章 62: THAT TWENTY SIXTH OF DECEMBER
Lily and Marcus
LILY'S POV
'I can't say I understand what has been going on. I have just been going with the flow and though I hate to admit it to myself, this flow has been one of the smoothest, sweetest flows of my life. In fact, it is not one of them, it is the second. The first is the moments I spent with my mum. Marcus has been everything I never saw him as five months ago and I keep asking myself how blind I was not to have noticed the level of goodness that resided in him. Immediately school resumed and we came back to school. I must admit that things were quite awkward between the two of us, with neither of us talking about…the twenty sixth of December.
The little things have suddenly mattered more to me. Marcus' smile, the little creases of confusion that appears on his forehead whenever he was angry or befuddled about a particular situation. Martha, Marcus and I had agreed to meet at our favourite diner on the third day of school's resumption. I had sincerely dressed to impress that day…to impress Marcus Ranks. I wanted to do too much and I did not want to also do too much. Martha had chosen my outfit a d it was like she could tell that I wanted something very different from my usual tomboy self. Luckily, I found a yellow and brown floral skirt that reached my mid thigh and I wore a black turtle neck that did not still fully go into the skirt and showed like a line of my belly. I wore matching black calf boots and combed my hair down. Martha helped me with a side parting that fit me perfectly and I accessorized with a small silver necklace that had an half moon pendant and a matching pair of silver stud earrings. Marcus was on his usual white polo shirt, a plain black trouser, a black jean jacket and a pair of white sneakers but he looked more outstanding and handsome as we met that evening. It seemed like he had done something extra with his hair as his hair glossed and had been trimmed a little. As we ordered what we wanted, we began to make small talk but along the line, Martha said she had to be somewhere and that we should carry on without her. I felt like she was trying to get Marcus and I alone because she has been asking me if we are now together. When she left, Marcus and I kept side glancing at each other as we seemed to have more interest in our drinks. The silence was awkward but not uncomfortable. It was like the both of us liked to be in each other's presence.
"Would you like to get out of this place? It's seeming like a graveyard to me already?" Marcus asked.
"Leave? To where?" I asked.
"Let's go. I have somewhere I have been meaning to show you"
As we stood up to leave, I was trying to come out from my chair when the waiter and I crashed into each other and the remaining contents of drinks that a table had, spilled on my black half cut turtleneck.
"You should look at where you are going, young man. Just take a look at the mess you just made! She could have gotten really hurt" Marcus yelled at the waiter. I could not even focus on the fact that my bralette and top were soaked but at the fact that Marcus was shouting at the waiter. It was clearly a mistake!
Turning to face me, he asked, "Are you alright? Are you not hurt in any way?"
I looked at him quite stunned as I was tongue tied.
This is liquid, how could I possibly get hurt. He gave the waiter the stink eye and took tissue paper from the table and handed it over to me.
"You may leave" I told the waiter who was still standing there rather frightened out of his mind.
He scurried away and the eyes of those the little display had attracted went away. I was so grateful for that. Martha had told us before leaving the har she had paid for what we ate and there was no reason for us to remain in and as such, we headed out.
As I pushed open the door to the diner, a black jacket was draped over my shoulders and I looked at who was doing the 'draping' and it was Marcus.
"Your cloth is a bit revealing!" Marcus said. I looked at my chest and behold the wet patch at the front covered my breast area and my bralette as well as a good part of my boobs were quite visible. It was only really visible if you were standing before me since the cloth is black.
"Oh thanks! Though I don't think there is need for this" I said, a little still mad at him for clearly overreacting to something he was never supposed to.
"There is a need! Just keep it on you. There is an edge to your voice that is not the least welcoming, are you mad at something or me?"
"I do not really know but I guess I am mad at you!"
"Mad at me? For what? What did I do wrong?"
"You clearly over reacted and scared the living daylight out of that young boy"
"You mean the waiter?" Marcus asked.
"Yes, I mean the waiter," I said, crossing my hands before my chest.
"What do you mean Lily? He could have hurt you if what he was carrying was glass? Should I have waited till what he was carrying was glass before I scolded him?"
"But it was not glass. What if it was glass? What would have happened then?"
There was like two seconds of silence as we stared at each other before Marcus said slowly, "then it would not have ended in a scolding. He could have been getting some pretty lashes by now. But my oh my, it seems you are the one who needs the pretty lashes on that pretty little behind of yours. You must be the first girl in history to get mad that someone was trying to defend you"
Lashes? On my pretty behind? What does he even mean by my pretty behind?
At that moment, I shivered at the look in his eyes and I cooed into the jacket.
"I…I think we should start going to where you suggested" I said and began to walk away. I feared that I would not be able to stand properly before him looking at me like that. I headed for his car as I heard his steps behind me.
I was not paying attention to my surroundings as my brain was still mushy and fuzzy because of how close I was to Marcus a second ago. I did not notice a scooter that was scooting across the parking lodge and I almost got hit. Was saved by the pulling back of Marcus' strong hand and I fell into his other hand.
Looking up to him after half yelling, I said "thank you"
How was it that I became a completely different person around Marcus Ranks? The strong, able bodied and sufficient woman in me dies whenever I am with him and in its stead is a clumsy and bickering woman. I stood up and straightened Marcus' jacket on me without looking at Marcus.
"I guess I am not feeling too well today" I said, desperately trying to make an excuse on why I had been in such a child like state. He possibly could not see me in that light. He should please never see me that way.
Without another word, Marcus bent down and lifted me to his shoulder.
"What the fuck? Where do you happen to go carrying something like that? I command that put me down this instant Marcus Ranks!" I yelled.
"You said you do not like public attention to yourself and I have no plans on putting you down till I get to my car as you said you are not really feeling well, so I humbly suggest you stop shouting" Marcus said and gave my back thigh a little pat. His hand was so close to my ass and it would have taken nothing for his hand to make contact with my ass. Staring at the moving floor, I took in a deep breath as I wondered what was happening. How did my excuse which I thought was smooth by the way, land me on Marcus' shoulder. He opened the door to his car and like I was a babe that weighed little he placed me on the shotgun seat and helped me fix the seat belt across my chest.
"You should not feel uncomfortable when someone is taking care of you Lily. Relax and loosen up! It is still me, the Marcus Ranks you usually smack on the head" Marcus said, fanning his minty breath all over my face due to his proximity. The door to the car was still open and his hands were either side of me.
"Smack? When did I ever do that?" I asked surprised that I could have done something like that.
"Funny you! Now you seem to have forgotten how you would smack the back of my head so hard, I would almost lose my self control. Let's just assume you do not know" Marcus said and he stood up, causing the normal air to replace his cologne that was engulfing me in a soothing comfort. He walked to the other side of the door and soon his car took off, to the direction of a game house.
"Should I take you home or I should continue taking you to where I want?" Marcus asked.
"I'm good and not all that sick. You can take me to wherever you want" I said, hoping I did not sound like a fool and hoping that Marcus had not read through me and my lie. Whether he did, he said nothing and turned on the radio.
When we got to the game house, I was so excited he took me there. As a child,I had always wanted to come with my parents to this place I saw parents take their children to but I just could not. When I was a child, I was fucked up and not allowed to enjoy the little things in life that brought genuine joy and smiles.
"I don't know if you would like it here and if you don't, do not hesitate to…"
"I love it here" I exclaimed as I ran inside. I caught a glimpse of the smile that crept on his face because of how excited I was. It felt nice to see someone happy because I am happy.
My eyes first caught the toy gun game used to shoot at different coloured triangles. I wanted to do it myself but I did not want to give him the idea that I was good with guns. He shot the first time and failed, the second time he got it and he won a small teddy bear. I still wanted the bigger one and was not satisfied with the small one. Why? Because the big one had the initials M.R. boldly written at its front and I related it to Marcus' names - Marcus Ranks.
He noticed how I still wanted to linger in that booth and when he asked my reason, I pointed at the biggest teddy bear there. He gave me the gun to try if I could hit the triangle for the teddy bear. I purposely did not get it and kept shooting like a novice. He collected it and shot for a while also but still did not win it. He had one chance left since he had used so many chances and I told him to give me the chance.
"You have not been able to hit any triangle at all Lily. I have been hitting the triangles but just not the triangle of your choice. Alright, here you go" Marcus said as he handed me the rusty toy gun.
Acting like I was fidgeting a little, I held the gun, positioned myself. I'm the worst way anyone that wants to shoot can and then, I shot.
Of course, it hit the freaking triangle that I wanted and I got the teddy bear of my choice.
Marcus clapped for me and looked quite surprised because the triangle for that teddy bear was made to be the smallest so people would not be able to hit it easily.
Well, I was not just anyone, I was a passive high ranking combatant of one of the most dangerous societies in the world.
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