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Post by Cayla on Feb 15, 2013 2:43:57 GMT
{name:Marina Morris #|#picture:3}Marina panicked. She could feel her heart beating out if her chest. She felt as she was going to pass out and have a heart attack.
Russell pulled un alongside the limo and Marina crunched her fists together, bit her tongue, and slid down in the passenger's seat. "My parents came to visit me unannounced...," she said nervously. She glared down at her phone. ".... I mean with little notice."
Marina knew when her parents came unannounced, something was up. Marina just wasn't sure what it was. She turned to Russell. "Can we keep going?" Marina asked. She was already too late. Her parents silhouettes moved in the tinted limo and she watched the window roll down. At this point, Marina scooted so far down the seat that her dress was almost rolled up around her butt. She heard her parents say something to Russell.
"Young man," her mother said impatiently. "Can you do me a favor?" Marina rubbed her first finger across her neck like a knife. She didn't want Russell to do the favor. She figured her parents wanted the jam fixed fast and quick. Marina didn't want her parents to find her with Russell. She doubted they'd approve. They wanted her to marry someone of 'prince-like' status. Someone who had money and a great career.
Marina heard someone come out of the limo and yell at whoever else was out there that was trying to fix the issue. It sounded like her dad yelling at the limo diver and a mechanic. "Just get the limo out of here and get me a taxi," he yelled angrily. "I have placed to be and you are wasting my time."
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Post by Samantha on Feb 16, 2013 2:47:00 GMT
{name:Russell McBride#|#picture:2}Russell glanced helplessly between Marina, who seemed to be trying to climb out of her skin (or at least his car) and the woman in the limo who had called out to him for assistance. The latter was gesturing for him to come over, and to do so quickly. Her tone fully suggested that she expected for him to comply to her demands, and that she would have little patience for hesitation or straight-out defiance.
"I don't understand," he said, speaking to Marina out of the corner of his mouth. She was ducked low, drawing her finger across her throat as a signal that he was not to get out of the car. "I didn't realize that you didn't want me to stop. I just assumed that you wanted to me—because they are your parents, after all. You don't want to help them? Oh, Christ, she's looking at me. Your mother sees me, Marina. What am I suppose to do? I can't just drive away now."
He looked at the limo again and sighed in exasperation. He leaned forward and jiggled the keys, pulling them from the ignition. The car fell silent. He opened his door, swung his legs out, and stood up. Glancing back inside the car at Marina, he said, "Unless they'd like to have their car professionally parked, I probably won't be able to be of any assistance to them, anyway. I'll just go over there and say that I'm sorry. I'll be right back, okay?"
He pushed his door shut. With his hands balled deep in his pockets, he approached the limo, squinting into the darkness of the night. "Yes, ma'am?" he called out, coming up to her rolled-down window. He nodded at the husband who had gotten out of the limo to shout at the mechanic. "How can I help you all out?"
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Post by Cayla on Mar 10, 2013 23:12:28 GMT
{name:Marina Morris#|#picture:3}Marina crouched under the dashboard in the car. She would hate to see her parents reaction if they found her here. Marina tried to peer out the car window, but Marina's father turned her way and she slid back down. Marina placed her ear against the car door to listen to her mother and Russell.
"Son, do you know how to move this car?" Marina's mother said softly. That was her fake tone to make people do what she wanted. Marina was sure her mother would whiplash in anger and frustration is Russell was going to be stubborn. And then, Marina predicted her father would make Russell pay for a new limo or take them up to the hotel. If he was lucky, maybe the limo driver would say he could handle the situation.
A fire truck blared its alarm before Marina could hear the rest of the conversation. She prayed her parents would not be climbing into the back. She prayed she made it clear enough to Russell that she utterly despised her parents watching her every move, and then criticizing her.
Once the fire engine got near, the noise stopped and Marina peered up. Her mother caught a quick glimpse of her, enough to be curious. Marina heard her mothers heels click around, pacing. She heard her speak.
"Young man, do you have a lady in the car? Would she like to come out and say hello?" she said in a sly tone.
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Post by Samantha on Mar 12, 2013 1:26:18 GMT
{name:Russell McBride#|#picture:2}{name:Russell McBride#|#picture:2}{name:Russell McBride#|#picture:2}Russell stood rooted in the dirt just a few feet from the limousine. Both Marina's mother and father were turned to him expectantly, waiting on his response with raised eyebrows. Where did they get off asking him for help? he wondered. Why did they assume that he knew anything about cars?
He did, of course, because he'd been fixing the Civic for years—ever since he'd inherited it at age sixteen. He'd grown up working with his hands, everything from chopping and hauling firewood to repairing leaky faucets to building up and tearing down walls. He'd never had any formal schooling on the college-level, but his grandfather was adamant that he didn't need such a thing: Russell had graduated from the School of Hard Knocks, which was much more useful than any flowery degree. Give a wrench or a hammer to a grad student, and what would he do with it? Stare at it, of course, unsure of how it was to be used or what it was capable of. Ask him to haul a wheelbarrow full of firewood, and he'd complain that it was too heavy.
Russell thought that if given the chance to look under the hood, he'd be able to figure out what was wrong with the limo, or at least give it his best darn shot. But he didn't want to. He didn't know these people, and Marina certainly seemed dead-set against him offering any sort of assistance to them. He didn't completely understand why, but nonetheless she was. She'd previously mentioned that she didn't get along very well with her parents—something about how they never seemed to care about her interests in life—but he was surprised that she didn't want to at least make sure that they were okay.
A small voice inside his head reminded him that if it were his own father in that broken-down limousine, neither would he be so quick to come to the man's aide. He lifted his hand to his neck and scratched at a nonexistent itch, squinting at Marina's mother, torn between helping her and pleasing Marina.
"I don't know, ma'am," he called out at last, raising his voice to be heard over the sounds of traffic. "It's probably best to wait for the mechanic. He'll be able to help you out much better than I can." He added, even though it was a lie, "I don't know much about cars, ma'am."
He glanced back at the Civic, hoping to catch Marina's eye and silently beg her for help. He saw but a quick flash of her dark hair before she ducked down beneath the dashboard. Her mother seemed also to have caught sight of her, though not clearly enough to determine the young woman to be her own daughter, and she asked him if he didn't have someone in the car.
Without answering, Russell walked over to the passenger-side door of his car. He pulled it open and said to Marina, who was crouched down inside, "I can't do this anymore. Your mother wants to know whom I've got with me in the car, and she wants whomever it is to come over and say hi. She's already gotten out of the limo. She'll be over here soon enough if you don't come first."
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Post by Cayla on Mar 13, 2013 2:04:31 GMT
{name:Marina Morris#|#picture:3}Marina felt a click of the door open to Russell's face. In a panic, all Marina could do was sigh. There was no escaping this. If she was lucky, her parents would be too careless to notice. Marina dragged her legs from underneath and let her feet hang out of the car onto the pavement. Marina was now sitting on the car floor slumped over with her heels on the cement. Marina had her hair up, so she took out the elastic and clip holding her hair together, and allowed it to fall over her face.
From Russell's perspective, Marina was positive she looked like a rag doll. Marina gripped the car handle to pick herself up and could see her mother and father now. Her father was clearly distracted, trying to get the situation in order. Marina's mother was a bit more curious. She reacted the way Marina had hoped. She had big eyes, as if expecting a sleazy girl to come tumbling over. Marina could more than likely excuse herself from the situation and 'act' like a drunk and fall over.
Marina's mother looked Marina up and down, as if meeting a new person, then shook her head in disapproval. She was very judgemental. Marina kept walking forward. Marina had her chin tucked into her neck and hands at her side and creeped forward ever so slowly. She paused when reaching her mother.
"I know what you are going to say," Marina spoke softly. Her mother responded with a sharp reply.
"What might that be dear?"
".... That I am a terrible excuse for a daughter,"
"Well I would normally say that, " said Marina's mother, "but I am afraid I do not know your parents to judge that."
Marina shivered. It was odd Marina's own mother couldn't recognize her own daughter's voice and behavior.
"Anything else you need....? If not, I guess we will be go..." Marina trailed off and pushed Russell back toward the car. There was a slight sign of relief and she could almost relax.
Her mother spoke again. "I guess not...but hey, if you run into my daughter, please tell her to wear a more attractive outfit on her next outing with the lower class - or she may as well be come one," she said dogmatically.
Marina had a hard lump forming in her throat. Had her parents given up on Marina? Marina was now a row standing on the pavement in front of Russell's car. She felt like strangling someone, but she was too weak. She felt if she took a step forward, Marina would collapse to the ground and sob.
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Post by Samantha on Mar 13, 2013 21:10:18 GMT
{name:Russell McBride#|#picture:2}Russell stood back by the door of the Civic as Marina inched up to the limousine, dragging her feet across the asphalt. She looked positively broken, and he couldn't help but feel as if it were somehow his fault. He shouldn't have stopped the car when they'd spotted the limo, and he definitely shouldn't have argued with her when she'd asked him to drive away. If he'd had any chance of getting a goodnight kiss (if, that is, he hadn't already blown it with the whole Patrick thing), he'd certainly lost all hope of it now. How much worse could he possibly screw up a first date?
"I know," Marina said, "what you are going to say." She was facing away from him, speaking to her mother. He wondered if it was better to remain back by the car—to allow Marina and her mother to have it out between the two of them—or if he should go up to Marina, if for nothing else but to be a comforting body there next to her. She just looked so defeated, and he had this sudden urge to put his arm around her.
He'd just lifted his foot, ready to take that step forward, when he heard the words "lower class" come from her mother's mouth. He froze. The expression fell from his face at the same time as his foot returned to the pavement.
He couldn't believe it. Lower class. She'd just called him lower class, for God's sake! And she knew nothing of him! What was it—his faded shirt? His rusted car? Or did she just have some sort of intuition when it came to these sorts of things? No wonder she had asked him to fix her car.
While Russell was very used to experiencing such degradation when it came to his job at the hotel (he even accepted it, more or less, because it was just that: just a job), he was completely shocked to hear Marina's mother refer to him—him as a person—with such disgust, all because he didn't dress himself in designer clothing or drive a luxury car. His first instinct was to open his mouth and tear the woman to shreds. He really wanted to hurt her with his words, to say something that would make her regret ever having made such nasty assumptions about him.
But then he saw Marina, and the words caught up with him—the ones that had come after "lower class." He heard the threat and watched Marina's entire body start to shake, as if she were on the verge of collapsing. He pushed the car door closed with a thud and went quickly over to where she stood, reaching out a hand to steady her.
"Marina," he breathed. "Marina, are you okay?"
He glanced once back over his shoulder to where her mother stood by the limo, a smug look across her face. Their eyes met, and his glinted with nothing but contempt for the woman.
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Post by Cayla on Mar 15, 2013 0:30:01 GMT
{name:Marina Morris #|#picture:3}Marina was fine, just malcontent. "I hate my mother," she scowled, "so very much. She's never ever been a real mother."
Marina just needed some comfort. She was not normally in such a terrible mood. Marina was the optimistic, 'half-full' kind of girl. All she wanted was a bit of comforting. She wanted to shake the situation off her shoulders and not think about what her parents may decide to do next.
Marina got into the car and waited for Russell to do the same. She didn't know what he was going to say, but it couldn't have been worse then talking to her own parents. Marina shuddered at the thought of her parents raining on her parade and insist Marina move back in with them.
Marina turned to Russell and spoke. "I can't say that I warned you, but those are my parents. I also should normally say I'm sorry, but I don't know if I can. I probably despise them as much as any of their business competitors.
Marina analyzed the scene of the accident. The limo was clearly rolled over the curb and had two flat tires. Both of her parents were arguing at the men that were trying to help the situation. She was sure this was going to cost them extra cash. She snickered at the idea of her parents paying a little extra. Marina's mother glanced back over her shoulder before Russell drove away. Marina saw her mother's normal snobby glare, but this time, she saw a speck of some stress underneath her snobby demeanor.
"Thanks for going out with me tonight, even if it wasn't an ideal date," she said. Marina had high hopes for Russell, but she hoped he'd still be willing to at the very least be a friend after meeting her parents. Marina shifted her body and relaxed as they got closer to her home. Her own home.
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Post by Samantha on Mar 15, 2013 18:45:23 GMT
{name:Russell McBride#|#picture:2}"What are you talking about?" Russell asked, deadpan, as the car peeled away from the curb. As he drove by the scene of the accident, he smiled facetiously at Marina's mother and wiggled two fingers in the air goodbye. "I thought your parents were lovely. And I think that they really loved me, don't you? Your mother was just about ready to start calling me son."
He looked to Marina, catching her eye, and flashed her a small albeit honest smile. "You don't have to explain anything to me," he said quietly. "I understand. I know what...that feels like. Being so full of hate like that. I'm sorry that your relationship is like that with them. Do you want to," he said, faltering a little," um, talk about it?"
He'd never been someone's shoulder before. He'd never had the opportunity (who in his life was he close to besides his grandfather?), but he also didn't go seeking it out. He neither liked to talk about his own personal life nor did he like it when others talked about theirs. Despite this, however, he still wanted Marina to know that, if she wanted to, she could come to him. He'd at least give it a try—and, hey, wasn't that what the entire night had been about, anyway?
They reached the mountain on top of which was perched the Gregory Manor Hotel. Russell downshifted to pick up speed, and with his eye on the tachometer, navigated to the top of the hill where he drove around back of the hotel and parked in the employee lot.
"I know it wasn't the most ideal date ever," he said, echoing her words. "But I should really be the one thanking you for coming out with me tonight. I'm sorry that I'm such a disaster. I hope you at least had a little bit of fun." He paused, as if to let her response, but then began to speak again. He didn't want for her to have to lie to him. "I can walk you upstairs, if you'd like," he said, and reached for the handle to let himself out of the car.
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Post by Cayla on Mar 24, 2013 18:48:52 GMT
{name:Marina Morris #|#picture:3}Marina smiled weakly at Russell's crack at a joke. "Do you want to talk about it?" he asked and sounded genuine.
Marina was taken a bit off guard. She looked down at her lap. "Oh no, I'll be okay. I think I've had my fair share of talking about myself. You don't want to hear about my petty problems anyhow." she said.
Marina wanted to talk, but she couldn't bring herself to do so. She hated feeling moody and angry. She wanted to finish the date being happy and with a tingling sensation of a spark of the chemistry. Now the date was almost over and it hadn't really happened. So much for a regular date. Maybe she should stay single the rest of her life or actually date one of the snots her parents would eventually have her marry.
When they reached the hotel parking lot Russell offered to walk her inside. Marina figured her parents would be visiting early the next morning after their encounter.
"Yes, that would be nice," she said. Russell came over to open Marina's door. She stepped out.
Marina led him up the stairs. She was going to avoid elevators from now on. She open her front door and stepped inside. "Why don't you stay a little while?" Marina asked.
Marina plopped down on her couch and motioned for Russell to join her. She noticed that her phone was blinking to indicate that she had a voice mail. She set it on her large coffee table and turned to Russell. "Care for a dessert? I would be thrilled to call room serviceand bring something up. I am a big fan of their cookie dough cupcakes." she grinned and showed him the menu of options for dessert.
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Post by Samantha on Mar 25, 2013 19:49:46 GMT
{name:Russell McBride#|#picture:2}Russell sat down beside Marina, stretching his arms out along the back of the couch. It felt good to sit and relax, especially after the long, stressful evening that they'd had. He was certainly exhausted, but for the first time all day, he was also completely comfortable in her presence: there was no pool in sight; no nerves like he'd had at dinner; no Patrick; no Marina's parents. It was finally just the two of them.
And now that he was feeling more relaxed, he realized just how hungry he was—starving, actually, as he'd barely touched his pasta dish at dinner. He'd never heard of a cookie dough cupcake before, but at the moment it sounded just short of heaven on earth. "Yes, please," he said, grinning all the way up in his eyes. "I'll take two—and a large glass of milk."
He slouched down and laid his head against his arm, gazing at her. "This is nice," he said. "Nicer than dinner, I think—although dinner actually wasn't too bad. It was everything afterwards that was one big train wreck. Though I am glad that you got to meet my grandfather, albeit briefly. He's going to ask me all about you, you know."
His eyes strayed downwards to the coffee table, on top of which was her cell phone. It was blinking as a sign of a missed call or something. "Is that your parents again?" he asked, indicated the phone with his thumb. "You can check it, if you need to; I don't mind."
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Post by Cayla on May 18, 2013 20:57:33 GMT
{name:Marina Morris#|#picture:3}Marina finished ordering the cupcakes and snapped up her cell phone. She hesitantly picked up her phone and answered, "hello?"
Marina was quite worried it was her mother about to scream into the line, but except it was her father with a few words. "I will see you in the morning. Your mother is unhappy," he said and hung up. Marina placed the phone back down and mouthed the words: I know.
She decided to act like the situation had even ever occurred. The service brought up the cupcakes and milk. She thanked them with a smile and an unusually large tip. She sat back down by Russell with the cupcakes in hand, giving two to Russell. She left the tray of milk on top of the coffee table and bit into the chocolate cupcake. She poked her finger inside of the gooey, cookie dough center.
"These are my favorite," she told Russell. "If it wasn't for you and these cupcakes, I think I'd be a wreck." Marina licked her lips and continued to devour and consume her cupcake. She hoped Russell would do the same.
"So, tomorrow," Marina spoke, turning to Russell, "are you busy working?"
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Post by Samantha on May 25, 2013 0:32:32 GMT
{name:Russell McBride#|#picture:2}Russell cringed at the mention of work; he'd forgotten, while hanging out with Marina, that, yes, he did have to come into the hotel once again tomorrow morning—every morning for the rest of his life, the wage slave that he was, with nothing to look forward to break the monotony.
Russell, a bit sullen now, leaned forward to reach for one of his cupcakes. He took a small chunk of it between his forefinger and thumb and deposited the crumb onto his tongue. It was sweet, melted immediately in his saliva—every bit as delicious as Marina had described. He could see why she liked them so. The hotel, for once, had managed to do something right.
He sighed. "Can I tell you something?" His eyes found hers, then his glass of milk. "I hate my job," he said. "I hate what I do. When I was a kid—a teenager, you know, having just gotten my license—I used to park cars out along the beach. I've been in this city all my life: I hung out at the beach all of the time, and I met some people and found an in. And you know how it is: money comes in for the summer, grand parties with impressive guest lists are thrown at so-and-so's beach house, and all of those luxury Bentleys and Jags certainly don't park themselves. I used to love it, back then. But what's cool as a kid—when you're eighteen, nineteen, what the hell? maybe even twenty-one—isn't so cool anymore, when you get a bit older. I accidentally made a career out of parking cars, and I watched myself do it, always saying that I wouldn't let it become a permanent thing. Well, now I'm twenty-seven, and it's looking pretty damn permanent.
"I don't want to go to work tomorrow," he continued. "Every year, I have a week off; if it were up to me, I'd just work for that week—what's one more in couple thousand?—but the hotel refuses to pay me. 'Vacation,' they call it. So I go on a week-long bender, drive my grandfather crazy for a few days with my constant presence. You know: fun stuff like that. But maybe tomorrow," he said thoughtfully, "I'll use one of those days. Maybe I'll try to stay sober for once—and maybe I'll have someone to get me out of the house." He cast a sidelong glance at Marina.
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Post by Cayla on May 25, 2013 15:22:54 GMT
{name:Marina Morris #|#picture:3}Marina slumped back into her couch. "Wow, that's deep," she said quietly.
Marina turned to face Russell examining his face. She could see his hidden dark circles under his sad hopeless eyes. She was some sort of bratty goddess to him, she thought. Getting everything served to her on a silver platter. Marina thought of the movie Parent Trap and thought of the two girls switching lives. Marina pictured what it would be like to be just a bit more normal. She shook the idea from her head. Everything isn't just about her. She finished her cupcake and faced Russell and looked him in the eyes.
"I really want to do something nice for you. I realize that you won't except money and you would consider it 'charity', but let me do something," Marina took a breath. "I want to take to your boss and try to get you a raise and maybe even a better job. And then, before my parents do something to 'punish' me, I might as well do something crazy and spend money on someone other than me. You and I want to get out of town, so why not just spend that week vacation - now." Marina stopped.
What am I thinking? Inviting a man to go on a vacation with I who I hardly know? It just feels right. I just want an experience that wasn't labeled and had to be proper. I don't need a break like Russell, but I am looking for a long term friend.
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Post by Samantha on May 26, 2013 22:46:37 GMT
{name:Russell McBride#|#picture:2}"What?" Russell said, nearly choking on a bite of his cupcake. He hadn't been expecting her to react...that way. He chewed and swallowed urgently, then picked up his glass of milk and took a large gulp. "Marina, no, I—"
He cut himself off before he could say something knee-jerk and stupid. He exhaled through his nose, then lifted his head to meet Marina's eyes. "Have you thought this through?" he asked, which was his more eloquent way of saying, Are you crazy? "Marina, you and I just met this morning. We don't even really know each other—I'm fairly certain, anyway, that you wouldn't be able to tell me my last name if I asked for it. Besides, I can't pick up and leave for a week. First of all, I have responsibilities—there's my grandfather to think about. And I can't accept a vacation from you, regardless of whether or not money's an object. It's not right: it wouldn't feel right. And that's not me being too proud. This is me being rational."
He bent forward, leaning on his knees and looking down at the carpeting beneath his feet. It was a moment before he spoke again. "All of the promotions and raises in the world wouldn't fix my dissatisfaction with my job," he said. "Some things are just bigger than money, you know? I don't want you to talk to my boss. I really do appreciate that you want to do all of these nice things for me, but they're unnecessary. To be honest, I'd be happy enough just to spend the day at the park or the beach—or even right here, ordering room service, watching television, whatever. I barely thought about work at all today while we were together, if you want to know the truth. I wish the topic had never been brought up."
He paused again, then asked the question that had been at the back of his mind:
"What are your parents going to punish you for, anyway—for hanging out with me?"
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Post by Cayla on May 27, 2013 19:56:52 GMT
{name:Marina Morris#|#picture:3}Marina knew she had been irrational and slumped back into the couch and nibbled on the rest of her cupcake. It wasn't quite like her to just jump on a situation, but she had been so sick of it all. She was looking for a thrill.
Marina swallowed and looked at Russell and just nodded. She couldn't argue with his position. He was right about it all. Neither of them knew each other yet well enough to do something that insane. A few books and movies bubbled to the surface of her mind. Marina finished off her cupcake and turned to get up off the couch when Russell had finished his long explanation for 'no', but her brain registered that question at the last moment.
"What?" is all Marina could seem to say, even though she was well aware of the question. What did have her parents so ticked? Was it the fact she was hanging out with Russell? No way. Was it because she didn't finish college? Probably not. Was it the fact that Marina never took the time to try and love her parents? Maybe. Marina was unaware of her parents efforts to love her. All they knew was to spoil her. As their first child they didn't know then what they know know. Marina stopped to look at Russell.
"No not for that, just I don't know...." Marina trailed off. She pondered the thought and looked down at her phone. Nine new messages. She slowly backed down into the couch by Russell.
"I am so sorry. I am so rude," she repeated. Marina looked slightly as if she was hallucinating. She shook herself from it. "I'm sorry Russell, it's getting late. I'm going to go to bed. Feel free to use the couch or I can lead you back outside. My parents will probably be coming tomorrow. I will let you know what happened then," she said getting up. "Thanks for the lovely evening. I will see you tomorrow, right?"
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