Jenny
Jenny had forgotten that Mark was there until he cleared his throat next to her. He had stood up and was leaning against the wall, watching her with an amused grin playing on his lips.
“Dare I ask what that was about?”
Jenny stood up and brushed the dust off her pants. “What are you talking about?”
Mark pushed himself off the wall. “Oh, come on now. Don’t play dumb with me. You’re trying to teach her to be a feminist, at her age.”
Jenny faced his gaze directly. “Women ARE just as strong as women, and I don’t want society’s labels confining her.”
Mark held his hands up in mock surrender. “Easy there, Rocky. I never said she should be limited, but don’t you think it’s a bit early?”
Jenny cocked her head to the side. “No, it’s not early. Besides I just asked her what she wanted to be, and we got to talking, she’s the one who came up with that, not me. I wish I had though.”
Mark chuckled. “So you want me to believe that a seven-year-old is the ring leader of your little feminist cult?”
Jenny shot him an amused glance. “First of all, it was her idea. Second, she is not a ring leader and third, this isn’t a feminist cult,” she used air quotes for the last thing, and as they made their way outside the children’s ward, they began to walk brusquely down the corridors, heading nowhere in particular.
“It’s not a cult to want to fight for basic human rights, rights that men take for granted I might add,” she responded, trying to keep the curtness out of her voice. Of course he’d be glib about something like this. He was a privileged white male, he didn’t know what it was like for other people.
“I’m not just talking about women, I’m talking about other men too. Men who aren’t white.”
“Whoa, hey, what? Feminism is a feminist movement.”
Jenny abruptly stopped in her tracks, causing Mark to slam into her back. She wheeled around to face him. “Actually that’s a common misconception. It may have started out as a feminist movement, but it’s grown to encompass so much more than that-now it’s about equal rights for everyone.”
Mark paused. “But isn’t feminism basically women thinking they are better than everyone else?”
Jenny laughed. “No, that’s just extremism. Every movement has its fanatics, and feminism is no different. No, that isn’t the true essence of feminism.”
Mark considered this carefully. “I didn’t know that.” He eyed her for a minute before continuing. “Can we continue this inside your office? I’d like to discuss making a donation for the children.”
A delighted smile lit up Jenny’s face as she gestured for him to follow her. They made their way down the hallway and stopped outside her office. Jenny opened the door and groped for the light switch as they sat down opposite each other.
For the next fifteen minutes they discussed how much money he wanted to donate, what he wanted to be done with it and possible alternatives. He actually had a lot of great ideas, and he knew exactly how to maximize the potential of the sum that they were getting. He promised he’d tell his friends about donations as well.
Jenny leaned back in her chair and smiled at him, wondering why it seemed like there were two different sides to this man.
Mark reached into his wallet and took out a cheque which he filled out before handing it to her.
“Thank you. This really does mean a lot to the kids,” she responded as she opened the top drawer and placed it there, fully intending on presenting it to the board later to show them that it wasn’t so hopeless after all. The kids would be so happy too.
“I wanted to ask you something,” Mark said finally a while later as he stood up before strolling towards her.
“Sure.” Jenny said, evenly wondering what he was up to.
“Do you ever think about that night?”
All the time she thought to herself. “Sometimes,” she offered as she watched him move closer.
“I think about it a lot, I usually don’t sleep with the same woman twice, but you-” He dropped his voice and leaned in, so his face was right in front of hers. “You I’d make an exception for.”
“Um, well I-” He brought a finger up to her lips. “Shh,” he said as he began to trace her lower lip. “Don’t over think it, just say yes.”
“I don’t think I should,” she forced out as she tried to keep her senses about her.
“Why not?” He took her hand and began to kiss it gently, making his way up her arm causing her breathing to become labored.
“Because we want different things.”
Mark shrugged as he began to nibble on her neck. “For one night, we don’t have to.”
“I, don’t-oh,” her eyelids fluttered closed as he began to nibble on her ear causing her to grip the arm rest tighter.
“Try saying yes,” he murmured into her ear as he began kissing the very sensitive vein in her neck. Jenny shuddered helplessly as her mind began to scramble to remind her why she shouldn’t indulge.
Her hands came up to wrap themselves around his neck, completely of their own accord, and her traitorous body began to respond to his touch as she waged her inner battle.
“I never did forget the color of your hair,” he murmured as he twirled a lose strand between his thumb and forefinger. “The color of a fading sunset.”
Jenny had always hated her hair, but somehow he made her feel like it was glorious. One hand began to make idle patterns on her neck while the other rested on the small of her back doing the same.
One of her hands ventured down over the slope of his back and rested just above his hips. Her fingers hovered over the edge of his shirt before they snaked their way underneath.
He shuddered at her touch before capturing his lips with hers. She quietly moaned in the back of her throat as he gently kicked her legs open and stood in between them. She pushed herself closer as she felt that fire that had consumed her 5 years ago begin to rage once more.
“Mark,” she whimpered, as she clutched a fistful of his shirt when he began an assault on her breasts. Suddenly her eyes snapped open, and she pushed him off.
Mark stumbled back in surprise and eyed her warily. “Did I do something wrong?”
Jenny ran her hands through her hair as she tried to reel her hormones back in. “No, you didn’t, but listen. There’s something I have to tell you.”
Mark nodded for her to continue.
“The truth is that night you and I slept together 5 years ago, something happened, something you don’t know anything about, mostly because I didn’t know your name back then, and when I did find out who you were, I saw what kind of life you led, and I figured you wouldn’t want to know.”
“I don’t understand.”
Jenny gave him a sad smile. “No, of course you wouldn’t. I suppose it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense when you put it like that. The truth is nine months after we slept together, I gave birth.”
Mark reeled back as if he’d been slapped, his face turned white as he balled his hands into fists. “You what?”
“I gave birth,” she repeated. She eyed him carefully as she wondered if he was going to have some sort of panic attack. Mark plopped down onto the floor and stared up at her in a daze. “You gave birth,” he repeated as if he couldn’t quite believe his ears.
“To a beautiful baby boy. He’s amazing, Mark, and I wished you could meet him. Be a part of his life, but I never did find out your last name, and I didn’t have much to go on, so I raised him on my own until I saw you on TV a few months ago, I wasn’t sure, but once you came here, I knew it was you.”
Mark grew even paler. “Are you sure he’s mine?” he finally asked.
“Yes, he looks exactly like you.” Jenny gestured to the picture on her desk. Mark looked at it, studying it intently for a minute or two. “What’s his name?”
“His name is Noah.”
Mark stood up abruptly and began pacing the room. He’d stop every so often to stare at Jenny looking like he wanted to say something before he’d stop and begin the cycle all over again.
Finally, he opened the door. “I need to get out of here,” he mumbled as the door slammed shut behind him.
Jenny stared at the door in dismay wondering what on earth had possessed her to tell him at a moment like this. She should’ve planned it better, but now he was gone, and it was probably too late.