Part I

So here he was again. Home, and alone in California. Big fucking house and no one in it but a fucking recording of his daughter’s voice on the answering machine. There were no family dinners in that house, no holidays, nothing that made it feel like, home. So why did he call it home? Wasn’t home in Detroit? Hadn’t it always been Detroit? Isn’t that what he sang about, wrote about, talked about, regaled stories about? The good old crappy days, they were in Detroit. But he didn’t want to be there.
Detroit was where his mother was. Where his brother was, and grandmother and Aunt Betty were. Where Ronnie was buried. Where Kim was married to her new husband and where his little girl lived, the little girl that had been taken away from him the last time they were in court. No visiting rights, not even phone calls unless Kim relented and remembered that at one time they had cared for one another. Though looking back on it he couldn’t blame anyone but himself. Pulling a gun on the guy and Kim was pretty stupid. He was lucky he wasn’t in jail.
But what did it matter? It was stupid to think that one day he might have a real old fashioned family Christmas one year. Turkey in oven, Hailie dressed up and decorating the tree, presents for him to wrap, toys to put together, and a wife, that actually cared about him.
He’d moved on from Kim. He’d long since realized that they were not going to get back together. They just had too much going on and too much bitterness between them. He stored away the good times, only pulling those out when he really wanted to be reminded of her.
Now he’d settle. He wanted to settle. He was going soft in the brain. He was only thirty three, and he wanted to settle. He had to get out, out of this fucking house. God damn mother fucking house!

The gated community he lived in didn’t offer much in the way of nearby dives to get drunk in, but about half an hour down the road was a place that he could get a drink without being noticed and be left alone. So that’s where he went, it was better than where he was, and where he was, was cold and dank and empty. Not where he wanted to be.
He drove the distance, some rap station playing a low tone in the car, though he wasn’t really listening to it. It was out of habit, it was something to keep the silence from dragging in.
The bar was on the far side of a little plaza, lit up with loud bright parking lot lights. Aside from the bar the plaza played host to a diner, grubby completely, a bait shop, pool store, boat supplies and various other little things that a small town required. Wanting to stretch his legs, he parked at the farther end of the lot and got out.
The stink of diner food and rotting garbage was thick in the air and putrid to say the least. Marshall felt his nose crinkle and sniff involuntarily, eyes opening wide in surprise as he took in the awful reek. He shrugged and stuffed his hands in his pockets, walking on the sidewalk, looking up at the glowing scenes of people eating behind the glass.
“Fuck you Earl! I told you I wasn’t staying and you got that right!” Marshall looked up ahead of him and saw a scene that was all too familiar to him. Getting thrown out and fired from a crappy job.
“You been lying and stealing every since you got here you no good slut!” People like that rarely changed scripts, Marshall realized. Either you lied, or you stole, those were the crimes that you had committed when you disagreed with the boss.
“I never stole a god damn thing from you!” There it was, the high pitched annoyance at being accused of stealing when you never had. Had the opportunity to steal, seen other people steal, but you yourself had never done the stealing.
“I could have you arrested for the money you stole, for selling that dope in the back, I ought to call the fucking cops and have you towed away from here!” The threat, ah, now that he was very familiar with.
“Who the fuck you accusing of stealing money! You fucking dock my pay every time you missing a fucking dime! I ain’t never fucking stole from you!” The truth that would be denied no matter what.
“Fucking prostitute, filthy no good white trash!” The final insult, and yup, there it was.
Marshall saw the woman that had been yelling on the porch of the diner dive at the man she’d been fighting with. It didn’t take long, and before he realized the position he was in, she was hurtling down the stairs and fell right on top of him.
They clambered to the ground and tangled in one another.
“God damn mother fucking piece of shit bastard!” she screamed rearing up, but by then the guy was gone and there was nothing to do about it.
“SHIT!” she screamed lancing her fist into the aluminum siding of the building. After a minute or so, while she calmed down, she realized that Marshall was standing there.
“Ah crap man, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean for you to get involved, shit man, I’m sorry, I hope I didn’t step on anything important,” she said turning towards him. Marshall rubbed his chin slightly and looked at her.
“Nah, I’m fine, you okay? That’s quite a flight a stairs.”
“Yeah, I guess, dammit, why’s this shit always happen? Fucker,” she shook her head and banged the siding a bit again.
“I’ve been there, more than once, I think they all know the script by heart or something,” Marshall remarked, stuffing his hands in his pockets and kicking a bottle cap off the walkway. She was still breathing heavily, and her face was still flushed, anger took some cooling time. But she laughed.
“Yeah, they must, look man, thanks for breaking my fall,” she said putting out a hand. Marshall fished a hand out of his pocket and shook it.
“No problem, see ya around.”

They parted. Marshall felt bad for her and had actually considered buying her a drink, at least he wouldn’t be alone. Jesus Christ, now he was feeling lonely, he needed booze, bad.
After her episode with her boss, the woman had waved goodbye to Marshall and pulled out her keys, heading into the parking lot. He could still see her walking across the expanse of asphalt in the wide-open parking lot under the lights, hear her keys jangling. She opened the door and climbed in, and Marshall waited for the starting of the engine, but it didn’t come. He kept walking, still waiting but the sound never came. He ventured a look towards her and noticed she’d gotten out of the car and was popping the hood.
“Goddamn mother fucking piece of shit!” she shouted, kicking the fender. He stopped.
“Car trouble?” Marshall called.
“Of course, just in case the night couldn’t be better!” she called back, allowing the lid to slam shut.
“Anything I can help you with!” he yelled back across to her.
“Na, it’s finally dead, not much I can do with that.” Marshall decided that maybe she needed some company as bad as he did, and took a chance. Stepping off the sidewalk and across the parking lot he came to a stop about five feet from her, so as not to appear threatening.
“What’s wrong with it?”
“Transmissions shot, lets see what else can happen tonight,” she replied, leaning back on the car and folding her arms.
“I’m going over to the bar, buy you a drink?” he asked.
“That is the best offer I’ve had in about three years, so yeah, I’ll take you up on that.” It looked like the first time she’d actually smiled in days. It was a raw and cracked smile, coming after days of crap.
They walked along across the parking lot in silence to the bar, both wondering what the hell they were doing with the other, but not wanting to say anything. They were both sick of being lonely, though they’d never admit it. He held the door open for her and she nodded her thanks stepping right up to the bar.
“What’ll have?” the bar keep asked.
“You?” Marshall asked looking up at her.
“Beer, whatever you got,” she replied. Marshall got two bottles and handed over one to her, suggesting they grab a table towards the back where a single empty booth remained, a yellow bulb illuminating the nook in the hole that was the bar. They sat down, both quiet for a moment, swigging at the beers to keep themselves busy.
“Oh, I’m Coral by the way,” she said after a moment.
“Marshall,” he nodded as did she.
“Wow, can this get anymore awkward?” Coral asked after a minute.
“I suppose so. Not having a good day?”
“Try a week. Caught my boyfriend, screwing around with my best friend, in our bed, and then I got kicked out of my apartment, because of him, top it off with having to move in with my sister, losing my job, and now my car dying, I’ve just about had it.” She took a long swig on the beer before putting the bottle down on the table and examining it.
“What about you?” she asked looking up at him.
“Well, I pulled a gun on my ex-wife and her husband, nearly got put in jail, lost all visitation rights to my daughter, and now, I got nothing to go home to.”
“Both doing pretty good I’d say,” she laughed.
“What say we both just get so drunk that the room starts to spin?” he asked.
“Sounds good to me, cheers!” they clinked bottles and threw back what was left in them before ordering another round.

Marshall woke up with a splitting headache, he must have drunk a lot that night, which made him wonder, how the hell had he gotten, where ever it was, right now? Someone moved beside him, shit, he’d managed to pick up someone, this wasn’t going to be a fun morning.
Wait a minute, Coral, that must be who he was with. He turned over slowly, and sure enough, there she was. They were both clothed, which seemed strange, at the moment, considering, but he’d done stranger things while he was drunk.
“Jesus, what the hell kind of beer was that?” she asked sitting up and rubbing her head.
“And how the hell did we get here?” she asked, looking around.
“Shit, this is my house,” Marshall said, suddenly realizing and recognizing his surroundings.
“I don’t remember driving,” she said looking over at him.
“I don’t either.”
“Shit, what the hell did we do?” she asked looking around, also realizing that she was fully clothed.
“Fuck, what if I hit somebody, shit,” Marshall stood up and frantically looked around for his keys, finding them still in his pocket, but he pulled out a receipt with them.
“Yellow cab, for last night, we’re okay, thank god, just what I need, a DUI on my license, or killing somebody.” He sank down on the bed and rubbed his face into his hands.
“You got any aspirin around here, I got a headache about the size Guam,” Coral remarked as she stood up.
“Yeah, in the bathroom, first cabinet.”
“Thanks.” Marshall listened to her walk away on the carpet, and the soft click of the bathroom door closing. He held his face in his hands for a minute, trying to block out the sun from his pounding head.
He heard Coral return and a familiar dip in the bed to his right.
“Here, you look like you got one too,” he turned to see she was holding out a glass and some pills.
“Thanks,” he took the pills with his left hand, depositing them in his mouth and then taking the water to wash them down.
“You’re married?” Coral asked, motioning to his left hand.
“No, divorced, why you ask?”
“Cause you’re wearing a wedding ring, I don’t remember that from last night,” she replied. He finally had a chance to notice what she looked like, though he had cataloged her features when he’d first seen her, and filed them away for later perusal. She was a beauty, he decided, and would have to take a little more time to be satisfied with the study, but now was not the time.
“A wedding ring?” he picked up his hand, and sure enough there was band of gold around his ring finger.
“What the hell? This ain’t even the ring I had when I was with Kim,” he remarked, wow, he really must have gone off the deep end.
“I think we drank a little too much last night. Look, it was fun, I think, but would you mind if I just cut out of here and called a cab?” He was still looking at the ring on his hand. This was weird.
“Uh hang on, I’ll get it for you,” he replied quickly, looking over at her.
“You don’t have to, actually, I can just go to the gate house there, and have the gate person have a cab pick me up there, that way you don’t have any awkward questions to answer and paparazzi won’t bother you.”
“You know who I am?” he asked.
“Who doesn’t?”
“I suppose, but hang on, I can at least drive you to the gatehouse,” he replied rolling over to the bedside stand. He grabbed his wallet and noticed a paper sticking out of it. He wrinkled his nose and felt his brows knit together in confusion. The paper unfolded slightly as he pulled it out and flattened it against the bed.
“Shit,” he breathed as he looked over the paper.
“What?” Coral asked peeking up from over the side of the bed, where she was pulling her shoes out from under the edge.
“I guess I am married,” Marshall said, his eyes going wide. Coral grabbed her shoes and took them to sit on the edge of the bed so she could put them on.
“Well, then, my regards to the wife and all the more reason I should get out of here,” Coral replied taking a shoe in her hand. She glanced down at her foot to tie the laces and shrieked.
“Holy fuck!” She held up her hand and noticed the similar gold band on her finger, though hers had a diamond set in the middle of it.
“What the hell!” she screamed.
“We got married last night,” Marshall said, his eyes closing as he shook his head.
“What do you mean we got married last night!” Coral crawled across the bed and grabbed the paper.
“A marriage license? Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god,” Coral was nearly starting to hyperventilate.
“I can’t believe we got that drunk.” Marshall said, finally opening his eyes.
“Well, we got to get this taken care of, I mean Marshall, you’re a nice guy and all, and I’m sure you pretty good in bed, if I could remember but, I don’t want to be married to you, I don’t want to be married to anybody, especially after one night! Oh my god, this is just not good, not good, this week just keeps getting better!”
“Chill, if Britney Spears can have a marriage annulled in twenty four hours, I certainly can.” He reached for the phone and watched as Coral paced the room, trying desperately to pull the ring off her finger.

“What the hell do you mean six months! No Paul, today! Yesterday this needed to be done! No friggen way! You better figure out what you’re going to do about this!” Coral rolled her eyes as she listened to Marshall screaming at his lawyer. The stupid ring was not coming off. What was worse was that stupid marriage license, lying there, glaring at her.

MARSHALL MATHERS AND CORAL MATTHEWS
WED APRIL 9TH 2006

There were signed witnesses and the thing was notarized. Legal. Disgusting. Her sister was going to kill her. Why the hell was the ring not coming off! Why the hell couldn’t she remember last night?
Marshall ran his hand through his short hair, it stuck up, it was cute and messy, Coral nearly giggled but then remembered, she was in a house, with a guy, she was married too after meeting him in a parking lot. She couldn’t even figure out how far she was from San Francisco. She needed to get back so she could start looking for a new job.
“Why is it going to take so long? Because it’s not legal unless it’s for six months or more? I don’t believe that.” He paused and looked over at the marriage license. Coral was still pacing.
“All right, then how long is it going to make a divorce final?” Marshall sighed and ran his fingers through his hair again. Coral looked at him worriedly.
“But she wouldn’t do that,” Marshall said quickly, eyes darting to hers.
“That’s still too long.” He muttered.
“Look, we’ll have to figure out something. You know Dre is going to kill me when he finds out about this, not to mention the tabloids.” He paused again.
“Okay, no, you come here, yeah, she’ll be here, okay, bye Paul.” He snapped his phone shut and looked over at Coral who was standing with worried eyes as she yanked at the ring on her finger.
“So? What’s the deal?” she asked.
“It could take an upwards of six months to get this thing over with, longer maybe. As long as you don’t drag a lawyer into this.” He replied.
“Look, I want the same thing as you do, not to be married. I got no agenda to be dealing with. I have enough problems as it is,” she snapped.
“Good, then we’ll probably have this over and done with in a few weeks, lots of paper work and shit,” Marshall sneered.
“What is the big deal?” Coral asked.
“Well, Paul thinks you might try and use this to get money out of. You know, go to the press, sell your story, that kind of thing.”
“Oh yeah, that’s my top priority right now, making sure you get your face in the papers. Look Marshall, just to let you know, I’m not any happier about this than you are. Now if you don’t mind, I’d like to know where I’m supposed to be,” she asked. Her stance was agitated, standing with a hip pushed out and her arms crossed.
“What does it matter?” he snapped.
“Because I have to move to San Francisco today, that’s where my sister lives,” she replied.
“Well, you ain’t going anywhere cause Paul is coming tomorrow and you need to be here. He’s gonna explain all the disclosure contracts and such to you.” Marshall replied.
“Then can I at least make a phone call?”
“What, to your lawyer?”
“No, to my sister, at least she can help me get the stuff out of my apartment so I don’t have to make two trips.”
“Well, fine, as long as you’re here tomorrow,” Marshall warned.
“Yeah, my sister, the lawyer,” she snapped.

“Pearl, no Pearl, you need to listen. Pearl, please, listen to me. Pearl, please, just, Pearl!” Coral shouted over the phone. She was in the kitchen, pacing, again as she tried to get her sister’s attention.
“YOU ARE IN FUCKING LOS ANGELES MARRIED TO EMINEM! YOU EXPECT ME TO LISTEN TO YOU!” Marshall even heard that as Coral held the phone away from her ear.
“Nice sister,” he remarked as he walked past her and towards the coffeepot.
“Not taking the news well, she always wanted to be the first one married,” Coral replied, tentatively putting the phone back up to her ear. She leaned up against the wall, listening to her sister and sighed.
Marshall was going to take the time to look at her now and examine her properly. Last night had been for drinking, no time to take in the features and the idea of beauty this girl portrayed. This morning had been time for panicking and freaking out about what they had done.
She leaned against the wall, casually, her ankles crossed as she stood, the bright red shoelaces standing out against the white of the sneakers. She wore simple clothes, a pair of loose fitting bell-bottom jeans in a dark blue shade and a fitted white T-shirt under a denim jacket that matched the jeans. Her hair was a bit longer than past her shoulders and a soft brown, not entirely straight, a little wavy and a little messy. A few little braided bracelets of colored thread showed on one skinny wrist along with that wedding band she hadn’t been able to pull off yet. Her body was lithe but not skinny, she was a normal sized girl. Her neck was long and her face finely shaped into an oval. Her lips matched her name, smiling wide and genuinely when she did was with a full bloom of teeth and lips. Her eyes were the closest match to an actual coffee and cream he had ever seen. They were the lightest brown eyes and he swore they were almost gold.
“Yeah I know Pearl, look, I didn’t do it on purpose. I’m sorry, okay? I fucked up, I didn’t do this just to screw up your weekend.” Coral spoke low and sounded like a kicked puppy.
“Hey, uh Marshall, could I get the address for here?” Coral asked looking over at him. She didn’t seem to notice that he’d been looking at her.
“Yeah,” he rattled the address off and she repeated it to her sister over the phone.
“Okay, yeah, yes! All right, I’ll see you later, bye.” She hung up the phone, a little defeated.
“Problem?” Marshall asked.
“I hope you don’t mind, but my sister Pearl is coming to get me, then we’ll be packing up my apartment, and then staying here, that is, if you don’t mind,” Coral asked, “Well, that’s what she told me we were doing, I usually don’t have that much of a choice when it comes to what she wants. Besides, she usually just invites herself places.”
“No, that’s fine, I was going to suggest that anyway, since Paul is going to be here early, we can get this taken care of.” Marshall replied.
“Just to let you know, sorry in advance,” Coral replied with a grimace.
“For what?” he watched her bite a red painted nail.
“For Pearl, she’s a bit over bearing.”
“I can handle her.”
“I hope so.” They were quiet. Now what?
“So….now what?” Coral asked looking over at him from under her veiled eyes.
“You want some breakfast?”

They were sitting at the table eating in relative silence until Marshall decided that if he had to be married to this woman for any amount of time, he should get to know a few things about her.
“All right, so what’s the mystery with you?” he asked.
“Mystery?”
“Yeah, what’s the story behind Coral? Where you from, family, occupation, you know regular shit,” he took a bite of the cereal out of the bowl in front of him and crunched it noisily.
“Okay, I’m from Texas originally, occupation unemployed cook, family, mom and dad, Cordelia and Jasper Matthews, attorneys at law, run their own practice in San Francisco with my four sisters Pearl, Onyx, Turquoise, and Opal, and my brother Mica.”
“Jesus Christ, got a pretty family then?” Marshall remarked.
“My parents seem to think so. We actually call Turquoise, turkey, it’s her nickname.”
“What about you?”
“Just Coral.”
“It’s a nice name.”
“Thanks, I still think I was named for the color of my lips, I’ve never seen anyone with lips as orange as mine. No matter what I try, lipsticks, I still got these things.” She laughed and superstitiously put a hand up to cover her lips.
“I think they look good, on you, out of ordinary, it’s a nice change.”
“Thanks, I think,” Coral looked at him unsteadily but he just plowed on.
“So, one of six, ouch. The youngest?”
“Of course.”
“All lawyers, and you’re not?”
“Nope.”
“Why not?”
“I just never could get into it.”
“No pressure, right?” he laughed slightly and she nodded.
“My parents weren’t too happy with my decision not to go to law school.”
“So what did you go to school for?”
“I didn’t. Parents refused to help me go school, so I couldn’t afford it on my own. I’ve been working and supporting myself since I got out of high school.”
“What did you want to go to school for?”
“Cooking. I was accepted to the Cour Don Bleu in France, but, I couldn’t afford it. So, I started working at restaurants and diners,” she took a bite at her cereal and swallowed hard while he studied her. He shook his head in annoyance, what a load of crap.
“That’s bullshit. Get accepted to a place like that and can’t even go. You must have been like, I don’t know, something, to get accepted in a place like that.”
“Yeah, I took first place in all the so called ‘placement tests’, you know, you cook something, they judge it, it’s kinda like an admissions essay for another college. I paid all the entry fees myself, won all the points and such, but without the money, I couldn’t go. No big deal really. One day I’ll save up enough, I can go whenever I save up the money.”
“Why not a student loan?”
“No credit, and I really don’t want to have to have that under my belt the second I step out the doors. It would take forever to pay them off. It costs fifteen grand a semester there, not including living costs. Dormitory is a whole other fee of around three thousand a semester.”
“That sucks.”
“You’re telling me. Now I have to stay with my sister, not to mention the rest of the family, conveniently they all live in the same apartment building. And for the next however many months I’ll be trying to avoid the constant daggers of ‘see this is why you should have gone to law school’ or ‘well you can just start now and you’ll work in the office’ while I’m looking for a job at a restaurant. Oh so much fun.”
“Damn.” Coral suddenly sat back and shook her head.
“Shit, I’m dragging you into a bunch of shit you don’t want to hear about, I’m sorry, just tell me to shut up,” she said, annoyed at herself.
“I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t want to know. Besides, I got to know something about my wife, don’t I?” he laughed but she scowled.
“I hardly find this funny.”
“Just a joke, Jesus, take it easy.” Marshall remarked.
“I don’t need this right now. I don’t need Pearl coming to pick me up like I’m a two year old, I don’t need my parents pointing out every single thing I’ve ever done wrong.” Coral pressed her fingers to her forehead.
“Then why don’t you just move somewhere else, move back to Texas,” Marshall replied, noticing the trapped feeling in the voice. There wasn’t much to do when you were broke and had no formal education to help you out.
“I can’t afford to move. They don’t lie when they say money makes the world go round. Dammit, this is not gonna be good.” She looked at her wrist watch, noting the time.
“You got somewhere to be?”
“No. I just wish that Pearl could get here and get my ‘punishment’ over with. I’m going to get lectured from here, to the apartment, back to here, all night, through tomorrow and then all the way back to San Francisco.”
“And you’re?”
“Twenty six. That’s what I get for being the youngest, I’m the eternal kid. Anyway, look, you mind if I just take a walk in your backyard?”
“I’ll go with you.” Coral’s brow nearly folded in confusion.
“What? I gotta get out of this house sometimes too, and it is my backyard you know,” Marshall replied at her confused look. He stood and put his bowl into the sink.
“We didn’t have sex last night, did we?” she asked. He stopped and leaned back against the sink, thinking seriously.
“Honestly, I don’t think we did. I remember the bar, I remember, getting up to go to the bathroom, then I came back, but after that, it’s really a blur. But if we were that out of it, I doubt either of us would have gotten up to put our clothes back on after we fucked,” he replied.
“I don’t think we did either. Damn, I got to remember not to drink that shit again.” She stood and deposited her bowl as well before he motioned for her to follow him.

The yard was moderately sized, enough area for baseball diamond and sparse for decoration. The grass was lush and green, perfectly manicured, golf course perfect. There was a pool of course, a decked out patio complete with grill, wet bar and nice patio furniture. Everything looked as though it were brand new, never been used, there just for the show of it.
“You have a nice place,” Coral remarked.
“Don’t get a chance to enjoy it really.”
“No?”
“Don’t have a lot of local friends or family to visit, it’s just me here.”
“No maid or something?”
“There’s a cleaning service that comes through once a week, but there’s usually not much to do.” They walked along the fence in silence for a few minutes.
“So why did you ask me for a drink?”
“I thought you might like some company, same as me.”
“Oh. I suppose it does get lonely now and then, being a celebrity, on the road all the time, no one here when you come home,” she remarked looking over at him. He shrugged. She continued.
“I used to think sometimes that me and my boyfriend would eventually settle down. He’s a lot more successful than me. He’s a stockbroker, does international trading and such. Though, come to think of it, we didn’t see each other that much. He was always away on business, and me as a cook, working nights and weekends, holidays of course, we didn’t get a chance really.” Marshall marveled at Coral, how easily she could open up and talk to him about her personal life. Though perhaps he was getting soft, at another time he might have just told her to shut up, but she was interesting enough, and willing to share with him. He hadn’t met anyone that was apt to talk to him for anything more than an autograph.
“I’m talking way too much. Jeez man, you got this effect on people, why can’t I shut up around you?” she laughed.
“Really, I don’t mind.”
“Wow.”
“Just look at it this way, by tomorrow, you’ll be out of here, and you’ll never have to see me again, and it’s not like you have to worry about me running to the tabloids,” he laughed, and she smiled.
“Yeah, you’re right on that one. So, what can you tell me about you?” she asked.
“I don’t need to tell you anything about me,” he replied steadily not bothering to look over at her.
“I’m not going to a tabloid to give them a story about you okay? Besides, I don’t listen to much music anyway. I haven’t bought a CD since 1999, and all I got is country. The only thing I know about you is that your stage name is Eminem, and people make a big shitting deal out of your lyrics, cause they’re too violent or something,” Coral explained.
“You think my music is too violent?” Marshall asked looking at her.
“I’ve never listened to it, and it’s not for me to say.”
“But your opinion. Honestly, what do you think?” Marshall asked seriously.
“Honestly? Well, if your music is violent, as violent as ‘they’ say it is, and you have ‘their’ little parental warning label on it, what else can you do? I still say that if parents don’t want their kids listening to something, then they need to stop it themselves. It’s not your responsibility or anyone’s responsibility than the parents’.” Marshall didn’t know what to say to that so he didn’t say anything at all for a long moment.
“So, tell me more about you.”

Part II

Coral and Marshall spent the better part of the morning walking around the yard, and the house, Marshall giving her the grand tour. It passed the time, and though things could have been much more awkward, considering the fact that they had only met last night, and had gotten married while they were too drunk to remember, they were pretty comfortable together.
Coral talked a mile a minute and Marshall found himself listening and responding to her each comment.
Too soon it seemed when Pearl arrived. She had not even fully gotten herself out of the car before she started yelling. Marshall felt rather than saw Coral’s body tense up at the sound of her sister shrieking.
“Do you realize, that I had to cancel a meeting with an extremely important client, just to come all the way from fucking San Francisco to bail your ass out of this mess!” the woman yelled as she stalked up to the front porch where Marshall and Coral were standing.
“I said I was sorry Pearl, there isn’t much else I can do about that, and besides, I said that if you were busy, I’d just ask Turkey to come,” Coral tried.
“Turkey is a twit and would fuck this up royally. That’s why she’s playing the personal injury law crap in our family’s firm.”
“There is nothing wrong with personal injury lawyers Pearl, people need them too.”
“It is a waste of time for a firm like mom and dad’s. You were the smart one Coral, you were supposed to be one of us.” Pearl snapped. Marshall caught Coral rolling her eyes and didn’t disagree.
“So, you’re that Eminem character?” Pearl asked turning her attention to Marshall, who so far had managed to keep his mouth shut. He wasn’t especially fond of hitting people anymore, especially when it landed him with lawsuits that his record could not afford.
“He’s not a character Pearl, his name is Marshall, he’s a real person and you don’t have the right to yell at him.” Coral protested, surprising the hell out of Marshall. No one took the time to defend him, not from anything. He was supposed to take the full brutal force of anything anyone chose to throw at him, and handle it. Most times he could, but there were times when he wished that some things had been sugar coated, just once in a while.
“I certainly do have the right to yell at him. Taking my baby sister out, getting her drunk, taking advantage of her and then marrying her, under false pretenses, Marshall Mathers you are going to be so sorry by the time our law firm is finished with you!” Pearl shouted directly in his face. Coral closed her eyes and shook her head in disbelief.
“Marshall, I’m sorry,” Coral began but he cut her off politely.
“Not to worry about it. Excuse me, but I am the only person who gets to yell in this house and if you don’t mind, I’m going to suggest you keep your voice down.”
“Fine, but you will be taken care of.”
“Pearl, I didn’t ask you to take care of anything, you got that? His lawyer is drawing up the contracts and such and doing what needs to be done to get this taken care of,” Coral responded.
“Just to let you know Pearl, I’m not intimidated by you. You think you’re the only bitch lawyer that I’ve had to deal with, you got another thing coming.” Marshall retorted.
“You see Coral, how the hell did you get involved with someone like this, I thought you were brought up better than that.”
“Pearl, can we please, please, just go over to the apartment and get my stuff before Joey throws it all out?” Coral nearly begged. Pearl and Marshall were eyeing each other.
“You better not have too much crap, I’m not making two trips.” Pearl replied turning to her little sister.
“I’ll follow you then, make sure you don’t leave anything behind,” Marshall said gruffly.
“Oh no you don’t, you’re not coming any closer, you’ve done enough damage.” Pearl replied quickly.
“I go, where my wife goes,” Marshall replied, catching Coral’s eyes and getting her to smile slightly.
“Oh aren’t you too cute, just because you managed to fool my stupid little sister into crawling into bed with you doesn’t mean you’ll trick me.” Pearl stepped towards him.
“I said I’m going with you, and if you don’t like it, you can wait here,” Marshall’s voice took a tone of finality that even Pearl was a little hesitant to question, but she did anyway.
“What business is it of yours anyway?”
“We’ll meet you there, come on Coral, you can ride with me,” Marshall said grabbing Coral by the hand and leading her towards the garage. They moved so fast that Pearl didn’t have time for a reaction, the door from the kitchen to the garage slamming shut.

“You didn’t have to do that you know,” Coral said later as Marshall drove.
“What?”
“Stand up for me. Pearl, that’s just her, it’s just the way she acts, I’m used to it.”
“No one should have to get used to that, and they don’t have to. I should know, I’m a lot like Pearl,” Marshall replied gruffly.
“You and Pearl are nothing alike.” Coral replied quickly.
“That’s right, you haven’t talked to my ex-wife,” Marshall laughed.
“Marshall, I’m going to be one of your ex-wives soon,” they both laughed.
“But really, why did she leave, if you don’t mind me asking?” Coral asked carefully. He gripped the steering wheel tightly and took a deep breath.
“We just stopped caring about one another. I stopped treating her right, so she found someone who would. I can’t say that I blame her, I see a lot of my actions a lot clearer now when I look back. If you accuse someone for so long of going behind your back, they eventually do it. I put my hands on her too many times, we fought too much in front of Hailie, and I just never respected her enough. We were together since we were teenagers, but that didn’t make it any easier to stay together, or even give us any reason to try again. We were on and off for years.” Coral listened and for the first time since she’d met him, she saw how lonely he really was.
“But anyway, how could you yell at your ex boss there, and not at your sister?” Marshall asked turning to look at her quickly.
“That’s just the way it is in my family. I can’t really get the nerve to yell at them. Besides, I need a place to live, so I got to put up with something.”
“You don’t have to put up with anything you don’t want to,” Marshall said stoutly. She shrugged her shoulders and sighed.
“I know, as soon as I land a job and have a couple paychecks saved up, I’m out of there.”
“You don’t have anyone else you could stay with?” Marshall asked.
“No, I don’t. Like I said, the boyfriend and me are splitsville, and the reason being, my best friend. So, I’m out of options except for the ever ‘helpful’ family. Jesus, I should just take a job at the office so they’ll get off my back,” Coral leaned against the door and shook her head.
“Don’t do anything that you don’t want to do, otherwise you’ll regret it later.” Marshall replied.
“You know, my mother, says the same thing, except its ‘If you don’t go to law school, you’ll later regret it’, some how, that has never happened. With all the crappy jobs, and shitty apartments, I’ve never regretted not going to law school.” She laughed slightly at this.
“You really don’t want to be a lawyer?” Marshall asked laughing.
“What for? The last honest lawyers in my family are my grandparents. They put murders and rapists behind bars. My parents help big companies buy smaller companies and rip them to shreds, laying off tons of people. My brother Mica is in the movie business, he works as a legal representative for agents, actors and BMG records. Pearl is a criminal defense attorney, basically keeping rich criminals out of prison. Opal does that as well. Onyx, she’s a divorce lawyer, a killer at it as well. Does all the big celebrity divorces. She’s representing Nick Lachey as a matter of fact.” Coral said, remembering the time she’d run into him at the office.
“You met him?” Marshall asked.
“A bit pompous if you ask me, but he’ll get what he wants with Onyx for sure.”
“Well, with the twit he’s got for a wife, she deserves what ever she gets.” Marshall laughed.
“I stay out of it.”
“So how come Onyx didn’t come out here to kick my ass then, it seems right up her ally.”
“That was the whole reason I didn’t call her. I had to make Pearl swear that she wouldn’t tell her. She’d come out here and find some loop hole and try to sue you for, I don’t know, looking at her funny.” Marshall was taken aback. She’d purposely not called the expert divorce lawyer because she didn’t want him to get swindled.
“That was the real reason you didn’t call her?”
“Marshall, we got a little drunk and made a mistake after meeting at a bar. I’m not gonna try and swindle you out of a million dollars or something. I don’t take what I don’t earn.” Marshall was nearly floored and thought back to the conversation he’d had earlier with Paul.
“Look Marshall, this is California. All marriages are legal, drunk or sober and you didn’t have a prenuptial agreement. If she figures out she can get half with a divorce, it won’t matter that you were married in a drunken stupor. It is still legal, and she can get half of everything you own.”
“I know about the property laws Marshall, I grew up in a household that bred lawyers. If Onyx heard I was married she would have been out here in about two seconds and she’d be battling for half your bank account.” Coral deadpanned.
“Thanks for the honesty.” Marshall replied truthfully.
“Your welcome.” She smiled at him with her genuine smile, and he sighed in relief.

They arrived at Coral’s apartment complex near six o’clock and by then Coral was not ready to listen to another diatribe from her sister. And that was definitely going to happen since Coral had rode with Marshall instead of Pearl.
“See what I mean Coral, this is as far as you’ll ever get, a crappy apartment, in a bad part of town, if you would just go to law school, you could have your degree in three years if you went full time, and took classes during to the summer.” Pearl started right up while they were climbing up the stairs.
“It’s late, I’ll order some pizza for us while we pack up,” Coral said directly ignoring her sisters comments.
“You coming to clear out your stuff?” a gruff voice asked from down the hall while Coral fiddled with her keys.
“Yes Joey, and I want my deposit back too, if you don’t mind,” Coral retorted.
“We’ll see what the place looks like when you’re gone, then we’ll talk about deposits,” Joey snipped.
“Look you overgrown foul mouthed pig, I have had just enough of your shit and you are going to waddle your fat ass back down stairs and get me my six hundred and seventy five dollar deposit, because without any warning you changed the lock on my apartment, and didn’t even give me a thirty days notice. Now I could be a bitch and say I was gonna take you court, but all I want is my money back, and considering that I gave you this month’s rent early, I want that back too. So that brings us up to a grand total of one thousand one hundred dollars. Do I make myself very clear?” Coral asked, as she finally found the key to the new lock and stuffed it in the lock. She turned, a hand on her hip and glowered at the old man.
“I well, it’ll take me a couple of days, see the bank is closed and I don’t,” he stammered. He looked panicked.
“Then I suggest you figure out something because I am not leaving until I have that money, in cash, in my hand when I leave here.” Coral replied icily.
“Well, I can, I guess,”
“Just get out of here and go find the money, I’ve got things to do,” Coral turned the key, kicked the door and went inside.
“Nice job Coral,” Marshall marveled.
“See, and you say you couldn’t be a lawyer,” Pearl snickered.
“Give it a rest Pearl, would you?” Coral asked, dropping her keys on the side table by the door.
“Where do you want me to start?” Marshall asked looking around.
“Um, well, Pearl and I will do the clothes, if you want you can start with the kitchen?” Coral suggested.
“Boxes, Coral? Do you even have boxes?” Pearl snapped.
“Yes, I have the ones I moved in with. They are in the closet. But I have suitcases for the clothes and storage bins for the breakables.” Coral retorted quickly. She made quick work of emptying the boxes from the closet and left Pearl and Marshall to sort them out while she called for pizza.
“Are you always such a bitch to her?” Marshall didn’t hesitate in asking once Coral had left the room.
“No, only when she does something wrong, which is all the time,” Pearl snapped sharply.
“Why can’t you just lay off her, maybe she really doesn’t want to be a lawyer.”
“That’s just too damn bad. What I can’t understand is why she wants to mess around with food, get paid no money, when she could have her own office and assistant and nearly be her own boss.”
“She is her own boss, if you’d only let her be.”
“So, mom and dad, planning out my future are you?” Coral asked loudly as she came back in the room.
“I’m just stating the obvious that you can’t get through your thick skull, that’s all.”
“Then maybe you ought to shut it the fuck up Pearl, because if my skull is that thick, and apparently it is, cause it’s been ignoring you for the past ten years, then your constant bitching is not having any affect.” Coral hurled at her sister.
“Don’t you fucking talk to me like that! I’m doing you a favor you little bitch!” Pearl drew herself up to her full height and narrowed her eyes. She looked like a cobra poised for the kill.
“Then do it for somebody else. Get the fuck out of my house.” Coral said calmly.
“You’ll be sorry, you will, I’ll have Onyx down here and your little precious boy toy here will be ripped to shreds.”
“I already am sorry, sorry that I called you, sorry that you’re my sister, sorry that you came here, sorry that I thought you could be gracious enough to help me out and not be a bitch about it.” Coral turned and walked away before Pearl slammed out the door screaming,
“Just you wait Marshall Mathers, you’ll be sorry too.”
“You okay Coral?” Marshall asked as he walked into the kitchen to find Coral leaning back against the counter with her arms crossed.
“You’ve been nice, and you didn’t have to, and maybe I’m being ungrateful, but just don’t talk to my sisters about what I am, or what I want to do, or anything of that nature. And it’s not that I don’t appreciate someone sticking up for me, its just that its my time for me to say it, and about time that I prove to them that I’m not going to put up with it anymore.”
“I completely understand.” Marshall said in complete honesty.
“Thanks.”

Part III

“You have enough kitchen gadgets to start your own restaurant,” Marshall remarked as they lugged the third box of kitchen utensils down to the car.
“Didn’t I tell you cooking was my thing?” Coral laughed.
“You weren’t lying.”
They packed and talked and laughed and generally had a good time.
“So, does anything stay?” Marshall asked once they had gotten to the bedroom.
“Um, any of the jerk’s clothes, they should be relegated to those three drawers, which can be dumped in the corner, the top two shelves of books can stay, and all the pictures on the dresser. But everything else can go.” Marshall quickly took care of the clothes she mentioned, as well as the books, and finally the picture frames. He looked into the eyes of the guy that had once been Coral’s boyfriend. Tall, handsome, dark eyes and black hair, put together in a business suit. Marshall nearly sighed in relief at letting his hair go back to brown. Coral in all the pictures looked like she was putting on a smile merely for the camera. He wondered why.
“So that’s him?” Marshall asked.
“Hum?” Coral replied edging out of the closet from where she was collecting her sneaker collection.
“The ex?” Marshall asked turning the picture to show her what he was looking at.
“Yeah, that’s him. Charlie, the stockbroker. He should be one of the little icons you use for software or something,” she replied going back to the more important task of pulling out her shoes.
“Well, even you don’t look too happy in those pictures, so no use in saving you from them, so, we’ll try for a three pointer!” Marshall made like he was playing a basketball game and shot the picture frame into the pile of “Charlie the Stockbroker’s” stuff.
“I knew you had a good sense of humor when I met you,” Coral laughed, finally pulling out the last of her shoes and stuffing them into a suitcase.
“You need to have somebody around that’s not so stuffy,” Marshall replied, sinking another shot with another frame and giving a satisfied smile when he heard the glass break. Coral gave a low chuckle.
“Now Marshall, those were very expensive frames, they came from Tiffany’s don’t you know, pure silver and all that Tiffany’s entails.” Coral said with a phony ritzy accent.
“I know darling, but they are a bit tacky don’t you think?” Marshall put on an accent of an airy Englishman and dunked another frame. They both laughed.
“We’ll have to hang out again after this whole divorce thing you know, just for the hell of it you know,” Coral remarked.
“Yeah, that’d be cool.” Marshall nodded with a smile. He walked over to the only poster on the walls of the grubby little room, a plastic framed eleven by twenty, double matted photograph. He understood immediately why she had it. It was a winter scene of what looked like the wide expanse of a park. Trees lined the walk and took up the whole scene that was shaded almost entirely blue and hauntingly beautiful. He didn’t realize how long he’d been standing there looking at it when Coral came up beside him.
“Kinda pulls you in doesn’t it?” she asked.
“Yeah, it does. It’s beautiful, you do it?” he asked looking over at her.
“Na, I found it at this little restaurant I used to work at. I bugged my boss to let me buy from the day I got there. When I left, he gave it to me, as sort of thank you. Well, not so much left, as the restaurant went under. Not too many places last around here. Not new places anyway.”
“This is definitely coming then?” he asked.
“Yeah, it is.”
“Where is it a picture of?”
“I have no idea. But one day, I’d like to find it, and see it, maybe, you know, during the winter, while it’s snowing. I don’t know, sounds all romantic or something right? Like where you’d want somebody to propose to you.” Coral replied starring at the picture.
“Being romantic isn’t a bad thing you know, everyone has a romantic ideal about something.” Marshall replied, though he was still looking at the picture too. It seemed to just suck them into that world, like they were standing there in that park, on that walk, in that moment, with the snow falling around them.
“What’s your romantic ideal?” she asked suddenly turning to him.
“I don’t have one,” Marshall replied quickly, finally pulling his eyes away from the photo and plucking it off the wall. He carefully and gingerly wrapped the photo in some plain paper before Coral helped him package it in a box meant specifically for the picture.
“No, really, what is yours?” she asked as he held the flaps of the box closed for her to tape shut.
“Family. A big family Christmas, at home. You know, house all decorated, a big Christmas tree in the living room, presents to wrap, toys to put together. A big dinner in that dining room that’s never been used. Hailie, dressed up in one of her favorite dresses. You know, different from all the Christmases I’ve known.” Whoa, did he just say that? How the hell had she managed to get to say that out loud? He’d never even said that to himself, let alone some woman he’d met only a day ago.
“That’s not unrealistic. That’s a pretty normal request, I think a lot of people want that. I think that’d be nice too. I never had a big family Christmas either,” Coral replied.
“No?”
“Nope. My parents did a lot of traveling, so we usually were just sent on like these little vacation things. I spent almost every Christmas growing up with my great Aunt Gretchen in Kentucky, god that place was awful. She had this huge house, that I’d end up getting lost in half the time, and this creepy butler with a glass eye,” here Coral gave a little shiver before continuing.
“Thing was, Aunt Gretchen never liked me. So I spent most of my time there in the kitchen with her cook Toasty, that’s what she liked to be called. The kitchen was the only warm place in the house too, that’s where I learned to like cooking. I always had so much fun with her. But I did miss my family, believe it or not. Especially Turkey, we’ve always gotten along the best.” Coral turned to Marshall who was listening with rapt attention and then she finally snapped out of it.
“Damn it Marshall, when are you going to tell me to shut up?” she laughed. He laughed as well and took the picture out to the living room.
“Have you ever thought that maybe I enjoyed listening to you talk?” he asked.
“I don’t know, I figured maybe you’d have something to say once in a while, and Charlie used to get all pissed off when I talked too much.” Coral replied shrugging her shoulders.
“I’m not Charlie.” Marshall replied simply, implying the seriousness with his gaze. She looked away uncomfortably and replied,
“I’m gonna go call the pizza place and see what’s taking them so long.”

They arrived back at Marshall’s house close to midnight, both dead tired and sore from loading Marshall’s car. Everything fit, except for the furniture of course, which Coral had arranged to be put in storage.
“I’m gonna grab something to eat, you want anything?” Marshall asked as he got in the door.
“Uh, sure I guess so,” Coral replied following him.
“What do you want? We got, well, not that much to tell you the truth,” Marshall replied as he looked through the refrigerator.
“Step out of the way, the master approaches the podium,” Coral said stepping alongside him. He laughed slightly but moved aside all the same.
“We only got some like, leftovers, and not that much either,” Marshall replied.
“Take a seat boy, and I’ll show you what I can do,” Coral replied gently pushing him out of the way. He chuckled and took a seat at the counter to watch her.
“Fabulous, what are you talking about? We’ve got plenty to work with!” Coral dove into the refrigerator and pulled out what she needed.
“Some leftover chicken, fruit salad, bell peppers, guava, avocado, lemon, we got plenty to work with, all you need is a little imagination, you’ll see.” Coral said giving him a smile.
“You need help with anything?” Marshall asked looking over the contents that she’d brought of the fridge.
“You just sit right there, and watch the master at work. You’ll be surprised what you can make out of a few leftovers.” Marshall did just that, watching as Coral worked her way through the kitchen, finding everything she needed almost by instinct. She talked to him as she worked, her hands a blur as she chopped ingredients with a large butcher knife.
“All right, what was the best sex, you ever had?” Marshall asked with a laugh. They’d been playing the twenty questions game since she started cooking.
“Sss, well, that’s hard to say. What are we talking, romance, or just the best shag period?” she asked.
“Just the best fuck, come on, what was it?” Marshall egged on. She laughed slightly.
“Okay then, best one, the best one, hmm. Okay, I got it. One night when I went to pick up something from my parent’s office, I met Pearl on the way out. She was coming out with one of her clients, a one Mr. Buster Collier. Well she left and I went upstairs to her office, she’d given me her key so I could get my jacket, I’d left it there the other day. Well, I got up there, and just as I was turning to leave the office, I found Mr. Collier in the door. We knocked all the stuff off of Pearl’s desk and fucked like jackrabbits until he nearly broke his back. A few weeks later when I saw Pearl again I just casually asked about him, and she said that he’d postponed their meetings until he was out of traction!”
“You are shitting me!” Marshall laughed.
“Nope, I put the bastard in traction, and Pearl never did figure out how her favorite picture of her and her pukey boyfriend got smashed.”
“You’re unbelievable,” Marshall laughed.
“Oh really, wait until you taste this,” Coral replied turning from the stove and putting a plate down in front of him. A pile of pasta layered with what looked like a salsa and chicken lay before him. He picked up his fork and took a hearty bite.
“So? What do you think?” she asked with a smile.
“This, is, just, wow, fucking amazing. I mean, what it is?” Marshall asked.
“Well, it’s diced chicken, salsa made with mango, red and yellow peppers, avocado, with just a touch of lemon, sautéed in light olive oil, you like?” Coral raised an eyebrow, watching him devour the food before him.
“You’re good, I mean, you’re really good,” he replied between bites.
“Why thank ya, thank ya very much!” Coral laughed taking a plate for herself. She sat down across from him to eat.
“Okay, so Marshall, you’re turn, you’re best sex ever.”

They lagged behind and took a good long time polishing off all the food Coral had whipped up as they laughed and talked some more. Marshall hadn’t realized how lonely he was until he was telling stories about being on tour with his band and showing her pictures of Hailie.
“Aw, she’s beautiful, she’s got your eyes,” Coral remarked.
“Yeah, that’s my baby girl, she looks so much like her mother, but she acts like me so much it’s scary.” Marshall laughed.
“That’s sweet, you must really miss her. Me, god, I don’t know what I’d do if I had a kid taken away.”
“You don’t have any kids?”
“Na, I don’t want to bring a kid into the mess that my life is. I don’t want to have to struggle to give a kid a life, when I can’t even take care of myself. I mean I want kids, but not until I can take care of them, plus, I’d like to be married. But either way, if it happens it happens. But I’m in no hurry. Life gives us what we want when we need it and not before. And if you want something bad enough, you’ll make sure you live your life the way you need to in order to get what you want.” Coral took his plate along with hers and placed it in the sink.
“Where were you when I needed that advice?” Marshall laughed.
“What do mean?”
“I mean, you make a lot of sense. If I had lived my life, the right way in the first place, I’d be able to see my daughter now. I’d be able to talk to her.” Marshall dropped his head and looked at his shoes.
“Well, look at it this way. You want it bad enough Marshall, you’ll do it. You need to prove it to yourself, not just the court that you deserve your daughter.” Coral replied. He lifted his head and looked at her.
“You’re doing a pretty good job at being a wife, you know that?” She merely shrugged and smiled at him.
“I hate to bust up a big party here, and I am enjoying our little chat, but you did say that Paul is coming early, and I’m sure that Onyx will be here at the crack of dawn,” Coral started but Marshall interrupted.
“So what? Lets just stay up, for the first time in a long time I’ve got somebody to talk to, that isn’t interested in getting them a deal or an autograph or something,”
“And that means a lot to you, doesn’t it?” Coral asked curiously.
“Lets just say I don’t get to meet a lot of honest people, and to tell you the truth, if you do turn out to be like your sister Pearl, and decide to sue me for half of what I got, I’ll never trust another woman I meet.” Coral took in his intense stare and marveled at what had become the strangest relationship she’d been involved in since she could remember. Some how, she’d managed to get this guy, who obviously had trust issues, to open up to her. It wasn’t something she’d been looking for, but then again, when you stop looking for something is when you find it. She’d make sure that he knew he did have a friend that he could lean on, one that wasn’t looking for something in return.
“All right, let’s stay up, but, we’ve got to play truth or dare.” Coral raised her eyebrows at him and grinned. He smiled wide and nodded.
“You got it.”

Part IV

“Em! Yo Em! Wake up! Yo man, I know your ass is in there, wake the fuck up!” Marshall jumped up from where he’d fallen asleep on the couch with Coral. She was slumped over the arm of the couch and slowly got up when she heard the banging on the door.
“I’m coming man!” Marshall shouted as he jogged towards the door.
“What the fuck is going on man! First I hear that you got drunk and had the bar tender get you a cab, and then I have to hear from Paul, not from you, that you got fucking married last night!” boomed a large and looming black man as he burst through the door.
“Nice to see you too Dre, come right in why don’t you?” Marshall said holding the door open as Dre raged.
“Do you realize, how much a press hiatus this is going to cause? And what she’s gonna do to you, going to the tabloids and shit, you know how much she can get for a story like this?” Dre asked as Marshall shut the door.
“Dre, chill all right, she can hear you, you know,” Marshall replied.
“She’s here? Don’t tell me you been fucking the bitch?”
“Uh hi? I’d be the bitch you’re referring to, hi, I’m Coral.” Coral stepped out of the living room and held out a hand as she introduced herself. The color drained from Dre’s face as he held out a hand and choked,
“Hi, yeah, sorry, didn’t know you were right there.”
“Look, we need to get a few things straight, and I think the best way to do that is over some breakfast. So what say you boys take a seat at the counter, while I whip up some eggs?” Coral asked brightly. Dre gave Marshall a sideways glance.
“Is she for real?”
“Man, just shut up and come get something to eat,” Marshall laughing pushing the taller man towards the kitchen.
While Coral was cooking Paul showed up, legal papers in hand, ready to get down to business.
“So, what is, this, whole thing here?” Paul asked as Marshall ushered him over to the counter to take a seat.
“Paul meet Coral, the new wife, Coral, this is Paul, my lawyer.”
“How do you?” Coral asked nodding towards him, spatula in hand.
“All right, but Em, but why is she? Are you two?” Paul asked confused.
“I’m a cook, it’s what I do, I cook, so, Paul you got everything drawn up? What do I need to sign, what can we do to get this through fast as possible?” Coral asked as she pulled out some more plates and silverware.
“Well, the initial divorce request, you both need to sign that, and then the disclosure agreements of course, and the agreement not to sue for alimony,” Paul started.
“I don’t go to the press, yada yada yada, just start explaining then hand over the pen. I’m sure you want this over with as quickly as I do,” Coral replied as she dished out the eggs and popped the toast off the griddle. She’d managed to mix up some jam and spread it over the toast and parcel it out to each plate.
“Here you go, growing boys need their breakfast, most important meal of the day,” Coral chirped placing a plate in front of each of the men at the counter. Dre and Paul gave each other questioning looks.
“So you must be, Dr. Dre, right?” Coral asked.
“Huh? Oh, yeah, but you’d know that already, wouldn’t you?” Dre asked.
“I don’t listen to rap music, so no. Like I was telling Marshall here, I haven’t bought a CD since 1999, and I listen to country music mostly. But if you’re implying that I have a problem with rap music, I don’t. I just haven’t ever really listened to it.” Coral added and Dre quickly shut up.
“Just eat you two,” Marshall laughed.
“So, how is it exactly that you two ended up married?” Dre asked after a few minutes of awkward silence.
“Met at the diner where Marshall broke my fall after my boss threw me off the porch, then we went to get a drink, and we got drunk. I’m guessing that we eventually found somebody who was willing to marry us at some place, and that’s as much as we know.” Coral answered for them both. Marshall was secretly grateful. Dre was his friend, though at times he acted like father figure, he wasn’t looking forward to the lectures HE was going to get as a result of his mistake.
“And I’m supposing that you two?” Paul asked.
“No, we didn’t,” Marshall answered this time.
“Look, gentlemen, let me make a few things very clear. I do not want to be married to Marshall. He is a very nice guy, and we get along, but I’d prefer to marry a man I’ve known at the very least a week. Now, I have no interest in going to the press about this, as far as I’m concerned, this does not reflect very well on me either. As my sister Pearl as already taken the liberty to tell me, several times. What I need is to get my own life on track and taking Mr. Mathers down because of a stupid mistake on both our parts is not part of that plan. I am not interested in his money, nor I am interested ruining his image. Are we clear?” Coral asked.
“Very,” Paul nodded looking towards Coral and then Marshall.
“Good to hear,” Dre replied.
“Good, now we can enjoy our breakfast.”
Paul worked quickly and they had all the disclosure agreements signed within an hour as well as the divorce petition.
“So, is that all?” Coral asked.
“If there is anyone you want to have copies of this? Your lawyer?” Paul asked.
“Just me, for this process, Paul you are my lawyer. The quicker you get this taken care of, the better.” Coral replied handing him the pen.
“You sure? I mean, I know I explained all this to you, but you might want some outside legal council,” Paul replied.
“I have plenty of legal council on my own side. All four of my grandparents are lawyers, so are my parents, and my four sisters, and one brother. One is an expert in divorce court, you might have heard of her, Onyx Matthews, of the Matthews, Daughters and Sons?” Coral asked and Paul’s eyes nearly turned to saucers.
“The Matthews? The Matthews! Of all the people in the world Em, that you had to marry, Jesus Christ!” Paul exclaimed.
“Chill Paul, Coral is not a lawyer, and she purposely did not call her sister because she didn’t want her interfering,” Marshall replied.
“And besides, the papers are all signed, what else can I do now?”
“Are you sure?” Paul asked again.
“Yes, I am. Now, if you don’t mind, I have to move my things to my sister’s place until I can find a new job and a place to live.” Coral replied standing up.
“Well, thank you, for making this go smooth,” Paul replied putting a hand out to shake hers, which she did readily.
“No problem. Like I said, it was a mutual mistake, and I’m not one to take advantage of people like that.”
“One of the few that won’t.” Dre replied.
“So you’ll let me know when it goes through, right? Just in case I find another one I want to get drunk and marry within the next twenty-four hours?” Coral laughed.
“I’ll let you know. Nice meeting you Coral,” Paul chuckled and turned to Marshall.
“Take it easy, and stay out of the bars for a while would ya?”
“I will, thanks man, take it easy yourself.” A few minutes later he was gone along with Dre.
So there they were. Alone, again, in the house. Divorce in progress. What were they going to do now? They stood a few feet apart, in entryway from where they had said goodbye to both Paul and Dre. They looked at one another.
“So, you need a ride to your sister’s right?” Marshall asked, though he really wasn’t looking forward to how quiet the house was going to be without Coral’s constant stories, the smell of her cooking, just the sound of her damn voice. God he hated that house.
“Uh, yeah, Pearl’ll be sending out the army reserves soon, you know,” Coral chuckled and Marshall laughed along with her, weakly so.
“Um, I’m just gonna get my keys, and we can head out.”
“Sure,” Coral said and he turned to leave the room to get his keys, “And Marshall, thanks.” He looked at her and nodded, not able to say anything at all.

The ride to San Francisco was comparatively silent from the past hours they had spent together. Coral didn’t feel compelled to speak, and Marshall for the most part didn’t give any indication that he was interested in hearing any more stories.
Once they arrived at the apartment complex where all of Coral’s family lived it was around five o’clock. Marshall helped her unload her things into the storage area that was reserved for her sister in the basement of the complex and then proceeded to get right back in his car.
“Well, uh, it’s been, something, huh?” Coral asked as he stood at his car door, fiddling with his keys.
“Yeah. But I got to say, if I had to marry somebody overnight, I’m glad it was you, it was fun, and now I know who to call to cater, and you’ll have plenty of business, you know, with my friends and such,” Marshall trailed off, he felt like he was losing his best friend in the world. Now he’d be alone, again. Great, just what he needed. Shit. Alone, that was what he was worrying about? God dammit, he needed to get out of here and grow his dick back.
“Yeah, sure,” Coral bit her bottom lip. God, why was this so awkward? It wasn’t like they were anything to each other, right? A drunken stupor and vows taken without knowledge, weren’t enough to connect two people, that much right?
“Uh, look, here’s my cell number, and the house number, and my pager, the studio phone, I think that about covers it.” Marshall laughed handing her over the paper where he’d copied out his numbers earlier that day. She took the paper gingerly.
“I’ll call you as soon as I figure out who I’m staying with,” she nodded, looking at the paper.
“Well, I guess I should get going,” Marshall said glancing towards the ground.
“Coral! How lovely, and this is the young man Pearl has been telling us so much about, please, please, you must come upstairs and join us for dinner!” Coral turned to see her grandmother marching across the parking lot with a smile on her face.
“I was just getting ready to, I mean I have to,” Marshall stuttered.
“Oh nonsense you can make time to have dinner with the family, after all you are her husband for a few days now aren’t you?” the woman laughed. Coral smiled genuinely so Marshall figured that it must be okay.
“Uh, sure, all right, I guess so,” he replied.
“Marvelous! Come along, come along.” Marshall looked over at Coral as the smart and sharp looking gray haired woman marched back across the parking lot to the elevator.
“And she is?” he asked.
“That’s my grandmother Margaret, she’s one of the nice ones, don’t worry,” Coral laughed as they hurried to the elevator and hopped inside.
“I hope so.”

Marshall got the distinct air of being the slimy frog in the midst of the beautiful koi pond when he’d been introduced to Coral’s family. Everyone was dressed to the nines with suits and expensive watches so he really felt out of place in his baggy jeans, T-shirt and baseball cap. The consensus of feeling was that they were all being nice because they were being watched and it wasn’t polite to scream at the guests. Marshall hadn’t met so many fake people since he’d been forced to go the last Jive party and meet the whole of both of his most hated enemies, Nsync and the Backstreet Boys.
Coral went around and quickly introduced the entirety of Matthews law firm to him, and the only genuine hellos he got were from the grandparents and her sister Turquoise. Pearl was looking particularly vindictive as did the black haired woman that Coral introduced as Onyx. Marshall could only imagine why.
They sat down to dinner almost immediately and were served by the housemaid, this was getting too surreal for Marshall. Sure he was rich, but what they called ghetto rich, he had money but he didn’t spend it on a troop of servants and such, things he’d never grown up with and didn’t see a need for. Besides, when he was living by himself, there wasn’t much to do anyway. And even if Hailie was living with him, he would not have hired a nanny, he enjoyed taking care of his own daughter too much, aside from that, he hardly ever got to see her. It was going on two months now, and he missed her so much it hurt.
“So, how did you two meet?” Onyx asked with an obvious chuckle.
“Excuse me?” Marshall asked.
“How did you meet, Pearl only said that Coral had gotten a new boyfriend, she didn’t tell us anything else,” Grandfather Albert asked, and Coral nearly choked on her bite of potato.
“Boyfriend?” Coral asked with wide eyes.
“Yes, boyfriend,” Pearl repeated. Coral looked at Marshall and then back at her Grandfather before slowly putting her fork down. Marshall sensed there was going to be a big blow out, and felt Coral tense beside him.
“Pearl was lying. Marshall is not my boyfriend, he is my husband, as a matter of fact,” Coral looked back at her sister and narrowed her eyes, let the battles begin.
“Husband, husband?” Albert coughed.
“Yes, I met Marshall yesterday night, we got drunk, and got married. So yes husband.” Coral repeated, Marshall felt his face heating up.
“You got drunk and got married!” Cordelia, Coral’s mother, shrieked standing up from the table.
“Yes indeed I did mama,” Coral replied.
“Of all the stupid, irresponsible things, Coral, do you realize, what this is going to do to your life?” Jasper, Coral’s father, shouted next.
“Jasper, now calm down,” Margaret said quickly, she’d obviously thought that everyone knew about what happened, but then again, that was Pearl and her way of lying as usual.
“You see? You see now mother, this is why I wouldn’t allow you to pay for that infernal schooling that she wanted to go, some half shot bakery where she could learn how to make pigs in a blanket!”
“The Cour Don Blue is the top cooking school in the world and don’t you dare try to discount all the efforts I put into getting accepted!” Coral shouted.
“Well, it looks like you’ll be able to go now, now you found yourself a rich husband, am I right?” Onyx interrupted with a half-cocked grin. Coral was seething.
“We are getting a divorce thank you very much and no thanks to you Pearl,” Coral snapped.
“Please tell me you didn’t sign anything?” Mica asked surprised.
“I took care of everything myself, I don’t need anyone’s help.”
“No, of course not, why would you need any of our help, not when you only have a divorce lawyer in the family,” Cordelia said shaking her head.
“I took care of it. I’m not as inept as you all think,” Coral replied quietly.
“We don’t think you’re inept sweetie,” Grandmother Louise added quickly.
“Oh don’t defend her mom,” Cordelia snapped.
“You should have went to law school, and you know it. Why do you have to question everything Coral? Why? I mean look around you, obviously you were meant to be a lawyer,” Jasper began to rant.
“Dad, leave her alone,” Turkey said loudly.
“You stay out of this, you’re not the gem of the family either, personal injury law bullshit, you waste our firm’s time,” Jasper snapped.
“Don’t scream at her when it’s me your mad at dad,” Coral retorted.
“Never mind about your sister, it’s you we’re talking about here. You are going to stop this foolishness right now. You are going to take a job in the office and you are going to start classes right away. Onyx will take care of this divorce and you will finally get your life on track.” Jasper smacked the table once as spoke, making Coral jump.
“Your father is absolutely right. You can be my secretary, and you’ll get right over this cooking thing. I mean, look at you, living out of those dumpy apartments, slaving over a hot stove in hash joints and diners for minimum wages. Coral, you’re a smart girl, why do you insist on acting so stupid?” Cordelia asked looking over at Coral who was busy staring in her lap, tying her napkin in a knot.
Marshall wanted to say something, but upon Coral’s request that he not say anything, he didn’t. He had a feeling that this sort of dinner was not uncommon for Coral, and maybe she was right, it was time for her to stand up to her own family.
“I’m not going to law school,” Coral said quietly as her parents continued to rant and scream at her.
“Yes you are!”
“NO I’M NOT!” Coral jumped up from her chair and was nearly screaming.
“I am sick and tired of listening to you discount what I want to do with my life. I do not want to be a lawyer, I’ve never wanted to be a lawyer, and I never will be a lawyer. I got accepted into the highest accredited cooking school in the world, when I was just seventeen. Now in a lot of house holds that is nothing to sneeze at. I want to cook, it’s what I’m good at and I don’t care if that makes me the black sheep of the family because I don’t want to spend my time, keeping criminals out of jail like you Pearl, or rip families to shreds like you Onyx. I am a person too god dammit and I deserve to be treated with some decency and respect!” Coral’s eyes were spilling angry tears as she yelled.
“How dare you speak to us like that?” Cordelia roared. Coral looked like she was struggling to find her words and finally screamed, “FUCK OFF!” before dashing from the room. Marshall looked around at the table and said as he stood,
“Thanks for dinner, nice meeting you all.”

Coral choked and sputtered on her tears all the way down the elevator to the parking garage under the building where found her boxes of things and collapsed into them. Muttering to herself and wiping tears away roughly, she wrapped her arms around herself and sighed.
A few minutes later she saw some headlights coming towards her and she watched as Marshall’s car pulled up, then backed in towards her. He hopped out of the car, popped open the back and didn’t say anything as he started to load the boxes he’d unloaded only an hour ago.
“Wha, what are you doing?” Coral asked watching as Marshall heaved the first box into the car.
“Well, you need a place to live, right? And you obviously can’t live here,” he replied shoving the box in as far as he could. She stood up off the box she’d been sitting on and looked at him confused.
“What are you talking about?”
“You need a job right?” Marshall asked looking up at her from where he was doubled over to pick up another box.
“Yeah, so?”
“I need a cook, so you’re hired, you get three hundred a week, room and board, use of the kitchen of course and full access to the house, you accept?” he asked, pushing the next box in the car. Coral laughed and wiped a few more tears away.
“You’re kidding right?” she asked.
“No, you’re a good cook, I’m a bad cook, and well, I got to eat, and I’m getting fat eating take out so, you want the job or not?” he asked, keeping out of eye contact as he kept picking up boxes.
“Marshall,” Coral laughed.
“What?” he turned and no sooner she’d planted a kiss on his cheek.
“You’re just the sweetest guy on the face of this planet, that’s all.” She grinned at him and he felt his cheeks start to heat.
“I’m just gonna finish loading these boxes.”

Part V

“You have your choice of rooms, there's one bedroom down here, though that's really in the back of the house, not much light back there. And three rooms upstairs, not counting Hailie's, but we're not going there.” Marshall said as they clambered in the door.
“Um, whatever is fine really,” Coral replied, still surprised that she was back in his house, and wondering if she was insane to be accepting the job. Then again, it was better than being alone, which was why she guessed he'd invited her to stay with him.
“All right then, come on, we'll go look at them again. You do have a mind Coral, I'm pretty sure you can pick out a room that you like enough to live in.” Marshall chuckled.
“Boy Marshall, don't be so annoyed at having me here, jeez, I feel like I intruded or something,” Coral laughed.
“Of course you did. What the hell do you call getting drunk and marrying me without telling me, you call that a subtle introduction?” Marshall asked as they climbed the stairs.
“Hey, you did the same to me, and don't you forget it.” They went through the rooms until the only one left was the one beside Marshall's. It was by far the largest, and most beautiful room in the entire house, the only room it looked like Marshall had taken any interest. The walls in here were painted almost a royal blue that
seemed kind of fuzzy, but nice all the same.
“At least this room has some color,” Coral remarked looking around the room with a renewed appreciation.
“What are you talking about?”
“Marshall, the entirety of this house is beige, and mark me, but I don't see you as a beige person.” Coral replied.
“All right then, you got yourself another job then, you'll be the interior decorator, help me figure out what to do with this house. I didn't choose the wall colors mind you, I just moved in as is. Wasn't here enough to change anything, but now that you mention it, the place is kinda dull.” Marshall replied looking around the room. Coral took a seat on the king-sized bed and looked around.
“So, you marking this as your territory then?” Marshall asked.
“Yeah, I think so, that is, if you don't mind.”
“It's all yours. And like I said, I'm holding you to the interior decorating too, you gonna be living here, I expect you to make good decisions,” Marshall remarked giving her a smile.
“You got it,” she returned with a smile of her own.
“Well, I should let you get some rest, let you settle in, we can bring the rest of the stuff in tomorrow,” Marshall said edging towards the door.
“Oh, I should make some dinner then,” Coral said standing up abruptly.
“Don't worry about it, you, can start on Monday. I'm gonna head to bed myself, sleep nice Coral,” Marshall grinned. Coral nodded and he disappeared.
“Sleep nice? That is too cute.” She laughed to herself and looked around. There was one thing that had to go up tonight, that was the photograph. She ran back out to the car and retrieved it, without alerting Marshall and returned to her room. There was already one awful watercolor on the wall across from the bed, and she removed that and replaced it with her photograph. It was the perfect place, this was the perfect place. Coral felt at home, more at home than she ever felt anywhere in her life.

Next door Marshall changed into some baggy sweat pants and just his beater before heading down stairs for something to eat. He grabbed a bowl of cereal and plopped down on the couch in front of the television to watch something, anything, it didn’t really matter right now. He was tired anyway, and he’d probably fall asleep before he saw the end of what ever he was watching.
He felt more at ease than ever with someone else in the house. He’d heard her go out to the car before he left his room, and he figured it must have been for the photo. It must have made it home for her. He liked hearing someone else in the house, made it less empty. He liked her, they got along so well, and just after a couple days too.
The ride home had been something in itself. He spent the whole time just making her laugh until her tears had finally gone away. She’d been so happy that she’d finally stood up to her family. He was floating high on the fact that he wouldn’t be alone in that house, and that it was going to be Coral, someone he’d clicked with so fast it was almost scary. That almost goodbye had nearly killed him. He missed having someone to talk to. God, what the hell was wrong with him, he was turning into a chick! He didn’t need anyone. Sure as hell didn’t.
But Coral was here and it made him smile, so what?
“You want some company?” Marshall turned to the soft voice and found Coral peeking from around the corner.
“Sure, come on, plenty of room and crappy late night TV.”
“So what is it that you actually do now?” Coral asked as she sat down on the couch and pulled her feet under her.
“Do? As in for a job?” Marshall asked.
“Yeah, I mean, you were a rapper, now what do you do? Cause it doesn’t look like you’re about to go make another album anytime soon.”
“You got me there. No, I don’t plan on going into the studio for a while. I’m laying low until this whole court thing gets taken care of, then I might do another album, but I’m not sure. I may just retire, let it be and hopefully get to take care of Hailie.”
“I can appreciate that,” Coral replied as looked over at the television.
“What about you?” Marshall asked.
“Hum? Well, I’ll probably hang around here until you get sick of my cooking, then I’ll maybe start up my own catering thing. If I get enough money saved up and a long enough client list, I think I can do it.”
“I know you’ll be able to do it, and if the rest of your cooking is anywhere as good as that stuff you made the other night, I won’t be getting sick of it any time soon,” Marshall laughed and she chuckled as well. They sat in silence for a few minutes watching the television, Marshall flipping the channels every once in a while.
“Wait! Go back, was that you?” Coral asked as Marshall turned the channel back and indeed it was him.
“Oh god, not that one!” Marshall laughed as the “Without Me” video played on the screen. This wasn’t exactly the first video he’d done, but it wasn’t one that he wanted Coral to see first either.
“So this is what you do?” Coral laughed as she watched the video and listened to the song. Marshall felt his cheeks heat again and wondered how the hell he, of all people in the world could feel embarrassed, and over this.
“Rap boy, that is really cute, you got some clever commentary there Marshall,” Coral turned to him as the video ended.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. I mean I never actually sat down and listened to rap music before, once in a while heard a song in the restaurant, but never heard anything but ‘shake that ass’ or ‘do the bump and grind’, something to that effect anyway. And you’re funny too. You got yourself an interesting job Mr. Mathers, you do indeed.” Coral smiled at him and for the first time in his life, he agreed to take a compliment.

The next morning Marshall woke to the smell of something wonderful wafting from the kitchen. He sat up, realizing he’d fallen asleep on the couch again, though he was lying down and with a blanket covering him. He got up, draping the blanket over the back of the couch as he went, before finding Coral in the kitchen.
“Didn’t I tell you that you didn’t start until Monday?” Marshall asked with a laugh as he sat down at the counter and rubbed the heel of his hand into his eye.
“Same difference, you want some coffee?” she asked looking over at him.
“Uh, sure,” a minute later a steaming mug sat before him, and it smelled as good as everything else in the kitchen.
“Don’t tell me you grow your own coffee beans too or something?” he laughed taking a sip.
“No, but I fresh grind them, cream?” she asked.
“Yeah, thanks,” he said, feeling a little strange having her know exactly what he wanted.
“So, what are you making?”
“Pancakes, you didn’t have anything in the house, so, I hope you don’t mind, I borrowed the car and ran out to the market.”
“Huh, oh, no, I forgot to tell you that. You can use the Escort all you want. But I did have some of that Bisquick stuff around here,” Marshall replied scratching his head, trying to remember where he had the stuff hid.
“If you think I’m going to make pancakes with Bisquick, you’re out of your mind, now, try those and tell me what you think,” Coral said and turned to place a plate in front of him. He picked up the fork and took a bite. Now these were good.
“You’ve done it again girl you really have,” Marshall replied.
“Good, now do you want jam for those?” she asked with a raised an eyebrow.
“Only peach,” Marshall replied with a raised eyebrow of his own.
“I knew I had you pegged for peach, here you go,” Coral grinned at him and placed the bowl on the counter before taking a seat herself, however, this time she sat next to him at the counter.
“You make everything from scratch?” Marshall marveled.
“Yeah, I would have loved to make the pasta myself the other night, but, it was late and I didn’t have my pasta press either.”
“You know how to make pasta?”
“Yeah, it’s just mixing together some ingredients, rolling it out and running it through the press, I’ll show you sometime,” Coral replied taking some of the jam for her own pancakes and spreading it over the top one.
They ate in silence for a while until Coral spoke up.
“You know, I never did say thank you, for getting me out of there.” Marshall hurried to answer her.
“It was nothing, really, don’t worry about it.” He was feeling guiltier by the minute. He felt almost if he had done it just so HE wouldn’t be lonely.
“No, it was. I mean, obviously you don’t need a cook here, and obviously you wouldn’t have someone live here even if you did need a cook. You did something for me that one else has ever considered.”
“Really Coral, it wasn’t anything.”
“Yeah? Then why were you so happy that you could bring me back here?” she asked, her fork pressing down into the top pancake on her plate. Marshall sat looking down hard at his plate, trying not to look at her.
“Marshall, you can admit that you were lonely, it happens to everyone. And if it’s any consolation, if I had my little girl taken away, I’d be looking for somebody to talk to too.” Coral replied taking a bite of her food. Marshall gripped his fork hard and continued to stare at his plate.
“It’s not so much being lonely as just having this big place with no body in it. It don’t feel right.”
“Why not move into a smaller place then?” Coral suggested. Marshall started eating again and shrugged.
“That don’t feel right either.” Coral nodded in agreement.
“I know what you mean.” They looked at each other simultaneously and smiled at one another.
“You know, it is a good thing we didn’t have sex,” Coral said after a minute.
“How come?”
“Cause we wouldn’t be able to be such good friends.”
“You know something, I think you are very right,” Marshall remarked, and for the very first time in his life, he was glad that he hadn’t gotten laid while he was drunk. Coral was different. She was cool, she was fun, and she liked being around him. She made him smile, something he hadn’t been able to do for a while, and he liked that. Just having around someone that made him smile, a friend he could talk to, yeah that was just right for right now.

“So what is Coral considered really?” Marshall asked as they sat down for lunch. Coral had made an asparagus salad with some wonderful dressing along with lemonade to eat out by the pool.
“A marine animal. Coral is alive under the water until it’s cut up. It takes thousands of years to grow, that’s why they’re always trying to save the coral reefs.”
“So you’re really named after a animal, not a stone then?”
“Well, once it’s cut up and polished, it’s considered a stone, it’s very valuable too, so I’ve heard.”
“Yeah?”
“Well it depends on the kind too, and the color, where it came from, and so on. How refined it is and such.” Coral replied taking a bite of her salad.
“So how much is a piece of Texas native, brown haired, coffee colored eyed piece of Coral Matthews worth?” Marshall grinned. She looked at him across the table with a raised eyebrow.
“Three hundred a week,” she replied and he shook his head and laughed for a good while.
“I’m not that funny am I?” she asked.
“Yeah you are.”
“You ever think of putting a garden in here?” Coral asked looking around at the sparse yard.
“I don’t know how to garden anything.”
“You have a perfect spot for it, right along that fence, you get the best angle of the sun there, and not too much either.”
“We’ll put it on the list,” Marshall smiled as he took a sip off lemonade.
“List?” Coral laughed.
“Between, cooking, redecorating, painting, a garden, you got a me a ‘honey-do’ list and we’ve only been married for a few days,” Marshall laughed.
“I didn’t give you a list, and I didn’t say you had to do anything about the stuff either,” Coral retorted.
“Oh right, sure you didn’t,” Marshall laughed.
“Ha ha, very funny. Here give me that, I can start the dishwasher,” Coral said as she stood up, reaching for his plate.
“You want to take a swim later?” Marshall asked standing up and taking his own plate inside.
“I don’t swim.”
“You don’t swim?” Marshall asked with an unbelieving stare.
“I can’t swim, I’m afraid of water. I nearly drowned at the beach when I was seven.” Coral replied as Marshall took her plate and placed it in the dishwasher alongside his.
“Really?”
“Yeah, Pearl was supposed to be watching me, out in the water, but she wasn’t. I got pulled out into the ocean by a rip tide. By the time I got thrown back out, I had blacked out under the water. I nearly died.” Coral replied.
“Kinda ironic for somebody named Coral though,” Marshall said thoughtfully. She shrugged.
“I suppose, but I won’t swim, I won’t even take baths, freaks me out too much. Turkey once, she tried to take me to a hyponotherapist, to get me in the water, but it didn’t work.”
“No one can get you in the water? At all?” Marshall asked.
“Nope. And no body ever will.” Coral said resolutely.
“Coral belongs in the water,” Marshall replied giving her a sideways glance.
“Yeah and Eminem melts in his own hand,” she said giving him another sideways glance.
“You’re sick,” Marshall laughed.
“And you’re a pain in the ass.”
“Come on, I’ll help you unpack.” They smiled at each other and he slightly pushed her in what would become a regular custom for them.

“You can keep all your kitchen stuff, in the kitchen, since you’re the only one that knows how to use any of it,” Marshall said as he brought in the first box.
“Yeah, I didn’t plan on making pasta out of the curtains in my bedroom.”
“You’re a riot, you know that?” Marshall laughed as he struggled to bring in the next box.
“I told you I’d carry that,” Coral muttered as Marshall pretended to pant and struggle to the kitchen. She put her box on the counter and watched him play it out for all it was worth.
“You’re not funny you know,” she laughed.
“No? I’m not? Then what about, this!” Marshall charged towards her and she just jumped out of the way.
“What are you doing!” she laughed, lunging out of the way.
“Get over here, where you going, I’m gonna take you for a little swim in the sink!” Marshall called as he chased after her.
“Don’t even think about it!” Coral warned as she dashed back out the door to get another box. He was right behind her and picked her up, box and all, and dragged her back in the house.
“What exactly do you think you’re doing?” she asked holding onto the box as he held her in his arms.
“Just annoying you that’s all. Where’s that one go?” he asked nodding to the box.
“My room,” she replied.
“Floor one, house wears, electronics, and kitchen accessories, going up!” Marshall shouted racing up the stairs. She laughed as he careened down the hall and catapulted her onto the bed.
“Boy, I’d hate to see you in a bad mood,” she laughed pulling herself up from the bed.
“Yeah I know.” Marshall grinned at her.
“Yo Em! You home!” a familiar voice called from below.
“Oh, Dre’s here, come on,” Marshall said motioning to the doorway.
“Hey man,” Marshall said trotting down the stairs, Coral in his wake. Dre furrowed his brow.
“What’s she doing here?” Dre asked as he and Marshall did their handshake.
“Dre, meet Coral Matthews, my new live in cook slash decorator. I hired her.”
“You got yourself a live in prostitute?” Dre asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Uh hi, you’re doing it again. Acting like I’m not in the room. But I’m right here. And no, I’m not a live in prostitute.” Coral said with a grin that was not to be messed with.
“But you’re sure milking this marriage thing for all it’s worth, ain’t ya?” Dre snarled.
“Look Dre, I asked her to come here, she didn’t ask me. Besides the fact that even though we were drunk that night we didn’t have sex, and we’re not having sex now. We’re friends. And if you got a problem with that, I suggest you get out of here, cause I’m not putting up with any shit you plan on giving her.” Marshall said quickly.
For a few minutes it looked as though things could have gone either way. Either Dre would have gone off on Marshall for talking to him that way, or Marshall was gonna go off on Dre for saying something. They eyed one another and then Dre backed down.
“All right, all right. I’m sorry. I mean I did see you sign those contracts yesterday and if you do go and sell a story, you’re gonna be taking the money you get and using it to pay the lawsuit that’d get filed against you,” Dre replied looking over at Coral.
“My intentions are very clear. I make it a point not to keep secrets and tell lies. I’ve got nothing to hide. Now, if you’ll excuse me, since it is my job, I need to go start dinner.” Coral nodded at Dre, her eyes losing some of their creamy softness as she went.
“I’d still feel better if we did a background check on her,” Dre replied once she was out of earshot.
“No.” Marshall said flatly.
“Marshall, do you have any idea what this could do to your career? Having this woman, living here, in your house?”
“Dre, as far as my career is concerned, it’s over. I don’t even have the right to make a phone call to my daughter. You think I’m gonna worry about running out to the studio, to make a new album. Having all those people feeding on how angry I am at myself, for turning out to be too stupid to realize what I was doing to my own kid? Forget it. I will go back out there, when and if, I can get some sort of visitation with Hailie, and maybe then I won’t want to go back to it. And Coral, she’s got nothing to do with it. She is a friend, okay? We are friends. You know, just two people who happen to get along.” Marshall explained.
“You’re gonna throw away, these last four years? The last four years and your four albums, and your hits, everything? Just because of this last little screw up? Marshall, you’re popularity ratings are through the roof! The kids still love you!” Dre said exasperated.
“The only kid I’m worried about is Hailie.”
“You can’t just turn your back on all your fans.”
“Well, maybe they can understand for once, maybe I can rely on them for once.” Marshall said rubbing the back of his neck.
“Fans are fickle Em. You wait too long and you’ll lose your base.”
“Then they aren’t really fans, now are they?” Marshall’s eyes hardened.
“You are not looking at this logically Em. You are the first white rapper to ever make it big. You got the world at your feet and you can do anything you want with it! For Christ sake Em, you went out there at the Grammy’s and performed with Elton John while the gay rights activists were calling you a homophob, you realize, how many people want to be you?”
“Dre, what the hell does any of that matter, at the end of the day, when all I got to do is sign over an alimony check and a child support check and the only thing I have is this fucking empty house?”
“Man, you can have a life, you know it. But not by waiting around here.”
“The life I want is what you got Dre. You got your wife and your kids, you’re all set up. I’m trying to put things in perspective here, can’t you just give me a little time?” Marshall asked. Dre sighed and looked at the kid, now the man that was his protégé. Em had a point.
“You’re right. You got some shit to figure out, and after all the after parties and groupies, I got to say I don’t miss it. I like coming home to the same person, I like playing with my kids. And I’ve never had to be without them. I can’t understand what it’s like. You do what you need to do. If you gonna end it, it is a shame man. But I understand. I’ll talk to you soon.” Dre nodded and so did Marshall. They shook hands and as soon as he came, Dre was gone.
Marshall waited in the foyer until he heard Dre’s car leave. He took a deep sigh, the things he’d been thinking now been said and out in the open. Stuffing his hands in his pockets he meandered into the kitchen.
“I’m not a fan especially of you friend,” Coral said without looking up from her mixture.
“No, I don’t suppose you would be,” Marshall replied taking his usual seat at the counter in front of her.
“Something the matter?” Coral asked looking up with a raised eyebrow. Her eyes were back to their normal creamy coffee consistency. The corner of Marshall’s mouth went up with an undecided air.
“I’m not sure. I as good as told Dre that I’m thinking about giving up the rap game, and he wasn’t too happy with me.”
“Dre’s your?” Coral asked.
“Manager, sort of. He kinda found me. He’s the reason I ever made it.”
“Oh, I see. You’re sort of his, protégé, right?”
“Yeah, you could say that.”
“Are you more upset about him being angry with you or are you more upset about quitting in general?” Marshall at that moment wanted to know how the hell that girl had gotten in his head so quick.
“I love rap. Don’t get me wrong, I love performing. But, without my kid, I don’t see a point to any of it. I guess it’s kinda like that cliché thing of, you got it all, but nobody to share it with,” Marshall replied wrinkling his nose and adjusting his hands in his pockets.
“There’s nothing wrong with that. There is nothing wrong with wanting something that is going to take a little sacrifice and hard work. The goals that are easy to attain, they mean little or nothing at all. The ones you have to work for, give things up for, they are things you will treasure for the rest of your life.” Coral replied as she stirred the mixture in the bowl she held before her.
“Think you can get out of my head now?” Marshall asked looking over at her with a smile.
“Now why would I want to be in there? I got enough dirty dishes to wash,” Coral grinned as she leaned across the counter and tapped his forehead.
“Stop being so nice.” Marshall said with a sleepy smile.
“All right, then you stop being so sweet.”
“I’m not, by any means.”
“Oh shut up,” she pushed his hat down over his eyes and he laughed.

Part VI

The next morning Marshall decided that he was going to make the best of this house if it killed him. Something had bothered him about the house, and that was that it was cold. Granted he lived in California, it was sunny all the time, but the house, was sterile. The backyard, lifeless. It was time to make the house a home.
Sitting down to breakfast he brought with him a notebook he designated for ideas.
“All right, I say, we start with the living room. I hate that thing, and the furniture in there is awful.” Marshall said taking a large bite out of his fruit salad.
“Getting a little gung ho are we?” Coral asked looking up from the newspaper.
“Oh, and by the way, we’re gonna start using that damn dining room. There’s no reason to wait to use it.” Marshall replied.
“Okay. Oh, and we need to go over a menu, of what you want and when, likes and dislikes,” Coral added.
“Anything you make, is gonna be fine. Just make what you want to make, when you want to make it. I was thinking, in there, one of those faux finish things, I think they call them. They use like plaster or something.” Marshall went on.
“What color?”
“I was thinking like one of those orangey leathery looking type.”
“All right, kinda southwest then, ranch almost, right?”
“Exactly.”
“You know what would look great in there,” Coral remarked pointing with her fork towards the living room, “Some of those beams, across the ceiling.”
“Yeah, it a real dark brown, almost black stain.”
“You got it.” Coral smiled.
“And hardwood flooring, same color, keep the white ceiling, get rid of the textured stuff up there,” Marshall continued and Coral smiled at his enthusiasm.
“See, you knew what you wanted, you didn’t need me.”
“Now that’s where you’re wrong. What would you think of helping me build an entertainment center? That fiber board crap is awful,” Marshall asked seriously.
“I know how to paint, move furniture, arrange flowers, but that’s about it. But if you know how to do it, I’ll be more than happy to help you.”
“Great, now what I was thinking for the foyer…”
Marshall and Coral spent the rest of the day going through each room making detailed plans for each one. Coral usually waited until Marshall suggested a theme, then she suggested a color. They tweaked the details until it was perfectly laid out in the notebook. So far the living room was the southwestern feel, and each room from there was a little different. He was not one for sticking with one theme throughout the entire house, he was eclectic, and his house was going to be that way too.
Marshall wanted to shy away from Hailie’s room, but Coral wouldn’t let him.
“Avoiding the issue is not going to make it any better,” Coral warned tugging on his arm towards the door. He groaned like a little kid not wanting to do something but allowed himself to be pulled into the room.
“Now what is she like?” Coral asked looking around the sparse room. It was evident that the little girl had hardly spent any time here, it was a sad and drab room.
“She likes flowers, she has to have flowers on all her clothes, and birds. That’s why I got her a little canary, for her last birthday, it was so cute, she taught him how to sing the piano line from ‘Mockingbird’, she named him Tweety,” Marshall chuckled slightly.
“All right then. A bright sunny yellow, for those two walls there, and over here, a softer green. A picket fence head board, with hand-painted flowers. A simple handmade table desk, hand-painted again, along with the chair. All the furniture in here has to be hand-painted. Oh, and a nice big pretty birdcage, lets not forget that,” Coral said and turned to find Marshall furiously taking notes. He looked up and said,
“I hope you can teach me how to paint flowers and birds, cause the only thing I ever drew was something that looked like it was on crack,” Coral laughed and grinned at him.
“With so much enthusiasm, you’ll do great, and she’ll love it, cause you did it for her,” Coral assured him and patted his elbow.

They sat down at dinner, Marshall with his notebook at his side, as he ate for the first time in his dining room.
“This table is the first thing that has got to go,” he remarked sitting back and looking at it.
“Too sharp and square, I agree.”
“Too dark too. I’m thinking, for in here, get rid of the ugly paintings,” Marshall motioned to the various watercolors on the walls.
“Yeah, I took the one down in my room, I mean, I was wondering how you got something so cutesy in your house.”
“Like I said, the only thing that changed when I got in this house was how full the dresser drawers were. Everything was already here. That’s why I bought the place.”
“Quick and easy.”
“You go it. So what room should we start dismantling tomorrow?” he asked through a bite of rice.
“I’d go with the living room. Everyone spends a lot of time in there, so you probably want that finished first.”
“Good idea.”

A week later Dre returned to visit Marshall and walked into the middle of Marshall’s renovation project.
“Em, what the hell are you doing?” Dre asked standing in the middle of the large empty living room, finding Marshall teetering on a high ladder as he finished putting painters tape along the ceiling.
“Hey man, just a little home improvement that’s all, hang on, I’m coming down, I’m done up here anyway.” Marshall dropped the tape over the side of the ladder and made quick work of shimmying down it.
“You okay man? You don’t do home improvement,” Dre said as they walked towards the kitchen.
“Yeah, I’m fine, and yeah I do home improvement, just haven’t felt like it much lately.” Dre noticed the stacks of paint chips and building pamphlets on the counter as they went inside.
“Uh huh, yeah, that’s exactly what he wants. Perfect, come on over on, oh hang on a second,” Coral was on the phone and when she saw Marshall she covered the receiver.
“I found a guy to put up the beams, is it all right if he comes over tomorrow to check it out and give you an estimate?” she asked.
“Sure, that’s cool.” Marshall nodded and Coral made the appointment before hanging up the phone.
“Ah, he’s back. Care to make another prostitute comment or something?” Coral asked.
“Look, I’m not trying to make any trouble,” Dre retorted.
“Yeah, so what’d you find on my background check?” she asked cocking her head to one side and leaning forward slightly on the counter. Marshall noticed her eyes darken slightly as she stared at Dre and Dre at her.
“Not a damn thing, not even a parking ticket, and yes you do have an invitation to the Cour Don Bleu,” Dre replied.
“Told you man,” Marshall laughed.
“What I don’t get, is why you didn’t hold out on him for money so you could go to school, it’s what you want isn’t it?” Dre asked with a hardened voice.
“Dre, what did I tell you?” Marshall asked.
“Answer the question,” Dre snapped. Coral’s eyes narrowed.
“What I want is to be able to go I my own bill, not anyone else’s. It’s not his responsibility or anyone else’s but mine. Believe it or not, there are people left in this world who are responsible to themselves.” Coral replied stepping back and turning to open the refrigerator.
“It’s just a long time since I’ve seen one.”
“Well, get used to it. I’m gonna start on lunch, you all right to finish putting up the tape in the living room?” Coral asked looking past Dre at Marshall.
“Yeah, Dre can help me, and stay for lunch if he wants. That is, if it is okay with you,” Marshall added.
“It’s fine with me as long as we get a few things strait.” Coral replied turning from the cabinet she was looking through.
“What’s that?” Dre asked suspiciously.
“You keep the nasty comments to yourself about my intentions here and we won’t have any more problems, copasetic?”
“Fine.” Coral nodded sharply and went back to her search.

“So what is it exactly that you do anyway?” Dre asked later as they were sitting down to a lunch of pita bread sandwiches, filled with three-bean salad, cheese and lettuce.
“What you’re looking at,” Marshall said with a grin.
“You really do just cook?” Dre asked skeptically.
“Well, cook, bake, basically yeah. I hope the pitas came out all right.” Coral replied placing a bowl of sliced avocado on the table along with some chips.
“You make your own bread?” Dre asked surprised.
“Yup, the chips too, though I think I left them in a little too long,” at this Coral picked up a chip, dipped it into the avocado and popped it in her mouth. Once she swallowed, she shook her head and said,
“Nope, they just browned a little more than usual. They’re just right.”
“What you sitting there for Dre, try it, I’m telling you, she’s the best cook around.” Marshall said as he dove into his own pita. He was never a fan of what he liked to call rabbit food, like salads, even bean salads, but everything Coral made was too good, and he couldn’t deny that the stuff was great. He detected a pattern in her cooking. Mornings she’d often make coffee, toast and then asked Marshall if he preferred something light, or heavy, depending on the day. Lunch was always light, most often salads and cold soups, the girl made a mean gazpacho, or if it was a gloomy day, some times hot soups and grilled sandwiches. Dinner was an event. She’d make her own pasta and breads, stuffed pork chops or grilled stakes, but every night it was something a little different.
Dre tentatively picked up the pita and bit into it. Marshall watched for his reaction.
“Damn.” Was the only answer they got.
“So is that a compliment?” Coral asked with a sly gaze.
“That’s good,” Dre replied once he swallowed, “really good.”
“Told you man,” Marshall laughed before going back to his own food.
“You know what, I was thinking, since my wedding anniversary is coming up, and I wanted to hire a chef to come in and make a really fancy dinner for my wife. You obviously can cook, so, would you be willing?” Dre asked after a few thoughtful moments.
“Got to ask the boss man,” Coral replied seriously.
“Are you kidding?” Marshall laughed.
“I have an obligation here,” Coral started.
“I can take care of myself for one day Coral, I survived before you got here,” Marshall laughed.
“What are your rates?” Dre asked.
“Well, what are you offering?” Coral replied.
“No, you tell me what you want,” Dre smirked, and he noticed Marshall was grinning at him too.
“Well, that all depends on what you want. I’ll do the setup myself, unless you want that done by someone else, but I see, red and gold tablecloths, and banners for the chairs. Tall gold candelabras, two or three, white candles. For flowers, I’d suggest, for an anniversary, red roses, a classic, with, violets, just for accent. And, if you have a picture, I can make a replica of your wedding cake, smaller version of course. What do you think?” Coral it seemed had drifted into her own little world when she had been planning out the dinner in her head. Dre and Marshall were starring at her with jaws dropped when she finally woke from her trance.
“Uh, wow, yeah, that’d be perfect,” Dre replied.
“Oh, and for appetizers, cheese puffs made with asiago and ricotta, entrée, stuffed lobster, rice with lemon, and asparagus to finish it off, okay?” she asked.
“You got the job. What’s your rate?” Dre asked.
“Well, if I’m going to be around you celebrity types,” Coral joked and they all laughed.
“Three hundred, not including supplies.” She replied after a moment.
“You got it. It’s next week, Thursday night, you gonna have enough notice?” Dre asked.
“Plenty, just make sure to get me the picture of the cake, and I’ll get right on it,” Coral smiled at him for the first time since she met him.
“All right then, all right.” Dre nodded and cracked a smile himself.

Marshall liked the busy feeling to the house any more. It was alive with the prospects and possibilities of the kind of life he wanted. Workers were coming and going, do the job of putting up the ceiling beams, and giving estimates. Coral was cooking up a storm, using Marshall to test out her recipes so that they’d be perfect for Dre’s anniversary dinner. Good things were happening to him. Friends were calling and making arrangements to come visit him. He’d gotten inspired and wrote a few rap songs, declaring that maybe he was not out of the rap game. And best of all, was the day Marshall got the ultimate surprise, Kim let Hailie call. He was over the moon with delight after sitting on the phone for a period of four hours with his daughter. After that, he decided the next room to be redecorated was Hailie’s
The day before Coral would be cooking for Dre, she was making the cake. Marshall had gone out earlier to pick up some furniture he had ordered for Hailie’s room and still wasn’t back yet. In between twirling sugared violets onto a blue marzipan cake, she cooked some fresh pasta she’d whipped up that afternoon, along with fresh tomato sauce and some bread with garlic and oil. While Marshall was out she decided to get out some of her own music and pop it in, to listen to while she was cooking. It was some typical country, with some poppy beat to it, and a twangy family of singers, but it was what she liked and what she enjoyed to listen to. It was light, happy, and none too depressing, that’s why she liked it. She figured since country was as far away from rap as you could get, that Marshall would not be too much of fan of it, so she would only play it while he was out of the house, which wasn’t often.
“Jimmy’s got a girlfriend, we all know where he’s been, hugging and kissing, oh Jimmy’s got a girlfriend,” went the twangy southern voices through the stereo, with Coral singing energetically along. She danced around the kitchen, singing at the top at the top of her lungs. She twirled a few more violets onto the three tiered cake and did a little dance back to the stove to check on the sauce.
“Multitalented I see,” Marshall said leaning in the doorway. Coral jumped nearly five feet in the air, her face immediately turned red and she had to fight to keep from running.
“Oh he-hey, you got the furniture?” she asked nervously as she hurried to turn the music off.
“Why’d you stop?” he asked again as she sheepishly returned to the stove.
“I made pasta and sauce, some garlic bread.” She replied quickly.
“Coral,” Marshall singsonged.
“What?” she asked.
“Why didn’t you tell me you sing, and dance?” he asked with a grin a mile wide. Coral kept her back to him.
“Oh Coral,” he sang again as he sneaked up behind her, “Coral.” This time she didn’t answer, so he spun her around and threw her over his shoulder, the spoon still in her hand.
“All right! All right! You got me!” she laughed.
“Yeah, listening to country music, in my house, huh?” he laughed shaking her.
“I give, I give!” she shouted with laughter.
“All right, just no more country music in my house,” Marshall relented putting her down.
“I’ll get you out to a honky tonk, just you wait and see,” she replied, the pink in her cheeks finally dulling.
“I doubt it. So, is this Dre’s cake?” Marshall asked looking at the half-completed creation.
“Yeah, just a couple hundred or more violets and then the sugar web.” Coral replied picking up her frosting bag and spinning out another violet.
“I can’t believe how perfectly you matched this to the picture, you’re a real artist Coral,” Marshall replied.
“Thanks, I appreciate that,” Coral placed the violet carefully on the cake and began to spin another one.
“I picked up Hailie’s furniture, we can start painting that while we wait for them to be finished putting up the beams in the living room,” Marshall replied watching Coral work for a minute. It was amazing the way the she worked with the frosting, making flowers bloom from the tip into tiny life like buds.
“That’s good. Hey, you want to do me a favor, turn off the sauce?” she asked placing the next flower in place on the cake. Marshall nodded and turned off the sauce, giving a stir for good measure.
“So why did you freak out when I heard you singing?” he asked as he took his usual seat at the counter.
“It’s embarrassing, that’s why,” her cheeks turned slightly pink again.
“It was funny,” Marshall replied with a smile.
“It’s stupid, is what it is,” Coral replied as she placed yet another flower on the cake.
“You’re not stupid Coral. Why can’t you act silly like that, around me?” Marshall asked.
“I don’t act like that around anyone, here, give me your finger,” she took his outstretched hand in one of hers and held the pointer finger up to her gaze. She took up the frosting bag and proceeded to spin a flower on the tip of his finger. He laughed as she gave him his hand back.
“There, what do you think of that?” she asked.
“You’re something else Coral,” Marshall chuckled as he held the flower up for his inspection.
“Go ahead, taste it,” she replied.
“It’s too beautiful to,” Marshall replied.
“And beautiful things are meant to be enjoyed, now eat it. I make sure that everything I make is not only pretty, but it tastes good too.” Marshall smiled at her and popped the flower into his mouth. He nodded as the sweet flower melted on his tongue.
“You’re right, you’re always right.”

“All right, I made you breakfast, there is stuff for sandwiches in the fridge, and I made a lasagna for dinner, that you can heat up whenever you’re ready,” Coral informed Marshall as he came down the stairs and entered the kitchen. She handed him a cup of coffee and took a sip from her own.
“Today’s the big day huh?” Marshall asked.
“Yup, and I want to make a good impression.” Coral added with a nod. She searched through the drawers for all the utensils she would need.
“You’re stuff is going to be great.” She smiled at him.
“Thanks, and thanks about letting me do this catering thing,” Coral said genuinely.
“Hey, I’m not letting you do anything, Coral, I’m not your keeper, you can do anything you want. I’m glad you’re getting your feet wet.” Marshall smiled at her and lifted his coffee in a toast to her.
“But thanks none the less. All right, Dre said he’d have his wife out of the house by ten, so I better get going. I still got to pick up the lobsters and the flowers, as well as the place settings.” Coral said making a mental list for herself.
“Oh, and the directions to Dre’s house are on the fridge, before you leave them,” Marshall added.
“Ah, thank you, I almost forgot. That would have been rich, all right, I think that’s everything. So, like I said, the lasagna,” Coral started.
“Coral, I can take care of myself for a day. The fridge is stocked, I got plenty of painting to do, and there’s a guy coming to give an estimate for the deck. I’ll be fine.” Marshall interrupted.
“You sure?” she laughed.
“Yes! Now go!” Marshall replied pushing her out the door.

“So, how was it?” Marshall asked later that night as Coral sat her box of kitchen utensils down on the counter. Marshall was heating up the lasagna in the oven while Coral unbuttoned her chef’s coat and smiled.
“Wonderful. The food turned out perfect, and they loved it. Everything turned out gorgeous,” she replied.
“That’s great, you want some of this lasagna?”
“Yeah, sounds good. Wow, this was, just something,” Coral said as she took a seat at the counter. Marshall turned towards her, watching her, seeing that she was tired, but happy.
“How so?” She took a deep breath and looked over at him.
“It’s been so nice, working, and doing something that I like, and for people who really appreciate it. I mean, today, and actually, everyday has been, just really nice. It’s nice doing something that you like, and feeling good about it.” Marshall nodded. He remembered that feeling, he’d had it once. Before he lost his daughter.
“So how was the estimate?” Coral asked breaking him out of his reverie.
“Oh? Yeah, I don’t know, I think I might wait on that for now. I really want to get the living room done, and Hailie’s room too.” Coral nodded.
“The living room looks good, that color was definitely the right choice.”
“Just wait till we get the wax on the plaster,” Marshall said with a smile.
“Yeah, it’s gonna be great.”
They ate in silence for a few minutes, both hungry after the day’s workload. Coral with her dinner and Marshall with the painting. Neither wanted to admit it, but they had missed each other. It was really quiet in the house by himself while he painted. He’d even resorted to blaring some music so it wouldn’t feel so lonely. But it wasn’t as much fun without Coral there to joke and talk to. Coral had missed talking to Marshall as well. She wasn’t looking forward to leaving this house anytime soon.
“You have paint in you hair,” she said after a minute.
“Oh, yeah, I figured I would. Oh, I also got a call from Paul today, he’s having trouble getting the paperwork through, they’re just not getting the stuff through for a while it seems.” Marshall replied.
“Hey, no hurry, not like we’re running off to get married again right?” they could only laugh and smile at one another.

Part VII

In the next few weeks Marshall and Coral built a comfortable routine that they fell into so easily it was almost as if they had lived this way in another life. They usually ate a late breakfast, coffee and toast, or on the weekends, eggs or pancakes. They talked and read bits and pieces of the paper to each other over breakfast. After breakfast they worked on the living room, plastering and painting, talking and joking all the time, every minute of the day. They broke for lunch around two, eating out by the pool, and worked well into the night. They ate dinner along with the seven o’clock episode of LAW and ORDER, and dessert in the backyard.
“So, I wanted to tell you,” Marshall said as they were working on the final coat of wax on the plaster walls, “my band is coming out here next month. They’ll be staying here for about a week. Now it’s going to be another five people staying here, and I want you to know, I’ll be paying you extra, and if necessary, I’ll bring another person in.”
“Oh it won’t be a problem, just everyone has to learn how to put their own dishes in the dishwasher,” Coral replied and Marshall laughed.
“No problem.”
“Just let me know when they’re coming, I’ll make up some pastas ahead of time and put them away, and I’ll bake up some breads and muffins, besides, it’ll really test my skills. I can’t wait, I can even plan a menu,” she grinned. Marshall cracked a smile.
“You really get into this,” he said kneeling down and getting some more wax on his trowel.
“Yeah I do. I don’t know. It’s just, fun, and interesting. I don’t know, I like being able to take ingredients and make something new and different. People don’t realize how much you can get out of cooking.” Coral replied amazed.
“It’s nice to find someone who’s so into something they love.”
“Thank you, hey, I’m going to meet my sister Turkey for lunch tomorrow, you want to come with?”
“Don’t you want to spend time with your sister?” he asked.
“Yeah, but you can come along. Turkey is the nice one, and she told me she thought you were nice when we talked on the phone the other night.” Coral had spoken several times with her sister Turkey, and her grandparents, but no one else. It seemed as though they had disowned her, though according to her, it wasn’t a bad thing.
“She did?”
“Yeah. Turkey thought it was real commendable of you to give me a job, and the way you stood up to Pearl the way you did. She says that Pearl is still complaining about you.”
“Really?”
“Yup, besides, Turkey invited you along, and I invited you along, and you need to get out of this house for a while.”
“Well, uh, okay, sure. Lunch is on me though,” Marshall added quickly.
“Don’t worry about it Marshall, Turkey is gonna love you.”
Marshall didn’t stop smiling the rest of the day.

Why he felt the need to dress up for Turkey was beyond him. But then again, really he thought, he didn’t want to dress up for her, he didn’t really know that woman. He wanted to impress Coral.
Coral had only seen him at his casual best, or worst really. Baggy jeans, old sneakers, t-shirts or wife beaters since they were working on the house. His hair, well, that was just it, not much to do with it except flatten it down as usual.
His plain reflection starred back at him and he shook his head at himself. What was wrong with him? Here he was, this girl was living in his house a little over a month and he was worried about what he looked like for her. He needed his friends to come to visit. He needed to be around some guys again and reclaim some testosterone.
There was a soft knock on the bedroom doorframe.
“You all set?” Coral’s soft voice called.
“You can come in,” Marshall returned and stepped out of the bathroom.
“A little overdressed, for lunch don’t you think?” she asked looking at his button down shirt and slacks.
“Well, she is a lawyer right?” he asked.
“Yeah, on the weekdays, hold on, I’ll help you find something,” Coral smiled and walked to his closet without hesitation.
“Let’s see, perfect, for a little lunch and an afternoon out in California,” she said stepping out of his closet and handing him the clothes.
“Shorts, and a shirt and flip flops?” he asked skeptically.
“My sister is a beach bum, and as you can tell, I’m not one for formality either,” Coral replied holding out her arms. Marshall would have liked to disagree. She looked fashionable in her usual All-American styled way. Hair pulled up into a high ponytail, a red tank top, cutoff shorts and her red laced sneakers, she looked too cute for him. Too nice for him, maybe that’s what it was.
“So hurry up and get changed, and guess what, I can pick my car up on the way back, I finally had enough to have the sucker fixed,” Coral grinned.
“That’s cool, all right, I’ll be out in a minute.” She nodded and closed the door on her way out.
He stepped back into the bathroom and set the clothes on the counter, looking back at his reflection. After a minute, and quick innovatory of what he had and referring back to the mental picture he still had of Coral’s ex in his head, he shook his head.
“Get a grip,” he mumbled to himself and quickly changed.

“So here is my baby sister! I’ve missed you so much!” Turquoise exclaimed as Coral and Marshall entered the restaurant.
“Turkey!” Coral laughed and they hugged tight.
“You have got to stop punishing me for our stupid family, girl you have got to come visit me!” Turquoise laughed smacking her sister slightly.
“Oh, Turkey, you remember Marshall,” Coral said stepping back to reintroduce the two people before her.
“Of course I do, it’s a shame we didn’t get to talk before, that dinner was something. And I’d like to say that isn’t a regular occurrence, but it is,” Turquoise laughed and Marshall nodded.
“Yeah, good to see you too Turquoise,” he said shaking her hand.
“Oh call me Turkey, everyone does, come on, I got us a table on the deck.”
“So Coral’s been telling me her boss is a real jerk,” Turkey said as they sat down.
“Turkey, I told you that was a secret!” Coral hissed with a smile and Marshall gave her a slight push as was their custom.
“I’m sure he is,” he laughed.
“So when you gonna give this girl some time off so she can come visit me?” Turkey asked.
“Coral comes and goes as she pleases, she doesn’t have to ask me to take time off,” Marshall said giving Coral a look.
“I told you he was a pussycat,” Turkey remarked.
“You better watch what you’re calling him,” Coral laughed. Marshall could only smile.
“Did she tell you about her other job she did,” he asked after the waitress took their drink orders.
“Other job?” Coral swallowed hard and nodded.
“Yeah, a friend of his, wanted a chef to come in and cook an anniversary dinner for him and his wife.”
“And?” Turkey questioned expectantly.
“Dre couldn’t stop raving about it. She did an amazing job,” he replied for her.
“So, you’re going for the catering bit, I always knew you’d be able to do it. So, Marshall, she keeping you fat and happy?” Turkey laughed.
“I don’t know about fat, but happy yeah. I think I actually lost a few pounds, she keeps me eating healthy I guess.”
“See, now that is the mark of a great cook. Makes it taste good and healthy at the same time. So what do you recommend from here Coral,” Turkey asked looking over at her blushing sister. She quickly picked up her menu and scanned it.
“Well, the cold apple soup here is always good, and so are the black cherry burgers,” Coral said after looking over the choices.
“Cherries in burgers?” Marshall asked.
“Just wait till you try her burgers with watermelon, you’ll think you’ve died and gone to heaven,” Turkey assured.
“Oh Turkey, you’ll like the,” Coral was interrupted by a loud shriek coming across the room.
“They told me you stopped by but I didn’t believe it!” a large man squealed as he pranced towards the table.
“Jackie, hey!” Coral said as she stood up to give the man a hug. She was rumpled and out of breath when the man had finally let her go and invited himself to sit down at the table, taking the seat between Coral and Turkey.
“I cannot believe that after all this time, you finally came back here, oh please tell me you’re looking for a job, please, please!” Jackie squeaked picking up Coral’s hand and squeezing it.
“Take it easy, I want you to meet my sister Turquoise, and my new friend, and boss, Marshall,” she motioned to each person, and Jackie nodded accordingly to Turkey before turning to Marshall.
“So,” he chirped putting his hands on his hips as he starred at Marshall, “the new boss, and what is it exactly that you have her doing, as if I couldn’t guess?” Marshall looked warily from Jackie to Coral.
“Uh,” he stuttered and Coral was laughing.
“Guys this is Jackie, I used to work with him here at the restaurant, about two years back, maybe a little less,” she explained.
“Best damn cook period. Until they fired you, damn jerks, couldn’t keep a good cook here for nothing, but, I have good news,” Jackie said with his eyebrows wriggling.
“What’s that?”
“I bought the restaurant! It’s all mine! And you my dear, are the one person I want on my staff,” Jackie replied clasping his hands together in front of him. Marshall felt himself stiffen slightly at this.
“Actually Jackie, I have a job right now, and,” Coral began.
“Hey, he’s offering, don’t let me stop you,” Marshall interrupted with an encouraging smile.
“Now you are gracious!” Jackie exclaimed clapping his hands together with a little squeal of joy. Coral looked over at Marshall slightly confused.
“Gracious or not, but I’ll have to think about it, Jackie,” Coral replied politely.
“Oh pish posh! Now what am I going to do? Could you possibly do some freelance stuff, you know for parties and such?” Jackie asked with anxious eyes.
“You give me enough notice, I might be able to swing it,” she smiled.
“Oh thank the lord, I swear to god, I don’t know what I’d do without this girl, not only can she cook, but this girl can bake and make cakes, and candies and desserts, I mean she does it all. But what is it exactly that you do for him?” Jackie’s voice went up in pitch and he raised an eyebrow.
“I’m his cook, slash interior decorator, carpenter. I cook breakfast, lunch and dinner, and help him work on his house that he’s redecorating.”
“And have you redecorated the bedroom yet?” Jackie insinuated and Coral didn’t catch on right away.
“No, just the living room so far, you should see it, we got, wait a minute Jackie! Don’t you dare!” Coral said finally realizing and smacking the man slightly with a laugh.
“Well all right. I was gonna say, I didn’t think Charlie would have been too happy with you taking a job here with Mr. Eminem anyways,” Jackie replied skeptically.
“Charlie can go screw himself for all I care. I found him messing around with Fran, and that was the last I spoke to him.” Jackie put on a surprised face.
“I can’t believe that, uh, what a jerk. You sir, you make sure that you beat that boy up for me if he ever comes to that house of yours, for hurting my girl like that,” Jackie said pointing a finger at Marshall.
“Will do,” Marshall laughed. Jackie turned back to Coral and huffed.
“Uh uh, I can’t believe that boy. What a jerk, I swear honey I thought he was gonna be the one. But you’re better off. Say, I know a guy, that would be perfect for you, let me set you up on a blind date,” Jackie railed on.
“Oh no, I know that speech,” Turkey laughed.
“Jackie, no,” Coral said flatly.
“Oh come on honey, you can’t spend the rest of your life alone, you got to have somebody, and this man is perfect for you!” Jackie tried.
“No Jackie, I just want to work and get things together for a while, I don’t want any dates or involvements right now. I’m getting things on track and where they belong, the last thing I need is to get involved with someone I don’t know,” Coral replied steadily. Marshall felt his chest tighten involuntarily and he couldn’t figure out why. He wished this line of questioning of Coral would end.
“Well, if you’re sure,” Jackie tried again.
“She’s sure,” Turkey laughed, and Coral shook her head.
“Okay then, but you’re no fun. Hey, you guys have been here a while, I’ve jumped into the middle of your lunch, I’ll hop back there and bring you all out the best of the best, and it’s on the house!” Jackie said as he jumped to his feet.
“Thanks Jackie,” Coral smiled.
“You got it,” Jackie bent down beside Coral’s ear and wispered, “and your boss is quite cute too.”
Marshall noticed the exchange, especially Coral hitting Jackie and laughing at him about something he hadn’t managed to hear.
“What was that about?” Marshall asked once Jackie had gone.
“Nothing,” Coral said quickly, “so Turkey, how’s work been?”

“Okay Coral, I got your number, and you take care of yourself! And you will definitely be coming around here, we can use your expertise for sure sweetie. Marshall, don’ you work her too hard either,” Jackie lectured on the way out. Coral gave him another hug and waved before they left the restaurant.
“Wow, he was something,” Turkey laughed once they were out on the sidewalk again.
“Yeah, he was, good cook though,” Marshall remarked.
“Everything he knows, he learned from me,” Coral laughed and Marshall nodded.
“I wouldn’t be surprised, so where do you girls want to go now?” he asked looking around.
“Well, I was thinking, maybe we could take a trip over to the beach?” Turkey said raising a wary eyebrow towards Coral who was already scowling at the mere mention of the word “beach”.
“No.” Coral said flatly.
“Coral, come on, you don’t even have to go near the water, you can just sit on the sand,” Turkey replied.
“I said no.” She was stiff and adamant and for the first time since she had mentioned it, he noticed the real panic she was facing.
“You could talk to somebody about it you know, it wouldn’t be a crime.” Turkey tried.
“Oh, they opened up a new Pampered Chef down the block, I’m gonna go take a look before we leave.” The conversation was over.

Coral was quiet on the way home and possibly a little edgy. Marshall didn’t blame her. They stopped along the way back to his house at a garage where she’d had her car towed to be fixed.
“Meet you back at the house,” she nodded as she closed the door and went inside to pay her bill. Marshall waited until she left so he could follow and make sure the car didn’t break again.
As he followed her back to the house he felt conflicted. When she’d been offered another job, he’d gotten worried. He didn’t want to think about what that house would be like when she was gone. She’d gotten into his head and into his life so quick and fast, and he liked it. Okay, so he was saying it. He liked her. He liked this woman in his life. He liked waking up to her coffee and her cheerful chatter. He liked watching cook with a childish enthusiasm. He liked talking to her until he was almost asleep because they were so exhausted from working on the house. He liked joking around with her. He liked not being afraid that he was saying something stupid. He liked how shy she was. He liked her, period.
So what if he liked her? That was okay. He was still a man. In fact, that should have proved more than anything, he was a man. He liked this pretty, soft spoken, but feisty, gentle, hardworking, vulnerable woman.
And why did his chest tighten when Jackie had mentioned sending her on a blind date. Wait, he wasn’t going there yet.

Part VIII

Another two weeks passed and Paul called to let them know that some technicality had been found in the contracts and they had to draw up all new ones and resign them. The divorce petition was rejected, the judge finding something suspicious about wanting the marriage annulled so soon after the marriage, so that had to be signed again as well.
Coral and Marshall didn’t care. They were enjoying the other’s company too much to worry about some petty legal documents, that really didn’t mean all that much to them in the long run anyway. How useful was a marriage license or a divorce petition while they worked on a house and she cooked?
“So, you’re friends are coming on Monday, we need to do a little shopping then,” Coral reminded as they were sipping their coffee in the dining room, where they’d taken to eating all of their meals. It was Friday morning and they were supposed to start work on Hailie’ s room soon.
“All right, you want to go after we’re finished?” he asked putting down the paper he’d been scanning and looking sideways at her, where she usually sat, at his side, while he took the head of the table.
“Actually, we can go later, I was thinking about something, since we’ve finished up the living room and finally got that entertainment center all set up, and the stereo plugged back in, I want to hear some of your music,” Coral replied and he watched her intently as she spoke.
“I guess we could, you’ve really never listened to rap?”
“Nope, I’m yours to mold,” she smiled and him and he returned it.

Marshall sat looking at his albums and was trying to find the least offensive song to play for her. He didn’t want to shock her too much, after all, she was the all American-country-listening-ponytail wearing-innocent-girl next door type.
“Don’t hold back on me Marshall, I want to hear what you got.” He laughed slightly and popped in a random album.
They spent the morning listening to his albums, Coral taking the time to talk to him about his lyrics and comment on them, asking him questions. By the time they got to Encore, they were lounging on the floor, sitting back against the couch, Marshall looking over the words to his own songs as she listened and followed the words as well in the little booklet.
“You really hit it with this one Marshall,” Coral said as the album came to a close. She looked over and him and nodded in approval.
“Yeah?” he asked.
“Yeah.” She nodded with a grin.
“To tell you the truth, the first album you played for me. I hoped that it wasn’t all that way. I mean, you got talent, raw, there’s no question, but I just didn’t get the feeling yet. The talent was there, but the subject, it was immature. And then ‘Brain Damage’, god, and ‘My Fault’. Shit Marshall, I felt it, right here. And right up into ‘Mockingbird’, your stuff, just, got better as you went along. You kept getting better. I can’t imagine what you’d do next,” Coral spoke with such a passion that Marshall nearly felt his jaw unhinge in shock.
“Actually, there is one more song, that was the most recent, about a year ago, but you know.” Marshall said quickly getting up to avoid her gaze as he popped the song in. He sat back down and waited until the open strains of “When I’m Gone” flowed out of the speakers before looking back at Coral.
She fell into the music, felt her head nodding to the beat, and her heart responding to the words, god it was too beautiful. Marshall watched with rapt fascination as her eyes closed and she sunk willingly into the abyss of his voice and syllables.
Then he saw them. Caressing her cheeks, and the curl of the corners of her mouth as her hand pressed over her heart. Tears cascaded down her cheeks and she shook her head as the song ended and she opened her eyes. She turned to him and smiled.
“Yeah, you got it. You definitely have it Marshall,” she said with a reassuring smile. She laughed slightly and wiped away the tears.
“That’s the best song I’ve ever heard, ever.” She added when he didn’t respond. He just watched her, amazed at her reaction.
“Whatchu crying about?” he asked, slightly laughing.
“There’s just nothing else, I can’t even describe it Marshall, it’s amazing, you are amazing and you got something. If people want to know you, they don’t have to look any farther than that song, cause you’re in there in every word, every beat.” Marshall was uncomfortable with such praise. He rubbed the back of his neck.
“Well at least for a girl who only listens to country music, you can identify a good rap song.” She burst out laughing.
“Yeah, I suppose I do. And I guess it’ll be my turn soon to show you a good country song, huh?” Coral asked.
“If you can find one,” Marshall laughed.
“Oh, I will.” Coral smiled and laughed through the tears, and then Marshall wiped some of them away with his own hand.
“Don’t cry,” he said softly.
“When something invades your soul it’s hard not to.” She laughed. Marshall felt his chest constrict again.

They quickly got away from what could have been a seriously awkward moment and decided to go food shopping. It took them the remainder of the day to get everything they needed, considering that instead of the usual two people in the house there would be seven, and for the extent of the week, Marshall’s house was relatively unprepared.
There were plenty of rooms and bathrooms, so no one would be stacked on top of one another. But Marshall had exactly three towels for himself, and only a few sheets.
“Yeah, I’m sure the guys will remember to bring their own towels and sheets, yeah right,” Marshall laughed as they looked at towels.
“Not exactly the home bodies are they?” Coral asked.
“Nope. As a matter of fact, I’m just gonna have a maid come in for the week. That way you don’t have to worry about dishes and she can do laundry. Cause none of them know how to do laundry, and I am not washing their clothes for them, plus, they are the not the neatest bunch in the world,” Marshall laughed grabbing a pile of black towels and placing them in the cart.
“Wow, you can do your own laundry?”
“I won’t be amused if you tell me your impressed,” Marshall snapped with a grin. Coral held her hands up in defense and giggled.
“No, I’ve just never met a man who did his own laundry, that’s all.” He pushed her slightly so that she pushed him back. The walked for a minute in the companionable silence, not a word between them.
“So you’re friends are going to immediately jump to the wrong conclusions about me living in your house, right?” Coral asked.
“Probably. Guys like us, we don’t much hire servants and things. Not really our style. Not that you’re a servant mind you,” Marshall added quickly, a tint of embarrassment in his cheeks.
“Hey don’t be so hard on yourself. You’re a great boss, and a great friend and a great person, you don’t have to worry so much,” she said patting him on the back. He was comforted by that small motion of thanks from her.
“I just don’t like having people think they have to do what I say. I had enough of that shit back in the day,” he replied.
“I’d hardly be the one who would do the things you say. Just take it easy. It’s okay to relax a little.” Wow had she hit the nail on the head. He nodded mutely and picked up another stack of towels.

“Okay, so you wanted to help me, so you can help me make up some pasta!” Coral said clapping her hands together. It was two days before Marshall’s friends were arriving and with her being the only one who cooked, she needed to have some stuff in reserve. While she liked to make things fresh, it wasn’t always compatible with schedule and the amount of people to be served and the time to do it in. Therefore she was going to make up pasta, bread dough, muffins and chips ahead of time.
“Fulfilling your promise for sure,” he laughed as she placed an apron around her neck and tied the string double around her waist. She piled her hair into a bun at the top of her head and went to the sink to wash her hands.
“There’s another apron in the drawer there,” she said nodding in the general direction.
“You’ve got to be kidding me?” he laughed.
“Just an option. Some people like to use aprons, some don’t. Unless I’m making something without flour, I usually don’t wear them either. But go ahead, wash your hands and we’ll get started.” Coral said with a conversational air.
They mixed and rolled and turned out more pasta than Marshall had ever seen. And it had been fun too. He wasn’t too much a fan of cooking, but with Coral, everything just seemed okay, seemed right, seemed easy. She made everything very easy.
After trying for the third time to get the pasta to come out of the press the right way, without dropping it before he could slide it through again, he put it down.
“Ah forget it,” he laughed.
“What’s the matter?” she asked as she sealed another batch of pasta into a container, looking up at him to see the pile of dough sitting in front of the press once again.
“I still can’t do this part right,” Marshall replied wiping his hands on the apron that he had put on. He laughed at himself inside his head. God, what had this girl done to him?
“Come on, I’ll help you, here, pick it up.” She stood to his side, and waited until he picked up the dough and then held her hand underneath his to guide it through the press. Marshall’s hand steadied as her hand guided his and again he felt his chest tighten. She moved his hand to the other side of the press and caught the dough, her hand carefully holding his to show him the movements.
“See, just nice and gentle, just like that,” she praised, and the knot in his chest constricted painfully, but a nice pain.

Part IX

As expected, a car full of Marshall’s friends arrived near dinnertime and crowed into the house with loud raucous laughter and about a ton of luggage. Coral was in the midst of preparing dinner, the newly hired maid setting the table. She heard the voices in the foyer and Marshall’s happy voice. He’d been anticipating the visit of his friends for a long time and gave in, everyone hugging and shaking hands, laughing and saying too many times, “Good to see ya! God damn it’s good to see ya!”
She heard the clunking of luggage going up the stairs and the echoes of the loud voices and smiled. One of those voices was Marshall’s and she was happy for him.
Much quicker than she had anticipated the trot of a dozen feet fell down the stairs and burst through the kitchen.
“Guys, meet the wife, Coral Matthews!” Marshall called as the group crowded in. Coral looked up from where she was putting a layer of filling on what would comprise a twelve layer chocolate and cherry filling cake. She smiled.
“How are you doing boys?” she asked.
“Coral, these are the guys, Swifty, Kon Artis, Bizarre, Proof and Kuniva,” Marshall pointed to each guy in turn and they looked at her in surprise.
“Nice to meet y’all Marshall’s been talking non stop about y’all,” Coral replied to the silence.
“So you’re the wife huh?” Swifty asked.
“Technically, just technically until the papers go through. Marshall and I are friends. Why don’t you guys go check out the new living room, and I’ll bring in the appetizers,” Coral replied giving a last swipe to the layer of filling before topping it with a thin layer of chocolate cake.
“Yeah, wait till you see the new entertainment center, built it myself, with Coral’s help,” Marshall’s voice drifted into the living room along with his friends and she nodded in approval. This was going to be nice.
“Gentlemen, here you go,” Coral said as she entered the living room, carrying a tray in each hand.
“So you really are the cook?” Proof asked.
“Indeed I am. I hope you like the appetizers,” she smiled as she sat the trays down.
“Stay a minute Coral,” Marshall said grabbing her by the arm.
“I got to finish dinner, you, go, talk to your friends,” Coral pushed him back towards the room and went back to the kitchen to finish the cake.

“So, what’s it like?” Proof asked stepping up to Marshall.
“What’s what like?” Marshall asked.
“Da bitch, she good in bed or what?” Proof reiterated and Marshall’s brow furrowed.
“Lets get two things strait, you do not call that woman a bitch, period and second, we are not fucking,” Marshall replied. Proof held his hands up in defense.
“Hey man, just asking, just asking.”
Kuniva plopped himself down on the new couch and asked,
“Yeah man, what is up wit chu and the girl? There got be something going on.”
“Yeah, we’re friends and I hired her to cook and help me fix up the house, that’s ALL,” Marshall replied sitting down and taking one of the crab puffs off the platter.
“Well then, is she a good cook at least?” Bizarre asked.
“Man, you gonna think you died and went to heaven. This girl can make anything and everything.” Marshall replied through a mouth of food.
“You living high on the hog ain’t ya? Got a maid, and cook, you turning into a regular celebrity ain’t ya?” Kon asked with a suspicious gaze in Marshall’s direction.
“Oh shut the fuck up. I got the maid cause you all can’t be bothered to do your own laundry, and I ain’t doing it for you, and that’s not Coral’s job. She’s gone the minute you all are out of here.” Marshall replied vehemently.
“Take it easy man, we’s just saying,” Kuniva replied.
“Yeah and all it’s gonna take is one of you fucks ‘just saying’ something in front of Coral and you’ll wish you hadn’t. I gave her the job because she needed it. She has another job waiting for her, she can leave any time she wants.” Marshall replied, though he was getting a little intense over this.
“So why don’t you kick her ass out? You don’t need a cook, and if you ain’t getting any ass, out of fine looking woman like that, then what good is she?” Proof snorted.
“Yo Proof, you better watch your mouth man. She’s my friend all right. I’m not kicking her out, side from that, she ain’t got a place to live,” Marshall replied shaking his head, grabbing another one of the crab puffs and popping it whole in his mouth.
“So you feel sorry for her, I see, pity,” Kon asked.
“Not pity. She been a real decent person when she could have been a real bitch about the whole situation,” he said sitting back.
“Man’s got a point,” Bizarre nodded and looked around at the fellow members of the band.
“Very true,” this seemed to hit them finally and then they were all wondering the same thing.
“So how long you been crushing on the girl?” Proof asked raising an eyebrow and cocking a smile.
“Guys, dinner’s all set!” Saved by the bell, Marshall thought to himself and quickly got up, dodging Proof’s question, which in reality was as good as saying, “Yes, I’ve been crushing on her.”

“I’m gonna take it that you all are a little suspicious as to why I’m hanging around here. I already got the once and twice over from your friend Dr. Dre. I don’t want Marshall’s money, and I don’t want to ruin his career. Both of us made the mistake, it’s not fair that he pay for it. And now that he’s really been so generous to me, giving me a place to stay, and a job, I wouldn’t do anything against him. Besides that, we’re friends, and I don’t make it a practice to cheat my friends. Now, are we all okay?” Coral had mad a point to speak up when she brought out the dinner. She knew that these guys were Marshall’s best friends and extremely protective of him, and she couldn’t blame them.
After her little speech the guys made her sit down and eat dinner with them.
“So, what you think of our rap boy here, think he’s got the talent to keep going?” Kuniva asked Coral later during dinner. Marshall gave him a dirty look. Obviously Dre had told everyone he was thinking about retiring and the consensus was, he shouldn’t.
“I think he’s got something yeah. His last number, some deep shit,” Coral nodded.
“See man, you got it, still,” Kon began and Coral took the hint from Marshall’s folded brow and quickly changed the subject.
“So how do you guys like the work Marshall did on the living room?”

Coral got along fine with the guys and they with her, though Marshall wasn’t surprised, Coral really wasn’t that hard to get along with. He didn’t understand why her parents and her sisters and brother didn’t get that. The only thing Coral wanted was to make a living doing what she was good at, she wasn’t asking for anything else. She wasn’t asking for a handout, and she wasn’t asking for the world, only that she could cook for it.
The rest of the evening was spent eating the impressive cake that Coral had prepared for dinner and gathering around the television to watch a movie. The part time maid left once the dishes and kitchen were clean, and Coral was again invited to hang out with them.
“I thought you wanted time with your friends,” she asked as she took a seat on the floor beside the couch, her favorite spot to watch television, even while eating dinner. Marshall nudged her with his knee and said,
“You are one of my friends.”
“Yeah, I meant your guy friends. I’m not messing with the testosterone levels or something?” she laughed.
“Actually I think you’re helping keep those levels pretty high, right Marshall?” Proof asked wiggling his eyebrows at Marshall.
“What the fuck man? Are we in fucking preschool? Shut the fuck up!” Marshall snapped.
“Oh, Em and Coral sitting in a tree,” Swifty sang plopping down beside Marshall and squishing him into the arm of the couch. Marshall growled but knew if he got up he would get looks.
“You guys are really subtle, aren’t you?” Coral asked as she shook her head.
“Well come on, friends? When are a man and woman friends?” Bizarre laughed. Coral rolled her eyes.
“Now is when they are. When they meet up, at a random bar, have way too much to drink, and do something stupid they can’t remember. That’s when. Satisfied? Now put in the movie,” she said waving towards the television.
“That don’t sound like friends to me,” Kon said with a mischievous tone.
“Hey, I do have some standards. The guy I marry, I have to know him at the very least a week before we say the big I do,” Coral chirped and even Marshall laughed.
“Ironic ain’t it? I got one who’ll cook for me, but we ain’t gonna be married for much longer.” This got the guys to laugh.
“But you forget, that you still got to pay her,” Swifty cackled, and again they all laughed.
“Guys, just start the damn movie!” Coral shrieked, and finally they turned on the television.
“Aw man, you had to get Sin City, didn’t you?” Coral asked when she saw the titles roll up.
“What, you don’t like Bruce Willis?” Kuniva laughed.
“No, he don’t bother me that much, it’s just such a gross movie,” Coral cringed at the thought of it.
“Oh I’m sure Marshall won’t mind comforting you, will he?” Proof did a little smooching impression and Marshall glared at him.
“Just watch the movie already,” Coral said as she rolled her eyes.
It took about half an hour before Coral couldn’t watch any more of the gory movie and said goodnight to everyone.
But she didn’t go to sleep. She couldn’t sleep. So she called her sister Turkey.
“Hey, hope I didn’t wake you,” she said sheepishly into the phone.
“No, you didn’t, I was actually just catching something to eat, had a ton of stuff to get done. What’s up?”
“Oh nothing, just wanted to talk to my favorite sister.”
“Coral, what’s up?” there was a tone to Turkey’s voice this time.
“I don’t know. Think you could tell me?”
“Let me guess, you think you’re falling for that guy aren’t’ you?”
“Actually that was pretty far from it, to tell you.”
“Don’t tell me you were thinking about Charlie, were you?” Turkey nearly moaned in disappointment.
“Well, a little yeah. I mean I met Marshall’s friends today, and they keep joking that we’re together, and it just reminded me of him, you know?”
“Coral, please, you’ve never been one to fawn over a fallen man, don’t start now.”
“I know, I know. It would just be nice you know, nice to be settled down, not worrying about that high school love crap.”
“I know it baby girl, I know it. But it’s not that easy for us Matthew’s women. You know it took mom nearly four years to get dad. Pearl, well, she’s one in herself, Onyx, there’s a perfect reason she’ll never get married, Opal’s just a basket case and me, I’m,”
“You’re too nice Turkey, that’s your only fault.”
“Try telling that to Mr. Your Just Not Exciting Enough.” Turkey mimed with a voice into the phone, Coral chuckled.
“You are too Turkey. The right guy will find you, I promise.”
“And the right one will find you too honey, it’s just not Charlie. Now what about a blind date, I know a guy, a nice one, and maybe you guys could just go to dinner, nothing extravagant, just meet and talk. Get you away from that house, and Marshall.”
“Marshall isn’t the problem,” Coral snorted.
“I don’t mean it that way honey. I mean yeah, the guy is good looking, and he’s nice, but I don’t know if you two would work out. Not to mention the whole thing with getting married and the divorce and his career. Honey, do yourself a favor, be friends with Marshall, but have a life at the same time.”
Coral had to agree. Marshall was very nice, a great friend, and she had been indulging HIS loneliness by sticking around so much. She didn’t have any regular hours, she worked with him all day on the house and redecorating, and cooked and even ate with him everyday. She didn’t mind it, but she was deluding herself. This couldn’t last forever. He was too good a rapper, and soon enough he would realize that, make a new album, and she’d be gone. And too, maybe his friends were right, how could and man and a woman be friends?
“You’re right.”
“Of course I am. Marshall is a very charming, very nice guy, and he’s been a really good friend to you. But honey, you got your own life and your own friends too. He’s got to learn how to stand on his own two feet. You being there all the time will only give him the wrong idea. You’ve got to get out and spread your wings a little more. Take some of those jobs Jackie was offering you, go out and have a little fun once in a while. You do know you’re entitled to some time off, and you can come visit me.”
“You’re right again.”
“You know it.” Coral took a sigh and processed some of the things going through her head.
“You don’t think he likes me like that, do you?” she asked after a long silence.
“Well, I don’t know. I mean, I haven’t exactly been around him while he’s around you, not that much anyway. But it is possible. I would just be careful. Don’t give him the wrong idea.”
“Then I’ll definitely go on that blind date. Set it up, for this week, okay?”
“You think he does.”
“Not necessarily, no. But then again, I’m not a novice with how men act okay? Besides, like you said, with his career and everything, it wouldn’t work.”
“Hmm, you’re probably right on that one. Oh, by the way, how are the divorce proceedings going?”
“Not well, they still haven’t gone through yet.”
“I bet you it’s because Onyx has been chatting with her friends the judges. Tell that lawyer of Marshall’s to resubmit the stuff to a different judge. Judge Harrow, and I should tell you also that Pearl was looking awful smug the other day, I think she’s been talking to somebody or something.” Coral put a hand over her eyes.
“Shit, just what we need. Dammit, why does Pearl have to do this?”
“Because she’s a selfish bitch, that’s why. Look, I spoke to Mica and he has agreed to help you two out with the tabloids and stuff. And not because its Eminem or anything, he’s dealt with his lawyer enough to know how much trouble the guy is, but because you’re his sister. He actually think this time Pearl was wrong.”
“How hard did you hit him?”
“Coral, I mean it. He has a lot of sway with those papers ever since they printed pictures of Britney cheating on her husband. He wants to help.”
“We’ve been lucky so far, there’s been no paparazzi.”
“Just be careful. I mean I know he’s a celebrity and really doesn’t want this out in the open, but sweetie, if you get caught, he might think you had something to do with it.”
“I know, I know. That’s the last thing I need right now.”
“Honey, get some sleep, you got to work tomorrow.”
“Yup, six hungry people to feed.”
“Just remember, you can be a good friend, just don’t stop being a good friend to yourself as well.”
“Okay Turkey, love you.”
“Love you too sweetie.”
“Bye.”

Part X

Coral had set her alarm early for the next day and woke up around six to start getting breakfast together. If she had enough time she would run to the market and get some fresh fruit to make some jams.
She quickly dressed, grabbing her keys and closed her door quietly, and without looking up as she turned, collided directly into Bizarre.
“Up early aren’t we?” he asked.
“Oh, sorry, didn’t mean to run into you like that. Yeah, I’m going to the market to get some fruit,” Coral said with a smile, but Bizarre didn’t seem to like that answer.
“Really now?”
“Yes, really,” Coral snapped.
“You don’t fool me Coral, I think you’re just waiting to get him right where you want him. Then you screw him royally, get your two faces in the magazines, and a nice wad of cash on top of it. Then you’re out of the crappy job business. You’ll be sitting pretty while his career crumbles.” Coral was seeing red and annoyed as hell that this guy was talking to her like that. Maybe she hadn’t been clear enough before. Or maybe she was just deluding herself into thinking that what she was doing was the right thing. Maybe it was time to go.
“I have no intention to do that at all. But I guess my word really means nothing to you, does it?”
“Really, it doesn’t, and I wouldn’t believe you as far as I could throw you. You may be here under the guise of actually being the help, but I don’t believe that either. You really must have done a number on him to get him to give you this so-called job.” Bizarre sneered.
“Well then, I guess we’re finished here, cause you can’t believe anything I say, and I’m not leaving, so, I’ll see you at breakfast.” Coral ducked around him and quickly trotted down the stairs, closing the door quietly behind her.

She jumped in her car and pulled out of the driveway, waiting till she was past the gatehouse before turning up her music. She shook her head at herself.
“I’M SO FUCKING STUPID!” she shouted at herself. Maybe Pearl was right. She should have just been a lawyer. She should have been. But it was too late for that now. She couldn’t change that.
She hit the button on her CD changer to advance to the next song and sang along with the words, she had to clear her mind.
“People worry about you, falling in love with me, they’re getting inside your head, everybody knows what everybody else needs, they say I’ll leave you lonely, baby that’s just not so, I’ll be holding on to you, till you let go.”
Dammit. With his friends there they were sure to convince him that she was up to no good. Its hard to fight a jury when they already think your guilty, and everything you do is only going to compound that thought.
“I need a night out of that house. He’s gotten too attached. I’ve gotten too attached.”

Coral went to the market, got the fruits and vegetables she needed and headed back to the house to get Turkey on the phone.
“So, who can you get, cause if I have to resort to one of Jackie’s choices I know I’m in trouble for sure,” Coral said holding the phone to her shoulder as she chopped strawberries.
“Yeah, I got somebody, and mind you, he is a lawyer friend, but lawyering is not his whole life. He’s another one, does the personal injury law, but he loves country music and he’s been dying to meet you.”
“Sounds good, what time tonight?”
“I’ll tell him eight, meet him at the grill?”
“Cool, I got to get going here, I’ve got bread to bake.”
“Love you sweetie.”
“Bye.” Feeling much better than she had since she left the house, Coral hung up the phone and went back to preparing breakfast.

At half past eight the maid arrived and set the table, beginning work on the laundry the guys had already managed to amass in the one day they were here. They chatted politely but Coral had other things on her mind.
She made the coffee, filling one large pot to place on the table. A fruit salsa for toast, bacon, eggs and finally, just as the guys were coming downstairs to the smell of food, she pulled the bread out of the oven and sliced it up, putting it on the table piping hot. Once everything was amassed in the dining room, Coral called upstairs to the rest of the guys that the food was ready. She offered breakfast to the maid, to eat with her in the kitchen, which she readily accepted.
Marshall was one of the last ones down to the table and when he didn’t see Coral he called for her to come eat with them. She got up from the counter and went to the door of the dining room.
“You need something?” she asked.
“Yeah, you to come sit down with us, come on,” Marshall laughed.
“The help, doesn’t eat with her employer, excuse me,” Coral said waspishly as she turned and went back to the kitchen. Marshall eyed the table and with his signature staring eyes and gripped the arms of the chair as he pushed it back and hurried straight into the kitchen.
“What’s this about?” he asked leaning on the counter at looking directly at her.
“It seems that your friend there Bizarre, because he’s so two faced, thinks that everyone else is also two-faced, and wasn’t so genuine this morning as he accused me, again.” Coral explained not looking at him. Her fork twisted in her scrambled eggs.
“Look, Bizarre is a jack ass, I know you, he doesn’t.” Marshall tried, putting a hand on her shoulder but she jerked away as if touched by fire. She stood up, shaking her head.
“Marshall, as much as I hate to say it, he’s probably right. You know. I mean, Turkey told me, I was getting in too deep here, and Pearl’s been doing something, Onyx has been getting involved, screwing around with the papers and everything. You know that as well as I do, that if something got leaked from one of my sisters, you would never know if it was me who said something or not. You’ll never be able to be sure that I wouldn’t say anything, and you could never trust me. So what does it matter?” Coral spoke very fast as she walked around the kitchen. Marshall followed her with his eyes and soon as he had a chance he spoke up.
“It matters because we’re friends Coral. I didn’t give you the job so you would keep your mouth shut. I didn’t ask you to stay here so I could keep an eye on you.”
“So why did you give me the job?”
“Because you needed it, and you needed a place to stay. I’ve been there before, and not to mention that your probably the only person I’ve met in a long time that hasn’t been out to get me.”
“You don’t know that I’m not,” Coral replied crossing her arms looking up at him. He looked away and then back at her.
“Yeah I do. I trust you. I don’t trust your sisters, I know they would do me in because they could.”
“No, you don’t know me. I’m not gonna argue about this. Um, I’ll be out of here at the end of the week.”
“No! You’re not leaving just because Bizarre says something to you. He doesn’t know shit about you, not a god damn thing.” Marshall gestured to the dining room.
“I’m leaving at the end of this week.” It was Coral’s final word and she went back to the counter, grabbed her plate and dumped the contents into the garbage before leaving the room. Marshall looked around and shook his head.
“You are a real fucking asshole, you know that,” Marshall spat as he entered the dining room. The rooms were almost connected, so everyone had heard everything in the kitchen.
“I was just saving you some problems man. You can’t trust nobody anymore,” Bizarre replied.
“I sure as hell know that, I can’t even trust my best friend to not start shit. Man, you can’t just leave well enough alone.”
“She’s gonna take advantage of you. Let her leave,” Bizarre snorted.
“She’s not leaving, because this is not over.” Marshall said with a steely tone.
“Mr. Mathers, there is someone here to see you,” the maid said tentatively.
“Huh?” Marshall asked turning to her.
“Hey man, got some bad news, the big bad sister is throwing a bargaining chip from hell at us.” Dre said as he sauntered in the room.
“Now what?” Marshall asked annoyed.
“This is what she’s going to send to the five biggest networks, the tabloids, the newspapers, everything she can think of, unless she hears from Coral and gets her to agree to something,” Dre said plopping down a stack of photos and a long written explanation to go with them.
“The bitch was having you followed.” Dre said as Marshall looked at the photos.

“Pearl, no, no, you listen. You are not sending this to anyone, you got it?” After Dre arrived Marshall had told Coral and she got on the phone immediately.
“No Coral you listen. The deal is, you come back here, you sign a contract saying you’ll go to school, and all the negatives get burnt up.”
“I’m not going to be blackmailed Pearl,” Coral snapped at the speaker phone. Marshall watched her and avoided saying anything yet.
“Then your little boy toy is gonna end up all over the news.” It was an aching silence as Coral weighed out her options. She wouldn’t sell out Marshall. She would not. He’d been too nice to her. She didn’t want to be a lawyer, but she didn’t want to do this to Marshall. She’d be fine. She’d have to be fine.
“Fine, I’ll do it, I’ll be back at the end of the week.” Coral said after a long pause.
“No way, you’re not doing that,” Marshall said suddenly.
“I’m not gonna let this happen. Pearl you got a deal.” Coral hung up the phone and left the room. But Marshall hurried after her.
“No way, I’m gonna let you sell out to her just to save my ass!” Marshall yelled, not even bothering to knock as he barged into her room.
“Look, you wouldn’t be having a problem if I wasn’t here. Now that I’m here, it’s fucking with your life and now it’s time to go.” Coral replied as she pulled her suitcases out from under her bed.
“So you should have your life ruined instead?” Marshall snapped.
“Hey man, maybe this is for the best, you know?” Dre asked as he stood in the door.
“You are not part of this conversation!” Marshall yelled and quickly slammed the door in Dre’s face.
“This is a closed conversation Marshall. I am going to San Francisco on Sunday and I’m going to sign whatever it is that my parents and Pearl draw up for me. I’ll get the negatives and I’ll send them to you, and that, that will be the end of it. You will have your privacy, and we both can get on with our lives.” Coral went to her drawers and started pulling out clothes.
“What kind of life is it going to be for you huh?” Marshall asked, and she stilled as she put some clothes into the suitcase.
“What is your life gonna be like huh? Going to school, for something you don’t want to do, working in your parents office, like a gopher, having them breathe down your neck every minute of the day. Having you go back to that bastard who fucked you over, because it makes them look good?” Marshall asked angrily. She didn’t move.
“It’s better this way.”
“For who?”
“For you. I walked into your life and I fucked it up for you. It’s time I get on with my life and you get back to yours. You need to rap and you need to get out of here.”
“You told me, that this mistake belonged to both of us, and that there was no reason for one of us to take all the blame for it.”
“That’s right, and I’m taking my blame and my share of the consequences.”
“You’re being a fucking martyr.” Marshall spat and she snapped up and narrowed her eyes at him.
“I’m the one who got my sister Pearl involved in this, she didn’t have to know about this, but I was dumb enough to involve her in it. Now I have to pay for that mistake, my mistake, that was not your mistake.” Coral shouted.
“Fuck it is. You are not doing that crap, you’re not gonna bend to their will, not now, not when you finally told them to go to hell and are doing what you want to do.”
“It is not your fucking choice! I’m gonna do this because it is what I have to do!” Marshall looked away from her and shook his head. They were quiet for a minute, the anger sizzling in the air. Marshall put his hand up, but didn’t look at her as he waved.
“You, you do, whatever it is you want. But just know one thing, you didn’t fuck up my life. And if you think having my face in the tabloids is gonna fuck up my life worse than knowing you’re with them, being forced to be somebody your not. Knowing, knowing,” here Marshall faltered, but he quickly picked up his words, “That you’re not here, then the only life your fucking up is your own.” With this Marshall turned and left the room.

Part XI

Coral chucked the pile of clothes into the suitcase and sunk onto her bed, head in her hands. Shit. Now what? What was she going to do? Why was this happening now? What had she done that was so wrong?
She slid her face out of her hands and rested her chin on her fists, looking around the room. What other choice did she have? Either she signed the contract, went to school like her parents wanted, or Marshall got leaked to the press. It was a lose, lose situation.
God, she just needed to get out of that house!
In a whirlwind she changed her clothes and hurried back to the kitchen. She got the maid to take care of lunch and dinner, before speeding out of driveway and taking off.
Marshall knew that Coral would leave. He hadn’t meant to yell at her. He didn’t want to yell at her. He didn’t want her to leave. He didn’t want to upset her. Everything was gone to hell now.
“Hey Em, look, if you want this to go easy, you should just let her go. Maybe this is the best thing for her,” Dre tried as Marshall paced the patio.
“It is not the best thing for her. You don’t know her, you don’t know her family, you don’t know what it’s like.” Marshall snapped.
“You got to think about your career Marshall,” Dre said again, but it was the wrong thing to say. Marshall turned on him as fast as a snake.
“Fuck my career! I don’t give a shit about my career! I’m sick of hiding Dre! If they want to print something, let them fucking print it! I’m not a fucking image, and I can’t live up to one either, so fuck rap, fuck hip hop, fuck it all, cause it don’t fucking matter!” Dre was able to fend him off, knowing that Marshall more than anything was just upset. He needed to blow off steam.
“You all right now man?” Dre asked after a minute. Marshall took a deep breath and shook his head.
“No man, I’m not. I’m not okay, ever since that, that night. No, I’m not. Fuck, how the fuck did it get so fucking messed up?”
“When you’re lonely man, you drink, and when you drink you hook up. It’s what you do,” Dre said quietly.
“Nah, nah, it’s not that, shit man, it’s that. Fuck, I miss Hailie,” Marshall admitted.
“And you’re thinking about retiring, and you got something for this girl. You’re bound to be a little stressed, it happens man. Just chill out, okay? Take it easy. The maid said Coral would be back tonight. You’ll both be cooled down, you can talk, you can figure it out.”
“I don’t know. I think I overstepped the boundaries,” Marshall replied.
“You’re Eminem, that’s your job,” Dre laughed, finally earning a chuckle from Marshall.
“Ah fuck man, when did I get to be such an old man?” Marshall asked.
“Don’t sweat it, it happens to the best of us.”

Marshall waited up for Coral, in the kitchen, because it was the one place she was sure to go when she got home. He’d avoided the guys for the rest of the day, but Dre filled them in, and they understood.
Coral had stalled as much as she could coming home from her date, which had been a very bad idea to go ahead with in the first place. Now either one of two things would happen. Marshall would ignore her, or he’d be waiting to talk to her. She hoped it was the latter, she wanted to talk to him too, but she wasn’t looking forward to the awkwardness.
She sat in the driveway for nearly fifteen minutes, trying to get up the courage to go inside, figure out what she really wanted to do. She saw the lights on, she knew he was up. Now it was what she had to do.
The door opened quietly though it knocked Marshall out of his doze of thoughts he’d been wallowing in the last three hours. He heard her soft steps into the kitchen.
“Hey,” she said quietly, sheepishly as she leaned in the doorway.
“Hey, I was getting worried,” Marshall said sitting up and stretching slightly.
“Yeah, well, I was trying to avoid this.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.” Coral took a few tentative steps into the kitchen and decided to take her seat next to him at the counter.
“So what’d you do all day?” he asked conversationally.
“Walked. Went on a blind date.”
“You went on a date?” Marshall asked surprised, and he felt his chest constrict painfully again, though it wasn’t pleasant this time.
“Yeah, though he turned out to be a little more blind than a date. Plus, I just wasn’t in the mood to socialize.”
“Oh.” He relaxed a bit.
“So about this after noon,” they both started at the same time, they laughed.
“We both flew off the handle, didn’t we?” Coral asked.
“I shouldn’t have yelled at you, I do apologize for that,” Marshall added quickly.
“Don’t worry about it, really. But I’m sorry about flipping out on you. You didn’t deserve it.” They were both quiet for a minute.
“I meant what I said though Coral. Something being in the tabloids, it’s not gonna be as much a problem as you turning slave to your family.”
“Whatever I do, someone is gonna suffer. If I don’t go, Pearl will send the stuff to the papers, and if go, I’ll be miserable. So tell me, what are the other options? Change names, move to Timbuktu to get away from it all?” she asked with a slight smile.
“Just don’t leave. I’ll deal, with what ever comes up. Besides, I’m not in the spotlight right now, I’m not doing anything, not promoting an album, it’ll blow over in a few months. It’ll be taken care of. I’d feel much better, knowing you’re here, instead of with that family who’ll hurt you.”
“See, there you go, showing that sweetness again. Dammit Marshall, why you got to be like that? You making me want to stay,” Coral laughed. Marshall smiled in return.
“Then stay. Come on, when are you gonna find a friend who you can live with, and work with?” Coral stood up and put a hand on his shoulder.
“The job, is not the reason I’m staying, good night.” She leaned in, placed a kiss on the back of his head and left the kitchen. Leaving Marshall, more confused, and with a bad case of heartburn.
“Damn, we can’t let that maid cook anymore.”

“I’ve got French toast, sausages, mango juice and fresh sliced oranges coming up!” Coral called from the kitchen the next morning.
“All right, sounds good,” Marshall said grabbing one of the plates of toast and a pitcher of juice to take out to the table.
“Where the hell did that maid get to?” he asked as he returned to get the silver wear and Coral passed him with plate of fruit and some more toast.
“I don’t know, she was supposed to be here by eight thirty, it’s ten already,” she replied.
“My oh my, now does this smell good. Coral, don’t you dare leave that other woman to cook, I nearly had an ulcer last night,” Kuniva said giving a smile to Coral on his way into the dining room.
“I don’t plan on it. Enjoy,” Coral replied. One by one the rest of the guys came in and sat down, finally Bizarre sauntered in.
“Uh uh, hold up, I don’t feed people who don’t trust me,” Coral said pointing at him with a fork. Marshall had a grin plastered on his face. Bizarre sighed and looked over at her.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know you would do that for somebody, but you did. And I guess you’re all right by me then.” Bizarre wasn’t used to apologizing, for anything, and this left a nasty taste in his mouth.
“All right then, take a seat,” Coral gave him a sly look, but the breakfast conversation went back to normal.

“Where the hell is that maid, I swear I’m gonna kill her,” Marshall snapped as he looked at the growing pile of laundry the next day.
“I don’t know, I called the agency and they said they hadn’t heard from her either. Maybe she got sick, or had a family emergency,” Coral replied as she stirred some of her marinara sauce.
“I hope it ain’t nothing serious, and in the mean time I should call them and get another girl over here, it’s not fair you doing the cooking and the dishes.” Marshall replied making a mental note.
“What time is Dre supposed to be over?” she asked after a minute.
“He said he’d be here soon. Have no idea what he found out though,” Marshall shrugged. Dre had phoned earlier in the afternoon saying he had something to show them, and not to leave the house before he got there.
“Would you bring the dough out of the fridge for me,” Coral asked nodding to the fridge as she pulled a package of mushrooms towards her, ripping off the cellophane wrapper and grabbing her butcher knife. Marshall nodded and pulled the stuff out of the fridge.
“What are you doing?” Proof asked as he took a seat at the counter.
“You all said you wanted pizza, so I’m making pizza,” Coral replied as she chopped the mushrooms into fine slices.
“The point was, that we order something, so you don’t have to cook, and we don’t have to do the dishes,” Kuniva said as he too came in and took a seat.
“Eh, store bough pizza, it’s disgusting.” Coral said waving her hand at them and smiling.
“You think she likes to cook or something?” Marshall laughed.
“I think she just likes making me do dishes,” Bizarre commented as he came in.
“As a matter of fact I do. I don’t know if I’ll ever forgive you for that ‘help’ comment, so you better keeping washing out that dirty mouth with the dish liquid,” Coral quipped and they all chuckled.
“You got it Coral,” Bizarre laughed patting her on the shoulder. After a while Kon and Swifty joined the party in the kitchen to talk and watch Coral make the pizza.
“Marshall, you can start slicing those peppers and let me just make sure that no body wants sardines, right?” she asked looking around.
“Nope.”
“Good.” The doorbell rang and Marshall motioned for one of the guys to get it as he pulled the stick of pepperoni out of the fridge to slice. They heard the sounds of greetings in the hall and Dre emerged in the kitchen doorway.
“Hey man, what up?” Marshall asked as they did their handshake.
“Guess who isn’t going to law school?” he asked with a smile.
“What?” Coral asked with a jolt. Dre tossed a stack of magazines on the counter, the first one emblazoned with,
“EMINEM AND HIS NEW WIFE, HOW THEY MET AND THEIR SHOTGUN WEDDING!”
“She went and did it anyway! That bitch!” Coral swore.
“Nope, it wasn’t Pearl,” Dre chuckled.
“Huh?” Marshall and Coral asked surprised.
“The maid. She got a hold of that little press kit your lovely sister sent and got a good chunk of money for it.” Dre replied with a slight grin.
Coral looked over at the magazine that Marshall had picked up, recognizing them in a picture while out shopping for towels. They were both smiling and laughing, and it almost looked like Marshall had his arm around her. She had to smile.
At the same moment Marshall looked up and they caught each other’s eyes and started to laugh hysterically.
“What’s so funny?” Bizarre asked.
“Yeah, this is going to be a press hiatus,” Dre remarked, though he couldn’t keep a small smile from forming on his lips.
“Pearl is going to be furious,” Coral laughed.
“I just wish we could see her face.” Marshall laughed as well.
“You happy that your mug is in the tabloids?” Kuniva asked seriously.
“No, but what are PR people for? Come on Coral show what you can do with that pizza dough,” Marshall replied, still laughing slightly.
“You got it.” Coral went to work, pulling out a package of flour and dusting the counter, her hands and one of the blobs of dough she’d made earlier. Slowly she flattened out the dough and picked it up to stretch it out using her fists.
“Ever seen a professional toss a pizza crust boys?” she asked.
“Nope,” Kon replied for the group.
“Well you will now.” Coral spun the dough and tossed it high into the air and the guys jumped in surprise.
“Just you wait,” Coral said as she caught the dough and stretched it a little more before tossing it again. The guys were impressed as she threw the dough again, this time doing a spin and catching it.
“Whoa, would you look at this, maybe you ought to take her on tour Em, she could be your opening act,” Proof laughed as Coral threw the crust one more time and caught it behind her back.
“Now now gentlemen, there’s no hurry, I’m here all week,” Coral smiled and plopped the finished dough on the counter.

“Pizza and beer, don’t get much better than this,” Proof laughed as they sat around the table, polishing off the remainder of the pizzas and Coronas.
“You got it,” Coral smiled as she sat back, taking a sip of the beer in her hand.
“So Em, when are we gonna go out and party huh?” Swifty asked.
“Whenever you guys want to go out, I know a few good places,” Marshall replied.
“What about now?” Proof asked.
“I guess so, the rest of ya up for it?” Marshall asked looking around the table. They all nodded.
“We gonna get to see you out on the dance floor Coral? Girl as fine as you I bet can burn it up,” Kuniva asked.
“Nah, I don’t plan on going. You guys, go enjoy, have some fun.” Coral replied waving at him and sipping at her beer again.
“Oh come on Coral, you don’t expect us to go out and leave you here, do you?”
“I just figured, considering that your friends are here for such a short time, you’d want to spend some with them, by yourself,” Coral replied standing up to grab the dishes off the table.
“Marshall, restrain this girl would you?” Dre asked smacking her hands away from the dishes and standing to pick them up himself.
“Coral, sit your ass down,” Marshall said pushing her slightly and knocking her back into her chair.
“You’re coming to the club with us. Any friend of Marshall’s is a friend of ours. Go on, you ladies take enough time to get ready, we’ll do the dishes and then we’ll go,” Proof said as he too stood and grabbed some of the dishes.
“Why is it gonna take me any longer to get ready?”
“Coral, you got to wear something a little different than your jeans and t-shirts, come on girl you got something, show it off!” Kon replied.
“I don’t go to clubs,” Coral replied laughing.
“Come on, I’ll find something in your closet,” Marshall said grabbing Coral’s arm and pulling her up out of her chair.
“Why am I going anyway?” she moaned as he dragged her to the stairs.
“Because, you need to get out of this house.”
Back at the table, all the guys were looking at one another and grinning.
“Our man’s lost it.” Bizarre commented.

Upstairs, Marshall was pawing through Coral’s closet looking for something for her to wear to a club. He passed on jeans, the t-shirts, the sneakers, all her usual casual clothes that she looked good in anyway.
“This, and this, there you go, that’s definitely something for the clubs,” Marshall said as he emerged with a short denim skirt and a bright red, long sleeved, flowing shirt.
“Got alterior motives Mr. Mathers?” she asked with a raised an eyebrow.
“Just shut up and get dressed. We’re gonna find you a date tonight that knows how to treat you right.” Marshall laughed handing over the clothes, but not being to suppress a hint of redness that crept into his cheeks.
“Your full of shit Marshall, now get out of here so I can get dressed.” She pushed him out the door, both of them laughing hard.

“Ya’ll aren’t done with them dishes yet?” Coral asked stepping into the door of the kitchen. The guys all stopped what they were doing and turned to look at her, framed in the door of the kitchen. She wore her long hair down, looking stunning in the clothes Marshall had picked out for her, and a pair of red stilettos. Proof whistled long and loud.
“Damn girl, you about to give a room full a heart attack!” Bizarre remarked.
“Why thank ya gentlemen, I’ll take that as a compliment.” Coral laughed. Marshall remained quiet and did not attempt to say anything. He knew if he did say something, it wouldn’t have been something at he wanted any of them to hear.
“Lets go boys, we can deal with those later.”

Part XII

Marshall chose a club that was high end, but not known to be populated by celebrities. This would mean not too many familiar faces, and people rich enough not to care about celebrities. Considering that the story was out in the papers, reporters and paparazzi would be on the lookout for him, and other celebrities were usually just as bad as photographers. He didn’t want to have to pretend to make nice and explain himself to anyone. Aside from that Marshall was determined to find Coral a date, so he could get over his little obsession and back to his life.
Despite Coral’s initial nervousness at being at a club, she got comfortable quickly, and went dancing with each of the guys before she even thought of sitting down.
Marshall was sitting with Dre watching Coral dance with each one of his friends, and he felt unpleasantly sick to his stomach. He sipped on a double shot of vodka, trying to calm his nerves as Dre talked to him.
“You gonna admit you’re into her or what?” Dre asked.
“Why?”
“Cause you sitting there ever since we got here, watching your friends, dance with your girl, and you look like you’s about to throw up, that’s why.”
“It’s too complicated Dre.”
“So you’re married to her. That don’t mean you can’t like her.”
“That specifically is the reason I can’t like her. She’s a friend, an employee.”
“So what?”
“She’s not interested.”
“Bull shit. There is not a girl in the world who would take fashion advice from a guy, knowing that he’s gonna say a short skirt any day of the week, if she’s not interested.”
“I don’t know man.”
“Make a move dammit.”
“We are getting divorced.”
“That don’t mean you can’t make a move.”
“Yeah it does.”
“You’re impossible. At least get drunk and go find a bimbo or something. I ain’t sitting here watching you be all lovesick.”
“I ain’t fucking love sick.”
“Then stop acting like it.”
“Hey boys, Dre, you up for a dance?” Coral asked with a smile.
“Nah, why don’t you take old Marshall out here for a spin, he’s ready,” Dre said giving Marshall a smile that irritated the hell out of him.
“Yeah, come on, I’ve been asking you since we got here, come on, one song,” Coral asked looking over at him.
“I guess so.”
“Good, come on,” Coral said pulling him up by his arm, but he downed the rest of his vodka in one swallow.
He allowed Coral to drag him over to the dance floor, really not wanting to get into this with her, but not wanting to miss out on finding out what she would feel like dancing up against him. He knew it was probably not the best idea in the world, but he wasn’t thinking too clearly at the moment.
The song wasn’t too bad but the company was. Watching Coral dance had been one thing but dancing with her was another. She moved in ways that made his body ache, and she wasn’t even dancing explicitly.
He made a dangerous move and put a hand on her hip, allowing her to move closer, and before he had realized it, they were pressed together on the crowded dance floor. Marshall swallowed hard and felt the familiar tightening of the muscles of his chest.
“Bad idea, bad idea, bad idea,” ran around in Marshall’s head, but he couldn’t move away from her.
She turned her head towards him and flashed him a smile, their eyes meeting for the first time since they hit the dance floor. She placed a hand on his chest and slid it up his shoulder, watching him in the dim light of the club as they moved. She felt the tightness of his muscles.
Marshall was getting nervous. He should just leave. Get off the floor and leave the club, get outside, sober up, get some air. Suddenly he needed to get off the floor, had too, it was inevitable.
That ache was starting to respond, and a certain part of his anatomy was betraying him. This was not what he wanted to happen and he himself cursed inwardly for not staying off the dance floor and for drinking too much. He had to get away before she noticed.
“My phone’s going off, I’ll send Proof over to keep you company,” Marshall said quickly and trotted away off the dance floor. He found the back of the club and went out the back door.
The air was icy in comparison to inside the club. Annoyed with himself he kicked the wall and squatted down, trying to get his head into focus. He couldn’t be going there. He couldn’t be doing this. He didn’t need this complication in his life right now. Coral was a friend. That’s all she was. He was just a little too drunk, she was just being friendly, he was just blowing things way out of proportion and allowing his body to get the best of him.
He jumped when he heard the door open not long after he’d come out, and paled at the sight of Coral.
“Hey, you ran off so fast I didn’t hear what you said, you okay?” she asked as she squatted down in front of him.
“Look, it’s been a while since I got any, and I was drunk,” Marshall started.
“And I wasn’t helping by the way I was dancing, Marshall, don’t worry about it. I should have known better than to get so carried away.” Marshall was taken aback by how much she had to say about the matter. He had never heard a woman apologize for him getting a hard on, no matter how much she teased him.
“Maybe we should round up the guys and get going?” he asked.
“Yeah, we could do that,” Coral nodded, but didn’t move.
“Yeah, we should do that.”

Marshall said goodnight and went right to his room as soon as he got home. He took a cold shower and went to bed, trying to ignore an erection that still wouldn’t go away. He was NOT going to masturbate to memory of how Coral’s body moved against his, when she was in the very next room. He’d suffer in silence, take cold showers and swim as many laps as he could. For once in his life he was going to be an adult and not listen to his hormones.
The next few days were relatively quiet. That was because Coral was out of the house. Jackie had called and she asked if it was all right with Marshall that she help him out with two big parties that were going on that week. He quickly agreed, knowing he needed the time away from her, knowing that it would be too awkward having her around.
In the meantime Marshall ordered out for dinners or they went out. They spent one day at the beach and even went to a movie while Coral was out of the house.
When she was back to cooking for them, Marshall had somewhat gotten himself back together. Some time not having to see Coral around every corner had been helpful, along with Dre’s prompting to go into the studio and see if he could rap some of his frustrations out had helped and he was ready to not feel awkward around her.
They were getting along fine. He helped her make tacos for dinner, and she served dulce de leche for desert out on the patio by the pool. Kuniva and Marshall offered to do the dishes while the rest of the guys got out cards and taught Coral how to play poker.
On a trip out to collect some of the dishes Marshall heard some of the conversation.
“All right, I say we play strip poker, how bout you all?” Swifty said giving Coral an elbow.
“Ha ha ha ha, you’re a riot Swifty, now shut up and deal the cards,” Coral laughed.
“Real subtle man,” Marshall chuckled as he grabbed a pile of dishes.
“You keep out of this Cinderella and get back to washing yo’ dishes,” Bizarre cackled.
“Just you wait Bizz, you forget I’m the one who cooks around here, my hand could just accidentally slip.” Coral said with a raised eyebrow. Marshall shook his head and trudged back inside to finish up the dishes.
Kuniva was at the sink, scrubbing out the sauce pot as he watched out the window as the guys dealt out the cards.
“That Coral is definitely something,” he remarked.
“Yeah, she is,” Marshall replied quietly. He’d been avoiding this topic since she left and he’d been hoping that guys would understand that it was a sore topic for him. The incident at the club had been embarrassing enough, to talk about it, he didn’t even want to think about it.
“So when are you gonna make your move on her?” Kuniva asked as he turned around to look at Marshall. He looked up from the tortillas he was wrapping up, those blue eyes looking younger by the minute.
“Why would I?”
“It’s cool, it’s cool, play it cagey,” Kuniva replied turning back to the pot in the sink.
“Man I haven’t done dishes since I went to visit my momma!” Kuniva laughed. Marshall chuckled and went back to wrapping up the tortillas.
“Get used to it.”
“What the hell are they doing now, oh, there goes Proof into the pool, that was courteously of Kon,” Kuniva laughed and rinsed the pot out. Marshall chuckled and put the dishes he’d already wrapped, away in the refrigerator.
“Oh, looks like Coral may have beat them, nope, Bizarre won.” Marshall shook his head and gathered the other dirty dishes, setting them on the counter for Kuniva to put in the dishwasher and looked out the window. A couple of the guys were standing up, at the edge of the pool, then he realized he couldn’t find Coral anywhere.
“Yo man, you see Coral out there?” Marshall asked.
“No, maybe she’s one her way in,” Kuniva replied.
A shrill piercing scream came from outside and Marshall knew who it was. He looked at the far end of the pool, now where Bizarre and Proof were standing, and someone was in the water.
“SHIT!” Marshall yelled dropping the dishes as he sprinted out the door. The screaming got louder as he got outside.
“CORAL! HOLD ON!” he yelled before diving into the pool. The guys looked at one another, confused.
By the time Marshall had gotten to Coral, she’d nearly sunk to the bottom of the pool. He hooked his arm around her waist and pushed off the bottom as hard as he could, struggling to get her limp body to the surface.
He emerged paddling to the side of the pool as hard as he could, but going under a couple times because Coral kept slipping from his grasp.
“Jesus Christ man, call the fucking ambulance!” someone shouted.
Marshall fell back underwater pushing Coral up for the guys to grab and pull her out. Bizarre and Swifty then yanked him out, the weight of his baggy jeans holding him down and keeping him from getting out on his own.
“Coral! Coral, come, open your eyes for me, Coral!” Marshall shouted as he crawled to her side. She lie still and calm, eerily so, but she did not respond.
“She’s not breathing man!” Marshall snapped and immediately kicked into gear.
He hadn’t remembered much from those parenting classes that the courts had mandated he take, except for the important stuff, like CPR. After a few rotations Coral sat up and coughed up what seemed like a gallon of water. Rolling on her side, catching her breath, she coughed, and sputtered and convulsed.
“Coral, are you okay? Can you talk?” Marshall asked leaning over her and helping her to sit up. Coral shook her head and coughed,
“Way, from, from that,” she waved in the direction of the water but wouldn’t look at it.
“All right, come on, up you go,” Marshall said gently as he stooped to pick her up. She put an arm around his neck and leaned into him, visibly shaking and almost shivering.
“You want us to call the ambulance?” Bizarre asked.
“I think ya’ll did enough already,” Marshall glowered at his friends before turning and marching into the house.

Part XIII

Marshall carried the shaking body in his arms up the stairs, all the while talking softly to her.
“Hey, it’s gonna be okay, you’re fine, your out of the water,” he repeated a few times. He took her to her room and carefully set her down on her bed so that she could sit up. He squatted down in front of her to look up into her scared face.
“Coral, hey, how you doing?” he asked, pushing some of the strands of wet hair out of her face. She wrapped her arms around herself, shaking her head, her whole body shivering.
“You took quite a fall out there huh?” Marshall didn’t know why he kept talking but he knew he had to say something, make sure she knew that he was there for her. He pulled the comforter up off the bed and draped it around her shoulders, pulling it tight around her.
“That better?” he asked. But she still didn’t respond. She remained shaking, her eyes glassy as she sat there. He didn’t know what to do. She was probably in shock.
The first thing he thought to do was call Turkey. Turkey would know. And an ambulance, just in case.
“Hey Turkey? Hi, it’s Marshall. Look, I’m gonna need you to come over.”
“Is Coral all right?”
“No, I don’t think so. The guys didn’t know she couldn’t swim and they threw her in the pool, I got her out, she’s breathing, but I think she might be in shock or something.”
“I’ll be right there. But call an ambulance just to have them check her out.”
“They’re already on their way.”

Marshall sat with Coral until the paramedics arrived and then he was ushered out of the room. Turkey arrived not long after and she went in to see her sister.
While he waited he went into the living room, still wearing his wet clothes, where the guys had assembled.
“Is she okay?” Bizarre asked sheepishly.
“I don’t know. She’s just sitting up there, shivering, not saying a word. And what the fuck is wrong with you people! You don’t take someone you don’t know, and throw them in a fucking pool! When you don’t know if they can swim!” Marshall’s anger suddenly flooded him and he fell into his rage good and fast.
“And who the fuck ignores a person when they are fucking drowning!”
“Man, we thought she was joking, we didn’t know,” Proof said quietly.
“Oh that’s a good enough excuse now isn’t it? While she’s up there, scared to fucking death! You know, the whole reason she won’t even step into a bath tub, is because she nearly drowned, nearly died when she was a kid. She almost died, she’s terrified of water, but you wouldn’t know that, cause you’re too fucking busy being assholes!” No one disagreed with him. They all knew he was right and they were all guilty because they had sat back and let them do it to her.
“Marshall?” he turned around and saw Turkey in the entryway.
“Hey, how is she?” he asked stepping out to met her.
“They said she’s definitely in shock, and they don’t know exactly how long it’s going to last. I called her regular doctor and he said just to give her some sleeping pills and see how she is in the morning.”
“You can stay here as long as you want,” Marshall said immediately.
“Thanks.” The paramedics came down the stairs and spoke to Turkey before they left.
“We gave her a sedative, and she did come around a bit. She was able to tell us what happened, but she’s still shaky. Just keep an eye on her and make sure to call her regular physician in the morning.” Turkey nodded to them and they left.
They stood there in the foyer waiting for someone to say something.
“Um, I’m gonna go get changed,” Marshall said awkwardly. Turkey nodded and before he left asked,
“Could you check in on her?” He nodded and turned to go upstairs and get some clothes.

Marshall quickly changed and then knocked on Coral’s door to make sure he wasn’t intruding.
“Come in,” she called softly.
Marshall opened the door and stepped inside to find her sitting on the edge of her bed combing her wet hair.
“Hey, how you feeling?”
“Freaked out,” she replied setting the hairbrush in her lap and looking up at him.
“That’s a little better, at least your talking now, mind if I?” he asked motioning beside the bed.
“No go ahead.” He sat down and looked over at her.
“You gonna be okay?”
“I think so, though don’t expect any meals out on the patio any time soon.” Marshall had to chuckle.
“I reamed the guys out for throwing you in the pool.”
“It’s all right, they didn’t know.” They were silent for a second.
“Hey, you saved my life,” she said looking over at him. He nodded.
“I guess so.”
“You’re kinda like my hero you know? Give me a job, place to live, save me from drowning. You gonna expect my first born child out of this?”He smiled slightly and then felt his chest tightening again. Another kid or two, that might be nice.
“I didn’t do anything special,” Marshall started.
“Yeah you did. You’ve done for me than my entire family ever has. And if I don’t say it enough, I want to say thank you, and I mean that, from the bottom of my heart.” Marshall felt those words deep inside of him and despite how much he hated his singing voice he felt like doing it right now. Screw being a big old macho man, screw being a rapper. He liked the girl dammit, and so what if they were married and getting a divorce? That wasn’t a reason to deny anything.
Before he could say anything else she was hugging him and willingly he put his arms around her, holding her tight.
“You’re one of the few people I feel safe with. You literally saved my life Marshall,” she said while they were still hugging. Marshall could have fallen apart at that moment.
As soon as it happened, it ended. They pulled apart and she smiled at him.
“Why don’t you get some rest, huh?” he asked, pushing a stand of wet hair behind her ear.
“All right,” she nodded as he stood up off the bed. He turned towards the door and heard her one more time,
“Marshall, really, thanks, for everything.” He didn’t turn, but nodded and replied,
“Your welcome.”

“Marshall, could we talk for a minute?” Turkey asked when he came back downstairs.
“Yeah, come on, in the kitchen, I’ll fix you a plate,” he replied leading the way.
“Thanks, how was she?” Turkey asked as she took Coral’s usual spot at the counter while Marshall went to the refrigerator.
“Well, she’s talking and even made a joke, so I’d say pretty good.” Turkey let out a sigh of relief.
“Oh thank god. I was really worried that she’d be like the first time.”
“What happened?”
“Well the first time, I’m assuming she told you about the beach, and almost drowning, right?”
“Yeah, she blacked out under the water right?”
“Yeah. But after, you know, once she was out of the hospital, she didn’t talk for about three years. Didn’t say a thing. She freaked out around water, wouldn’t take a bath, wouldn’t even take a shower in a bath tub, she was too afraid that it’d fill up and she’d fall in.”
“She didn’t talk for three years?”
“Nope. Not a word, not to anyone. She went to school, did everything she was supposed to, except for talking. My parents at first, thought because she’d stopped breathing for so long, that she might be brain damaged, but that wasn’t the case.”
“So, what happened?”
“One Christmas, the first vacation she’d gone on in since the accident, she just came home, and started yammering on about some new recipe that she had learned to make.” Marshall popped the plate of food into the microwave and turned around confused.
“She just started talking, out of nowhere?”
“Yup. Like nothing happened. My parents wanted to take her to a psychologist, but I convinced them that they should just leave well enough alone.”
“Man, that’s freaky.”
“I know. Now she’s scared to death of the ocean, water, won’t set foot on a beach. I’ve tried to get her to see a hyponotherapist, help her get over her fear a little, I mean, it’s gotta be a strain to be that scared.”
“Yeah, I know what you mean.”
“I honestly don’t think that she’s so much afraid of the water. I think it’s the fact that our sister Pearl was supposed to be watching her, and just walked away.”
“Maybe that’s why she called Pearl, to get help, when we were trying to get the divorce,” Marshall said thoughtfully.
“She keeps giving chances for Pearl to save her, to make up for it, but Pearl keeps letting her down.” Marshall nodded and took the plate of food out, placing it in front of Turkey and handing her a fork.
“Thanks.”
“No problem.” They were quiet as Turkey took a bite and chewed slowly.
“You know, I’ve been saving up, and I’ve been thinking about this long and hard. Coral wants to go to that school, I think I’ll just make her go. I can afford it. I mean, I don’t make nearly as much as my sisters and brother do, the personal injury law is not for the big money makers no, but I can afford it, and she deserves it.” Marshall nodded.
“If that’s what she wants.”
“I think that’s exactly what I’m going to do. She deserves it.” Turkey nodded emphatically and took another bite. Marshall wondered absently how hard it would be to move to France and learn French.

“Absolutely not Turkey,” Coral said the next morning while she was cooking breakfast. She’d taken the sedative and woken up early, ready to get back to work. Turkey had posed the idea of sending her to school, and Coral was less than thrilled.
“You can barely make ends meet as it is living in that apartment with our family, and you don’t make that much as it is. No, you’re not doing it.”
“Coral, I can afford it, besides, I can move into a cheaper place,” Turkey tried.
“No. That’s my final answer. I’m having you become the second black sheep of the family by sending me to cooking school and moving out of the family building, no way. You and Opal get along too well for that.”
“If you haven’t realized that I’m already the gray sheep of the family, by doing the personal injury law, then I don’t know what to say. Coral, just because I can get along with our family better than you do, doesn’t mean I have to let you go without when I can help you.”
“No.”
“Coral.”
“No. Now eat some breakfast.” It was the final word. Marshall was secretly happy, and a little sad at the same time. Coral was giving up something that she wanted, but she was more worried about her sister. He realized that Coral was worried about her family, despite how much she said she didn’t need their approval. She did.
He knew that if he offered her the money she would not take it.

The next few days passed as if nothing happened. Marshall’s friends left a few days after the pool incident and Turkey the day after it happened, assured that Coral was okay.
When they were left alone again they were sitting in the living room, looking around at the work they had done in the place and were silent.
“So, what do you want to do now?” she asked.
“It’s quiet around here, ain’t it?” he asked. She nodded.
“I’m taking you out for lunch.” he said grabbing her arm and pulling her up off the couch.
“What for?”
“Because, I feel like it and we should probably should give those reporters something to gawk at,” Marshall laughed as he pulled her towards the garage.
“You want your face in the papers?” she asked.
“Hey, they’re gonna follow me no matter what, so what does it matter? I’m not gonna sit in this house all the time. Come on, we can catch a movie or something.” Coral rolled her eyes but followed him nonetheless.

“Why’d yo have to pick out such a gross movie?” she asked as they took as seat in the back of the theater.
“So when you get scared you’ll turn to me and I’ll be your protector,” Marshall laughed.
“You’re hysterical, you’ll just be lucky I don’t throw up.”
“You throw up in scary movies?”
“When Bruce Willis smashed that guy’s head into the floor I threw up all over the two people in front of me.”
“Good thing we waited to go to lunch then.”

“I cannot believe you did that!” Coral shrieked as they raced around the corner. Marshall was clutching a stitch in his side he was laughing so hard.
“What, you never dumped a milkshake on a photographer before?” he asked when he caught his breath again.
“Never had to.”
“But it’s so much fun. Come on, the car, is right down here,” Marshall said with a final chuckle as they walked down the alley. Coral stopped as if she heard something and looked around.
“Did you hear that?” she asked.
“Hear what?”
“That!”
“That kinda squawking?”
“Yeah, it’s coming from over here.” Coral went towards a pile of boxes and the squawking sound got a little louder. She pushed some of the boxes out of the way, looking into them to see if that was where the sound was coming from.
“Oh!” Coral exclaimed.
“What, did you find it? What is it?” Marshall asked stepping up beside her.
“It’s a bird,” Coral replied picking up the medium sized box, allowing Marshall to peer inside. The bird was small, about the size of a parakeet, missing a great deal of feathers, but those that were still attached to it’s body were red.
“Looks like he’d been through the storm or so, doesn’t it?”Marshall asked.
“Poor little thing, hey fella,” Coral said softly.
“We should take him to a vet, see what’s up with him.” Marshall said looking at the pathetic little bird.
“Really?” Coral asked surprised.
“Well we can’t just leave him here, come on, we’ll go home and we’ll find a vet that takes birds.” Marshall said motioning to car and smiling. Coral nodded and took the box into both hands following him down the ally.

“So you do take birds? Okay. What’s the earliest appointment that you have?” Marshall asked as he walked back and forth through the kitchen. As soon as they’d gotten home Marshall got out the phonebook and started calling nearby vets they could take the bird to. Coral was sitting at the counter, getting the bird to drink a little out of a dish she placed in the box.
Every few minutes she looked over at Marshall as he got frustrated with someone on the other end of the phone. It was cute, how much he was doing to take care of the wounded bird. She didn’t figure on him wanting to take care of a little helpless animal.
“Okay, we’ll be there as soon as possible, thanks. Well lets go, I got the vet to stay open just for us,” Marshall said clapping his hands together.
“Really? We better go then, come on little guy,” Coral said smiling at the bird. Marshall chuckled at her and led the way out to the car.

“So what kind of bird is it?” Marshall asked the vet as he looked over the balding bird.
“You guys found, a red and gold macaw, a parrot, a very young one, he’s just starting to get his feathers,” the vet replied.
“A parrot? Really?” Coral asked.
“Is he okay otherwise?” Marshall asked.
“His one wing is broken, but that we can tape up easily enough. Where did you find him?” As the vet spoke she got out a tiny splint and gauze to wrap it’s wing.
“In an ally way behind a restaurant, he was in the bottom of a pile of boxes. We heard him squawking and picked him up.” Coral explained.
“Well he is one lucky little parrot, I’ll tell you that. There your go, should be good as new in a few weeks,” the vet replied as she finished up the bandage. The little red bird squawked appreciatively and hobbled around the table slightly.
“So he’ll grow in more feathers?” Marshall asked, “Cause, he looks like he’s just been sick.”
“Yeah, he’s just a baby. He’ll have a full body of feathers within a few months. They don’t stay too small for long. So, you’ll be taking him home right?” the vet looked at Coral.
“Oh, I uh, well, it’s your house Marshall,” Coral said sheepishly. He rolled his eyes at her.
“Oh you think I’m gonna turn out a little bird with a broken wing? Come on, put that scrawny thing back in it’s box and we’ll go get a book on taking care of parrots.” Marshall laughed. The vet smiled and Coral grinned brightly.
“Good, very good. Just bring him back in about three weeks and we’ll check on that wing of his.”
“Damn misfits, she’s got me taking in disabled birds now, just you wait, we’ll be back here with a couple stray cats and mutt next,” Marshall playfully grumbled as he peered into the box. He put a finger out to pat the bird and it chirped and playfully nipped at his finger.
“See, he likes you,” Coral laughed.
“We’ll see about that, thanks Doctor.”

“Okay, you think we have enough books on parrots? The complete idiots guide to parrots, parrots for dummies, and the stupid person’s guide to parrots. Are they trying to imply something?” Marshall asked as he pulled the books out of the bag.
Upon leaving the vets office they’d gone to a pet store and Marshall proceeded to get one of the store clerks to outfit them with everything needed to raise a parrot. Coral knew he’d gone over board, and so did Marshall, but he didn’t care. This was for Coral, and if it made her happy, and it made her stay, he didn’t care.
“I personally don’t know anything about parrots,” Coral replied as set the bird, still in his box, down on the counter to help Marshall unload his bags. He watched her, before she went to get the bags, gently pet the tiny bird and smile at it.
“Yeah, I’m sure you do. That thing is nearly calling you momma,” he laughed.
“Hey, all you have to do is be nice, you don’t have to know what you’re doing to be nice,” Coral retorted.
“Mean while I think we got enough parrot food for an army here,” he replied pulling out a third bag of food.
“That sales man saw you coming a mile away,” Coral laughed taking out a cuttle bone and some treats.
“That salesman saw you coming a mile away, sweet talking you, telling you that molting feather duster was cute.”
“He is cute, he just hasn’t grown all his feathers yet.”
“He better get some soon, or he’s gonna freeze.”
“He’s got that little cuddle buddy, he’ll be fine. Come on, lets take that cage into the living room and put it together.” Coral said motioning to the large box in the doorway. Marshall nodded and Coral followed him into the living room. As soon as she left the box, the bird started squawking shrilly.
“Uh oh momma, the baby is up, you better go give him his bottle,” Marshall laughed.
“Oh knock it off you! Get to work,” Coral said pushing him over. He laughed, watching her go back and fetch the bird off the counter. It stopped squealing the second Coral went to get it.
“See, I told you,” Marshall grinned.
“Just get out the instructions already.”

“He’s not gonna stop making that noise Coral,” Marshall said miserably as he came down the stairs for the third time that night.
“He’s fine as long as I’m with him, I don’t know what it is,” Coral said as the little bird sat in her hand happily.
“He’s co-dependent. Face it, you became mommy,” Marshall said with a loud yawn.
“What should I do with him?” Coral asked.
“Just take him upstairs. Obviously he wants to be with you, so just put him in the little box and put him on the night stand. At least we’ll be able to get some sleep.” Marshall said as he watched Coral sitting in front of the cage, her one hand feeding the bird some seed. She’d already been downstairs several times, the parrot squawked every time she left the room.
“Come on, just take him, he’ll be happy, you’ll be happy, I’ll be happy, we’ll all be happy.” Marshall said handing her the small little nest they’d bought that afternoon. The salesperson suggested it because he’d been so small.
“All right little guy, you got your wish, come on.”

The next morning Marshall came down to breakfast to find the bird sitting in his nest on the counter chirping. He laughed at the sight of Coral in her apron, talking to the bird while she cooked and fed him bits of toast in between.
“Good morning June Cleaver,” Marshall said taking his usual seat at the counter. The bird looked up at him and chirped.
“And good morning to you too Mr. Co-Dependent,” he said to the bird, putting finger out for him to nibble on.
“Here you go, coffee, just the way you like it,” Coral smiled handing him the cup.
“Thanks,” Marshall said taking a sip.
“We got to find a name for the little guy here,” Coral said feeding the bird another crumb of toast.
“How about Polly?” Marshall laughed.
“No, he’s a boy!”
“Well, what’s a pirate name? Long John?”
“No.”
“Blackbeard?”
“No.”
“Well I still like Mr. Co-Dependent, it’s the most accurate,” Marshall chuckled.
“Mr. Co-Dependent? Wait, what about Cody?” Coral asked.
“Yeah, perfect, Cody, what do you say?” Marshall asked looking down at the bird. It chirped happily, jumping a little in his nest.
“Cody it is.”

For the next few weeks Marshall and Coral worked on the house and took care of the bird. Cody grew by leaps and bounds and soon he was covered bright red, yellow, green and blue feathers. He was about the size of a large pigeon and already perching on Coral’s shoulder by the time he was ready for a visit back to the vet.
“He looks wonderful, very fat and happy, I think you two did a great job as first time parrot parents,” the vet said when she was looking over Cody.
“Coral’s been keeping me busy studying up on them. We got every stupid person’s guide to the bird we could.” Marshall laughed.
“We’ll he’s doing great and he can take this splint off and go home.”
“Yeah you got the parent part right, he squawks his head off if Coral leaves him alone for even a second,” Marshall said as Cody took his spot on Coral’s shoulder.
“That’s not uncommon, he sees her as his mother, but if you want him to be able to stay in the house alone, try leaving a recording of your voice running while you’re out, just to get him to stay calm, otherwise birds can develop nervous and anxious habits like pulling out their own feathers and such. But I’m sure he’ll develop fine.”
“Is it a problem that he doesn’t sleep in a cage?” Coral asked.
“No, many people allow their parrots a perch outside a cage all day. But when you go out I suggest you leave him in a cage, otherwise he might get hurt.”
“That’s a good idea, cause we’ve been doing some remodeling and I wouldn’t want him to get hurt flying around on anything.” Marshall replied.
“Now who would have thought that Eminem would have such a soft spot for animals?” the vet asked.
“He’s a lot nicer than he likes to let on,” Coral smiled.
“Yeah yeah, so how much is it that you hate my music?” Marshall laughed.
“Oh it doesn’t bother me. My oldest son has been listening to you ever since your first single came out,” she replied.
“Really? And it doesn’t bother you?” Marshall asked surprised.
“He listens to it when he’s angry, it’s a way for him to get out his aggression. I’d rather have him listen to your music than go out drinking and smoking.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. If he’s at home listening to you rap about it, he’s not doing it, and it’s all really a matter that he knows what’s expected of him and what’s allowed.” Marshall couldn’t say anything he was so stunned.
“Would you mind if I asked you for an autograph for him? He nearly killed me when I told him I took care of your parrot.” she asked.
“No problem,” Marshall grinned wide and signed the paper the vet provided him with.

Part XIV

“Fourth of July, in two days, what do you want to do?” Coral asked as they were putting the finishing touches on Hailie’s room. Marshall was installing a light fixture in the corner while Coral finished painting the flowers on the table edge of the desk. Cody sat happily on her shoulder, now a little bigger than a pigeon, his bright red plumage more beautiful by the minute.
“Aren’t you doing something with your family?” he asked, the drill whirring steadily.
“No, we usually have a picnic, but since they aren’t talking to me, that ain’t happening,” Coral replied.
“Well, there’s fireworks down the road here,” Marshall added.
“No, I meant, aren’t you gonna have like a party or something?”
“I don’t have anyone around to invite to a party, it’s just you and me and Cody.”
“Hey, I have a perfect idea, since you took me to a club, it’s my turn, I’ll take you to one,” Coral said, turning in her chair to look at him.
“I thought you said you didn’t go to clubs?”
“I don’t, it’s a bar, a honky tonk.” She grinned.
“Ah no you don’t, I don’t do country music. I may think you running around here singing country tunes and saying ya’ll is cute, but I don’t do line dancing and such.”
“I’ll get you drunk and take advantage of you on the way there,” Coral said with a bargaining air.
“I’ll be there.”

Marshall was trying hard not to be too obvious, unfortunately he’d been swimming a lot. Coral didn’t try to be attractive, but she was. She didn’t dress up, in fact her wardrobe was practically plain. She wore tank tops and shorts or jeans and t-shirts. But it had been a long time, and she was an affectionate person. He hated that he was so affected by this, by just her niceness, by how kind and happy she was around him. He felt like a puppy following her around.
He refused to even think about masturbating while she was in the house, he felt too guilty. But that didn’t stop the dreams. Perhaps that was the only relief he got, but he still felt guilty about it.
It was around lunch time, the day before the fourth, and Coral was fixing something he’d never seen her prepare before. She had made some chips and was experimenting with some new variety of salsa. She had peppers and tomatoes cut up, some limes and other various fruit. On the stove something was cooking and smelled wonderful.
Her hair was down for a change, and she looked, incredible. There was no other word for it. Marshall felt his chest tightening and thought about turning and leaving when she looked up and saw him.
“Hey stranger!” she said. He’d been out most of the morning, a load of wood and supplies he’d ordered for the room he was making into his new office had come in and he’d rented a truck to pick the stuff up.
“Whatcha making?” he asked walking over to her side involuntarily. He hoped he could keep his body in control.
“Try this,” she said picking up a chip and holding it towards his mouth. He knew he should just take it in his hand and move away. But he didn’t. He opened his mouth and she popped the chip inside before he bit down and chewed. It was just right. The mingling of the flavors, peppers, onion, tomato, lime and just a hint of chile.
“Perfect, just right,” he said nodding.
“Good, I was worried it was a little too,” Coral didn’t get the rest of her sentence out. Marshall had moved forward and took a chance, pressing his lips softly against hers.
She didn’t protest. And he felt like he was home at last. The kiss lasted maybe only a minute when Cody squawked loudly and they pulled apart. They were still standing close to one another and Coral’s eyes looked up at him, searching, wondering.
Marshall didn’t know what to make of her stare, so he backed away mumbling something about unloading the wood and left the room.
Coral watched him stumble out of the room and then let her hands fall heavily to the counter. She licked her lips and shook her head, turning to catch a glimpse of Cody sitting in his cage.
“Why’d you have to interrupt, huh Cody?” she asked.
“Mommy!” he croaked and clawed at the cage.
“Yeah, what?” she asked the bird.
“Arrrck! Mommy!” the bird called again.
“You got to learn how to talk some more,” Coral said going over to the cage and taking the bird out, his feet using her arm as a perch. The bird made a long smooching sound and crowed,
“Mommy and Marshall!”
“No Cody, no mommy and Marshall.” Coral replied picking up a piece of fruit and offering it to the bird, but he shook his head gave three short smooching sounds.
“Mommy and Marshall!”

Marshall luged the wood into the house by himself. Normally Coral would have been helping him, he never asked her to help, but he certainly did not want to talk to her now.
What the hell has possessed him to do that? Why on earth had he kissed her? It was so stupid! Now what was she going to think of him?
He had to give up this idea, it wasn’t okay, he needed let it go.
“Fucking pussy,” he snapped at himself.
“Fucking get her out of your head.”

Marshall skipped dinner, though Coral wasn’t surprised. She didn’t expect him to eat with her, she didn’t even expect him to come around her at all.
She sat in the living room with a bowl of chili watching the seven o’clock episode of Law and Order like she usually did, though now her only company was Cody, sitting on her shoulder.

The next morning Marshall arrived downstairs at breakfast as usual, though uncommonly quiet. Coral handed him his coffee silently and neither of them spoke until they were both almost finished with their toast.
“Um, if you really don’t want to go to the bar tonight with me, you don’t have to,” Coral said as she carefully set her coffee cup down. She fed a piece of banana to Cody who was sitting on her shoulder and pet him.
Marshall watched her careful movements and considered what she was offering.
“Uh, yeah, Dre called, and he’s having something, and I kinda told him I’d go. Kind of an industry party,” he replied. It may not have been the most graceful way to bow out of something, but it was a way out. He didn’t know if he could take a night out with her, especially after the night at the club, that had been enough of a disaster.
“Cool.”
“I mean, I hope it doesn’t mess with your plans or anything,” Marshall blurted out.
“No, really that’s fine. I’m gonna go into the city and go out with Turkey and her boyfriend then,” she replied. Marshall nodded awkwardly.
“Well, yeah, okay then.” They went their separate ways for the day.

Marshall had flat out lied that he was going anywhere so, when Coral left around noon to go meet her sister, he was left with a blissfully peaceful house. Cody had gotten better at the separation from mommy bit, and wasn’t screaming nearly as much as he once had, so Marshall didn’t even have that distraction.
He wasn’t fooling anyone. Now that Coral knew, she had to. There were not too many interpretations to come up with when you kissed a person on the lips. Kissed them and most likely would have kept kissing them had a bird not made a noise and interrupted you. Now that she knew, what was he supposed to do? What were they supposed to do? Ignore it? Act like it never happened?
He couldn’t act like it never happened. He didn’t want to act like it never happened. He could have sworn she had responded to him. He had felt her kiss him back slightly. It had been there. Though he wished he could have been sure.
He was inside his head more than he wanted to be right now so he went into the kitchen to get something to eat. Cody was sitting on top of his cage, bobbing up and down, singing some little tune to himself.
“Mommy teach you that?” Marshall asked the bird as he sang away. Cody was extremely smart and picked up words and song tidbits all the time. Marshall once caught Coral and Cody in a duet of “You Are My Sunshine”.
“It was only a kiss, it was only a kiss, arrk!” Cody squawked.
“Huh?” Marshall asked confused.
“Mommy says, ‘It was only a kiss, it was only a kiss’, arrk!” Cody called again. Marshall shook his head and went into the fridge for some leftovers.

Part XV

After the kiss incident, Marshall took great pains to make sure he kept the relationship between him and Coral as normal as possible. He didn’t want her to feel like she had done something wrong and he didn’t want her to feel uncomfortable.
Which obviously she wasn’t because the night of Fourth of July she met up with her ex-boyfriend from high school. Marshall was the one left feeling uncomfortable when she told him that she’d be going out with the ex again that Friday night and not to expect her home until late.
Obviously it hadn’t meant that much to her since she was moving on. Good. He was glad, there were no worries now. He’d been shut down and now he didn’t have to wonder how she felt.
Then why the hell was he so pissed off about it?

In the ensuing month they worked diligently on getting his office put together. Here they decided they could use the space to work on the designs for the rest of the house and he would have a space for his computer. As per his agreement with himself, he had been just as friendly towards Coral as before the kiss, and that meant talking to her about this guy.
“So who is he? What’s he do?” Marshall asked while they were putting down the drop cloth and taping it to the baseboards.
“His name is Ryan Haste, he’s, if you couldn’t have guessed it, a lawyer.”
“Another lawyer? Damn. How long did you two go together?”
“Four years. We were fine until graduation, he was going into pre-law and I wasn’t. He went off to Bard, then to Harvard. I stayed here. We lost contact after that,” Coral replied.
“You two stopped dating, just because he was going to law school? Was it because you wanted to be a chef?” Marshall asked confused.
“No, it really wasn’t that. I mean, we were, at least I thought we were, in love. I thought four years was enough to figure that out, but he, he didn’t want that kind of commitment. Not right out of high school anyway. Besides, he’d be at Bard, I was gonna be in Paris, that relationship would never have worked out anyways.”
“He didn’t want to get married?”
“No, he didn’t. My parents thought us getting married would have been a great idea. Two budding young lawyers in the family, a young man from a good and prominent family in the community. He had white picket fence and golden retriever stamped on his forehead. But I wasn’t the little lawyer, and he didn’t want to get married. It was an amicable parting, between me and Ryan that is. Between him and my parents, that was another story.” Coral laughed.
“They really liked him?”
“Oh yeah. They blame him partly for me not wanting to be a lawyer. They think, if we had gotten married, right now I’d be a corporate lawyer, just like them. Ripping companies to shreds, laying people off left and right and feeding the bloody wreckage to the sharks.” She ripped the piece of tape she was working with off the roll and flattened it against the boards on the wall.
“When you say you thought you were in love, how did you know? When did you know?” Marshall asked carefully.
“Oh that’s easy. I knew it right from the beginning. I’m one of those kinds of people who believe in love at first sight. Well, maybe not first sight, I mean life isn’t as romantic as that photo I keep hanging on my wall. Life’s not as pretty and photoshoped like that. But I think I knew when I saw him, just standing with his friends in the cafeteria one day, and this other girl, a real enemy of mine, came up to him and asked him out to our prom. Now we weren’t really an exclusive thing at that point, but he turned around to the cafeteria, jumped up on a table and shouted, ‘For your information, the girl I’m taking to the prom is Coral Matthews, and that’s because she’s my girl, and don’t any of you think of trying to go for her, and don’t none of you girls try bothering me either.’” Coral was laughing and shaking her head.
“He actually did that?”
“Yeah, he did. From that day on, we spent almost all of our time together. I really thought we had something going.”Coral said thoughtfully.
“You think you two might get back together?” Marshall asked carefully, though he wasn’t quite sure he wanted to hear the answer. Coral stilled for a moment, considering that thought.
“Honestly, I don’t know. It’s been ten years, people change. When people become lawyers, they change, and sometimes not for the better.” She replied seriously.
“I didn’t tell him that I married you,” she added suddenly.
“Good, you don’t want to scare him off.” he replied ripping off a piece of tape, a little harder than he intended.
“I doubt he’d be interested again. I mean, he is a famous trial attorney, and well, and a cook, it’s not exactly making the nicest picture for his desk now is it?” Coral chuckled. Marshall could tell that she was seriously thinking about getting together with this guy and for more than just coffee and a chat about old times.
“If he can’t see how great a person you are, just for you, than he doesn’t deserve you. It don’t matter what you do for a living, as long as you’re happy.” Marshall said gruffly.
“Thanks Marshall.”
“Don’t worry about it.” He kept his back to her as he worked, though he could feel her smile burning into his back. He hated this. Pretending to be something he wasn’t didn’t come naturally to him. Good thing 8 Mile was so close to home, otherwise it would have been shit. He wasn’t an actor. He couldn’t play happy while he was mad.

Coral knew what she was doing was wrong, but there was nothing else to do about it. Ryan had been her first love and if she had a chance at rekindling that, she was going to take it. Besides, they still hadn’t gotten the divorce notice, Paul was beyond frustrated at the legal hoops they were making him jump through to get the paperwork in order. They had signed at least half a dozen different sets of divorce papers and still none of them had gone through.
Coral had made a deal with herself. As soon as those divorce papers had gone through, she was going to move out of Marshall’s house, get that job with Jackie, and put all this behind her. Of course, she thought to herself, that’s easier said than done.
Since that kiss, Coral was sure that she had been a little bit dopier around the kitchen. In fact, right after the kiss happened she burned herself, the stew meat she was cooking and even over cooked the pasta. It was such a short kiss, but it had been worth waiting for. Now was the hard part.
Marshall acted like he wanted to forget it, so that meant he wasn’t going to try anything else. He thought he had already overstepped his boundaries. There was no use in crying over spilled milk. Ryan had come back into her life, and well, what other opportunity with him was she going to have? If Marshall got hurt in the process it was only his own damn fault for being so stubborn. Then why did she feel like she was cheating on him?

After the initial conversation of Ryan Haste, there were no others. Marshall didn’t feel the need to bring him up, considering the fact that he didn’t like him. And Coral did not want to be an instigator. She could tell Marshall was under some strain. He tried to make out like he was happy for her, but he was just a bit chillier than normal.
It wasn’t until one night when Coral got into an argument over the phone with Ryan, and Marshall had heard.
“No Ryan, I don’t want to go. No, what part of that don’t you understand? I don’t care if it’s your family picnic, I don’t like beaches. I’m not being a baby Ryan, no, no, I’m not going, goodbye.” Marshall stood with eyes wide in surprise as she hung up the phone in disgust.
“You all right?” he asked cautiously.
“No, I’m not. This being afraid of water crap is seriously fucking with my life,” she replied sitting down at the counter.
“You don’t want to be afraid of the water?”
“No. Who does? I want to be able to be normal, go and sit on the beach without having a heart attack.”
“I could help you, if you want?” Marshall was jumping at the chance to do anything with Coral that might allow him to get a little bit closer to her and maybe make up for the jerky way he’d been acting lately. Yeah he was jealous of this guy, but he knew as well as Coral, there was no way in hell he’d be making another move, so he should just be happy with what he got.
“Really? You’d do that for me? I mean, no therapist crap, I mean, helping me, not to freak out?” she asked.
“Yeah, if that’s what you want,” Marshall replied sheepishly. She nodded and smiled.
“Yeah, that’s exactly what I want.”

Cody sat on his newly erected perch on the patio table by the pool as he watched Marshall and Coral standing by the pool’s edge. The pool went down gradually in depth, so there was no danger in drowning. Coral’s body was vibrating with nervousness.
“All right, I’m going to get in here, right where it’s shallow, and then I’ll help you, okay?” he asked softly. She nodded with a shake and watched as he did what he’d said, holding up his hands to take hers.
“Now see, this is all it is. Only a foot of water, you can do this Coral, I’ve seen you eat a foot long sub, you can definitely take on a foot of water,” Marshall said and she laughed. She nodded.
“Okay, okay,” she said as grabbed his hand and stepped gingerly into the water. Her hands were shaking as they came in contact with his. She was really afraid.
“What you trying to do to me, huh? Make a vanilla milkshake with those hands?” he asked as he took a step backwards.
“Don’t do that,” she laughed.
“What?”
“Move backwards, not, not yet,” she replied.
“All right all right, we’ll just relax here for a moment.” They stood there, facing one another, Coral’s big coffee colored eyes now clouded with terror. She really didn’t want to be here, but she really didn’t want to be so afraid.
“Now come on and show Cody there, what his momma can do,” Marshall chuckled.
“That reminds me, I got to get another cuttle bone for his cage,” Coral replied and at this Marshall was able to coax her further.
“Yeah, and I need to get light bulbs, three went out in the upstairs fixture.”
“You gonna change those things?” she asked.
“Well yeah, eventually, but we’ve only gotten the living room and Hailie’s room finished. We have to get the office done so we can plan the rest of the house.” as they talked, slowly but surely Marshall was pulling her into the deeper water. She didn’t start to panic until the water was covering her hips, and then she said she couldn’t do any more.
“Nope, this is it, I can’t do it. I can’t. I thought I could, but I can’t,” she tried to pull from Marshall’s grasp, but he wouldn’t let go.
“Hey, now just calm down, take a deep breath, relax. I’m right here, look at me Coral.” She turned her face to his and starred into his eyes. She couldn’t be afraid of much.
“Do you think I would let you drown? Huh? The guy who dived in and saved you? The guy who nearly killed himself diving into this pool. The guy who ruined a good pair of Nike’s to jump in here and save your skinny ass?” he asked, she bit her bottom lip and laughed.
“No, you wouldn’t,” she replied. She took the step forward, the same time he took another step back.
“Oh come on, that’s not fair!” she laughed.
“Come on, you can do it Coral, I know you can. Remember, Coral belongs in water,” he replied tugging a little on her hand.
“And your little Eminems are gonna be squashed and melted in a bag on the pavement in about a minute!” she laughed, taking the step forward.
“That’s fine and dandy, but come on, you can do it, just one more,” he said edging back just a tad. She moved forward suddenly, wrapping her arms around his neck and hugging him tightly.
“Thank you,” she said, finally feeling safe in the water, finally feeling like she had some semblance of control back in her life.
“I don’t know what I’d do with out you,” she remarked, hugging him as tight as she could.
“You’re welcome, any time.” Marshall felt some part of his facade fall away, and for another first in his life, he wasn’t afraid of it.

Part XVI

Paul called on September first for the sixth time in the past week to let them know that again the papers still hadn’t been accepted. He’d taken Coral’s advice try another judge, but it didn’t seem to matter, they were all friends of the Matthew’s family and none of them wanted to make it easy for Coral or Marshall.
Coral was still dating Ryan. They went out practically every night, and she came home late every night as well. Apparently things were going well, her parents even started speaking to her again.
Marshall was getting antsy. Coral and Ryan getting together, this meant she might be moving out soon. He didn’t know what he was going to do then. He really didn’t want to think about it either. Since the first time he’d gotten her in the pool it became their new thing they did together. When ever she was home, and they were not working, Marshall got her to himself in the pool. There it seemed like nothing at all had changed, and nothing was different. They were friends again. But it felt so different at the same time.
He found out from Turkey that her birthday was on the sixteenth. He also found out that the little boyfriend Ryan had not planned anything at all, as he was going to be out of town on business.
“I got the perfect idea, there’s a park here in town that she loves. We’ll get some lunch and a cake and take her there.”
“Cool, and I was thinking, for her gift, you know that photo she’s got hanging up in her room, I wanted to get it professionally framed, really nicely done up,” Marshall replied.
“That’s a great idea, she’ll love it!” Turkey exclaimed.
“Oh good, so I’ll see you next week?”
“You got it, bye.”
“Bye.”

Marshall didn’t know how to feel about Coral’s impending announcement that she was moving out. Everyday he expected her to come to the house with a big diamond on her finger and announce that she was getting married. He didn’t blame her. The guy was an amazing trial attorney, rich, successful, and not too shabby looking by the pictures either. Not to mention the fact that Coral had loved him for over ten years. He definitely had an advantage over Marshall.
But so far she hadn’t. So Marshall was happy at least for that much. All he had to do was just remember that she was happy, and he was too stubborn to go for it, so there was no use and attempting something that would just make him look stupid in the long run. But he needed somebody to talk to. And that would have to be Proof.
“Man, I knew you were crushing on her, I knew it!”
“Don’t act so fucking smug man.”
“All right, chill man, chill, just calm yourself down. Now tell your old buddy, what exactly did your dumb white ass do?
“I fucking kissed her.”
“You kissed her! Damn Marshall, I wasn’t expecting that.”
“Yeah well don’t get your hopes up, cause the night after she went out with her sister and met up with her old high school sweet heart and they been dating again for the past three months.”
“Em you dumbass, and you waited this long to call me? What’s wrong with you?”
“That’s the reason I called you so you could tell me, what I’m doing wrong.”
“First of all you acting not like the Eminem I know, who, if he like a girl he don’t hesitate to just say, ‘hey bitch, your place or mine?’ And second of all, you don’t go after girls who are already attached, it’s too much trouble for ya.”
“Who said I was going after her?”
“You calling me with your female problems and now you’re telling me you ain’t trying to go after this girl?”
“I didn’t say that either, but it’s not that simple.”
“Why ain’t it simple?”
“Like I said, the night after I kissed her, she went out and met her ex boy toy, she obviously wasn’t that interested in me.”
“Let me guess, you kissed her, freaked out, and ignored her for the next twenty-four hours, am I right?”
“Well...”
“Fuck Em, she stuck it to you cause you didn’t go for it. She probably likes you, but you backed off and flipped out on her. Man, girls don’t like it when we blow hot and cold all over them no more than we like it when they do it to us. Either you got to be interested in her or not. You got to send the right signals man.”
“So what the fuck am I supposed to do then? Huh, she’s got a motherfucking boyfriend, and she’s into him man, I mean really into him They were this close to getting married right out of fucking high school. He’s a god damn lawyer.”
“Oh so you think you’re not good enough for her, huh?”
“What the fuck is so great about sitting around the god damn house painting the fucking walls?”
“Man, just because he goes out and talks to the special people, does not make him a better candidate for that girl.”
“Her family is nothing but lawyers Proof!”
“So the fuck what? She’s not a lawyer, she doesn’t like lawyers, she doesn’t have to end up with a lawyer.”
“But she will.”
“She doesn’t have to. That’s the point Em. You know, maybe if you got your head out of ass, and actually asked the girl, ‘hey, maybe you’d like to go out sometime for a date?’”
“She’s got a boyfriend!”
“So? Knock him off or something. Cause I know you must be suffering in more ways than one.”
“Dammit man, I’m not getting into that shit with you.”
“What, your sex life, or lack there of?”
“Fuck you.”
“See how desperate you are? You’re willing to turn queer on me to get some ass.”
“You’re a faggot, you know that?”
“And you’re full of shit. Dude, tell the fucking chick you like her, you want to go out with her, and let it go at that. Tell her the fucking truth. You’re too fucking old to be doing this shit.”
“Look who’s talking!”
“Man, just say something already. If you don’t say nothing, she’ll never know, and as soon as that divorce comes through, I bet you more than anything she’ll be out of there, and married to that lawyer. Maybe it’ll be for her, maybe it’ll be for her family, but just don’t set yourself up for another regret man, you got enough of those going as it is.” Marshall was quiet for a minute.
“I got a point don’t I?” Proof said when Marshall didn’t respond.
“You got a good one there you do.”
“Then just go for it. What could she possibly do that you couldn’t handle? Either you tell her and she tells you she’s interested, or she’s not. And do you honestly think that Coral would hold it against you? Shit I nearly drowned the poor girl and she made me french toast the next morning. You think she’d say boo to you?”
“No.”
“Then there you go.”
“Alright. You’re right.”
“I’m always right. Now go talk to her before I got to drag my ass back out to California and drown your ass.”

“Guys, you really didn’t have to do anything, I told you that before,” Coral laughed as Marshall pulled out the cake and began lighting the candles as it sat in front of Coral on the blanket. Marshall knew why this park was Coral’s favorite, it was beautiful. The lawns were lush and green and beautiful, trees lined the park, and the weather was perfect. It was just like her, refreshing and one of a kind.
“Yes we did have to do something. It’s your birthday, how often does my little sister turn twenty-seven?” Turkey laughed.
“Exactly, now come on birthday girl, blow out cha candles.” Marshall said pushing the cake towards her.
“Oh what, you two think you’re gonna get out of singing happy birthday?” Coral asked.
“I don’t sing, you know I don’t sing, why do you think they call me Turkey? It’s cause I sound like one. Marshall, this is your department.” Turkey laughed.
“You do not sound like a turkey, you just look like one.” Coral remarked, making Turkey smack her.
“Well, go on Marshall, this is your thing,” Turkey said looking over at him.
“All right, um, let em see. Okay, okay I got it. Coral, you’re beautiful, your wonderful, you’re extremely fine, your heart is in the right place and so is your mind, your impossible, loveable, damn near incredible, creatable, created the best tasting stuff anyone can lay on a table, artist with only taste in mind, divine, shines in every thing she says, and lives in everything she do, it’s true, that it’s her birthday today, and I guess I’ll break off with a little song for you.” Marshall proceeded to finish his rap by singing the birthday song and Coral and Turkey clapped loudly for him.
“Marshall, thank you,” Coral cooed.
“Your welcome, now blow out cha damn candles before all we’re left with is a wax covered cake,” Marshall said slightly blushing. He didn’t sing for just anyone.
Coral blew out her candles and they clapped for her before Marshall took the cake and began cutting it up.
“So how has the media circus been?” Turkey asked. It was the first time it had ever been brought up since the tabloids found out.
“Oh not too bad, I had an audience while I was grocery shopping yesterday though. Can you tell me, why it so interesting to see someone grocery shopping? I mean, if I saw pictures of, I don’t know Johnny Depp shopping, I honestly would not be too impressed with it.” Coral replied as Marshall handed her a piece of cake.
“They want anything they can get. I had to get security over at Home Depot the other day just so Coral and I could look at the lumber.” Marshall said handing a piece to Turkey.
“They bother you that much?”
“Hey, when I get a new girlfriend, they storm the building, so me being married without them finding out, that’s a head line.” Marshall laughed.
“I don’t talk to the reporters, I’ve made that very clear. There always is a herd of them waiting at the gate of the complex. They think if they tire us out we’ll talk or something.” Coral said, just then thinking it might be a good idea to check and make sure no one was watching.
“My PR said it may not be a bad move. We wait it out, and then go to them, once the divorce comes through. I mean, it’s not like they can really do anything else about it. They think it’s gonna be good publicity for when the next album comes out.”
“You’re putting out another album?” Coral asked nearly choking on her cake.
“I’m thinking about it. I told Dre I was thinking about it to get him off my back for a while.” Marshall replied.
“Good for you,” Coral replied with a smile.
“So how is my little nephew Cody?” Turkey laughed.
“He’s doing just fine. He’s getting bigger everyday, I don’t know if I’ll be able to carry him around on my shoulder anymore, he’s getting so heavy!” They spent a few minutes talking and laughing about Cody. Marshall talking about teaching Cody to say different lyrics and Coral teaching him to sing country tunes. At a lull in the conversation a little dachshund marched right up to the blanket.
“Well look at this, the hot dog vendor wanted to say happy birthday too!” Marshall laughed as he picked up tiny puppy. It wagged it’s tail and licked at his face.
“Aww, he’s so cute!” Coral chirped.
“Yeah he is sort of cute.” Turkey laughed.
“Oh I am so sorry!” a young woman called as she raced over to the blanket.
“He yours?” Marshall asked.
“Yeah, I’ve got five of them over there, and this one got away, I hope he didn’t bother you,” she said embarrassed.
“Not at all, he’s so adorable.” Coral said petting the dog that had now placed itself happily in Marshall’s lap.
“You bring them out to the park often?” Turkey asked the young lady.
“Oh no, I’m with the ASPCA, we found his mother in a dumpster and we were only able to save the puppies. It’s an adoption weekend, we’re trying to find them good homes.” A look of realization dawned on the young woman’s face.
“And you know, he does look kinda happy right where he is.” She got on a sly smile.
“Oh he’s cute, but we’ve got a parrot at home to deal with, and I’m pretty sure Cody wouldn’t take too lightly to someone taking up his attention. Especially a dog. Sorry,” Marshall gave the dog an affectionate pat on the head and handed him over to his charge.
“Well it was worth a try. Thanks for catching him, and sorry again to interrupt, happy birthday!” the woman smiled and turned with the dog tucked carefully under her arm.
“He was cute,” Turkey laughed.
“Yeah, dachshunds are nice, my Aunt Gretchen used to have one, sweet dog.” Coral remarked.
“You guys ever have dogs growing up?” Marshall asked.
“No, we always wanted one, but our parents thought it was too messy. ‘You want a dog, go play with your toy dogs’, that’s what mom always said.” Turkey replied.
“Yeah, besides, I’d hate to have seen what a dog would get in our house for going on the floor, there would be hell to pay.” Coral said shaking her head.
“What about you?” Turkey asked looking over at him.
“Nah, never had a dog. Couldn’t afford one, and certainly never could have one while I was on the road.”
“Eminem! Eminem! Hi, I’m Tracy from Star Magazine, could we have just a few minutes of your time?” a bubble head blond with a tape recorder and a photographer invited herself to sit down with them and didn’t bother asking if it was okay.
“No, we’re actually kind of busy. If you’ll excuse us.” Marshall said calmly as he started to gather the plates and things, sticking them in the garbage bag they’d brought.
“Obviously not your birthday celebration, for your wife Coral? Tell us, what made you decide to get married again?” Tracy asked as she stuck the tape recorder under his nose.
“Look, I’m trying to get this cleaned up here, could you get off the blanket?” Marshall asked the reporter as Coral and Turkey stood up. The photographer clicked away.
“Is he a good husband Coral? How was the honeymoon? What about the ceremony? You thinking of having any kids?” The reporter launched onto Coral next and she merely shook her head no.
“Turkey, could you take the basket? Here Coral, hold that while I just dump the garbage.” Marshall was remarkably calm as he did what he needed to do while the photographer clicked away.
“You must be Turquoise Matthews, Coral’s sister, could you tell us a bit about her, about the relationship?” Tracy bounced into Turkey’s face next but neither of them would say anything.
“Come on Em, you must want to get the truth out to people. Is it true your ex-wife doesn’t approve, that she’s using this to keep your daughter away from you?” Marshall ignored her completely and just picked up the stuff and motioned for the girls to go to the car. The reporter tried a few more times, but they all remained silent as they climbed in the car and drove away.
“I’ll drop you off at your car Turkey, I’m just gonna go around the block so they think we left.” Marshall said as they pulled out into traffic. As they rounded the block the park was set on, Marshall caught sight of the ASPCA booth. That dog had been cute. He couldn’t help but smile as he thought about it. Hell, why not. Coral would be leaving soon, and he’d be alone again, might as well have some company.
They were surprised when he stopped the car and even more surprised when they heard him say,
“Well ain’t you coming?” he asked.
“What are you doing?” Coral asked with a laugh as they walked towards the booth.
“Just taking a second look, that’s all,” Marshall said sheepishly.
“Well, back again Mr. Mathers?” it was the girl who had come to get the dog that had run away.
“Yup, Ellen,” he said reading her name tag.
“You are such a softy,” Coral laughed pushing him over.
“That little rug rat still hanging around here?” Marshall asked.
“As a matter of fact, he is the last one of the litter left. You want him?” Ellen raised her eyebrow at him.
“Miss? Uh miss, is this little dachshund still availible?” a guy looking into the cage of puppies asked. Ellen marched right over and snatched out the dachshund he was pointing at.
“Sorry, he’s taken,” she smiled politely to him and walked back over to Marshall.
“Here you go,” Ellen said handing the squealing puppy over to Marshall. The puppy was so happy that it was licking his face and yipping happily.
“Where do I sign?” Marshall laughed.

“That’s it, I’m telling you, I’m not taking in any more homeless animals. First you, then that parrot and now you got me taking in a dog!” Marshall exclaimed as they dragged in another load of pet supplies. The dog happily scampered inside on his new leash and harness and sniffed eagerly at every surface he could reach.
“Oh thanks, so I’m an animal, now am I?” Coral snorted pushing in through the door with a bag of dog food.
“No, you’re a loveable stray,” Marshall laughed.
“Ha ha, very funny indeed!”
“Arrk! Chicka chicka slim shady!” Cody called from the kitchen. Marshall laughed heartily.
“Why did you have to teach him that?” Coral laughed.
“Arrk! Mommy!” Cody called again.
“I’m a coming, I’m a coming!” Coral yelled back as they dragged the rest of the stuff in. Once it was all in the house, Coral quickly got Cody out of his cage and set him on her shoulder where he always was anymore.
“Hey, I got something to show you, for your birthday,” Marshall said remembering her present.
“You didn’t have to get me anything, you’ve done enough for me as it is, really Marshall,” Coral said seriously.
“Oh shut up, I did it anyway, come on little guy.” Marshall said as he stooped to pick up the wriggling little puppy. Coral followed him upstairs, and was surprised when he went to her room and pulled her inside.
“There, happy birthday,” he said pointing to the newly framed photo on the wall.
Coral stood back and looked at her photo. What was once framed in a tiny black and warped plastic frame, was beautifully furnished with a sharp stainless steel edging and matt glass. It looked so professionally done that it belonged in a museum.
“Marshall, it’s beautiful, just stunning. I love it.” she remarked.
“A beautiful picture deserves a beautiful frame.” Marshall smiled in return.
“Really thanks. You’ve done so much for me. I don’t know how I could ever repay you.” Coral replied.
“Arrk! Pretty picture! Pretty picture for a pretty lady! Arrk!” Cody cawed. They all laughed and the puppy barked happily.
“So what are we going to name this little hot dog, huh?” Coral asked scratching the dog’s head.
“Hot dogs, wait, I got it, it’s too perfect. Oscar,” Marshall replied.
“Oscar?”
“Oh I wish I were an Oscar Mayer wiener,” Marshall sang inexpertly. Coral burst out laughing.
“Yes! That’s perfect! I love it!”
“Oscar it is,” Marshall scratched the dog’s head and then turned to say something to Coral, but the phone rang.
“Oh that must be Ryan, he said he’d call,” Coral replied, though her face fell at the idea that it was Ryan.
“I’ll let you alone so you can talk to him. Come on Cody, I’ll get you your supper,” Marshall said taking the bird on his shoulder.
“Thanks again,” Coral smiled warmly at him.
“You better answer that,” Marshall warned as the phone ran shrilly again and he left the room, closing the door softly behind him.

Part XVII
Coral was on the phone a good long time, but Marshall didn’t mind so much any more. Though the conversation with Proof had been useful, he decided, that more than anything it was just time to make a choice. It was a choice to either let go, or be miserable. So he decided to let go. If Coral was happy with Ryan, he was going to be happy for her.

Upstairs Coral was on the phone, not with Ryan, his call had last a mere five minutes. He told her happy birthday, and that he got tickets for her favorite band playing at a local club. He told her he loved her and then hung up abruptly. Who she was on the phone with now was Turkey.
“Coral, what is the matter?” Turkey asked.
“Turkey, he kissed me.”
“I thought that would be a good thing, considering he’s your boyfriend again.”
“No Turkey, not Ryan, Marshall.”
“Marshall kissed you!”
“Yeah, he did, day before Fourth of July.”
“Why didn’t you tell me this before?”
“Because I figured you’d yell at me?”
“Coral, the man kissed you! It’s plain as day, he likes you!”
“I know that, but what am I going to do?”
“You’ll remember who you are going out with and who you are supposed to be faithful to honey, Marshall, though he is husband on paper, is not really your husband. You are not married to him.”
“Yeah, but he kissed me.”
“And then freaked out on you didn’t he? Otherwise you wouldn’t have been so quick to get back together with Ryan. Don’t tell me I don’t know what I’m talking about.”
“No, you’re right about that. But I do care about Ryan.”
“But does he care about you?”
“Turkey, you just told me to remember who I’m supposed to be faithful to, now your asking me if Ryan is good enough for me?”
“What I meant about being faithful sweetie, is being faithful to yourself. It’s all about choices.”
“What ones to make though?”
“Lets get a few things straight, okay?”
“Okay.”
“First off, you married Marshall in a drunken stupor, you live in his house, you are paid to make his meals and help him fix up his house. You are friends and then he kissed you and flipped out over it.”
“Yeah.”
“So what does that say to you?”
“He’s interested.”
“Bingo.”
“So what?”
“You’ve got to make a choice sweetie. Either you stay with Marshall and keep dating Ryan until he’s ready to marry you, or you dump Ryan and take a chance with Marshall.”
“But Ryan was my first love.”
“And first love is great honey, but that’s the point, it’s your first love, not your last love. He left you, and it wasn’t because you were gonna be a cook, or because of our parents, it was because of him. He couldn’t get it together.”
“People change Turkey.”
“And how much has he changed. You told me he was on the phone with you for five minutes, for your birthday.”
“He’s busy, he’s away on business, he can’t help it.”
“Oh really? He’s only known about your birthday forever, and he couldn’t push this off to spend time with you?”
“Turkey, don’t start this.”
“Really Coral, tell me that you’re not just dating him again to get back into mom and dad’s good graces, so that they’ll get off your back a little and let you alone about being a cook?”
“That’s not fair.”
“It is, and itd said and it’s out on the table, and now tell me the truth.” It was quiet for a long time.
“Maybe a little, but I do really care about him, I can’t just forget all the good times we spent together.”
“You were kids, and yes, maybe he has changed, maybe he is ready for a commitment now. But do you honestly think that you’ll be happy with him?”
“I don’t know if I’d be happy with Marshall either Turkey. It’s not like he’s just gonna up and propose and we’ll be a happy family or something. He’s got an ex-wife and a daughter that he doesn’t get to see. He’ll be going back on tour, he doesn’t need any more baggage than what he has already.”
“Coral, stop deluding yourself into thinking you’re not good enough for him.”
“For who?”
“MARSHALL!”
“But I’m with Ryan.”
“So what? Just ask him what he feels. Find out for yourself. If he’s interested, you can dump Ryan, if he’s not, you don’t have to do anything. But before either one of you gets hurt any farther, you need to talk to him.”
“I know, I know!”
“Then shut up and do it.”

But she didn’t. Instead she did possibly the dumbest thing she could have done. She invited him to go along to see the band with her and Ryan. Really stupid.
Marshall hadn’t protested, he actually kind of wanted to meet this guy, see if he was good enough for Coral. He dressed nice, but not too nice for a honky tonk, because he didn’t want to be recognized too fast. Without his hair being dyed blond though, he was less of a target. The baggy jeans, white t-shirts and hats were his usual style, that’s what gave him away.
Coral looked nice as usual in her regular jeans, though switching her sneakers for a pair of flashy cowboy boots, and a cowboy hat to go with her bronco printed tank-top. Ryan showed up looking like he stepped out of western, with boots, hat and even a bolo tie around his neck.
“I never pegged Californians for country fans,” Marshall remarked after they were introduced.
“I’m a Kentucky native, didn’t move here until I started high school. That’s where I found my country girl from Texas,” at this Ryan gave Coral a kiss on the cheek.
Well he can’t be too bad then, Marshall thought.
“You all set then?” Ryan asked.
“Yup, you driving us all?” Coral asked.
“Yeah, unless Marshall wants to drive his own car?” Ryan turned to him.
“No, that’s fine.” Marshall had to agree, the guy wasn’t that bad. He was nice enough, seemed genuine, especially for lawyer.
The honky tonk was just as Marshall pictured it. It was a grubby little place, but full of character. They got their table up front, close to the small stage where the band was already set up.
“I’ll get us a round of drinks, Ryan, what you want?” Marshall asked standing up.
“Martini, Coral’ll have a cosmo,” Ryan replied.
“I don’t drink cosmos, Ryan, haven’t we been through this before?” Coral with a raised eyebrow.
“You know that beer ain’t good for you,” Ryan replied.
“Neither is a cosmo.”
“Beer for you and me, and martini for Ryan, coming up.” Marshall quickly got away from the table and ordered the drinks.
“Hey, you’re Eminem, right?” Marshall turned to the voice on his right and saw a kid about eighteen or nineteen at the most.
“Yeah,” he grunted.
“Tyler Wilkinson,” he said holding out his hand. Marshall shook it and noticed how tight a grip the kid had.
“I hope I’m not intruding or anything, just wanted to introduce myself.” Tyler replied.
“It’s not.”
“This is gonna sound rude, but, you’re not really the country music type,” Tyler asked. Marshall cracked a smile.
“No, I’m not. But I have a couple friends who are, they asked me to come along, and I said I would. My friend Coral’s favorite band is playing here tonight, her boyfriend got the tickets for her birthday and snagged an extra, so they invited me.” Marshall explained.
“What band?”
“I don’t know. But it’s Coral’s favorite apparently. She sings all the songs all the time.”
“That your friend up there?” Tyler asked pointing to the table.
“Yeah, that’s her. Say, how old are you anyway?” Marshall asked, then realized that probably wasn’t the best thing to ask.
“I’m twenty-four, the bar tender already carded me. Sides, I couldn’t preform in places with booze until I turned eighteen. Unfortunately I still look like I’m eighteen.”
“Preform?”
“Yeah, that band, that’s playing tonight, that’s me, my pop and my sister Amanda. The Wilkinsons.” Realization dawned on Marshall’s face.
“Oh, okay, hey, I know that it might be an imposition for you, but would you come over and say hello to her? Coral would be ecstatic to meet you.” Marshall asked.
“Sure, no problem. I’ll get my sister and my dad, we’ll be over in a second.” Tyler replied.
“Thanks man.” Tyler nodded and took off as the bar tender handed Marshall their drinks. He hurried back over to the table and parceled out the drinks, only to find that Coral and Ryan were not even halfway as amicable as when he left them.
“I told you to leave my parents out of this,” Coral snapped.
“Your parents are not out of this Coral. I agree with them, it’s time you stop playing around with this chef crap and get down to business. I think the best thing for you would be to go to school, you and I get a place together, you can work for me, be my personal assistant, you’ll have flexible hours.”
“I think the best thing for you would be to shut the fuck up,” Coral hissed.
“Beer?” Marshall asked holding out the bottle.
“Thank you,” Coral replied taking the bottle along with a long sip, her eyes shot Ryan a dirty look.
“Marshall, Coral tells me you’re a reasonable man, what is your take on the situation?” Ryan asked sitting back with his martini. Marshall took his seat and looked from Coral to Ryan as he sipped his beer.
“It’s not any of my business really.” he replied.
“No, really, what do you think about Coral here going to law school?”
“I really don’t think that I should be talking about this with you. The only person’s opinion that matters on this is Coral’s.” Marshall was trying his best to keep out of what was becoming a quickly disagreeable conversation.
“Listen to Marshall, Ryan.” Coral said coldly.
“I asked him a question, now he can answer it,” Ryan shot back. Marshall was getting a little sick of this so he decided, good idea or not, that he was finally going to open his mouth.
“I think it would be a bad idea. Coral doesn’t want to be a lawyer, so I doubt she’d like going to law school. I also think you’re full of crap trying to change her to fit into a life that you only have planned for yourself.”
“Excuse me?” Ryan asked incredulously.
“You heard me. I don’t know much about you, but from what I do know, I think the whole reason you dumped Coral when you went off to law school was that you were too embarrassed to have a girlfriend that wasn’t gonna kiss your ass and follow you around like a puppy dog that you could kick when ever you felt like it.” Marshall kept his calm as much as he could, the only thing keeping him from knocking the bastard out was the fact that if he did, he’d never see Hailie again.
“Would you look whose talking about being embarrassed? You’d think with that trailer trash attitude and your screwed up record and how you deal with women, abuse them and have no respect for them. I mean, you can’t even see your own daughter because you can’t keep your act together. Who are you to lecture me, on how I treat my girlfriend?” Ryan asked with furrowed eyebrows. Marshall however remained amazingly cool and calm.
“You are crossing the line Ryan!” Coral snapped.
“No Coral, he’s right. The way I dealt with my ex-wife, the way I treated her was not right. I’ll give him that. But you Ryan, sitting her, telling her, as a condition for you to be with her, she has to give up what makes her happy, to make you look better. Now you tell me, that isn’t just as bad?” Marshall asked.
“I’m not telling her, I’m offering her a chance to do better than what she is now, you know that, don’t you baby?” Ryan asked turning to Coral.
“You want me to be a lawyer, and work as your assistant, at your every beck and call? How is that any different a situation than what my parents want? Oh wait, the only difference is that the person I’d be working for is the one I’d be living with and he’d be the one literally and figuratively, fucking me over.” Coral retorted and Marshall gave a small laugh.
“So you’re gonna listen to this no good punk, instead of me? A man you are supposed to be in love with, a man you have known for ten years?” Ryan asked waving in the general direction of Marshall. Coral narrowed her eyes and got down out of her high chair, stepping close to Ryan. Her index finger flew out and poked Ryan hard in the chest as she said,
“First of all, Marshall is not a punk, second of all, I did love you, ten years ago until you left me, third, I don’t know you anymore, and fourth, just because I have only known Marshall for six months does not mean that I don’t know him.” Each proclamation was accented with a hard poke to the chest, Ryan flinching each time.
“You’d take his word, that piece of no good white trailer druggie trash, over me?” Ryan asked, but that was the wrong thing to say. Coral pushed him hard and the chair fell backwards with him still in it, landing with a hard thud. She went towards him and took a hand full of his shirt in her hand yanking him slightly up off the floor.
“No, I’m taking the word of a talented, intelligent, responsible man over a piece of brown nosing, cheating, lying, son of a bitch that left me and expects me to apologize for his mistake. Now I suggest that you get out of here before I do something that you’ll regret.” Coral threw him back to the floor, dusted off her hands and took her seat back at the table.
Ryan stood up, shaky and turned to grab his hat off the table.
“Oh, you forgot something,” Coral said before throwing the martini in his face. Marshall was cracking a rib trying not to laugh as Ryan left the bar. He nearly fell off the stool by the time Ryan was out the door he was laughing so hard.
“What?” she asked when he was finally sitting up.
“Coral, you are one hell of a woman,” he said holding up his beer for a toast. She knocked her bottle against his and said as Marshall took a sip,
“Damn pussy, can’t even drink a damn beer.” Marshall spewed the beer across the table and fell into another fit of laughing.

Part XVIII

“So how long was that brewing?” Marshall asked later, once the initial shock wore off.
“Probably since we met up again, but I just ignored it. Ah shit, looks like my parents aren’t talking to me again,” Coral said before taking a long sip of beer.
“That’s a bad thing?”
“Actually, it’s not. Now I don’t have to humor them and pretend that I really give a damn about what Ryan’s doing.”
“You really don’t like lawyers, do you?”
“What do you think?” They both allowed themselves a chuckle, and then Coral fell silent. Marshall nudged her a bit, and she looked over at him, a slightly sad face on.
“You okay?”
“Yeah, I’m okay. It’s just that for years, years I thought he might come back into my life, and we might have a future together, like we used to talk about when we were kids. When I met up with him, I realized, that the fantasy was gone, because he was different person. I mean, we talked about it all the time. He was gonna be different from his father. He was gonna be different from all the other people out there, he was actually gonna care about who he was defending.”
“He wanted to make a difference, right?”
“Not even that cliche idea. He just wanted to be better than what he saw in his own family, you know, learn from their mistakes.”
“Maybe this isn’t my place, but you don’t sound too crushed.” Marshall prodded. She shrugged.
“How can I upset over losing a guy that has the opinion you’re a piece of white trash?” she asked.
“Yeah I was kinda wondering about that, why did you defend me?” he asked, though he was probably opening up a whole other can of worms.
“I don’t like seeing people I know who are working at changing who they are, for the better, get dragged through the mud. You’ve done a lot for yourself, and you’ve done it for the right reasons,” Coral replied.
“Oh, well, thanks, I guess,” Marshall replied, a little unsure of himself.
“You can take a compliment you know, it’s not a crime,” Coral said giving him a sideways glance. He smiled a little and his tension ebbed away.
“Coral?” Marshall sat up as he saw three people approach the table, one being the kid Tyler, along with a young woman and a salt and pepper haired man.
“Oh my god,” was all Coral could say.
“Coral? Wow, you guys are gonna have to come around more often, I’ve never seen this girl at a loss for words,” Marshall laughed.
“So we heard that you’re a fan of ours, and your friend Marshall there, asked if we’d come over and say hi to you,” Tyler said holding out a hand for her to shake.
“I’m Steve and this is my daughter Amanda, and my son Tyler,” the older man said. Eventually all the introductions were made and they were pulling chairs up to the table to have a chat. Marshall sat back and allowed Coral to enjoy herself, talking with the Wilkonsons about a range of singers and bands that Marshall had never heard of. Tyler, Steve and Amanda were clearly enjoying themselves as the bar slowly filled up around them but no one was quick to leave.
“You know, Coral here sings your songs around the house all the time,” Marshall interrupted.
“Really? Hey, would you like to come up and sing one of the songs with us?” Amanda asked with a grin.
“What? Me? I can’t sing, really,” Coral said with a nervous smile.
“Oh come on, you’d be great, she’ll do it,” Marshall said and felt Coral kick him under the table.
“Great, well we got to get going and put this show on, we’ll pull you up there after a few songs, okay?” Amanda asked. Coral nodded nervously.
“It was really great talking to you Coral, and nice meeting you too Marshall,” Steve said cordially, shaking their hands again.
“Thanks Marshall,” Coral said pushing him slightly.

The Wilkonsons took to the stage and began playing. They weren’t too bad for a country band, Marshall decided, maybe a little too happy and a little too poppy for his tastes, but then again his music made Coral cry. Maybe there was a reason that she liked this music, it made her happy.
About an hour into the set Amanda motioned to Coral to come up on the stage, and when she didn’t Marshall shoved her out of her chair and towards her band.
After a few confusing minutes and awkwardness Amanda went up to the mike and announced,
“Why thank you everybody for coming out tonight and seeing us. We hope you’re having as good a time listening to us play as we are preforming for you. Tonight we got a special treat for you, a big fan of ours is gonna do us a favor by singing lead on her favorite song, ‘Only a Kiss’, lets give her a round of applause.” Coral stood nervously at the mike, glancing at Marshall, who gave her a reassuring smile.
“Please don’t judge me too hard, this ain’t something I do for a living, be kind,” Coral laughed as the opening strains of the song played. She started singing.
“Stumble out of bed, half in a haze, it’s feeling like a three cup of coffee day, things I need to do, can’t concentrate, something’s in my way, well I’ve tried and I’ve tried to get it off my mind, but I can’t think of anything else, I feel dazed and confused, I don’t know what to do, I’ve got to keep telling myself, it was only a kiss, just a kiss, get over it, what’s the matter with you girl, you’re acting like a fool, I can’t believe you’re carrying on like this, yeah it was only a kiss, walking out the door, ten minutes late, where in the world did I put my keys, getting in the car, left my briefcase, what’s gotten into me, well I’ve tried and I’ve tried to get him off my mind but I can’t think of anything else, I feel dazed and confused, I don’t know what to do, I’ve got to keep telling myself, it was only a kiss, just a kiss, get over it, what’s the matter with you girl, you’re acting like a fool, I can’t believe you’re carrying on like this, yeah it was only a kiss, didn’t mean a thing, so what if it made my heart pound my head spin, feels like a dream coming true, wonder if he feels it too, oh no here I go again, it was only a, only a kiss but I can’t think of anything else, I feel dazed and confused, I don’t know what to do, I’ve got to keep telling myself, it was only a kiss, just a kiss, get over it, what’s the matter with you girl, you’re acting like a fool, I can’t believe you’re carrying on like this, yeah it was only a kiss, well I’ve tried and I’ve tried to him off my mind, what’s the matter with you, I feel dazed and confused, it was only a kiss.”
Marshall felt a pang in his chest. Only a kiss. What did that mean to her? Was what they had only a kiss?
Coral had sang moderately well. While she wasn’t Christina Aguilera with her vocal quality, she could have made it somewhat successfully as a country singer.
“So how bad was I?” she asked as she sat down.
“You were great Coral, I mean it,” Marshall grinned.
“No, really,” she asked.
“Really.”
“I was so nervous. I’ve never done anything like that before in my life! I don’t know how you do it for a living,” Coral laughed.
“You get used to it,” Marshall replied shrugging.
“Yeah, that reminds me, when do I get to see you preform?”
“See me?”
“Yeah, you, remember, you’re an entertainer.” Coral reminded.
“Oh yeah. Uh, I don’t know, I’ll let you sit in the booth while I record something one day. I mean, cause I’m not really doing any shows now, so,” Marshall replied.
“All right, but I’m still holding you to that one. Oh I love this song, come on, you have to dance with me!” Coral said suddenly as she hears the music playing.
“What? Oh come on, I can’t dance,” Marshall lied.
“Please, come on, I won’t bother you at all for the rest of the night. This song is just too good to waste sitting here at the table,” Coral was nearly whining.
“Oh, all right.” Marshall said, acting like it was a bigger deal than it really was.
He allowed Coral to pull him out of his chair and push him out on the dance floor.
They were out in the middle of the floor of people, Coral’s little hand pulling his along until they found a spot. She moved close to him quickly, her arms linking behind his neck, and his chest was painful again as his body came in contact with hers. They were flush against each other, his arms, gingerly resting on her hips.
“What’s the matter?” she asked.
“Nothing,” he quickly looked away, but her arms tightened around his neck and she leaned into him, her head resting on his shoulder.
Her body held his up and coaxed him to move to the music. As soon as the words came, it was Coral who was singing them. Her soft voice next to his ear, warm and beautiful all at once.
“Here we are neath stars its just me and you, what are we gonna do, where’s this gonna lead, you say it’s time to define how we feel about it, I know without a doubt it’s crystal clear to me, that one of us is in love, one heart knows its true I would wait forever to spend eternity with you, every night and day I’ll get on my knees and pray if I must, that more than one of us is in love now know heart and souls how I need ya, I just want to please ya, please don’t be afraid, love isn’t played love is made, so remember, boy if you surrender and take that leap of faith, one of us is in love, one heart knows its true I would wait forever to spend eternity with you, every night and day I’ll get on my knees and pray if I must, that more than one of us is in love, I’m hoping more than one of us is in love, please tell me more than one of us is love.”
Before he’d thought he’d been getting too involved, too attached. Now he knew he was. His arms tightened around her, one folding into the small of her back, the other sliding up to her shoulder blades. Her lips were so close to his ear, her fingers toying with the tiny hairs at the nape of his neck. It was too much. He couldn’t be here. Not with her. It wasn’t actually happening.
He swore if she let go of him he’d fall apart. Limbs would detach, heart would empty, crumpled like a crushed beer can. He hated her for a second, that she could do this to him. He swore he’d never make this mistake again. He’d never allow someone in this far.
But here he was. It was happening. And it wasn’t a mistake, and long after that song ended, she held him, they danced, and neither wanted to let go.
But it did have to end.
“I hate to bust you two kids up, but we’re closing in about two minutes,” the bar tender said, sorry to but in. Marshall looked up at the man and nodded.
“I guess we have to get going,” Coral said, reluctantly letting her arms fall away from his neck.
They parted each other’s bodies, not looking at one another as they gathered their things. Marshall called a cab for them before they went outside to wait, the bar keep and the waitresses waving them goodnight before they got in their own cars.
They stood apart in the glow of the bar lights, neon signs glowing eerily, red, yellow, orange, blue. Coral digging the tow of her boot into the dirt, her eyes squinting out over the brightly lit parking lot. They couldn’t speak. If they did, the spell might be broken. What had happened, it might become unreal if they spoke it’s name. So they didn’t.
The yellow cab pulled up and Marshall opened the door, allowing Coral to slide in first before he climbed in, and gave the address. It was quiet all the way to the house, quiet inside as the lights blinked on and illuminated the surfaces. Tiled floor, hard wood, shining plaster walls.
Coral removed her boots in the entryway, her hat ended up sitting on top of them, and she was quiet. Marshall was quiet. No sounds were made at all. Even Cody was quiet when she went to see him, and the puppy was asleep in his basket.
Marshall went into the living room, not knowing what to do, but going to the stereo, feeling that filling his hands with some music to look at might fix whatever it was that he thought was broken.
She stood in the door, watching, his back to her, as he tried to remain busy, keep his hands and eyes and brain busy, deciphering the letters and the names on the back of the CDs.
“Was it only a kiss?” he asked after a struggle to keep his mouth shut. He didn’t turn around, it might have said too much if he did turn around.
“What?” she asked confused.
“Like the song said, was what I did, what we had, was it only a kiss, to you?” he asked again. She hesitated.
“Do you want it to be?”
“Don’t give me the run around, was it, or wasn’t it?” his words were pierced slightly with cold and slightly with sadness. She knew where it was coming from.
Her steps were silent and quiet as she stepped up behind him, quiet, her voice startling when she answered, now that she was so close.
“It wasn’t just a kiss,” she said, her hands finding his waist, sliding up to his chest, pulling him back against her. He replaced the music on the shelf and bowed his head to watch his hands cover hers. Her forehead nestled between his shoulders as they stood there, holding each other. Waiting for the moment when the world of their friendship came thundering down around them and something else that had been wanting to take it’s place, surround and comfort them.
“Why’d you run away, after you kissed me?” she asked.
“I didn’t know you felt the same way,” he replied gruffly.
“Why didn’t you just ask me if I did?”
“Because I’m an ass.” She chuckled slightly.
“Turn around,” she said.
“What?”
“Just turn around,” she laughed again. He did as she asked, and her hands didn’t leave his body for a moment. Her coffee and cream eyes were grinning at him as much as her lips were, he couldn’t suppress a smile himself.
“So, what am I to assume then?” he asked, his hands finding her hips, that dangerous, lurking, fragile smile on his lips, eyes skimming through her eyes, over her lips, her cheeks, the bridge of her nose, the freckle that rested just above her left eye.
“You are to assume nothing, you’re to ask me if I’m interested in you, and then get the answer,” her hands and her eyes spoke the question as much as her lips. His gaze shifted back to her eyes and he swore the gold flecks in them winked at him.
“All right, so, are you,” he didn’t finish his question, her hands slid up his back and took hold of his face, pulling him in so that the last thing he felt before total oblivion was her breath on his face.
It was the sexiest kiss he’d ever felt. Lips, teeth, tongue, it was all there. Coral was there. She was in it. She was it. Now he knew what he had missed that day. What he should have stayed and done. She snaked her fingers of one hand through his short hair and kept the other on the back of his neck, pulling him closer, deeper. His arms completed the circle of her waist and pulled her up towards him, forcing her to stand on her toes to reach him.
“Does that answer your question?” she asked, her hands full of his hair, pulling him away from her lips, to get an inch between their faces.
“Yeah,” he growled slightly.
“Good, then we only have to answer one more question,” she replied.
“What’s that?”
“Your room or mine?”
“Mine,” he said, grabbing her hips for emphasis.
“Then what are we waiting for?” she was pulling him towards the stairs in the next moment, and then they were inside the bedroom.
Her hands gently pushed the shirt off his shoulders as their mouths tangled together. They stumbled as much as they walked, Marshall’s fingers loving the curve from Coral’s hips to her back and over her rib cage.
It felt right. It felt okay. It felt like everything he’d dreamed about, only better, because she wasn’t disappearing into nothingness.
“Marshall,” she breathed next to his ear, “don’t leave me.” It was almost begging, a yearning utterance. He turned his face to hers, looking at her.
“I won’t leave you,” he said, “I won’t leave you.” Her hair fanned out under her head as she lay under him, her hands cradling his face in her hands. Their bodies felt like they were relearning each other’s curves an intricacies. It was if they had done this for a thousand years, and now they were remembering. Skin they hadn’t seen, tastes they had never tasted, senses reawakened with each inch of cloth replaced by skin and blush.
Bodies joined, skin flushed with heat, ears heard sighs and proclamations, tongues tasted salt and sweat, nerves tingled and shocked, fingers learned the story of the texture of the skin and eyes memorized colors and irises in the other.

Later, in the afterglow, Marshall still kissing Coral’s coral lips, he thought he must have died. In the process of making love, he was sure he’d been transported to heaven. Her lips smiled at him as he sat back and looked at her, his body sated, his soul invaded, his eyes never wanting to close.
“I would have paid you whatever you wanted for you stay,” he said, his fingers tracing her belly button. She sat up, taking his hand in hers, pressing the palm to her lips.
“I would have stayed for nothing.”
“What’s it gonna take for you to stay now?” he asked as she moved close to him, her arms pulling him back to her embrace.
“Just you. That’s it. If you can give it, I want you.”
“Then you can have it, you got it.”
“I’m here.”

Part XVIIII

Marshall woke pleasantly to the smell of coffee wafting up the stairs. He stretched his body as far as it would go and then sat up, an irresistible smile plastered on his face. He felt as infatuated as a teenager.
“Shit,” he laughed at himself, swinging his legs over the side of the bed.
“Damn,” he laughed again before jumping up and going to get dressed.
Oscar came running in the room barking as he was walking out of the bathroom.
“Hey Oscar!” Marshall said scooping up the puppy, ruffling his ears with one hand.
“Lets go find mommy,” he laughed as the puppy barked and wagged his tail so hard it could have fallen off.
Marshall hurried down the stairs, the smell of food and coffee thick in the air, but that wasn’t what he was most interested in. He rounded the corner and there she was, standing there in all her all-American beauty. Ponytail high on the back of her head, white tank top, cutoff shorts, down to the lace used to tie her shoes.
“I’m surprised I was able to pry you off so that I could out of bed this morning,” Coral said as she stood at the counter. Her hands remained busy and she kept her gaze on the fruit she was slicing. Marshall smiled and noticed her looking up at him as he pet the puppy.
“Yeah, well, what does it matter? We could have done without breakfast this morning,” he grinned.
“Really now?” she asked with an arched eyebrow. Marshall deposited the puppy on the floor and was wrapped around her before he answered,
“Really.” His lips and mouth made quick work of touching every piece of skin he could reach. He slid the strap of her tank top down so he could kiss that small thin piece of skin it had been covering. He kept it up until she finally gave in and gave him a giggle.
“Forget breakfast, let’s go back to bed.” Marshall said, turning her around and pressing her back against the counter. She didn’t get a chance to answer him as his lips kissed hers gently. His hands moved slowly up her sides until he had a hand on each shoulder blade. She kissed him back enthusiastically, lips traveling up from his lips, to his cheeks and eyes, his forehead and back down.
“Did anybody ever tell you, that you got some pretty eyes?” she asked.
“Not that I can remember until now,” he replied starring into her eyes, the best tasting coffee he’d ever had.
“They are.”
“Really, lets go back to bed, I’ll cook you something later,” he said softly taking her hands in his and looking at the delicate fingers.
“Okay,” she said simply. He grinned brightly, pulling her face in for another deep kiss.

They finally decided to get out of bed around four o’clock when they were both hungry with their stomach’s rumbling.
“Marshall, what is all this gonna mean?” Coral asked later, while they were in the kitchen. He’d taken her place at the stove and she his at the counter, nervously biting a nail.
“Mean?” he asked looking over his shoulder.
“Yeah, us. You, me, all of it. This.”
“I think it just means that two people finally found another person that they could confide in, and care about. I’m not gonna lie about it Coral, I really, really like you. I like having you around, I like having you here. I like us being together.” Marshall said seriously. It was the first time in a long time he felt he’d ever told the truth.
“Can we be honest for a second?” she asked.
“I was being honest,” Marshall said, slightly offended.
“I’m sure you were. But what I’m talking about is this. We’ve kinda been living in a fairy tale. This isn’t real life. We’re supposed to be getting divorced.”
“So? We don’t have to.” Marshall surprised himself with that.
“What?” she almost laughed and then realized he was serious.
“You’re serious. Oh my god, you are, you’re serious. But we can’t really, can we?” she didn’t know what she was thinking either. Her eyes flickered up to his and they were trying to read each other’s gazes. He turned off the stove and went over to the counter, leaning across it and taking her hands in his.
“Maybe, maybe it was just a lucky mistake. Maybe it was supposed to happen this way. You know, fate intervening.”
“Fate?” she asked.
“Fate. Good luck, shooting stars, I don’t fucking know. But you’re, just, inside me. You know, you invaded my soul, as corny as it sounds. I think this could work,” Marshall replied. She looked down at his fingers entwining with hers. She smiled.
“Could it?”
“Yes! It could. I, I love you, Coral, and I’m ready to stop pretending. I ready to settle down. I don’t care how weak that makes me or whatever. But I want that big family Christmas, and I want you to be a part of that.” He was almost desperate in his words, his eyes scared and worried that she’d leave him for admitting what he really wanted.
“You love me? Do you? I mean, we’ve only been, we’ve only known,” she was looking for the excuse, the reason. When was it going to be not enough?
“I do, and I don’t care if it’s only been six months. You’ve done more for me, and shown me more of yourself than most of the people I’ve known most of my life. You trust me, for what reason I can’t figure out, but it’s there, and I’m glad I get to see it.” Marshall was almost pleading with her. He knew that she wanted the same thing, she just didn’t want to be hurt again. She bit her bottom lip and looked at him hard.
“I love you too.”
“Thank god, don’t do that to me, dammit, come here,” he rushed around the counter and scooped her up in his arms, hugging her tight. She laughed.
“Paul is gonna kill you.” She said after a minute.
“So he’ll sue me.”
“Go on, go call him so that he can get his ranting out of the way,” she replied patting him slightly.
“All right, don’t go anywhere.” He let her go and was turning to grab the phone when it rang.
“That’s creepy,” he thought as he picked it up.
“Hello?”
“Em, good, glad I got you. Guess what,” it was Paul.
“Hey man, I got some good news for you man, you’re not gonna be dealing with those judges anymore,” Marshall was grinning into the phone.
“Who told you?” Paul asked.
“Huh?”
“Who told you? Was it one of Coral’s sisters?”
“Told me what?”
“That we finally got the divorce to go through, finally, about twenty minutes ago. You are single again man, so is Coral. Congrats.” Marshall felt like the world had stopped moving. He’d been wrong all along. It was fate all right. Fate telling him that he wasn’t meant to be happy.
“Well, aren’t you happy man?” Paul said after a minute, when Marshall didn’t reply.
“Uh, yeah, yeah, sure. Thanks, I uh, guess I’ll talk to you soon. Bye, Paul.” Coral looked up at him from her seat at the counter, reading the look on his face before he had to say anything.
“What’s wrong?”
“The, uh, the divorce went through, twenty minutes ago.”
“Oh, it, it did?”
“I guess, maybe we were wrong, I mean, I was wrong. Fate wasn’t on my side,” he said shaking his head.
“Are you okay Marshall?” she stood up and walked around the counter, standing directly in front of him.
“No, I’m not. I mean, here I am, spouting shit about fate, and this meaning something, and maybe this was meant to happen. The second I attempt to be happy in something, and then it just turns around and bites me.”
“You don’t want to try and make this work then?” she asked, her eyes asking the question as much as her words.
“I don’t know.”
“Maybe we should just give it some time? You know, cool down?” she said gently.
“Yeah, I guess we should,” he nodded and continued to nod as he looked away.
“I guess, maybe I should go then, might make it easier.”
“No! Please, no, don’t go, really, I can’t let it go like this, I mean really,” Marshall said quickly.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure. Besides, Oscar likes you too, and Cody’s my friend too,” Marshall tried to laugh but it was impossible for the situation was now hopeless and a nightmare. He grimaced at the realization of everything in his world adding up and having to be subtracted at the same time. So this was what hell felt like. The only time in his life he’d ever felt worse was when he’d lost his daughter. Now he was losing Coral. Life hated him.

Part XX

October and November were months that easily blended together in a flurry of painting and home improvements. The office was finished quickly, then the guest bedrooms, the halls, and the other rooms down stairs. Even the kitchen was refurbished, all in new appliances, counters, floors, cabinets and paint.
Marshall and Coral’s relationship was one of ironic platonic bliss. They never brought up that night. They never touched, did not flirt, there was no indication that anything had taken place at all. And it made both of them miserable.
Marshall hated how they pretended that nothing happened. That night had meant something to him and he was proud to say that he loved the woman. But he couldn’t say it out loud. It was an unspoken rule that they didn’t bring up the fact that at one point they had actually admitted love for the other person and made love together. No, it never happened.
As Coral had assumed, Marshall was going back into the studio and working diligently on his next album. Sometimes he’d be in the studio all day, not emerging until dinnertime. When he wouldn’t come up for lunch, she’d leave a plate of food outside the studio and dinner as well sometimes. She knew her time was limited in his home. Her time with him was coming to an end. She started taking on more catering jobs.
She knew that what he had mentioned, it had been a mistake. It wasn’t real. They’d just been high off of an infatuation, that’s all it was. They couldn’t really get married and have it all work out. It was an overactive fantasy and imagination. There was no point in being upset over it. Then why did it hurt so much?
She was almost beginning to wish he’d spend all of his time in the studio, or just tell her to leave. It hurt too much to have him around. To be around him when they’d been so close to something more. She wished that she had the strength to just get it over with, leave him all at once and get out. But she depended on him too much, and now, it wasn’t a good feeling.
She hadn’t told anyone what had happened. What Marshall had suggested, what she’d wanted to agree too as well. They knew she was divorced. She didn’t even tell Turkey about it. She’d never felt so lonely.

December first rolled around and Coral was making appointments with Jackie for parties and dinners at the restaurant. She wasn’t expecting to be anywhere for Christmas so she figured that she could work. Marshall was most likely going to go to Detroit to see Hailie and she wasn’t getting along with the family, so she’d be alone.
“Might as well get used to it,” she said to herself.
“Huh?” Marshall asked, coming into the kitchen, he’d been in the studio all morning.
“Oh, nothing, you hungry?” she asked, turning to him.
“Guess so. Hey, I’m gonna be going to New York for a few days, got to polish off the album, thought you might like to come along, have a little vacation. See the sites, go out to a ridiculously priced restaurant.” This even got her to laugh.
“I don’t know,” she shrugged, noncommital.
“Come on, I know you’ll love it, and you could get out of the house for a while too. We can take Oscar to the dog park, it’ll be nice,” Marshall tried.
“I think I should move out.” She replied bluntly.
“Why?” His voice was a lot colder than she expected.
“Because, you’re getting on with your life, I should do the same with mine. It’s time we stop pretending that we’re all right with this situation. Pretending like nothing happened when it did.”
“Coral come on,” Marshall tried, moving towards her.
“I hate to tell you this, but it hurts. It hurts being around here and knowing what happened and pretending that it didn’t. And it’s not just your fault. It’s mine too. I should have left a long time ago, and I didn’t,” Coral went to the cabinet and took out plates, making up food for both of them.
“So we can’t even be friends now?”
“We can be friends, we just can’t live together, no.” She wouldn’t look at him.
“So what are we supposed to be then? Huh, just walk away, like nothing happened? Become a phone call on the opposite sides of the country once in a while?” he snapped.
“I don’t know what else to tell you. Besides, you’re gonna be on the road soon enough, you won’t need me anymore. And I’ve got to get back to a real job, and back to a real life. I’ve got to move on. You’re not gonna be around, and, I’m too dependent on you .” She kept her back to him. She heard him breathing hard through his nose.
“All right then. Well, I guess you said your piece,” he tried to remain calm.
“Here,” she turned and held out the plate.
“I’m really not that hungry now.” He turned and walked away, but stopped in the doorway.
“There’s another ticket in the drawer next to my bed, the flight leaves at noon tomorrow, if you change your mind.” He was gone.
Coral sat down at the counter and rested her head in her hands. It was hard not to cry, but she didn’t want to cry. No, that was a lie too. She wanted to cry, and be angry, and upset, that she wasn’t with the man she wanted to be with and for all the stupid reasons too. She was glad he was going to New York. It would give her the time she needed to move out of the house and get away from him.
Not that she wanted to have to get away from him. But she had to be realistic. That’s what had always hurt her before. She was too in the clouds. But now, now she could be realistic. She was gonna move in with Turkey until she found an apartment suitable enough and then work with Jackie. She’d eventually find a nice man, settle down, maybe have some kids if he was the right kind. Life would be simple. Just work.

That night she heard Marshall walking around in his room. He was probably packing. It was what she was doing.

“No man, I’m serious, I told her I wanted to stay married to her, and then, then Paul called and it was all shot to hell, I don’t know what I’m doing,” Marshall said as he paced, the phone held firmly to his ear.
“Em, let the girl go. You ain’t gonna have time for her. You’re putting out a new album and you need to get over her. You need to get on with it, and she needs to get back to normal, as do you. You’re too hung up on her,” Bizarre replied.
“I know I’m fucking nuts to say it, but I’m sick of playing the game Bizzy. I don’t want to look around. I don’t want to spend the rest of my life saying happy birthday to my daughter over the phone. I don’t want to spend Christmases in hotels and at industry parties. I’m sick of hooking up.”
“Then don’t. Just chill out and lay low for a while.”
“I’m also sick of being alone.”
“Then get a hooker.”
“That’s not what I’m talking about Bizzy.”
“Then what do you want? Huh? A new wife and a set a twins? Marshall, you can’t have everything. You were married twice, you got a kid, you rap, let it go. You got more than most people have.”
“That doesn’t make it right.” Bizarre let out a hard sigh.
“Look man. Either take her with you to New York, tell her that you want her, or let it go. If you’s so hung up, and you’s so sure, then you better do something. Cause man, if she’s been staying with you, this long, the second you’re out of that house, she’s gonna be long gone, and you will never see her again.” Marshall was quiet for a moment.
“You really think she’d leave?”
“That’s the way women work. I’m telling you man, she wants to get on with her life too. I mean, she likes you, and you’re acting like you don’t want her. How long could you deal with that?” He had a point.
“I’ve just barely dealt with being around her. It’s driving me insane.”
“Let her go man, I’m telling you, it’s going to better in the long run.” Marshall didn’t speak for a long time.
“I should start packing, plane leaves at noon.” Bizarre understood.
“All right man, talk to you soon, take care of yourself.” Marshall nodded, even though he knew his friend couldn’t see him and hung up.
He slung the phone across the bed and allowed himself to sink down on it and sit. His hands cradled his skull as he wondered what was happening to him.
Coral was leaving him. He could feel it, and he hated it. Hated himself. He’d managed to fuck up something else in his life, something that had been the best thing he’d felt in a long time.
Growling he got up and went to his closet, haphazardly stuffing in some t-shirts, wife beaters, baggy jeans and sweat pants, everything he wore. When his packing was finished, messy as it was he sat down again, allowing himself to fall back on the bed. Oscar trotted over and licked his face.
“Oh hey little guy,” Marshall laughed. The dog licked his face again and climbed up on his chest to lay down.
“Don’t worry, you’re coming with me. At least you can keep me company,” he ruffled the dog’s ears.
“Great, now I’m talking to a dog, Oscar, you’re old man has lost it.” The dog looked at him lopsided and licked him again.
“Can’t wait to here what Dre says when he sees I’ve got a Weiner dog, I’ll never here the end of it,” Marshall thought, petting the dog again.
“Ah, to the hell with them all, I liked the damn dog, and Oscar, you’re a pretty damn good dog. Even though you’re less than a foot tall, and twice as long, you’re still a big dog.” Oscar yipped and wagged his tail.
“I’ve really lost it.”

Coral wasn’t around the morning. Coffee and pancakes were left out for him. Cody was in his cage, singing some little tune and there was a note on the counter.
“There’s sandwiches in the refrigerator and I packed Oscars food, treats, toys and bed for him. Have a good trip, Coral.” He read the note over several times and shook his head. She was avoiding him. She was leaving him. It was obvious.
He downed the coffee, managed to stuff a few bites of pancake down his neck before tucking Oscar into his cage and collecting his things for the airport. He breezed past Coral’s door and then doubled back to stand there and stare at it.
He knocked, once, twice, three times, she wasn’t in there. He didn’t care anymore. If she was leaving him, he had a right to know.
He popped the door open and went inside. Her bed was made and it was impeccably clean. He looked around, looked at her photo on the wall. That was her all right. He wished he knew what to do to make her stay, but there really wasn’t anything left to say.
He sat down on the side of her bed, looking at the clock and the picture of her with Turkey on the bedside table.
Knowing it was a bad idea, he laid down and snuggled into her pillow. Smelling her shampoo, her hair, her perfume. It was a bad idea to lay down on her bed and wish she was here. Especially when he’d be on the other side of the country in ten hours. He stole the pillow case and stuffed it in his pocket before hurrying out of the room and dumping his things in the car.

Marshall arrived on time at the airport, checked his bags and waited in the lounge to be called on board. Oscar was happily squirming around in his bag. He had to remember to take Oscar out on the lay over in Chicago. He didn’t want to be cleaning up that on an airplane.
The stewardess told him he could board, so he grabbed his carry on and Oscar, and trudged to the terminal door.
Once he was settled, Oscar in the seat beside him, his bag in the overhead, he suddenly was tired, very tired. He curled up in the corner waiting for the plane to take off, and fell asleep.
He woke up abruptly when the plane lurched forward. They were taxiing off the runway. He settled down again and closed his eyes, hoping he could sleep all the way to Chicago.
“Do you know, how hard it is, to find a traveling cage, for a bird, huh, do you? Especially at seven am?” Marshall’s eyes flew open.
“Coral?”
“No, Wonder Woman, who else would be running around with a parrot in a cage?” she asked, holding up Cody.
“But you, you said, you were,” Marshall stuttered.
“I needed a vacation. So come on, move Oscar over, I need to put this bird down.”

Chapter XXI

“Marshall, you are walking a Weiner dog around. You are Marshall Mathers, Eminem, Slim Fucking Shady, and you’ve got a little dachshund on a leash like you’re Paris Hilton,” Dre said, shaking his head and rolling his eyes.
“Fuck off Dre, so he’s not a pit bull, what’s it matter?” Marshall replied scooping the dog up and sitting down with him on the couch.
“I still can’t believe you have one of those dogs. People are gonna be talking man,” Dre remarked steadily.
“Well, if they don’t like it, they can go fuck themselves, I don’t really care.”
“So how did you get her to come with you?” Dre asked, knowing that was what Marshall was all riled up over.
“I didn’t, she just showed up, she didn’t want to come initially, I told her where the extra ticket was and she just showed up. I really didn’t think she would come.”
“And so that’s why you’re just so thrilled to be here in the studio with me, when she’s waiting for you back at the hotel, right?” Dre was insinuating again.
“If you’re waiting for me to tell you that we’ve been kicking it, you got another thing coming,” Marshall said, giving him a sideways glance, putting Oscar down on the floor.
“You sure you haven’t?” Marshall looked away.
“Ah, see, you was lying!” Dre laughed and Marshall just rolled his eyes.
“I wasn’t lying, it only happened once. We’ve kinda been keeping our distance from one another lately.”
“Oh? And why is that? Oh wait a minute, the divorce came through, I see what this is all about.” Things were steadily falling into place.
“Yeah, basically,” Marshall mumbled, watching Oscar wrestle with his stuffed BoBo.
“You gonna get back together with her, or what? I mean, she doesn’t seem like the one night stand type, you know what I mean?”
“Yeah, I know what you mean.”
“Man, if you want to, go after her, and don’t think twice about it. Cause man, when you start thinking, bad things happen. Smoke starts coming out cha ears, you get all beady eyed and pissy for weeks at a time.”
“I don’t get pissy,” Marshall retorted.
“Yes you do, it’s worse than when my wife gets her period, and that’s saying something.” Even Marshall had to laugh at that one, he knew Mrs. Young’s wrath all too well.
“Yeah, well, I don’t know, I’m still trying to figure it all out. I mean, we got into this big fight the other day, and I’m not sure where we stand. I mean, she wants to move out.”
“Well, you can’t blame the girl. You’re not gonna need her soon, she’ll be out of a job.” Dre replied nodding.
“You forget that I didn’t need a cook in the first place,” he replied, eyeing Dre suspiciously.
“Oh right, and who are you Emeril? Please, maybe she staved you off from having a heart attack a few years earlier than you were supposed to.”
“All right, maybe I did. But that still doesn’t erase the fact that I have no idea what the hell I’m gonna do about this.”
“You ain’t gonna get any work done today, is you?” Dre asked.
“No.”
“Then take your ass and your wimpy dog back to the hotel.” Oscar barked indignantly and bit Dre on the leg. All Marshall could do was laugh.

“So where do you want to go first?” Marshall asked the next morning.
“Hum, I was thinking, one of the museums. I’ve never been to one before,” Coral replied, sipping her coffee.
“All right, well, there’s Museum Mile, that has the Natural History Museum, The Metropolitan, the Guggenheim, I think a textile Museum, and possibly one on Jewish history or something, the only other one I remember hearing about is the Museum of Modern Art,” Marshall replied, picking up Cody who was sitting on a nearby chair. The bird squawked happily as it was placed on Marshall’s shoulder and sat down at the table with Coral.
“Cultured are we?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.
“No, I just took Hailie to the Natural History place, and most of them are all on that one street. I’ve never been to any of the real art museums,” he said, giving the bird a piece of fruit to chew on.
“Well, what about the Museum of Modern Art?”
“All right, I’ll call them up and see what they can arrange. We’re not in Kansas anymore,” he laughed pulling out his cell phone.

They arrived at the museum around noon and were ushered inside by one of the curators.
“Would you like a guide?” the older woman asked pleasantly.
“I think we’ll be all right,” Coral replied smiling warmly.
“Well if there is anything you need, don’t hesitate to ask.”
They were left to their own devices and wandered off in search of the galleries.
“Now some of this stuff, I just don’t get,” Marshall said as he stood in front of a chair made from a pile of red cording.
“What’s the point?” he asked.
“The point is that it doesn’t have to have function to be beautiful.” Coral explained.
“All right, well, I still don’t get it, but whatever. That is kinda cool though,” Marshall remarked pointing to the chandelier above their heads. Pieces of broken white china were clustered into a magnificent light fixture.
“That is pretty neat, we could fix something like that in the dining room when we get home, you know? You do have that collection of broken stuff in the garage.” Coral reminded.
“You know, you’re right,” but he wasn’t thinking about the light anymore. Coral had said, “When we get home.” Maybe she wasn’t so eager to leave after all.
“Imagine that, every time you break something you could turn it into a beautiful piece of art.”
“Does that go for my heart too?” Marshall wanted to ask, but he knew it was too stupid, corny and very boy band like too, so he didn’t. But he wished he could have found out the answer. He wanted to know if his heart, broken into that many pieces when she was gone would be beautiful too.
“Come on, there’s some paintings I want you to see over here,” she said, grabbing his hand and pulling him into another room.
He looked around at the paint splattered canvases and was mesmerized by the movement.
“Jackson Pollock. Now I now a lot of people blather about him, but I think he really had something going.” Coral said, still holding onto his hand. He was concentrating on that, that she hadn’t let go, not yet, maybe she wouldn’t. There was always that possibility.
“These canvases are huge, how did he manage to do all this?” Marshall asked.
“Rolled them out on the floor, could get to them easier and be in closer contact with the piece.”
“Wow, it’s all I can say.”
“You know, I thought of his work, when I was listening to your stuff. You got a lot of similarities,” Coral remarked, turning to look at him.
“Really?” Marshall asked skeptically.
“No, seriously. The whole basis for the art movement of Abstract Expressionism was that the artist, let the emotion from inside him create the picture. When most people look at this, they just see a mess, just like you. But when you get closer,” Coral turned to him and took a step closer to him, and he nearly gulped.
“You see the color, and the rhythm and the beat, the swirling of the emotion, feeling, strength. You’re music did that to me. I mean so many people just want to brush this off as ‘something a three year old could do’, and it’s so much more than that. It’s not the fact of the paint on the canvas, it was the feeling behind it. What it took to create it, just like you. People look at your lyrics and say it’s just filth and nothing good in it. That’s because they don’t take the time to look into the music, hear the rhythm and the beat, the tone of your voice, your selection of words, the life you had to live in order to write those songs. And I think that something like this, is even more beautiful than the most detailed painting in the world, and your music is more beautiful than any gospel voice singing Ave Maria, because you have something behind it.” Marshall didn’t know what to say.
“No body’s given me a compliment like that before, I don’t know what to do with it,” he replied after a moment, looking at her finally.
“You can accept it, and realize it’s the truth.” She smiled at him, then stood on her tiptoes to give him a soft kiss on the lips, surprising the hell out of him. When she stepped back she was still holding his hand. He was ready to say something when a curator came in.
“I see you found the Pollock’s, I must say they are some of my favorites as well,” the man said with a smile.
“They’re something, that’s for sure,” Coral remarked, “Hey, do you think you could take our picture in front of this one here?” Coral asked, pulling out her camera.
“Of course I could, you two go stand there,” the curator replied, taking her camera.
“Great, come on Marshall,” she laughed, tugging him back a few steps. He laughed slightly but turned around. He was surprised when he put his arms around Coral and she didn’t protest, but was even more surprised when he looked at the picture later and saw how happy they looked together. He’d even managed a smile.

The few days turned into a week. They went site seeing in the mornings and Coral sat in the studio while he polished off his tracks in the afternoons and evenings before they went out for dinner. Dre was constantly shaking his head when the dog was around, especially when Oscar showed him what he thought of him by peeing on his foot.
“I told you not to insult the dog, man,” Marshall remarked as Dre tried to clean off his shoe.
“That dog is gonna end up with a trip to the hot dog vendors very soon if you don’t watch it,” Dre retorted. Coral shook her head and just picked up the dog, Cody balancing on her shoulder.
In a week they’d been to Time’s Square, the Statue of Liberty, all the Museums they could find, two Broadway Shows, a Jazz concert, the Apollo theater, the Empire State Building and gone shopping on Fifth Avenue. Marshall made a big fuss over buying Coral some clothes, but finally he was allowed to do it. She helped him pick out a suit to wear to the shows, and he helped her decide on a dress.
“You’re turning into a regular tour de France, ain’t ya?” Dre remarked one day.
“What?” Marshall snapped.
“Going to Broadway shows, the theater, what the hell happened?”
“It’s called doing things. There is more to life than going to parties and sitting around getting drunk or wasted. Some of the stuff is pretty cool, if you give it a chance. Personally I didn’t care to much for that last play we saw, but it was one of those modern things, really weird.”
“Man, you’re getting weird. Wanting to settle down, getting a Weiner dog, playing with parrots, going to jazz concerts for cripes sake. You’re starting to scare me.”
“I guess I’ve mellowed with age,” Marshall said, none fazed as he sat at the mixing board.
“Maybe. But your music is still there man. This album, I’m telling you, it’s the shit,” Dre remarked.
“Thanks, I’m glad I decided to come back. I shoulda realized a long time ago, I can’t give this up. If I wait for Kim to give me rights to see Hailie I’ll be sitting in that house for the rest of my life. At least this way I’ll be staying busy.”
“It’s a good way to look at it.”
“Yeah, and if that house is gonna be empty, why sit in it.”
“You’re moving into dangerous territory again man. Did you talk to her yet?”
“No.”
“You need to.”
“I know I do.”
“Hey, you guys finished up yet?” Coral asked, knocking on the door.
“Uh yeah, lets go get some dinner,” Marshall nodded, getting up out of his chair.

“That was good food, I’ll have to remember the recipe. I bet Jackie could use that for the restaurant.” Coral said nodding.
“Yeah it was.” Marshall replied quickly.
“You okay?” Coral asked.
“Yeah, fine. You want to go for a walk? Thought we might go over to Central Park, we’ve never been there before,” Marshall said as he waved for a taxi.
“All right, but we better make it quick, it looks like it’s going to start snowing soon,” Coral said as she slid inside the taxi that Marshall held the door open of.
“We won’t be too long. Just a short walk.”
As the taxi pulled up at the park, a light snow was falling and the street lamps were lighting. Marshall paid the cabby and they got out, the snow muffling everything around them.
They walked along, snow falling in Coral’s hair and flushing her cheeks. They talked and laughed and were just happy to be around one another.
“I’ve really enjoyed this Marshall, it’s been a nice, a nice trip, nice week, nice company. It’s all been.”
“Nice, yeah, I know.”
“You ever take Hailie to the zoo here?” Coral asked.
“Yeah, she loved it, it’s a beautiful place. You should see it in the spring, it’s something.” Marshall was hesitating about something.
“You know, the other day, when you were talking about those paintings and my music,” he asked.
“Yeah?”
“Well, it kinda reminded me, you know of that picture you have on your wall. Just talking about art and stuff, it just kinda led me to thinking.”
“Really? Thinking about what?” He took her by the hand and led her down one of the paths that broke off from the one they were on.
“All right, close your eyes, and just hold my hand,” Marshall said after a minute. She laughed slightly.
“What, why?”
“Just do it!” he said eagerly. She didn’t question it but closed her eyes. He led her down a few more paths and then they stopped.
“All right, now open your eyes.” Coral slowly opened her eyes when she saw what was in front of her, she put a hand to her heart.
“You found it, oh my god, you found it,” she breathed.
“When I had the picture framed I had them make a copy. It got passed around and finally they found the artist that did it. I called him up and asked him where he took the photo, and here it is.” Marshall explained.
“It’s perfect, it’s exactly as I always thought it would be, the snow falling, the trees, the lights. Thank you, it’s the most wonderful thing anyone has done for me, ever,” she turned to him, her eyes moist, ready to cry.
“Don’t say that just yet,” he replied, rummaging in his pocket. Finally he found what he was looking for and dropped to one knee.
“Oh my god,” she did cry this time, but laughed as well.
“I don’t really know how to make a proposal sound all romantic, I mean this is me, and I’m not much for pretty words, but I’m gonna try my best to make it as beautiful as you’ve pictured it. What I want to say to you is that, you’ve shown me, how beautiful life can really be. You’ve made my solitude and misery, into a life I actually want to live. One that I want to be a part of and work at. Now I know it’s asking a lot, but I don’t want to go back to that house that is filled with your presence and your laugh, your smile, without you. And I don’t want to go back without knowing that you will be there with me, for the rest of our days and years, spending our time planing a wedding, celebrating Christmases, Birthdays, kids, everything. I don’t want to go back there without knowing you’ll be my fiancee, and later my wife, in that house.” She looked down at him, holding her hand, her heart pounding, her eyes weeping, her body shaking.
“So I guess what I’m saying is, I think we ought to give up on fate, chance and everything else. We should be together, because we want to, and I want to be with you. So, Coral Matthews, will you marry me?”
“With a proposal like that, who could say no?” she asked, laughing, smiling, crying, all at once.
“Then I’ll take that as a yes,” he smiled, pulling the box from his pocket.
“Yeah, it’s a yes.” He stood and opened the box for her and she laughed hardily at the sight.
“It’s as close as native Texas Coral they could find, and worth more than three hundred dollars a week,” Marshall said, removing the platinum band, centered with large smooth piece of bright coral. She laughed again as he held it up.
“So?” he asked.
“Yes Marshall, I will marry you,” she held out her hand and he slipped the ring into place, admiring it for a moment.
“You forgot something,” Coral said after a minute.
“What?”
“You forgot to kiss me.” He nodded, grinned, and the last thing he did, to make it perfect, was to seal his lips against hers, holding her and kissing her as the snow fell around them, the soft lights enveloping the air and illuminating the perfect scene.

Part XXII

“Is the turkey in the oven?”
“The turkeys have been in the oven since this morning.”
“What do you mean turkeys?”
“We’re having more than fifteen people over for dinner, there has to be more than one turkey.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes I’m sure. Did you put down the good table cloth?”
“Course I did. What else has to be done?”
“Is the table set?”
“Yeah, I think so.”
“Plates, silverware, wine glasses, napkins?”
“Oh right, forgot the napkins.”
“Look in the bottom cabinet in the hutch.”
“All right.” Marshall walked from the kitchen to the dining room, stopping to pet Oscar on his way. He looked around before realizing he’d already gone past the thing he was looking for.
The room had turned out beautifully. It was the first thing they’d redecorated when they returned, taking two weeks before they were finished. Over the table hung their custom made broken china chandelier, composited from the collection of broken dishes from Marshall’s attempts at cooking. At one end of the room was a large print they had picked up at the museum before they left, their Jackson Pollock.
The largest wall in the room was covered in a paint splattered canvas. It wasn’t an original Jackson Pollock, but to Marshall, it meant a lot more. The day after they had returned from their trip, they got supplies to make their own Pollock. They spent they day, covering the entire canvas with paint, laughing and shrieking and carrying on until they were out of breath and out of paint. What was behind this painting was the relationship that had caused Marshall so much happiness, and the painting comforted him every time he looked at it. He especially liked the part where Coral had used her fingers to paint in the design, “CORAL LOVES MARSHALL”, surrounded by a heart. He got a goofy stupid smile on his face, and he decided, that if it was corny, he didn’t care, he liked it.
Marshall found the napkins and hurriedly laid them at each place setting before returning to the kitchen to see if Coral needed anymore help.
“Would you please just go out to the living room and entertain your friends, I can cook you know!” Coral laughed, pushing him out of the kitchen.
“Yes she can, especially with my help,” Jackie remarked .
“All right, I’m going, you just call me if you need help, okay?” Marshall asked, leaning across the counter and giving her a kiss.
“Okay, yeah, just go!” she laughed.
“Is everybody here?” he asked before leaving.
“I think so.”
“Cause I think we have too many place settings.”
“It always looks like that, we’ll probably have too few.” The doorbell rang loud.
“Who is that supposed to be? Everyone is here, aren’t they?” he asked confused.
“They should be. Just go answer the door already,”Coral said shaking her head.
Marshall trudged out of the kitchen to foyer and straightened his tie slightly before opening the door. He would have fallen backwards if he’d had the ability left to move let alone breathe.
“Merry Christmas Marshall.”
“Uh, uh, hi, uh, mom,” Marshall stuttered, his throat feeling dry. She hugged him and stepped inside.
“Hey bro, how’s it hanging?” Nathan entered next followed by his aunt Betty, his grandmother and then,
“Hailie!” Marshall exclaimed as the little blond girl ran at him and jumped into his arms.
“Hailie baby, oh my god I missed you!” Marshall held his girl in his arms, hugging her hard.
“Daddy, I can’t breathe!” the little girl squealed.
“I’m sorry baby, I’ve just missed you,” Marshall said, wiping a few tears away.
“Daddy, why are you crying, it’s Christmas, you’re supposed to be happy?” Hailie asked.
“I’m just happy, really happy to see you,” Marshall smiled.
“Hey Marshall.” He knew that voice and turned to see Kim.
“Kim, uh, thanks, for bringing her, really,” Marshall spit out.
“No, wait. It wasn’t my idea. Really I didn’t even think about having her call you, but I spoke to a friend of yours who convinced me otherwise.” Kim said softly.
“Marshall? Who was it at the door?” Coral said, stepping out of the kitchen.
“Uh, Coral, this is, uh, my mom, Debbie, and my Grandma, Amy, my brother Nathan, my Aunt Betty, my uh, ex-wife Kim, and this,” Marshall picked up Hailie, holding her tight, “is my little girl Hailie.”
“It’s very nice to see you all in person, I’m Coral if you didn’t already guess that, but welcome, dinner is on the table.” Everyone nodded to Coral as if they already knew her, and before Marshall could say anything else, Coral was going into the living room to announce dinner.

“Marshall, can you help me bring in the turkey?” Coral asked, putting a gentle hand on his shoulder.
“Huh? Oh, sure, okay.” He nodded and followed her to the kitchen, but he wasn’t able to concentrate.
“Are you all right Marshall?” Coral asked.
“How did they? Why are they?” he asked, looking over at her confused.
“I’m sorry if I interfered, but I thought since I got my dream, that you should get yours too. A big family Christmas. It took a bit of convincing, but, I got them here. If I’m intruding, I apologize, but I thought you deserved this.” Coral wasn’t sure what direction this could go in. Either he’d be mad that she had talked to his family without his permission, or, well, that was about the only reaction she was expecting about now.
“You called Kim, and asked her to bring Hailie here for Christmas?” he asked, his eyes, bright and wide.
“I did,” Coral nodded.
“And my mother, and grandma?” he asked again.
“Yes, I did.”
“Thank you.” He turned to her and nodded.
“Thank you, it’s exactly what I wanted for Christmas,” he smiled and pulled her into a tight hug, kissing the top of her head.
“Thank you,” he whispered again, “thank you.”

“Who wants turkey!” Marshall called proudly, lugging the bird in on a tray.
“Applause for the cook, Coral,” Marshall said grinning.
“Thank you,” Coral said bowing at the clapping and taking her seat.
Once the turkey was carved and everyone passing food around, Marshall took a minute to look around the table. Here it was, his family Christmas. Friends, family, his daughter, and his fiancee. Christmas tree in the living room, presents under the tree, loads of decorations, music playing softly in the background, laughter and chatter around the table. Everything he had always wanted from a family Christmas.
After dinner everyone congregated in the living room for dessert, coffee, and presents. Marshall knew he had gone overboard, but he couldn’t help it. Coral had encouraged him to just take the presents he’d gotten for Hailie and wrap them up to put under the tree, make it feel more festive. After that he’d gone a little nuts and went shopping for everyone under the sun.
Coral passed around pie and coffee, hot chocolate and cookies for Haile and the rest of the kids, while Marshall passed out presents. He couldn’t stop smiling. He was so happy that everyone in his world that he loved was here, celebrating with him. He didn’t want it to end.
Hailie, along with Dre and Proof’s kids sat around the tree tearing into the presents that Marshall had managed to amass in the living room. Toys coming out of brightly colored boxes, children running to their mothers and fathers asking for help to pull them out of the boxes. It was a beautiful image.
Marshall continued to pass around gifts, he even had things for his brother, his mother, and Kim. He handed her a wrapped package cautiously, and watched as she unwrapped it.
“You didn’t have to, really,” Kim said calmly.
“I know.”
“This will come in handy, my other journal is just about full,”she nodded quietly.
“I thought you’d like Fleur, things, you said you liked those once,” Marshall replied awkwardly.
“Yeah, I do. The house looks good.”
“Thanks, I put a lot of work into it. Coral helped, she’d kinda like the designer around here.”
“She did a good job.”
“Why did you come?” Marshall asked carefully.
“Well, your friend there, she said that this was something you really wanted, and something you really wanted for Hailie. I got over wanting to punish you and figured that Hailie deserved it. Don’t read too much into it Marshall. I’m still not okay with you. But Hailie isn’t happy. She’s been missing a lot of school lately. Saying she’s sick, not feeling good. She asks about you a lot. Bottom line, the psychologist says she needs to see her father. Merry Christmas,” Kim handed him an envelope and walked away.
Marshall’s fingers slipped on the flap as he pulled the envelope open. The papers were heavy but he found what he was looking for.
“The Court of Detroit Michigan hereby gives visiting rights of the minor child, Hailie Jade to Marshall Mathers. Alternating weeks, effective immediately.” Warmth spread through Marshall’s body and he took a deep breath. He was getting his girl back. Maybe fate wasn’t too bad.
He let the evening wind down, enjoying Hailie sitting on his lap as she gabbed on and on about anything and everything. He was enjoying everything so much. It had been a wonderful evening.
He was pleasantly stuffed to the brim with the wonderful meal and desserts Coral had cooked and just plain happy. He liked the feeling. There was something else he had to do first before he could let it all sink in.
“Everyone,” Marshall said as he stood, the room quieted.
“I just want to say thanks for all of ya coming and spending Christmas Eve with us here. This house is sure appreciating being almost split at the seams, I imagine. There is something that I want to share with you all, it’s something that came my way, that I wasn’t expecting, but I’m happy that it did all the way. Coral, come here for a second,” Marshall said, motioning her over. She came to his side and with his arm around her waist he said,
“I hope that you’ll all be happy too, to come to our wedding this summer. I asked Coral to marry me, and she said yes.”
“Man, I am gonna kill you!” Paul shouted and the entire room erupted in laughter. Coral jumped out of the way as Paul launched at Marshall with a piece of pie in hand.
***FIN***