Aileen
I felt a sense of relief seeing him. I went to stand in front of his window the next second.
How come he’s always there when I need him?
“Marshall, what are you doing here? At this time too?”
“Well….. I was passing here on my way from the doctor’s. And I thought maybe you haven’t left for college yet. So, I came to see you as I couldn’t go to the party yesterday after all. I felt a bit bad,” he explained.
“I see….”
I thought Dave called him to drop me on the way. He came on his own.
“Did you have fun there yesterday?”
“Fun? Uh….. not that much. It was a bit boring…. but overall, fine.”
“Boring? Yeah, I get you. Even I find those parties boring. However, we do have to partake in it because of formalities. Anyway, where are you headed to by yourself now?”
Uh….. should I tell him the truth? I’m running out of time also. Yeah, that’ll be good.
“Well…let me get in first and head towards the college. I’ll tell you everything on the car.”
“Uh, sure. Please come in,” he opened the door for me the very second.
I got inside and sat beside him. Then he started the car and we were on my way to college.
“So, what happened exactly?” he asked, keeping his eyes on the road.
“Uh… well…..” I explained about the situation back then when Sarah came and how I lied to him about the cab and all that happened till now.
After listening to me very carefully he chuckled, “So, you are mad at him again today, that’s how you ended up in my car? That’s a cliche.”
“It’s not funny! He’s the one who told me to go by myself. Can you believe it?” I grunted.
When he was the one who became jealous of Marshall the other day because he kept me company frequently. I seriously don’t know what’s going on in his head.
“Yeah, I understand. Maybe he was so busy with work that he didn’t pay attention to the fact that you have to go to college alone,” he explained, patting my head. “Don’t get mad at him for such silly matters, will you now? Why do you act so childish when you are a mature girl?”
“I’m not acting childish!” I retorted, pushing his hand away. “I’m just being reasonable! Just think about it, he had the time to entertain his Step-mom and yet he couldn’t drop me off to college? And he’s also ignoring my existence whenever she’s around. This isn’t right!”
“I’m not trying to give you advice here,” Kiki my wolf remarks. “But, are you supposed to talk about these things with him? Are you trying to blow your cover here by trying to make him understand your feelings towards your stepfather?”
What?
“You didn’t even think about it, did you?” she sighs.
Marshall laughed in response. “Aileen, you are really possessive over your Daddy, aren’t you? You can’t let any woman have his attention other than you. That’s next-level jealousy.”
“Jealous? Me? No, I”
Wait, I don’t need to correct him. If I try to make it obvious he might suspect that there might be something going on between us.
“It’s obvious to see you are feeling jealous because he’s not paying attention to you,” he replied. “But, you need to learn to cope with your feelings. If you tell anyone about this, they are going to call you childish. Just like I did at first.”
“There’s no need to worry about it!” I replied, folding my arms. “Cause I’m not going to yell about my complaints to anyone outside. I’m only telling them to you because we are close and I trust you. And it’s not like anyone will understand what I’m going through in the first place.”
He suddenly goes silent, so I look up at his face.
He looked a bit surprised for no reason as well.
“Marshall? Are you alright?” I asked, putting my hand on his shoulder.
He became startled by my touch, “Uh…yeah…I’m fine,” he stuttered. “So, you share your feelings with me because you trust me?”
“Uh-hm. That’s right. I don’t feel it’s safe to talk about my feelings with everyone. That’s why, I only talk about them with Mom, you, and Dave. I do have two friends in class. But, they aren’t that close yet.”
His cheeks become a bitter shade of red with each passing second. Is he getting flustered? But, why?
I didn’t say anything embarrassing to him. Or did I?
“You are so clueless, Aileen,” Kiki chuckled.
What is she finding funny here?
“Good to hear you feel comfortable around me,” he replied, glancing back at me with a soft smile. “You can ask me for help whenever you need it. I’ll always try to be there for you.”
“Thanks. I’ll try to help you too. Don’t hesitate to ask me for help. Friends help each other in trouble, right?”
“So, how’s your sister? Is her fever down?”