Mark Gets Caught Up
Somehow, Rome had let Mark talk him into going out for drinks, even though Rome really didn’t want to. The last thing he wanted was to go to Lucky Red where so many girls would be hitting on him. Nevertheless, sitting at the bar next to his best friend, Rome tried to concentrate on his beer and not the girls checking him out from across the room as Mark asked him question after question he didn’t want to answer.
“Okay--so you accidentally called this number instead of mine, you start talking to this chick cause she sounded hot, and it turns out she’s Lloyd Sinders’s long lost daughter?”
“Yes,” Rome confirmed.
“But then you find out she’s not got her own phone or anything and tells you she can’t leave her room. But she does go to her aunt’s birthday party, which was an awesome time, by the way.” He stopped to chuckle and then took a long swallow of his beer before he continued. “And you snuck off and made out with her?”
“I didn’t say made out,” Rome corrected. “We kissed a little.” Making out with Ella at the ball would’ve been delightful, but Rome didn’t want to make it something it wasn’t.
“Then you and Bart go to her house to get your phone, and you climb up over a tall wall, sneak inside her yard, climb up the side of her house, and find out she’s been locked in an attic? Sounds messed up, man.”
“Her stepmom is one messed up bitch, I’ll give you that.”
“Where’s old man Sinders in all of this?”
“Ella says he’s in another country.”
Finishing his beer, Mark plopped the glass down and shook his head again. “But now she’s out--and living with her cousin Tim, who hates you, by the way.”
‘I’m pretty sure he hates you, too, man.”
“Only because he associates me with you.”
“Still--he hates you. Yeah, she called me a little while ago to tell me she was there, and he was going to take her out to buy some new clothes.”
“Where? We should accidentally run into them.”
“No,” Rome shook his head vehemently.
“Why not? Let him see how awesome your chemistry is together.”
“No. I can’t do that to Ella. She wouldn’t appreciate it. I’ll worry about how to handle our family situation later. For now, I’m just going to give her some space.”
“So… what are your intentions, dude? Lloyd Sinders could ruin you in this industry if he wanted to, especially if your dad is already pissed at you for dating the daughter of his enemy.”
Rome had already given all of that a lot of fate and had no answers. “I don’t know. We’ll… figure it out.”
“It’s not worth it, brah. Just let it go. She might be hot, but there are hundreds of hot chicks who won’t cost you everything.”
“You don’t get it, man. I. Love. Her. It’s not like I can just ditch her and find someone else.”
“Wait. Did you say you love her? Dude, it’s just been a few days.”
“I know. But it doesn’t matter. I can’t explain it, Mark. I love her. I want to be with her. I want to marry her.”
Mark stared at him with his mouth hanging open. “Have you lost your goddamn mind? You’ve gone crazy, man. You can't marry a woman you just met. I don’t care how hot she is.”
“This has nothing to do with hotness, Mark. I told you. I can’t explain it, but I need to be with her as much as I need to breathe air. I love her, and I’m going to find a way to make this work.”
Before Mark could protest again, Rome realized his phone was ringing. He pulled it out and was relieved to see it was Ella. “I’ve gotta take this.” He stood and walked outside where it wasn’t so loud, a smile falling into place as he heard her sweet voice on the line.
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