Sweet Decadence

v. self-honesty

Chapter V

          "When you can stop, you don't want to, and when you want to stop, you can't . . . "  

- Luke Davis

                                                                                       "SELF-HONESTY, HUH?"  Marney asked, catching Maya off guard.  Whipping her head around, they eyes connected through a moment of realization before a friendly smile was shared.  Marney laughed lightly, walking over and sitting down next to Maya. 

          Chuckling a little, Maya nodded.  She wasn't sure how Marney knew she'd moved to another level, since she hadn't been around for the early parts of the program with her.  Sighing, she glanced over at her and gave her a questioning look. 

          "Oh, come on . . . "  Marney smiled triumphantly, "You're too easy to read." 

          "But how do you get that from just looking at me?"  She asked, voicing her thoughts without any sort of hesitation or worry that it might offend Marney. 

          "I know people too well, sometimes.  I guess it's just something I picked up over the years, you know?  I mean, there's a lot of me you don't know that I'm sure you could pick up if you really paid attention to the little things I do," she smirked. 

          "Besides, Norman told me," she winked. 

          "Of course he did," Maya laughed, again.  This time, though, it was a free laugh.  It was the kind that just bubbles out of you when you know you were right all along.  There wouldn't have been a way for Marney to know she'd moved up a step unless she'd heard it from a secondary source; or Maya herself. 

          "So, how's the new apartment?"  Maya asked, causing Marney to shrug. 

          "It's actually really annoying.  I don't like the color of the walls, the carpeting is burned and there's wax leaking down half the windows and walls.  To make things worse, my plumping isn't working right, the tub is full of bugs and my neighbor has hot sex every night while banging against my wall," her words astonished Maya, which caused Marney to snicker with a devious smile spread across her lips. 

          "I'm just kidding," she smiled playfully.  "My neighbors are really nice and the apartment isn't that bad.  There is wax on the bathroom floor, though.  I have to scrap that up with a knife, eventually.  Everything is dull, though.  The walls are all pasty white." 

          "Dear Lord, Marney . . .  If you had really been living in what you described before, I would've just told you to take the spare room in my apartment," Maya breathed out a breath of relief.  Shaking her head, Marney snickered to herself. 

          "It was so much worse when I explained it to my cat," Marney snickered, again. 

          "You have a cat?"  Maya asked, eying her for a moment. 

          "His name is Yuki.  It means snow," she shrugged.  "He's completely black, though.  It makes it easy to find him in the winter.  Besides, it doesn't matter what he looks like.  My therapist thinks my boyfriend's name is Yuki."

          "You lie to your therapist?"  Maya asked, raising an eyebrow. 

          "Lied.  Past tense," she smirked to herself before pulling out a pack of cigarettes.  She lit one up and took a drag before offering it to Maya.  Shaking her head, Maya gently pushed Marney's hand back.