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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.