Blaming Each Other....

Learning New things.../Ch.5

I'll Never Smile Again by Frank Sinatra instrumental

        Headed out the door getting her purse and laptop. She walked to her car, got in and drove away.

In the meantime, Marcus was at the coffee shop talking to 'little miss Barbie.' "So you decided to come, why?" Jenna asked Marcus as he was walking in. "Because I felt like I had to figure you out, and that somehow I had seen you from somewhere," Marcus explained while trying to cramp into the booth seat.

"Well..., first things first. My name is not Jenna, its Mariana Lopez," she explained. "Why didn't you tell me that before," he asked her. "Well put yourself in my shoes, you're a woman who's married. And the husband your married to, beats you behind closed doors. And you wonder why he is beating you, it's because you say hi to another man and crack a joke. So, if I would've told you my name, while my abusive husband was on the other side of the aisle, and even as much as just look at you, I would've been beaten to death later that day. So, you tell me why I didn't tell you my real name," Mariana told him with tears rolling down her eyes.

Marcus was speechless, he had never heard of an abuse story, let alone knew somebody who was abused. ".........I'm so sorry I didn't know," Marcus said with remorse. "It's okay you didn't know but I called you here to meet me today because you look like a potential friend, and I don't have too many friends," Mariana told him.

"We'll I'm married," Marcus said with a chuckle. "You already mentioned that," Mariana said with a laugh. "I know but yeah. We want to have kids and build a home someday. I'm from the Bronx so I'm a long way from home and I do miss it. Lastly, I'm a football coach for younger kids and I love it." "Well it looks like you have a good life ahead of you," she said as she was pulling her sweater sleeve down over her wrist.

"What's that?" Marcus asked. He had saw a bruise on her wrist that was very dark and purple and visible. He looked up at her face and could see that she was nervous about something, and that she kept on looking over to the left of her and drinking her caramel macchiato. "It's nothing I just fell," Mariana reassured him. "No its not nothing, did he hit you again," Marcus asked her with a little anger in his voice.

Although Marcus didn't know this woman he felt angry and compelled to help. They both ordered cappuccinos with heavy cream.