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"It'll be ready in about ten minutes!" Rain yelled from the kitchen.
"Okay." Mark replied from the living room. They had been at her house for about an hour and a half and those were basically the first words Rain had spoken to him. Mark could tell that Rain was still wrestling with her decision to bring him home with her...still wondering if she had made a mistake, so Mark left her alone in the kitchen to cook and began to watch TV. He wanted to stay out if Rain's way as much as possible and stay in her good graces. Mark took a long swig from his beer and walked over to the window. Darkness had set in not too long ago and a light snow/ice mixture was falling, dusting the ground, houses, and cars. Mark moved away from the window and glanced around the room. Rain had beautifully decorated the room for the coming Christmas holiday. The Christmas tree sat in the corner of the room, its branches decked with frosted glass ornaments and white Christmas lights. Many candles were located throughout the room in the traditional green and red holiday colors along with other holiday knick knacks. As Mark examined the room more closely, the first thing he noticed was the lack of pictures of family or friends on the walls or any of the end or coffee tables. Mark soon found his original assumption to be wrong when the mantle of the fireplace came into his view.
There were only a few pictures resting on the mantle, five to be exact as he moved closer. There was a picture of Micheal and a picture of Rain's cat and dogs, but the last three pictures really held Mark's attention. One picture was taken of a group of teenagers, three girls and two boys including Rain. The picture had to have been taken before whatever scarred Rain because her face was flawless and perfect. Rain almost looked like a different person. Her eyes were full of laughter, happiness, and an eagerness to see what the future held for her. Her face was radiant and she was extremely beautiful, even as a teenager. Those eyes were now replaced with ones which were distrustful, unhappy, expectant of the worst, and tired...tired of what life kept throwing at her, tired of always having to be strong.
The next picture was of Rain and an older couple. Once again, the picture was taken before the event which left Rain scarred. Mark guessed the couple was Rain's parents and everyone in the picture looked very happy...it looked like your typical family portrait.
Mark did a double take when he saw the last picture. The woman in the picture looked exactly like Rain, and if he wouldn't have seen that it was an older picture, Mark would have sworn it WAS Rain. Mark found himself lost in those familar icy blue pools, and he wanted to know more about her. Who was she? How was she related to Rain? Mark glanced at the frame which held the picture. It was an elegantly sculptured pewter frame which was the centerpiece of the mantle and of the five pictures. Mark could tell the person in the picture was very important to Rain because of its placement and the fact that the other pictures were held in relatively simple frames.
"It's ready of you are." Rain remarked from behind him. Mark nearly jumped out of his skin. He slowly turned around with a look on his face that resembled one you would have if your hand was caught in the cookie jar. If Rain was upset with him for looking at a part of her past, she showed no sign of it. Mark nodded his head and started towards the kitchen after Rain.
As Mark sat down at the table, Rain went about preparing their plates. Mark turned his attention briefly to the weather, which was starting to get worse. ~I may have problems getting home if this keeps up~. He momentarily thought about cutting the evening short, but decided against it, not wanting to end his evening just yet. Maybe she would actually open up to him, maybe they COULD become friends...just the possibility of this was worth waiting and staying with Rain instead of heading home like he should have. Mark chuckled to himself. ~Man! You have it bad...for a woman who probably wants nothing to do with you, or at least not in the way you do. But first, worry about becoming her friend~.
"Here you go." Rain's voice pulled him from his thoughts. "I hope you like quesidillas."
"As a matter of fact I do." Mark replied with a smile. He looked down at his plate and couldn't contain the laugh that escaped...Rain had given him four quesidillas to eat. "Do I look like I'm a little on the thin side?"
"Well no, but I figured someone of your size ate more than the average person." Rain looked at him with a sheepish smile. "Did I make the wrong assumption?"
"Probably not. I may end up eating more than this because I didn't eat that much for lunch."
"Do you want another beer?"
"Thanks, that would be nice." Rain pulled a beer out of the fridge and handed it to Mark. She then sat down across from him and they both began to eat.
Several minutes of silence passed as Rain and Mark ate their dinner. Mark tried to think of ways to get a conversation started but none came to mind. He knew asking everyday questions such as where are you from, what kind of things do you like to do, what are your interests would more than likely not be answered by Rain...and they may have made Rain mad enough to kick him out and blow any chance of getting close to her. Rain was also toying with ways to begin a conversation to break the silence herself. ~You invite him to your home for dinner and then you barely say two words of meaningful conversation to him? Be brave for once in your life and just talk to him! It'll make it easier to apologize to him later~.
"So Mark, what do you do for a living?"
"I own a motorcycle repair shop not too far from here."
Rain slowly nodded her head. "I could see that. You look like a motorcycle kind of person."
"Oh I do?" Mark asked with a grin. "Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"
"It's not a bad thing. I could just see you as the dark, silent, tough type of guy, riding around all dressed in black on a bike. The type you usually see in the biker movies." Rain stopped and looked down, blushing to her very core. ~Geez, did that sound corny or what? I can't believe I actually said that outloud, and to his face~.
"Nothing like a good stereotype, huh?"
"I didn't mean it in a bad way. As stupid as that sounded it was the first thing that popped in my mind." Rain replied and gave a small laugh." Do you actually want to know what I thought when I first saw you...this is gonna make you laugh."
"Probably wasn't that great."
"I thought you were demonic."
Mark raised his eyebrow and gave Rain an amused look. "Demonic? That's one I haven't been called before. Maybe that's why mothers pull their children closer when I walk by."
"They usually just stare at me." Rain remarked as she finished her last bite.
"You know what I thought when I first saw you...or at least when I was actually able to look at your face directly and not through a rear view mirror?" Mark asked.
"You thought the same thing every other person in the world does...what a poor, pitiful woman. She has to walk around looking like a freak and a monster."
"I didn't think that at all. I thought ‘What a beautiful woman she is'." Mark said as held her eyes.
There was that word again, the word she hated more than anything. Rain looked down at her plate and stood up. "I need to clean this up." She picked up her and Mark's plates and walked over to the sink. When she was finished, she turned around to see Mark still looking at her.
"What!" Rain exclaimed.
"You don't believe me, do you?"
"It's not that I don't believe you, I just can't." Rain said softly. "But I do find it hard to believe that you would find this freak of a person anything close to beautiful."
"Well I do...and I'd like a chance to get to know you better, to become your friend if that's even likely and see what happens from there." Mark said as he stood up and walked towards her. "I'm going to be completely honest with you. I hope that something more DOES happen. There's something about you that won't let me walk away. You'd think I would have learned my lesson after you chewed my head off and handed it back to me on a silver platter, but I guess I'm a hard learner."
"I apologize for that, Mark. I shouldn't have yelled at you like that. I had reached my boiling point and unfortunately you were the first person I saw and you received all of my anger." Rain said.
"It was partly my fault. I shouldn't have pushed so hard. I just want to know more about you, I want to know who you are."
"But why? Why are you so insistent on this? I can't find one interesting thing about me that would make you want to know me."
"You shouldn't underestimate yourself like that. I can't tell you why I'm so determined...I just am." Mark reached up and gently moved a couple of strands of hair that had fallen into Rain's face.
"Don't." Rain whispered and turned towards the sink.
"Whatever happened to you, it must have been very painful to make you afraid of people getting close. To make it second nature to push everybody away."
Rain whipped her head around. "You don't know nor could you possibly understand half of the pain I've endured in my life."
"I'm sorry that I've upset you yet again. Well I should be heading home." Mark backed away from her, but Rain's hand on his arm stopped him.
"You can't leave. The roads have iced over and it's not safe to drive."
"Don't worry, I've driven in weather like this before." Mark tried to assure her. He was very surprised that she was showing any concern for him.
"That doesn't matter...you've been drinking also."
"I've only had two beers...that's nothing to me. I've driven home before after drinking that much before." Mark started to touch his nose with one finger after another like you do when you're stopped by the police. "And look, all my motor skills are still intact."
"Don't mock me." Rain said as she narrowed her eyes. "You shouldn't drive in this weather especially if you've been drinking...EVEN if you've only had one beer. And I'll tell you one more thing. Any chance of us being friends is gone as soon as you step ONE foot out of this house!"
Mark could see just how serious she was about him not leaving. "Okay, I guess I'm staying here for the night."
Rain took a couple of deep breaths, relieved he had decided to stay. "I'm...I'm going to make some hot chocolate. Do you want any?"
"No thank you. I'll be in the living room." With that, Mark walked out of the kitchen.
Rain slowly stirred her hot chocolate, the aroma of raspberries calming her very strained nerves from her conversation with Mark. ~I can't believe he was going to actually drive in this weather after drinking!~ If there was one thing Rain strongly believed in, it was not to mix alcohol with driving. It never ceased to amaze her how stupid people could be when all you had to was pick up the phone and call a friend or a cab. Rain siliently hoped that she hadn't let Mark in on too much...that he wasn’t going to start asking questions. Picking up her mug, Rain headed into the living room to talk with Mark.
Mark was sitting on the couch also thinking about what had happened. Some pieces of the puzzle were falling into place, some things were beginning to make sense...Mark guessed that a drunk driver had something to do with the scars on Rain's body, and also with the pain Rain endured everyday. ~I bet I looked like a fool, standing there and touching your nose like it was a big joke. I'm surprised she didn't slap you then and there~. Mark turned his attention to Rain when he heard her walking in the rrom. She sat down on the opposite side of the couch and looked at Mark.
"It seems like everytime we are in the same room, I end up getting upset, you end up apologizing, and then I end up apologizing because I was too quick in becoming upset. So I say we try something different tonight since we're kinda stuck here. Why don't we try to make it through the night without arguing or having a reason to apologize?" Rain asked.
"Deal." Mark replied with a smile.
"Good. So...tell me a little about yourself, Mark."
"Nothing much to tell." Mark said. "I'm from Texas, where my mom and dad still live. I also have a sister who lives not too far from my parents."
"How long have you owned your own shop?"
"About ten years. I moved my business from Texas here because I was ready to get out of that state. There are some bad memories there."
~So, I'm not the only one with secrets~ Rain thought. "I didn't notice any bikes around when I was at Micheal's. Do you own any?"
"I own two bikes. They're still in storage because I didn't have a place to put them while I was living in the apartment." Mark answered. "Have you ever been on one?"
"No...they don't look safe to me." Rain answered as she sipped her drink.
"You should come with me sometime when the weather gets better. It's indescribable...I can't tell you how great it feels. It's something you have to experience for yourself."
"I think I'll just stick to my nice, safe car."
"The offer will still be there if you happen to change you mind."
"Any other interests besides motorcycles?"
Mark shrugged his shoulders. "Playing pool, listening to music, getting tattoos...I'm beginning to feel like I'm filling out a personal add here."
"Just want to find out a couple of things." Rain replied. "Did you say 'getting tattoos'? You have tattoos?"
Mark couldn't help but to look at Rain as if she were crazy. The first thing EVERYBODY noticed about him was his tattoos. But as Mark thought about it, the majority of the time when he had been around Rain, he had worn a log-sleeved shirt or Rain was ignoring him...so it could have been possible for her to have never seen his arms. Mark moved to the edge of the couch and started to take his shirt off.
Rain looked at him wide-eyed. "What are you..." She stopped when she saw he was wearing a muscle shirt underneath his sweater. Rain moved closer to look at the artwork which graced pratically every inch of both his arms. "I guess the obvious answer to my previous question is yes, you have a few tattoos. This must explain the look you just gave me."
"I do have to say it's the first time anybody has asked me if I have any."
Rain was now sitting very close to Mark, admiring the work he had collected. Without even thinking about it, Rain ran her fingertips over Mark's right arm, tracing demons, skeletons, and skulls. The irony of the situation didn't even hit Rain...sitting this close to someone she didn't really know, running her fingers over his arms. This man was causing her to break many rules which she had set for herself.
"Do they have any meaning behind them or are you just really into death?" Rain asked as she moved her attention to Mark's left arm. Mark didn't answer right away...he was too busy looking at her. He breathed in the smell of Rain's berry lotion and the fragrance of her shampoo. Rain's hair brushed up against his arm and Mark found it to be as soft as it looked. He had to fight the urge to run his fingers through it.
"Did you hear me, Mark?" Rain asked. Mark looked up to see her looking at him.
"Mark gave her a small smile. "I...uh...I sorta got...sidetracked. What did you say?"
"I asked if your tattoos had any meaning behind them or if you're really into death." Rain repeated.
"There's a story behind every one of them, but I won't bore you with it."
"No...go ahead. I'd be very interested in hearing about them." Mark looked at Rain and saw how genuinely interested she was...most women didn't care to know why he had gotten them, summing it up to some freaky hobby...so Mark spent the next thirty minutes explaining to Rain why he had gotten that particular tattoo and why it was important to him. As Rain listened to Mark's tale, she felt a smile spread across her face. He was very entertaining storyteller and very interesting to listen to. Once he had finished, Rain laughed and shook her head. "If the tattoo industry ever needs a spokesperson, you would be a good candidate."
"As far as things I like to talk about go, this ranks up there with motorcycles." Mark replied. "So what about you? We've been talking about me for a while now and I'm sure you've had enough of that, so let's talk about you. What are you interests, likes, and dislikes?"
This was the part Rain was dreading, she knew she couldn't stall him anymore. ~Well, it's not like I have to tell him my life story or anything like that~. Rain was about to start talking when the phone began to ring. ~Saved by the bell~ Rain thought with a sigh. She stood up, walked into the kitchen, and answered the phone.
"I wanted to make sure you were home safe. The roads are getting worse by the minut, and it seems like everytime I turn on the TV or the radio there's another accident to report." Micheal said after exchanging hellos.
"I got in before it really started coming down." Rain replied.
"At least I know that you're okay...I can't say the same thing for my roommate, though. Mark went out to get something to drink about a couple of hours ago and I haven't heard from him since." Micheal said. "I don't think it should have taken this long. I hope he's okay and not one of these accidents I'm hearing about."
"Oh, he's okay...he's sitting in my living room as we speak, actually."
"Mark is there?" Micheal asked...shocked not quite being the word to describe how he felt.
"I ran into him at the grocery store and invited him here for dinner as a way of apologizing to him."
"Wonders never cease with you."
"We've been talking and I guess we lost track of time. He was going to leave about half an hour ago, but I wouldn't let him.”
Everything made sense to Micheal after Rain made that statement. "Mark's been drinking."
"Yeah, and I didn't want anything to happen to him. I wouldn't have been able to forgive myself if he had hurt himself and I had the chance to keep him here and didn't."
"Let me talk to him." Micheal said. Rain motioned Mark over to the kitchen and handed him the phone, telling him that Micheal was on the other end. As Mark proceeded to talk to Micheal, Rain went back into the living room and sat down on the couch. She looked through the sheer curtains that were covering her front window and took in the view of her front yard. The snow was falling steadily now and a nice, thick blanket was covering the yard, street, and driveway. As Rain was gazing at the snow, Gus jumped into her lap and urged her, well actually insisted that she pet him. Rain scratched his neck and behind his ears without even looking down at Gus. She must have been sitting there for a while because the next thing she knew, Mark was sitting on the couch again...Rain hadn't even felt the couch move when Mark sat down.
"How long have you been there?" Rain asked with a crooked smile.
"Not that long. You looked very content sitting there and I didn't want to bother you." Mark answered.
"What did Micheal have to say?"
"That I’d better be on my best behavior or else."
Rain laughed and looked out the window again. "This has to be my most favorite time of the year. Who knows how many times I've spent sitting by a window watching the snow fall while drinking a cup of hot chocolate. I think it's the most beautiful time of the year."
"We never had that many snowfalls in Texas." Mark replied. "I didn't think it snowed here that often."
"It doesn't...it actually ices more often than it snows here. I was talking about another place. I'm not originally from Tennessee."
"Where are you from?"
"I'm not from here." Rain repeated as she looked at him. Her expression dared him to press the matter further. Taking that cue, Mark asked nothing else. "This is why I always loved Christmas...the snow, Christmas decorations, Christmas music, even when I was a kid. I liked the atmosphere of the holiday more that the presents...though presents weren't a bad thing."
"I was the complete opposite when I was younger. I liked the presents more...the more presents the better. I was a greedy little kid." Mark said with a devilish grin.
Rain shook her head and smiled. "For some reason, that doesn't surprise." Suddenly feeling restless, Rain moved Gus off of her lap and stood up. Gus gave her a look that said said 'How dare you move me' and settled onto Mark's lap, purring softly. Mark ran his hand through Gus' white and black fur and Gus purred his appreciation, rubbing his face against Mark's hand. "I'm tired of sitting around. We're gonna do what I did when I got snowed in."
"And what's that?" Mark asked curiously.
"Play Monopoly."
"Monopoly? I haven't played that game in years."
"Good...then I'll have no problem beating you then." Rain remarked as she left the room to get the game. Mark stared after her with a big smile on his face.
"My we have a high opinion of ourselves." Mark said when she came back into the room. Rain plopped down on the floor and began to set up the game.
"Well, I'm that good and you're about to find out just how good."
"It may have been a while since I've played, but I wouldn't be so quick to write me off...I bet I'll give you a run for your money." Mark challenged.
"Come on down here and put your money where your mouth is." Rain challenged back. Mark promptly sat himself down on the floor, taking Gus along with him.
"Let's play."
Rain and Mark spent the entire night playing Monopoly, and Mark was true to his word, playing head to head with Rain. Rain had turned on the stereo, programmed with holiday music of course, after they had been playing for an hour, and when she wasn't singing along, Rain actually shared a little more about herself with Mark. She told him of things that interested her such as reading, music, playing with her dogs, and just taking long drives to nowhere in particular. Nothing too personal was divulged, but it didn't matter that much to Mark...he was getting the chance to learn something about Rain. They had probably been playing for close to four hours when Rain landed on one of Mark's properties. She looked down and saw she had no money left and Mark had taken all her properties about ten minutes ago. Rain hung her head and started laughing...he had beaten her. ~Guess I shouldn't have gloated like I did~. Slowly raising her head, Rain looked at a gloating Mark...a smile as big as the state he was from on his face.
"Looks like the master just got taught." Mark sneered.
"You were lucky." Rain quickly said.
"Lucky??"
"Uh-huh...you were just lucky. I'll get you next time." Rain said as she packed the game away.
"Are we a sore loser?" Mark teased.
"No, but be warned...you're on my hit list right now."
"Ohhh....you've scared me now." Mark said. Rain gave her best intimidating look and stood up.
"The guest room is the second door on the right. If you need any more blankets, they're in the closet across the hall."
"Thanks." Mark said as he stood at stretched. "For a fun evening...and goodnight."
"Goodnight." Rain replied as he walked away. Rain quickly cleaned up and turned the stereo and Christmas lights off. She picked Gus up off the couch and started towards her room, stealing a glance into the guest room. What she saw made her stop and giggle. Mark was sprawled out on the bed with his arm around Ginger to his left and Sasha resting her head on his stomach to his right. Rain could hear him softly snoring in the hallway...he must have fallen asleep the second his head hit the pillow.
"I guess Sasha and Ginger have made up their minds about liking Mark." Rain whispered to Gus. "So what about you, Gus. Do you like him also?" Gus rubbed his face against Rain's, as if he was saying yes. "I'll take that as a yes." Rain chuckled. "Looks like its unanimous. He does seem to be a nice guy...just like Micheal said he was. Guess that'll teach me to never say never...it has a way of coming back and bitting you on the butt."
Rain took one last look at Mark and turned to her room.