John and Marlena (Finally) Get a Q!

Chapter 101 - A Foggy Night In Salem Town

The sounds of footsteps were muffled on the old wooden stairs, but in the misty stillness of the evening they echoed out across the water.

A mouse stopped, frozen in terror as it watched the approaching feet.  To the mouse, humans were a harbinger of doom, but also paradoxically a source of food.  That was why mice lived in tandem with humans.  It was dangerous for the individual mouse, but it was the most assured and easy way of sustaining the population.  Where there were people, there was food, but there was also danger.  It was the way of the world.

Confirming that he was not the intended prey, the tiny creature took the opportunity to scuttle off under the pier to safety, not waiting to see where the heavy feet settled.

Staring out over the water, Marlena lost herself in the fog for a moment.  The lights on the far side of the riverbank were all but obscured by the heavy wetness in the air and they looked almost ghostly, shrouded as they were.

"Marlena, why don't you come and sit down?" Gene coaxed gently.

"No," she shook her head slowly as she closed her eyes, remembering past nights in this place. 

"Sweetheart, I don't like you standing that close to the water," Q came up behind her and wrapped his fingers around her upper arm, "and I think we need to talk about what happened tonight.  Please come and sit down."

Taking a deep breath, Marlena shook her head, but at the same time she shrugged, surrendering the argument before it even started.  Letting Q lead her back to the refuge of the overhanging pier, she took a seat on the one of the makeshift benches.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly, "I just panicked when I saw her pour that drink.  It made me wonder how many other times she's done it and what harm it's done to my child."

"Your baby is fine," Q nodded with an assurance that surprised Marlena. 

"How do you *know* that?" she shook her head hopelessly.  "None of us can know that until the baby is born."

"Just trust me," Q laid his hand over hers.  "I know.  Just as I know that your baby wasn't harmed by the bottle of wine early in your pregnancy."

"Oh," Marlena's cheeks stained with a slight blush. 

She had panicked one night after finding out about the pregnancy when she remembered the wine, but Gene had guaranteed her that it had not affected her baby.  That, he could promise her with all that he was.  That had been enough for Marlena then and it would have to be enough for her now.

Crossing her forearms across her knee, she leaned forward and took another deep and cleansing breath.

"I don't know why I let her get to me so much," she frowned, etching delicate lines into her cheeks.  "I tried so hard to ignore her.  But she won't let me.  Every time, she has to attack me."  She looked across at Gene.  "Even when there was nothing at all between John and me, she never left me in any doubt about how she felt about me."

"People are frightened by what they don't understand," Q told her gently.  "Kristen doesn't understand your kindness, your innate goodness.  So, she attributes her motives to you to explain how you behave.  And she also doesn't understand the love that you and John share.  She's so vapid that she thinks it's all about sex and pretty faces.  I doubt she's ever really loved John.  Or anyone else for that matter.  It's all about what makes her feel good."  He shook his head.  "That's why she hates you, because you make *other* people feel good, and she doesn't get that."

"I don't know Gene," Marlena shook her head again.  "I keep thinking I should understand her.  I'm a psychiatrist for goodness sake."  She held up slender fingers, her gestures adding import to her words.  "I should be able to understand what motivates her, makes her say those things.  But I...." she sighed, "I guess I'm too close to the situation.  My judgment's clouded where John and my family are concerned."