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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.