my words. "I didn't even ask Marcel how he answered your questions. All he did was give you a couple of looks and smile. Being the gentlemen that he is, he excused himself after the void question. Am I right?" I wait, eyeing them both.
Finally coming to terms with their invasive behavior, they sheepishly gaze at each other. My work here is done.
"Thanks for dinner, but I'm not hungry." I wrench my purse and head for a hot shower.
"I told you it wasn't a good idea. You always get her mad at both of us." I hear Lana.
Ella shuts her down as I hear her raid the food-filled bag. "Shut up. Your ass still went."