Glad You're Here

Chapter 3: The Calm Before the Storm

           After lunch, we went back home and, unlike on the way there, Dee was completely engrossed in her phone.

"You know, you're looking at that screen an awful lot when you could be looking at my beautiful face." Mark joked, but looked considerably more suspicious when she just laughed and obviously hadn't heard what he'd said. He looked at me and I just shrugged.

"To be fair, we're on our phones a lot too." I said as an explanation. When we got back to the house, there were a couple of cars parked close to the driveway, but not close enough to pay attention to, at least not for Mark. We all got out and Dee finally put her phone away.

"Well, I guess we'd better just go inside then." She said, too quickly, a smile snaking its way onto her otherwise nonchalant face. Mark frowned.

"That's not suspicious at all..." He grabbed my hand and we led the way to the door. I had a pretty good idea of what might be going on, but I kept my mouth shut. Just as we were about to head in, the door opened.

"SURPRISE!" shouted a massive group of people who suddenly ran from the door toward Mark. A hand grabbed my arm and pulled me away just in time as about 15 people stood about where I just had been, surrounding Mark with a group hug. I looked up to see Tom had pulled me back.

"Thanks." I said quickly, and stayed back with him and Dee as every person greeted Mark. I assumed all the people were old school friends and, based on the greetings exchanged, I wasn't wrong.

"Man, I haven't seen you since the 8th grade, how you been?"

"Still keeping up on basketball, Mark?"

"Oh my god, my best friend is obsessed with your videos, she just about freaked when I told her I was in your high school class!"

"Keeping busy, Mark? I swear I haven't seen you for ages!" The people seemed to keep coming. Finally, Mark insisted that they all head inside, which they did, dragging Mark along with them. I followed them inside to find the dining room had been transformed, buffet style tables loaded with food down the middle of the room. I smiled as I noticed the glasses of wine situated around the table. It was going to be an interesting night.

----

After being introduced to everyone, I tried to sneak back into the shadows a bit. I didn't really know anyone here, being from California and all, and I was kind of an introvert, but Mark made sure to keep me included and I met some pretty cool people. After a little while (and a small glass of wine), I let my guard down and really started to enjoy everyone's company. Bob and Wade made an appearance an hour or so after we arrived, and I was glad to hang around with them, as I'd become really good friends with them in the six months I'd been dating Mark.

Dee announced dinner around 7:00 (Cincinnati time) and the food was delicious. The dogs begged relentlessly and received a small morsel from everyone. I wanted to ask if Dee had cooked everything and, when I went up to her, she led me into the kitchen, where I noticed the empty Cracker Barrel boxes.

"Shh, don't tell anyone." She said, a mischievous glint in her eye that reminded so much of Mark.

I enjoyed another small glass of wine and decided to call it quits on the alcohol, but Mark, Bob, and Wade had plenty. Bob and Wade, along with the two dogs (of course), became the life of the party, but Mark instead seemed to want to stick by me, making more small talk than being super rambunctious like he usually was. Even so, when Dee pulled out the karaoke machine around 9:30, Mark was all over it. He really was a good singer when he wanted to be. Bob and Wade sang too and they even convinced me to sing something after a while. After I sang and people were distracted by Bob and Wade again, Mark came up to me. His face was a little flushed and he looked tired.

"I'm not feeling the best, I think I ate too much. Mind if I lie down?" He asked, his voice softer than usual.

"Of course, babe," I said, and I walked with him upstairs into the guest room, my arm around him. He sat down on one of the beds and winced slightly. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah, yeah, just give me a few minutes to recover." He replied, and I kissed his forehead.

"Don't worry, I'll cover for you."

"You're the best." I let him rest and closed the door behind me, pushing my concerns away. Mark would be ok, he just needed a break. That was normal. Shaking my head a bit to clear it, I dove back into the excitement.

Around 10 (by my watch, which was still set to California time and was three hours earlier), people started leaving, saying they had to get to work tomorrow. I'd enjoyed the party, but I was glad for it to be over. Pretty soon, only Bob and Wade were left.  Dee invited them to stay, but they declined. I gave them both hugs as they left.

"I'm glad you guys came," I said, squeezing Bob's hand. "And I know Mark is too."

"Wouldn't miss it," Bob said. "See you back in LA, Caitlyn."

"See you."

"And tell Mark I want a Soccer Physics rematch!" Wade said, laughing.

"I will." Then the door closed and the house was quiet. I checked my watch. 11:45 California time, or 2:45 AM Cincinnati time. I sighed and flopped down on the coach next to Tom, who had warmed up to me considerably after having a glass or two of wine.

"You all good?" He asked.

"Yeah, just tired. Man, it's late."

"Yeah. I think I'm going to retire. It's nice having you and Mark here, Caitlyn."

"Thank you." I replied, smiling at him. He smiled back and winked before getting up and heading to the other guest bedroom on the other side of the house. He was a cool guy, I thought. I got up and found Dee cleaning up in the kitchen.

"You want any help?" I asked, rolling up my sleeves.

"Oh no, you're the guest. Its fine, most of these plates are disposable anyway. You should go check on Mark."

"Alright. Thank you for dinner, Dee. And for everything else. Its fantastic being here and I know it's a million times better for Mark. He's such a great person and I know he missed you all so much. It's nice seeing him this happy." I said. Dee turned toward me, wiping her hands on a dishtowel before pulling me into a hug.

"You're a good person, Caitlyn. I'm glad Mark found you. You'll do him plenty of good." I smiled and hugged her back before heading upstairs to the room Mark and I shared.