GRACE

 

 

Most men, at the age of forty-five, I wasn’t interested in, but there was something about Markus Giovanni. He was so powerful, in both form and mind.  The way he looked at me made me feel things I had never felt before.

I couldn’t let him think I was interested though. He was way too old for me, plus I was a virgin, and I wasn’t going to give it up to someone my father’s age.

It did make my heart beat faster the way he was with Molly. He seemed genuinely worried about her, and whether she would lose her job with us. It just sucked that he was so handsome; with his clean-shaven jaw, and slight amount of scruff, black hair to his collar with silver strands throughout, and light blue eyes. 

Stop it, Grace, I scolded myself. His being so forceful with my father was such a turn on for me. Would he be like that with me? Stop. Bad girl.  A shiver overtook me and my breath caught in my throat at what I was thinking.  No way.

“Grace, what do you have planned now?” Markus’ resonating voice gave me more shivers, and I gave a slight gasp as butterflies filled my stomach.

Keep your mind on what you are going to do later. What was that?  Oh, yeah––lunch.

“Lunch. Early lunch.” Where are my brain cells? I think I lost them.

“Good. I’m hungry as well. Was in such a hurry, I didn’t have breakfast. So, where’s good to eat?” His attitude had completely changed. Markus was suddenly happy and enthusiastic. I was confused, and that wasn’t a good look for me.

“Hmmm. Ok––we can go to lunch, and you can tell me about your life in Italy and what it’s like.” I was hopeful we could keep this lunch on a family or friend level. Uh huh.

“Sounds great, kid.” Markus had a mischievous glint to his eye when he finished the word ‘kid’.

“Sounds great, old man.” I could give as good as I got. I lifted my stubborn chin to show I wouldn’t cow tow to any man. Not even my father.

Markus smirked when I said old man. “So, where too?”

“It depends upon what do you want? Fancy, rich man food, burgers and fries, or sandwiches?”

Markus raised his blue eyes to the ceiling and pursed his luscious lips, rubbing a hand over the dark brown scruff on his chin as he thought. He looked back at me with an ‘ah ha’ smile, brightening his strong face. “Sandwiches––deli food.” The last two words were said with such reverence.

I almost burst out laughing, but instead snorted. We were both startled silent for a moment.  Suddenly, we both broke into laughter as we walked to the elevators.

This felt good. It reminded me that he was family.  

We were silent during our ride down, both listening to the elevator music.  I think it was Good to You by…I can’t remember.

***

The deli was so close, we walked, even with the light drizzle coming down. The light amount of moisture felt so good against my overheated skin, that I stopped walking, and raised my face with my eyes closed to the grey sky.

I opened my eyes to Markus leaning over me, so close I could see a darker blue tint to his iris. Was he going to kiss me already? I held my breath until he leaned back and draped his arm casually over my shoulder, pulling me close. It was so hard to breath. Was something wrong with me?  I wanted to panic, but I knew I was fine.

And there we were. THE DELI. Yes, that’s the name––don’t wear it out. I almost groaned aloud at that thought.

Markus opened the door for me, and we entered to find the place already packed at eleven in the morning. I should have known, since this place is so popular. “There.” I heard Markus say, as he suddenly began dragging me along with him, until we were sitting in the now empty booth.

He grinned, so proud of himself, I half expected to see him beating his chest with his fists. And such a fine chest it is, I thought. I shook my head at the thought. Get your head out of the gutter, Grace!

We sat side by side in the booth, waiting for the waitress to come over for drink orders. The menu was pretty basic and was painted on the wall.  Truth be told, I had been waiting for days to eat their pastrami and cheese––no pickles. I hated pickles, but loved lots of mustard. And of course, I can’t come here without getting their mint chocolate shake. Yum.

I turned to Markus, and found him staring at the menu on the wall intently. His brows were lowered in consternation as he studied the menu. What was taking so long? It wasn’t as if there were a lot of choices.  I pulled a small napkin out of the holder as I waited, and began tearing it into tiny pieces.

“Is that all there is?” He asked, still staring at the stupid menu. Come on already. Order.

“It’s a deli. What else do you want?” I knew I sounded exasperated.  He better not be unhappy about the choices.

“I think I’ll have the––Italian Sub and a vanilla shake.”

“Vanilla? How boring.”

Markus had an interesting glint to his eyes, though I wasn’t sure what it meant. “Vanilla doesn’t have to be boring. It can have––a different taste. Strong…or mild.” I saw the smirk on his face as he hesitated on what he was saying, twice. The way he lowered his voice when he said the last sentence made me shiver.

A waitress came over and took our orders, bringing us tall glasses of iced water.

As we waited on our food, we sat staring at each other silently, sipping at our water, not knowing what to do or say. I decided to start first, but Markus beat me to it. “So, how old are you?” I could see he was feigning disinterest, but I decided to play along and lie.

“I’ll be twenty-one in a couple days.” I almost saw his ears prick up at that news. I guess a couple days made a difference, I told myself.  Difference for what I didn’t know.  Either way––I wasn’t interested.

“What are your plans?”

“What do you mean?” I crinkled my brow, wondering his meaning.

“You and your friends––what are you gonna do? Go bar hopping?”

Ahhh!  Hmm––what should I tell him? I couldn’t let him meet my friends, they’d tell him my birthday wasn’t for a couple more months.

“It’s weird, my friends are all busy right now. Dad’s going away tomorrow for business, so I’ll be alone. Thought I’d watch movies and have a couple glasses of wine.” Well, I didn’t completely lie––my dad was going away tomorrow. He was going to Japan for a month, on business.

Markus looked horrified. “You can’t be alone on your twenty-first birthday. Exactly what day is it?  I’ll take you out. Put on your sexiest dress and you’ll wow those young men.”

I laughed heartily, making most of the people in the restaurant stare, but I didn’t care.

Markus looked almost hurt by my laughing.  I didn’t mean anything by it. He had been an uncle to me my whole life, and now he’s trying to fix me up. It was so ridiculous to me.

“Markus,” I was still smiling. “I didn’t mean anything by it. I just can’t believe you told me to hook up with some guys.”

“I did not.” His voice sounded horrified. “I told you to meet some boys.  Not hook up,” he said disgustedly. Markus stared at me, and I couldn’t tell what emotion was on his face. I gazed down at the wooden tabletop, wishing there was somewhere I could crawl. My feelings with him were just too uncertain.

After our lunch was delivered we ate fast, not even having time to enjoy it, because I had to get back to work.  We were getting ready to leave, so I took another suck on my straw, while Markus paid the bill.  I loved mint and chocolate together, so there was no way I was going to leave mine. Of course, Markus left his. Boring vanilla.  Remembering what he had said about vanilla, I suddenly felt a tingle run through my body.

After leaving The Diner Markus escorted me back to the building, leaving me at the door to continue on our separate ways.

***

The day had been exhausting what with my internship at work and my schoolwork. I was ready to pick up fast food, eat a gallon of ice cream and watch TV before falling asleep on the couch. In that order. But first I needed to decide what fast food and what ice cream. Greasy burgers with lots of cheese sounded good.

As I hit the drive thru my mind wandered to Markus and myself. What was I doing lying to him about my birth date?  He would eventually find out, and possibly hate me when he did.

I lowered my head to hit it against the steering wheel hard…really hard. Though the pain in my forehead didn’t bring any clarity. What a surprise that was.  I placed my fingers against my forehead and touched the area, but didn’t discern any damage.

The loud bang on the window made me whip my head around so fast I hit that side of my head against said window.  Ow.  

After gaining my composure, I glanced up to see Markus’ grinning face in the darkness. Rubbing the palm of my hand against my cheek, I narrowed my eyes at him.  Bastard.

Rolling down my window, I asked, “Is my cheek red?”  What I really wanted to do was jump out of the car and hit him, though I restrained myself.

He leaned his body forward and took my chin in his fingertips to turn my face so he could see the side easier. The tips of his fingers lightly caressed the area, and even though I was still mad at him, I closed my eyes at his touch.

The blaring of a horn startled me, making me jump, as I glanced behind me in irritation.  “If you want to talk, get in.” I snarked.

I clicked the unlock button, and watched his large frame lope to the passenger side, pushing the seat as far back as he could, just as the sound of the blaring horn rang out again. As he strapped himself in, I took my foot off the brake and inched forward to the window to give my order.

“Are you hungry?” I asked, giving Markus a quick glance out of the corner of my eye.  Seeing him nod, he craned his neck to look at the menu.

I turned back to the girl at the window and gave her my bacon cheeseburger order with large French fries and a large orange soda.  If I was going for fast food I was going to go all out.  Markus leaned forward and gave his double jalapeno cheeseburger order and the rest was the same as mine.

Reaching his hand down for his wallet, I waved one hand at him and handed the money over with a slight smile on my face and a polite ‘thank you.’

Each time she would bring a part of our order forward I could see her eyeing Markus. Lifting part of my upper lip, I gave her a death glare when she peeked an awestruck glance at him.  Seeing she had been caught, she quickly looked away.

I pushed all the bags at him, along with the sodas, and pushed the gearshift into drive. I have to get out of here before I throw something deadly at her––maybe a stiletto. They’re dangerous.

“I’m stopping at the corner-store to get ice cream, do you want some?” I gritted my teeth, trying to be pleasant and smile, but I think it came out as a grimace.

Markus gave me a steady look. “Do you want me to come over and have dinner?”

I had been acting like a jerk, but to be fair, he was making me a bit nervous. Yes, I wanted him to come over.

“Yes, Markus, I do want you to come over.  We can have dinner and dessert together, and if you want, watch TV.” I had a distinct sigh in my voice, but I couldn’t help myself.

He gave me a once over as we pulled into a parking space in front of the corner grocery, but he didn’t say anything. Must be giving me time to get over it. Ha. That’s what he thinks.

Inside the tiny store, I went straight to the ice cream section, not slowing down or stopping. I perused each and every flavor, walking up and down the aisle, trying to decide which one was more tempting. It was a big decision. I chewed on a fingernail as I looked at each of the choices.

There––that one.  I could almost taste the sweet, creamy goodness in my mouth.

Suddenly, I felt Markus’ warmth pressed up against my back as he checked out the different flavors as well. Yeah, I guess he would want some.

“Do you want some?”

“I’ve gotten used to gelato over the years. I haven’t had real ice cream in––oh…ten years.” His voice was shocked at the time that had amounted to.

I needed to hurry this show along because the food was getting cold.  And warmed up fries––not so great.

“So what flavor do you want?”  Hurry, hurry, I thought.

“What are you getting?” Markus craned his head to glance over my shoulder at the box in my hands.

I held out the container proudly, “Marshmallow chocolate with cashews and graham crackers.”

I turned my head toward Markus and was shocked to see his mouth twisted in disgust.

“What?”

“I’m used to fruit in my sweet treat, not all that junk added to yours.”

“Try it––you might like it. But just in case, there’s blueberry, strawberry, and it looks like there’s a black cherry over here. Or there’s gelato. But hurry––the food’s getting cold. Micro-ed fries––not so good.” I tapped my foot, a hand on one hip, the ice cream in the other, as I waited. I sighed dramatically.

After looking for another minute, he blew a breath out and took the pint of black cherry as I carried my half-gallon of my flavor to the front. What? I wasn’t going to eat it all at one time. I was saving some for tomorrow.  Seeing the look on Markus’ face, I thought, Well, he could think what he wanted, it was none of his business.

He insisted upon paying for the ice cream.  Once that was done, we walked out into full darkness. Usually this area was well lit, but two of the streetlights were out, making this area full of dangerous shadows. As we walked to my car, I could see Markus eyeing the area further out, as if he could hear something I couldn’t.

His arm crossed across my chest, holding me back, as he stood in front of me. Out of the shadows that he had been studying, walked two men.

What was he doing? We should run back into the store.

I clutched at his sleeve holding me back, and it tore away, leaving a piece behind as he surged forward, exactly at the same moment they did. The two men split up and came at him from two different directions.  Shocked, I clutched the torn sleeve in my fist as Markus decided which one to go after first.

I numbered the blond number one and the redhead number two.

Number two went to Markus’ right. Markus stood loose, his feet hip width apart as he tracked the attackers’ movements. He waited for the men to attack him, while he stood at the ready. I could see his blue eyes tracking Number Two, obviously thinking he would be the one to strike first. And he was.

Number Two rushed Markus, his hands up, ready to give him a punch, but it seemed Markus had other ideas. A leg shot out, kicking Number Two in the shin, hard enough to break it. He fell screaming, clutching at the broken knee. Hearing the commotion, people from inside the grocery ran outside to see a hooded man running away, leaving us standing over the screaming man.

“Call 911.” Markus called out to the customers and employees huddled around, whispering together.  Listening to the request, one figure separated from the others and ran back inside.

A woman, who appeared confident, walked forward. “I’m a nurse.”

“Oh, thank God,” I cried. “Can you help him?”

She knelt down beside the attacker, trying to feel his knee, but his hands were in the way as he clutched the knee, pushing her away. She gave Markus a quick glance before looking back down to give Number Two another look. “Can you hold him down, please?” She asked, looking to Markus, to see what he could do.  Jerking her head toward the attacker, she said, “I can’t check him out like this.”

Kneeling, he put one hand on the guys chest and the other on the leg with the broken knee. Seeing that wasn’t going to work, I came over to help.

I took Markus’ position at the attackers chest, straddling him, and holding his shoulders down, while Markus held both thighs down.

The nurse leaned over the man to check the broken knee, but I could tell she needed scissors or a knife to cut his jeans above the injury.

I peered around me at the people milling about, and happened to see the young man that had run back into the store to call 911.

“Do you have scissors?”

His eyes widened in surprise that I had spoken to him, before he pursed his lips in thought and nodded. Running back in the store, he went to retrieve what we needed.

Lifting my head when I heard the sirens, I glanced to Markus to see how he was handling this. He still leaned on the man’s thighs, conversing quietly with the young nurse. Young and cute––with long, chocolate-brown curls that she tossed about as she flirted. What kind of nurse flirted while she was helping someone in need.

I narrowed my eyes, feeling a little green around the edges. Nope––I didn’t want Markus at all. That was why I had this sudden urge to slug him across the face. Or his junk. The thought alone made me smile.

“Miss.” I jerked back in surprise at the voice beside me all of a sudden.

I turned my head and there were a shiny new pair of sharp scissors. I smiled sweetly at him, causing him to blush bright red and mumble in reply.

Handing the shears to the nurse, I happened to see Markus’ face in reaction to the young man’s blush, and shockingly, his face had the same green tinge.

That thought alone made me smile. Making sure to lightly touch the young man on the forearm, I watched as Markus’ face became even redder.

Suddenly, the sirens screeched around the parking lot, where the paramedics took over for the nurse in her cute ducky scrubs.  I was not jealous.

The police arrived next to interview everyone that stayed, plus the four of us. The young man and the nurse emphatically parroted what Markus and I explained.  Huh. I didn’t know Markus knew Tai Kwan Do.

We saw the attacker handcuffed to the gurney, even as he protested his innocence.

The nurse tried to get Markus’ phone number, but he gently shrugged her off. With a huff of disappointment, she stalked away mumbling expletives under her breath, while giving Markus a narrow-eyed death glare.

When we got back in my car, I gave a big sigh of relief. I gave our cold meal a look of regret and considered where our ice cream could be. That was when a shout was heard, and my head turned to find the young man beside the window. I rolled my window down and was handed a paper bag, which I opened to find our ice cream. I gave him a wide, toothy grin and a thank you. He blushed again and I pulled away.