Stranger Things Have Happened | Marcus Bontempelli

forty-four.

The drive to the dealership was relatively long since it was right in the middle of school pick up but it gave Marcus and I chance to catch up on everything that had been going on during the week. He'd been somewhat reclusive after a couple of rough weeks of footy and he apologised for shutting me out, even though he obviously didn't do it intentionally.

"You don't have to apologise but you know you can always vent to me," I said, glancing over at his pensive profile.

"I know but I just didn't know if you'd mention to Libba that I was feeling under the pump," He admitted, a soft sigh escaping my lips.

"Anything you tell me, football or non-football related stays between us. To be completely honest, I barely talk to Tom about you and I definitely don't divulge anything that we talk about," I reassured and Marcus nodded, knowing that I was being honest.

"Yeah, of course. I think it was all just getting to me and plus, Woody pulled me aside and mentioned he might step down as captain at the end of the year, which threw me a curveball too," He replied, scratching the back of his neck nervously.

"Wow. Okay, that is a lot to process... but you don't have to worry about that until the end of the year, right?" I asked and Marcus nodded, flicking his blinker on to turn.

"Then just go about your business and keep killing it because even though you guys haven't been getting the wins, you've been playing so well," I smiled and reached over to brush my hand across his thigh.

Marcus glanced his eyes over my way briefly with a smirk, "You are very good"

"Oh baby, you have no idea how good I can be at positive affirmations," I said, voice low and a playful grin on my face.

Marcus hummed, "You'll have to hold on to those thoughts because we're here," He said, pulling up to the curb and putting the car in park.

"So your Dad owns this place?" I asked, grabbing my purse from my backpack and closing the passenger door.

"Yeah he runs it with my sister, Alicia who does all the accounting and car loan stuff," Marcus explained haphazardly as some of the car salesmen caught his attention, clearly eager to speak with him.

"Hi gents," He greeted, shaking their hands and launching into light conversation mostly about footy and why the doggies haven't been winning. 

Instead of hovering around awkwardly, I thought I'd get a head start and have a look around the showroom. I had no idea what kind of car I wanted but that was secondary to the urgency of needing something to drive. Having the flexibility to be able to drive myself around and eventually be able to drive Connor to appointments once he got out of hospital was the number one priority. It was a Mercedes-Benz dealership with a couple of other second hand vehicles out the front but as I perused around the showroom, I noticed they were predominately Benz models on display.

"We just got this coupe in this morning," A voice behind me spoke up, jolting me slightly from my thoughts.

"It's beautiful in the white," I replied, looking up and catching the eye of the cheerful man beside me.

He looked almost identical to Marcus but 20 years older and more distinguished around the face. The dress shirt and suit trousers made him look very dapper as he placed his hands on his hips, looking down at the car and then bringing his eye line back up to me.

"My names Carlo by the way," He greeted brightly, holding his hand out for me to shake.

"Catie," I replied, grasping his hand tightly with a smile.

"Are you looking to buy new?" He asked, walking around and opening the driver's side door for me to have a look in.

"Yeah I think so. I just want something small like this because I haven't owned a car in about 3 years and probably need to ease myself in with the city driving," I laughed, earning a chuckle from Carlo.